Sheila E. -- The Glamorous Life

 

When I arrived in Tokyo for my second stint as an English conversation teacher in the mid-1990s, little did I know that I would end up witnessing the Komuro Steamroller. It was the pop music phenomenon powered by music producer and musician Tetsuya Komuro（小室哲哉）in which it seemed that any up-and-coming singer was not only being sponsored by the man but was also rolling sevens in success. Whether it be Namie Amuro（安室奈美恵）, Tomomi Kahala（華原朋美）or trf, a good time was had by all under his aegis for a while leading into the last few years of the 20th century.

In retrospect, I think that was also the case a decade previously with the legendary Prince. At that time, I was an undergrad and seeing the flood of music videos which was constantly flowing through the television, Prince and his associates were taking over the airwaves to a certain extent for a few years in the mid-1980s themselves. There was Prince of course, but there was also Morris Day and The Time, Vanity 6 and Sheila E.

For me, Sheila E. was the one who stood out because of her dynamic percussion and "The Glamorous Life", her debut single from May 1984. Prince created the funkadelic dance song (and backed her up on vocals and instruments) about a woman swimming in all of the decadence and hedonism (in the 80s?! Pshaw...perish the thought!) of the titular glamorous life but finding it all rather empty without someone to truly love and to love her back. It might be a sad story but dang, the melody is irresistible along with the music video (especially when she kicks the cymbal).

Gotta have the 9-minute remix, too! Anyways, "The Glamorous Life" hit No. 3 on Canada's RPM and No. 7 on America's Billboard. It hit No. 1 on the Billboard Dance Club chart.

So, what was on top of the Oricon chart in May 1984?

1. Checkers -- Kanashikute Jealousy （哀しくてジェラシー）

2. Akina Nakamori -- Southern Wind （サザンウインド）

3. Seiko Matsuda -- Jikan no Kuni no Alice（時の国のアリス)