Feature stories on artists and the music they make. November 8, 2000.

'Fabulous' Sheena Easton Turns Dance Diva

By Chuck Taylor

Sheena Easton is the first to admit it. "I'm a dance geek. I make no bones about it," she says with a wry smile. "Anyone who's seen any of my videos knows that."

But that didn't keep the dauntless, ever-glam pop singer from raising her hands and lifting her voice to the rafters for the playful "Fabulous," a no-apologies, all-out disco dance album whose buzzwords center on fun, camp, and being the ultimate party companion.

Due Nov. 13 in the U.K. on Universal International, the project -- Easton's 15th -- will also be released in the next several months across continental Europe, Australia, and Japan. A U.S. release is still in the works; the label is hopeful for a spring street date here.

The 10-track set's first single, the vigorous throwdown "Giving Up, Giving In" (a top 20 hit in the U.K. for the Three Degrees in 1978), is one of eight remakes, along with "Don't Leave Me This Way," "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You," "Never Can Say Goodbye," "Best Of My Love," and "Love Is In Control."

"You take two artists and tell them to paint blue flowers, and you're going to get different versions. It's the same with the songs on this album," Easton says. "I'm not reinventing the wheel; I'm not trying to be clever and make people go, 'Wow, that is so different.' Hopefully, people of my generation will say, 'It's great to hear that song again with a slightly new slant,' while kids will enjoy hearing some of these songs for the first time."

There are also two new compositions on "Fabulous": the sizzling ballad "You Never Gave Me The Chance," and a dance frolic in the spirit of Donna Summer's "Last Dance" called "Get Here To Me."

Both are written and produced by the album's production maestros Ian Masterson and Terry Ronald, who have worked with the likes of Kylie Minogue, Boyzone, Gerri Halliwell, and the Pet Shop Boys.

"We insisted that if we were going to do this, we didn't want to piss around," says Masterson. "It wasn't about trying to borrow influences from disco but to capture the real essence of it. And that's what we did. We're not trying to supersede the originals but to make them more accessible today, more funky but still with the feel of the originals."

The album's party concept was the brainchild of Universal U.K. A&R executive Tony Swain, who, as part of '80s production team Swain and Jolley, worked with Bananarama, Kim Wilde, Alison Moyet, and Culture Club. He had it in his mind to record a giddy, mass-appeal disco album -- even before he had a singer hooked into the idea.

"We were looking for an artist who was already established, someone who could carry this off in a real diva style," he says. "We wanted someone glamorous who could sing the socks off of these songs."

Easton quickly came to mind.

"People still remember her beginnings with 'Modern Girl' and '9 To 5' ["Morning Train" in the U.S.], and her association with the James Bond film 'For Your Eyes Only,' " says Swain. "Her role in 'Miami Vice,'" in which Easton played Sonny Crockett's wife in 1989, "and the Prince phenomenon were all watched closely here. She's had a lot of success, and we felt this would be a great angle to get her back to the forefront. She looks absolutely fantastic, and her singing is better than ever."

However, when approached about recording the project, Easton was hardly sold on being "fabulous." For one thing, she'd just committed to a yearlong contract playing alongside David Cassidy in the musical "At The Copa" in Las Vegas. She also still held a recording contract with MCA Japan. But there was more.

"I didn't want to deal with the politics and the egos and all that crap that always goes into it," she says. "I told them that I wouldn't be available for a whole bunch of promotion, that I wasn't moving to England for six months. They said, 'No problem' -- they would do the tracks in England, and I could record the vocals in Vegas. Every time I had an objection, they made it easier. So I said, 'Sign me up.'"

Toward the end of 1999, Swain and Easton met in Los Angeles, her home base, and started reeling through lists of potential songs. Soon after, she flew to London to meet Masterson and Ronald.

"We intimidated each other at first," Easton admits. "They thought I'd be some sort of diva, and I thought they'd be a couple of snotty-nosed trendies that thought everything was too hip and cool and I wasn't. Well, they're from England, I'm from Scotland, and we grew up with the same sarcastic British humor, so we spent the first half-day insulting each other, cracking each other up, and telling some really filthy, disgusting jokes."

"There was a dynamic there from the start," Masterson agrees. "Sheena was easygoing and brilliant. It couldn't have been better."

Launch single "Giving Up, Giving In" has been craftily remixed, with club versions from Joey Negro, Sleaze Sisters, Sharp, and an extended mix from Masterson and Ronald. The accompanying video is nothing less than raucous, featuring Easton conjuring three extreme diva-esque personas: the ice princess, the wild horse, and the sex kitten. Without doubt, it's the most elaborate music clip she has ever shot.

Easton will spend her dark weeks with "At The Copa" in England, promoting the record through TV and radio appearances, print press, and a live gig Nov. 18 at London's G.A.Y. night at the Astoria.

"You just can't do disco and take yourself incredibly seriously," the artist says, summing up the project. "Anyone who does, it's like, 'Oh, get over yourself.' You just have to put this album on, play it really loud, and dance."

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