Sheena Easton reflects on the 40th anniversary of “For Your Eyes Only”

And then there's song at the Oscars. They should bring back the giant musical numbers.

Sheena's incredible performance:

^ the song

One of the best Bond themes. It worked on every level.

How did Sheena get such a massive gig so early in her career?

She was the Billie Eilish of the early 80's.

It’s explained in op’s link to the Variety article, fool!

[quote]How did Sheena get such a massive gig so early in her career?

It was through a UK TV show called the Big Time. When the episode about Sheena trying to make it big as a music star aired in 1980, it gave her immediate exposure and help propel Morning Train (called 9 to 5 in the UK) and Modern Girl into the UK top ten at the same time, a rare feat. Sheena was arguably the hottest artist in the UK at the time, which probably led to them calling her.

I wonder if Lulu eventually fired that manager? I would have been suspicious after the drubbing she gave Easton.

Wasn’t blondie originally tapped to do the theme song but the producers ended up hating it.

She's very articulate and gives a lot of credit to others where it's due. Thanks for sharing.

I forgot how pretty she was back in the day.

4 marriages, and the longest was 14 months. What is the deal?

I don’t hate the Blondie attempt, but it probably wasn’t a good fit for a Bond theme.

Sheena's version is far superior to Blondie's version although Blondie's version isn't bad.

Sheena Shirley Orr, born 27 April 1959; 62, Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Scotland

Easton resides in Henderson, Nevada.

[quote] She's very articulate and gives a lot of credit to others where it's due.

Yeah, I thought that was really classy, and she made some good points. The song is very cinematic and it really does make you think of the film, not her. Although I do think she gave a great vocal performance.

And Christopher Neil is a great producer.

The thing about "Shrieking Sheena," as she was known back then was she was pushed as the modern independent girl who...cut her hair as she was told, sang the songs she was told and dotected how to dress. Real independent.

She had a beautiful lower register but she all too often went for the big notes which revealed a thin, reedy unpleasant tone. Her handlers blew it.

I LOVE the movie poster for For Your Eyes Only. I remember being fascinated by it when I was 8 yrs old.

I love this song and have since I was a child.

I actually think Blondie's song is far more interesting.

I love a lot of her songs, but R17 is spot on.

Sheena became much more interesting with the Best Kept Secret album and then hooking up with Prince.

I like blondie and their song sounds like another blondie song. Nothing about theirs is cinematic or special at all. Like they threw a cast-off to the producers. It’s no wonder it was ultimately rejected. I think Sheena Easton’s song is far superior.

For your cock only

I recall seeing an interview where she mentioned that she doesn’t read music, and so depended a great deal on her bands and producers. She knows she wouldn’t have got where she did without them and is grateful.

R25 Sheena is a graduate of The Royal Academy of Music and Drama.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

I don’t know what to tell you, r26; Sheena Easton herself said “I can’t read music” in the interview. I remember it distinctly because I was shocked.

I’ve never heard that r28. Sheena is quite capable musically and has even written songs herself. I suppose it’s possible but doubtful.

R28 maybe she said she couldn’t read?

I don't know how the fuck anyone can live in Nevada.

Sheena was HUGE in 1981. She was everywhere and had two monster hits and two Top 20 hits. FYEO was a big film hit and it was the summer of the soundtrack smashes with Endless Love, Arthur's Theme and FYEO all monster hits.

After 1981 she couldn't buy a hit for nearly three more years, and even released an album (Madness, Money and Music) that no one was even aware of. She had to totally revamp her image to get a foot back in the door.

Blondie wanted to write the song. The producers didn't want them to write the song. They wanted Debbie Harry to sing the song that was already written.

Debbie didn't want to do that. The band wrote and recorded a demo for their own version, which the producers predictably rejected.

The demo was included on "The Hunter," an album they didn't care about, as filler. It's a good song with a haunting melody. It could have been zhuzhed up and polished to be more cinematic. But it was just a demo.

I miss movies having theme songs that became big hit songs. The 80s had so many of those.

R32 try 2 years. She had a top 10 country and pop chart hit in early 1983 with Kenny Rogers “We’ve Got Tonight” and in late 1983 she had a Top 10 hit with “Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)”.

A lot of well-known singers and musicians can't read music. John Lennon couldn't

[quote] [R32] try 2 years. She had a top 10 country and pop chart hit in early 1983 with Kenny Rogers “We’ve Got Tonight” and in late 1983 she had a Top 10 hit with “Telefone (Long Distance Love Affair)”.

Ah- I completely forgot about We've Got Tonight (for good reason, but it also was on Kenny's album so it didn't occur to me). I always think of Telefone as the beginning of that revamp. So it was 2 1/2 years from FYEO to Telefone.

Sheena is one of the few to win the Grammy for Best New Artist and did not fall to that award's curse. She continued to have hits for 10 years, which is pretty much an average career span for a singer/band.

Huh? She was a consistent chart presence from ‘81-‘85. U Got the Look was in 1987.

Her fabulous last top 10 (#2) hit from 1989.

Most 80s artists couldn't get radio play in the early 90s and their careers were pretty much over. The music industry set the reset button.

Tell me about it.

It always bothered me that she worked so hard to loose her admittedly thick Scots accent.

^ lose ^

Sheena's final Top 40 hit, What Comes Naturally, was way better than The Lover in Me. But I preferred the 2nd single off the album, called 101, which totally stiffed.

Very restrained.

I liked her arc on Miami Vice.

R42: She always comes across as very down to earth in interviews. I read something a while ago where she laughed off the piss throwing incident in Glasgow after the locals gave her shit (or piss I should say) for losing her Scottish accent. She was pretty forgiving!

She was one of those singers that was definitely a singles artist (the singles were great but her albums had lots of filler). Her first three albums were pretty solid though.

She should have done more Hi-NRG in the early 80’s like this.

In the 90s Bill Clinton contacted Sheena and gave her a private tour of the White House.

Did he slip her the D?

I can just imagine ol horny bill Clinton wanting to flaunt being mr president and his dick to sexy Sheena.

[quote]In the 90s Bill Clinton contacted Sheena and gave her a private tour of the White House.

That’s a lie. Sheena denied this when she was on Graham Norton years ago and said she wished it had happened but no.

Sheena Easton performing "For Your Eyes Only" during a performance at a club in San Diego, CA on September 18, 2021.

Bouquet was perfect in the film, as was Corfu.