"Sugar Walls" is a song by the Scottish singerSheena Easton. It was released as the fourth single overall from her fifth studio album,A Private Heaven (1984). Despite stalling at number 95 in the United Kingdom, it became another hit for Easton in the United States, peaking at number nine on theBillboard Hot 100 chart. It also reached number three on theBillboardHot Black Singles chart and number one on both theBillboardDance/Disco Club Play and12-inch Singles Sales charts. The music was credited to Alexander Nevermind, a pseudonym used byPrince.[4]
"Sugar Walls" was given a special release on 13 April 2019, as a 12-inch single picture disc pressing by RT Industries (Razor & Tie), for 2019National Record Store Day.
The song title is presumed to be a euphemism for the lining of avagina, and the general content was considered suggestive enough to qualify the song for theFilthy Fifteen.[5][6][7] Although Easton'smusic video for "Sugar Walls" did not feature any controversial visual content, some broadcasters refused the video airplay because of the sexual imagery of the song's lyrics.TelevangelistJimmy Swaggart andTipper Gore'sPMRC criticised the song when it was first released.[8]
Prince came up with the track after having been introduced to Sheena Easton through their engineer,David Leonard. Easton was a fan of Prince, and asked Leonard to see if Prince would be willing to work with her after watching her performance onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. At the time, Prince was working on mixing "Ice Cream Castle" forthe Time, but once Leonard told him of Easton, Prince watched her performance of "Hard to Say It's Over" on the show and liked it.[1]
Prince spent the next day recording the instrumental track and a guide vocal to send to Easton. Prince then supervised the recording of her vocals, and they both enjoyed working together. Their work on this track led to further collaborations on Prince's singles "U Got the Look" and "The Arms of Orion".[1]
^McGarrity, Andre (1 January 1998). "Sheena Easton". In Graff, Gary; du Lac, Josh; McFarlin, Jim (eds.).MusicHound R&B: The Essential Album Guide. Detroit:Visible Ink Press. pp. 190–193.
