The impact of certain 80s artists loomed so large that other acts could piggyback off their signature sound and come away with a hit. And in terms of signature sounds in the decade, none stood out with as much authority as the one that belonged to Prince.
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Give credit to Ready For The World for delivering a song catchy enough to grab audiences when they hit the top of the charts in 1986 with “Oh Sheila”. But you also have to admire their savvy for understanding that any associations with Prince’s vibes couldn’t hurt a bit.
Getting Ready
Melvin Riley Jr. and Gordon Strozier formed Ready For The World in Flint, Michigan, in the early 80s. They took their name from the lyrics of one of their early songs. The group received their big break when they impressed a legendary local DJ known as The Electrifying Mojo, who helped them secure a record deal.
Ready For The World released a couple of singles in 1984 that earned them some exposure on the R&B charts. Next up was the release of their self-titled debut album in 1985. To christen the new album, the band chose “Oh Sheila” as their first single.
Riley spearheaded the writing of the song, although he’d eventually get help from Strozier, who played guitar, and drummer Gerald Valentine. In terms of the lyrics, Riley simply chose a name out of the blue. But that name helped cause the confusion that surrounded “Oh Sheila” when it was first released on the radio.
Prince-Ly Similarities
On first listen to “Oh Sheila” in 1985, you would have been forgiven if you believed that the song was a one-off single from Prince. The production, which was done by Ready For The World themselves, features several touches for which Prince was known, including the creaky rim-shot effect and the walled synthesizers.
To top it all off, there was the name “Sheila.” Many listeners associated it with Sheila E, who was a part of Prince’s inner circle. (Legend has it that Sheila E. asked Prince about the song when she first heard it, only to be informed that he had nothing to do with it.)
It’s likely that many people in the listening public assumed that “Oh Sheila” was a Prince song. Whatever the case, the song soared to No. 1, giving this then-unknown band an immediate smash.
Behind the Lyrics of “Oh Sheila”
Riley used a posh British accent to sing the opening lines of the song, before kicking into a more traditional croon in the main section. The narrator is trying to convince Sheila to make him her only man. “Can’t you let the others be?” he pleads. “’Cause with you is where I got to be.”
He warns her that she’s playing a dangerous game: “Listen, somebody’s going to hurt you/The way you love to keep hurting me.” Later, Riley sings some nonsense lyrics (“I love you di da li da li”). Apparently, he intended to replace them, but then liked the way they sounded and kept them in the finished mix.
To their credit, Ready For The World scored a few more hits in their career with decidedly fewer Prince-adjacent songs. But there’s no doubting that “Oh Sheila” had a lot of fans hearing purple.
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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