''A Private Heaven'' is the fifth studio album by Scottish

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

singer

Sheena Easton Sheena Shirley Easton (; born 27 April 1959) is a Scottish singer and actress who achieved recognition in an episode of the reality television series ''The Big Time (TV series), The Big Time: Pop Singer'', which recorded her attempts to gain a ...

, released on 21 September 1984 by

EMI America Records EMI America Records was launched in 1978 by EMI as their second label in the United States after Capitol Records, relying on Capitol only for pressing, distribution, and international liaison. In 1987, EMI America merged with Manhattan Records ...

. The album featured two US Top 10 hit singles: the lead single "

Strut A strut is a structural component commonly found in engineering, aeronautics, architecture and anatomy. Struts generally work by resisting longitudinal compression, but they may also serve in tension. A stay is sometimes used as a synonym for ...

" and the controversial "

Sugar Walls "Sugar Walls" is the second single from Sheena Easton's 1984 album ''A Private Heaven''. It spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in the United States, nine of which were in the American Top 40, top 40. It reached number 9 ...

". " Swear", a third single, peaked at No. 80. The album is Easton's most successful studio album in the United States to date, peaking at No. 15 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and selling over one million copies, earning a gold and platinum certification from the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. In Canada, the album also went platinum. The tour that year featured

Bruce Hornsby Bruce Randall Hornsby (born November 23, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, folk music, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock music, rock, heartland r ...

on keyboards in the live band.

Background and legacy

The album marked a conscious effort by Easton to change her image to that of a sexy pop singer after cultivating a "sweet and innocent" image since the launch of her career five years earlier. The sexually-charged "Strut" - co-written by

Charlie Dore Charlie Dore (born 1956) is an English singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and actress. Although best known as a singer-songwriter, Dore has a multi-faceted career that includes acting in film, TV and radio, comedy-improvisatio ...

- became Easton's biggest solo hit in the US since 1981's " For Your Eyes Only". Easton collaborated with

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

on the controversial track "

", written by Prince under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Alexander Nevermind. The track and its accompanying video were banned in some regions due to its sexually risqué lyrics and was one of several songs cited by

Tipper Gore Mary Elizabeth "Tipper" Gore (née Aitcheson; born August 19, 1948) is an American social issues advocate. She was the second lady of the United States from 1993 to 2001 through her marriage to the 45th vice president, Al Gore in 1970, from who ...

on her

Filthy Fifteen The Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) was an American committee formed in 1985 with the stated goal of increasing parental control over the access of children to music deemed to have violent, drug-related, or sexual themes via labeling albums ...

list in her efforts to introduce mandatory warning labeling of explicit musical albums. Easton's musical association with Prince continued for the next few years, with him writing "Eternity" for her eighth studio album, ''

No Sound But a Heart ''No Sound But a Heart'' is the eighth studio album by Scottish singer Sheena Easton, released in 1987 on the EMI America label. The album was issued in the Canadian, Mexican and Asian markets. The album consists of midtempo and ballad songs, incl ...

'' (1987) and Easton later featuring on Prince's singles "

U Got the Look "U Got the Look" is a song by American musician Prince. It opens the second disc of Prince's double album '' Sign o' the Times'' (1987), and became the album's runner-up chart single. Musically, the song is a standard 12-bar rock song with emphas ...

" in 1987 and "

The Arms of Orion ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

" in 1989. The album also includes

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

s of

Tim Scott Timothy Eugene Scott (born September 19, 1965) is an American businessman and politician serving since 2013 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senator from South Carolina. A member of the Re ...

's new wave track " Swear" and

Joan Armatrading Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading (, born 9 December 1950) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her first major commercial success came with her third and fourth albums, '' Joan Armatrading'' (1976) and '' Show Some Emotion'' (1977), a ...

's 1976 classic "

Love and Affection "Love and Affection" is a song by Kittitian-English singer-songwriter Joan Armatrading. Her fourth single, and her third for A&M Records, it was her first chart success. It reached number 10 in the UK Singles Chart in November 1976. One of her b ...

". Converse to the album's success in America, in the UK, it was her first studio album not to chart, and none of the singles released made the official Top 75. In 2000,

One Way Records One Way Records was an independent record label based in Albany, New York that specialized in budget reissues of classic rock albums. In the 1990s, it gained business pressing reissues of those records that had "fallen through the cracks" in the ...

released a remastered version of ''A Private Heaven'' with bonus tracks and B-sides. On 23 February 2013,

Edsel Records Demon Music Group Limited (DMG; formerly Object Enterprises Limited from 19821991 and Music Collection International Limited from 19912000) is a record company owned by BBC Studios that is mainly concerned with back-catalogue rights and re-iss ...

(UK) reissued Easton's ''A Private Heaven'' and its follow-up studio album ''

Do You Do You may refer to: * ''Do You'' (album), an album by Sheena Easton * "Do You..." (Miguel song), a song by Miguel * " Do You (Bro'Sis song), a song by Bro'Sis * "Do You" (Ne-Yo song), a song by Ne-Yo * "Do You", a song by Jay Sean from '' All o ...

'' (1985) on two CDs remastered with bonus tracks. On 24 November 2014, the album was included in a

box set A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists ...

in the UK with all of her first five albums with EMI through

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

. A 2CD deluxe edition of ''A Private Heaven'', remastered from the original master tapes for the first time with 21 bonus tracks, including 12 previously unreleased tracks, along with 12" mixes and B-sides, was released on 25 February 2022 by

Cherry Pop "Cherry Pop" is a song recorded by Romanian singer Alexandra Stan for her second studio album ''Unlocked (Alexandra Stan album), Unlocked'' (2014). It was made available for music download, digital download on 28 May 2014 through Roton (label), R ...

/RT Industries. On 31 May 2024 RT Industries and Cherry Pop Records released a 40th Anniversary Edition of the album featuring 12" mixes and three previously unreleased tracks on a red vinyl double LP set. In 2025 RT Industries released "A Private Heaven" in (Ultimate Edition) format for streaming services.

Critical reception

'' Cashbox'' magazine reviewed the album in October 1984, writing that with "Virtually unlimited talent, Sheena Easton is at her absolute best", describing the album as "dazzling" and featuring "solid, punchy, techno-pop production with dramatic ballads".

Chart performance

The album spent 35 weeks on the US ''Billboard'' album charts and reached its peak position of No. 15 in early February 1985.

Track listing

Side one #"

" (

, Julian Littman) – 4:05 #"

" ( Alexander Nevermind) – 4:01 #"Hungry Eyes" (Greg Mathieson,

Trevor Veitch Trevor Veitch (born May 19, 1946 in Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian musician/record producer who has worked behind the scenes on many pop trends from the 1960s to present. He is mostly known for his involvement in the popular 1960s folk ...

) – 3:42 #"Hard to Say It's Over" (

Adrienne Anderson Adrienne Anderson is an American songwriter, most notable for being the co-writer of "Could It Be Magic", among other Barry Manilow songs, as well as being the co-writer of signature songs for Dionne Warwick ("Déjà Vu") and Peter Allen (" I Go t ...

, Gino Cunico, Tom Saviano) – 4:24 #" Swear" (

) – 3:43 Side two #

" (

) – 4:06 #"Back in the City" (Greg Mathieson,

Lee Ritenour Lee Mack Ritenour ( ; born January 11, 1952) is an American jazz guitarist who has been active since the late 1960s. Biography Ritenour was born in 1952, in Los Angeles, California. At the age of eight he started playing guitar and four years l ...

, Trevor Veitch) – 3:46 #"You Make Me Nervous" (Mark Holding,

Robbie Nevil Robert S. Nevil (born October 2, 1958) is an American pop singer, songwriter, record producer, and guitarist who had five ''Billboard'' top 40 hits including his songs " C'est la Vie" (#2, 1986), "Dominoes" (#14, 1987), and " Wot's It to Ya" (#1 ...

, Duncan Pain) – 3:53 #"All by Myself" (

Steve Lukather Steven Lee "Luke" Lukather (born October 21, 1957) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer, best known as the sole continuous founding member of the rock band Toto. His reputation as a skilled guitarist led to ...

, Trevor Veitch) – 4:24 #"Double Standard" (

Steve Kipner Stephen Alan Kipner (born 1950) is an Australian songwriter and record producer. He has produced a number of international hit songs such as Olivia Newton-John's "Physical (Olivia Newton-John song), Physical", Natasha Bedingfield's "These Words ...

, Ben Petterson) – 3:50

2022 2CD deluxe version bonus tracks

The 12” Mixes #"Strut" (Dance Mix) #"Sugar Walls" (Dance Mix) #"Swear" (Dance Mix) #"Strut" (Dub Mix) #"Sugar Walls" (Red Mix) #"Swear" (Dub Mix) The B-Sides #"Letters from the Road" #"Straight Talking" #"Fallen Angels" The Studio Sessions (previously unreleased) #"Have You Ever Been in Love" #"Hungry Eyes" (alternate version) #"Hard to Say It's Over" (alternate version) #"Sugar Walls" (Long 'Roman' Version) The Instrumental Mixes (previously unreleased) #"Strut" (instrumental mix) #"Love and Affection" (instrumental mix) #"Hungry Eyes" (instrumental mix) #"All by Myself" (instrumental mix) #"Back in the City" (instrumental mix) #"Hard to Say It's Over" (instrumental mix) #"Straight Talking" (instrumental mix) #"In It to Win It" (instrumental mix)

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the ''A Private Heaven'' liner notes except where noted. * Sheena Easton – lead and backing vocals *

Michael Boddicker Michael Lehmann Boddicker (born January 19, 1953) is an American film composer and session musician, specializing in electronic music. He is a three times National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (N.A.R.A.S.) Most Valuable Player "Synthes ...

– keyboards * Greg Mathieson – keyboards, arrangements *

Michael Landau Michael Christopher Landau (born June 1, 1958) is an American musician, audio engineer, and record-producer. He is a session musician and guitarist who has played on many albums since the early 1980s with Boz Scaggs, Minoru Niihara, Joni Mitchel ...

– guitars *

– guitars (9) *

Abraham Laboriel Abraham Laboriel López (born July 17, 1947) is a Mexican-American bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. ''Guitar Player'' magazine called him "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the fathe ...

– bass *

Carlos Vega Carlos Vega (December 7, 1956 – April 7, 1998) was a Cuban-born Los Angeles-based session drummer best known for his performances with James Taylor. As a part of the L.A. studio scene from the late 1970s through the 1990s, Vega contributed to ...

– drums *

Lenny Castro Lenny Castro (born September 19, 1956) is an American percussionist from the Los Angeles area. He is one of the most prolific percussionists of all time, appearing on hundreds of albums, including those by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Adele, Maroon ...

– percussion * Gary Herbig – saxophones *

Larry Williams Lawrence Eugene Williams (May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, and pianist from New Orleans. He is best known for writing and recording some rock and roll classics from 1957 to ...

– saxophones *

Bill Reichenbach Jr. William Frank Reichenbach Jr. (born November 30, 1949) is an American jazz trombonist and composer. He is the son of Bill Reichenbach, who was the drummer for Charlie Byrd from 1962 to 1973. He is best known as a session musician for television, ...

– trombone * Gary Grant – trumpet *

Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', '' Rock with Y ...

– trumpet, horn arrangements * Steve George – backing vocals * Tom Kelly – backing vocals *

Richard Page Richard Lewis Page (born 22 February 1941) is a former Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979, and from 1979 to 2005. Early life Born the so ...

– backing vocals *

Devo Devo is an American new wave band from Akron, Ohio, formed in 1973. Their classic line-up consisted of two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs ( Mark and Bob) and the Casales (Gerald and Bob), along with Alan Myers. The band had a No. 14 ...

– backing vocals *

– synthesizers (2), electric guitar (2),

Linn LM-1 The Linn LM-1 Drum Computer is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics and released in 1980. It was the first drum machine to use samples of acoustic drums, and one of the first programmable drum machines. Its designer, the American en ...

(2)

Production

* Producer – Greg Mathieson * Recorded and Mixed by David Leonard * Recorded at

Sunset Sound Factory The Sound Factory (also known as Sunset Sound Factory) is a recording studio in Los Angeles, California. The Sound Factory was built in the 1960s on Selma Avenue in Hollywood. At the time, it served as the home of Moonglow Records and the Moon ...

(Hollywood, CA). * Mixed at

Sunset Sound Sunset (or sundown) is the disappearance of the Sun at the end of the Sun path, below the horizon of the Earth (or any other astronomical object in the Solar System) due to its rotation. As viewed from everywhere on Earth, it is a phenomenon th ...

(Hollywood, CA). * Mastered by Wally Traugott at Capitol Mastering (Hollywood, CA). * Art direction – Ria Lewerke * Logo – Sue Reilly * Photography –

Brian Aris Brian Aris is a British photographer who began his career as a photojournalist. Initially, he was a front line photographer of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the plight of Palestinian children in Jordan, the civil war in Lebanon, famine in Afr ...

Charts

Certifications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Private Heaven 1984 albums Sheena Easton albums EMI Records albums