


No Strings, recorded live, produced by Patrice Rushen and released in 1993, was a critical smash, heralded by jazz aficionados and music critics alike. Even Entertainment Weekly, which tends to sneer at anything without an attached hip

Her reading of "The Nearness of You" was plucked for the blockbuster Indecent Proposal (Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson and Robert Redford), featuring Sheena singing in the movie.
She also delivered the gorgeous simple power ballad "A Dream Worth Keeping," from animated environmental flick Ferngully: The Last Rainforest. The first time I heard the song, in my Arlington, Va. living room, I cried, yes I did, as Sheena reached higher & higher during the bridge to a rafter-raising vocal peak ("I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I know this dream's worth keeping...") on the final chorus. It's one of her finest recordings.

In 1995, Sheena released album No. 12, the

It also marked her reunion with producer Chris Neil, who produced many of Sheena's early works, including "Morning Train" and "For Your Eyes Only"—and had now fostered his own acclaim as co-producer of Celine Dion's first English-language album Unison. Other producers on Cherie included A-listers Ric Wake, Narada Michael Walden, David Foster, Glen Ballard and Humberto Gatica.
The title track—an exhilarating midtempo straight-ahead pop nugget that I treasured—was serviced to AC radio, but never

While My Cherie delivered no hits, I stand by the album as a robust set of coulda-been hits, and it remains among my top five Sheena CDs (among all 15). Singable, sexy "Til Death Do Us Part," with its R&B-lite shuffle, could have

And then there's "You've Learned To Live Without Me." Oh, mercy. While "To Anyone" (from What Comes Naturally) remains her consummate break-up accord of lament, this pained bombastic piano-driven ballad delivers superlative anguish: "I hear you're doing fine, found other things to take up your mind, you probably don't remember ever loving me." Oh, how it hurts!
On a personal note, shortly after My Cherie was released, my own life took a dramatic turn. I moved from Washington, D.C., after 11 years to New York, where I'd achieved my life-long


Admittedly, for me, by this point, Celine Dion was prime competition for Sheena, but with Sheena's memorable new CD, many a night was spent in my tiny apartment spinning My Cherie, singing out loud and strutting across my one room. That album still reminds me of those early NYC months...

And yes, I was still commandeering my own top 100 chart each year, and in 1995, Sheena was (again) the No. 1 artist with six songs: "My Cherie," No. 14; "Flower in the Rain," No. 18, "Til Death Do Us Part," No. 20; "All I Ask Of You," No. 27; "You've Learned To Live Without Me," No. 53; and "Too Much in Love," No. 57.
Meanwhile, Sheena also recorded several soundtrack songs in the early-to-mid 1990s: In 1993, "The Miracle Of Love" was

Next up: The remainder of the 1990s, the millennium's Fabulous... and the grand finale wrap-up!
Hello from Finland. As a lifelong Sheena Easton fan I really loved reading your facts and thoughts about Sheena's career. She is and always will be my number 1 artist. I could talk endlessly about Sheena and her music :) I had a privilegde of meeting her back in year 2000 while she was promoting Fabulous. It was a night I never forget.
ReplyDeleteIt is always interesting to hear other fan's favorite Sheena albums. My all time fave is "Freedom" next to "My cherie" and "Fabulous", WCN is my 4th favorite.
Really looking forward to your next post Fabulous!
Best regards,
Teemu Huotari
Finland
I also love "My Cherie". Very sad this CD disappeared on every level at that time :-(
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