Sheila E. – The Belle Of St. Mark (US 12″)

BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1984

“The Belle of St. Mark” is a song recorded by singer/percussionist Sheila E. The song was released in November 1984 in the United States and in the Netherlands, and in February 1985 in other markets. It peaked at #34 on the Billboard Hot 100 and in December 1984 and #68 on the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles Charts in 1985. It reached the top 10 in the Netherlands and New Zealand as well as the top 20 in Australia, the UK, and Ireland, and was an NME “Single of the Week”.

The song’s lyrics tell of an androgynous “frail but passionate creature”, referred to as “he” throughout, but called the feminine “Belle”. The song implies the Belle is French (viz. the lyrics, “His Paris hair, it blows in the warm Parisian air / That blows whenever his Paris hair is there”) but St. Mark is commonly known as a location in Venice, Italy, although it may be a reference to St Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery namesake of St. Mark’s Place in the East Village, Manhattan.

SIDE A:
The Belle Of St. Mark (Dance Remix) 7:40
Producer [Directed By] – Sheila E., The Starr * Company
Remix [Remixed By] – David Tickle

SIDE B:
Too Sexy 5:06
Producer [Produced By], Arranged By – Sheila E.

VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint

U.S. CHART HISTORY:

Year Single Chart Position
1984 The Belle Of St. Mark U.S. Billboard Hot 100 #34
1984 The Belle Of St. Mark U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs #68

 

RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Warner Bros. Records ‎– 0-20285, Warner Bros. Records ‎– 9 20285-0 A
Format: Vinyl, 12″, Maxi-Single, 45 RPM
Country: US
Released: 1984
Genre: Funk / Soul
Style: Funk

CREDITS:
Written-By – Sheila E.

NOTES:
Special version from the LP “In The Glamorous Life”

Find the 12″ at DISCOGS

VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net

EQUIPMENT USED:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge: Ortofon 2M
Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Isolation: Auralex Acoustics ISO-Tone Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
DAC/Phono Pre-amp:
Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning:
VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans:
Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner

SOFTWARE USED:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator

RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi

Username: btg
Password: burningtheground

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Eric Generic
December 21, 2019 5:41 pm

Good to see you back, Paul 🙂 Oh this is a great return…I have the Uk 12″ – https://www.discogs.com/Sheila-E-The-Belle-Of-St-Mark-Too-Sexy/release/184121 – which only has a long/full-length version of the track (great sleeve though, huh). So this Dance Mix from the US Maxi is very welcome indeed!

EG.

Nathan Alan
Nathan Alan
December 19, 2019 10:21 pm

Wow Paul. I forgot about this tune, it brings back good memories of a decade when I was young and nearly invincible, immortal-like in health and possibilities. I too have suffered several bouts of pneumonia, a few took me down with severe enough hypoxemia that I went into respiratory and cardiac failure. I have lost friends to it as well. When I got the email from here that you were not well, I kept you in my thoughts and prayers. Glad to see that you are up and about, we are blessed we live in a country with modern medicine… Read more »

DenverDean
DenverDean
December 19, 2019 5:34 pm

Welcome back, Paul! Hope all’s well. I hope you know how much we value you as a person, not someone who share awesome music!

Mark
Mark
December 19, 2019 1:19 pm

Hey- you’re back. Glad you’re doing better and hope all is well with you. BTW – this is one of my favorite Sheila E tunes. Thanks.

AC.
AC.
December 19, 2019 9:59 am

Hope you are feeling better!
I’ve been listening to Sheila E all week – and then this pops up!!!
AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

transito
transito
December 19, 2019 7:05 am

Hola Paul, primero que nada, espero te hayas recuperado muy bien de salud, y que realices el cuidado post de manera adecuada.
Ahora a lo nuestro, gracias por aportar con otro clásico de Sheila E, percusionista que estuvo en el Festival de Viña del Mar, acá en Chile.
Saludos

Walter C
Walter C
December 19, 2019 4:53 am

Glad to know you are OK my friend. TAKE CARE!

Marcus
Marcus
December 19, 2019 3:05 am

Good to see you back Paul, and with another cool Sheila E post 🙂

John
John
December 18, 2019 9:09 pm

Welcome back Paul, glad to see you’re in good health again!

Bellenger1981
Bellenger1981
December 18, 2019 7:08 pm

First of all, welcome back, Paul! Glad to see you back. I know that many of us were a bit concerned. Hope that you are doing better! And secondly, thank you for the excellent post!!! Great track!

David G
David G
December 18, 2019 5:18 pm

So glad you’re back! I hope you’ve recovered well and aren’t doing too much too soon.

And such a great track to be back with! Sheila E. is fantastic!

Jon
Jon
December 18, 2019 3:57 pm

Just good to see you back Paul.

Jermajesty
Jermajesty
December 18, 2019 3:11 pm

Good to see you back Paul. 🙂

Mike.C.
Mike.C.
December 18, 2019 2:44 pm

Whew!!!

Andi
Andi
December 18, 2019 1:19 pm

Hey man, you really got your folks worried…. good you’re back!

Christian
Christian
December 18, 2019 12:46 pm

Good to have you back, I hope all is well?

Jeff
Jeff
December 18, 2019 12:22 pm

I’m so happy you’re back Paul. Thank you for this post and everything you have done.

Have a great day!

Jeff

Daniel
Daniel
December 18, 2019 12:19 pm

Welcome back Paul! I didn´t expect a new post from you this year as I know pneumonia is really something serious. So if you are already feeling well it was a real kick recovery. That makes me feel very happy. Honestly I missed you a lot. There´s a big emptiness without your great posts.

Seb
Seb
December 18, 2019 11:58 am

Great to see you are feeling better!

Jay
Jay
December 18, 2019 11:57 am

Welcome back Paul! We were all very worried about you. I hope you are getting stronger and stronger again. Take good care… and don’t strain yourself, doing too much too soon. Thank you for my particular Sheila E favourite !! <3

DJ Veteran
DJ Veteran
December 18, 2019 11:56 am

First off… Glad to see that your well again.

As for this record, me personally never saw record when it was released (and I’m a big Shelia E fan.) After listening to this while not as good as “A Glamorous Life” its definitely a floor filler has a great rhythm to it and is a fun & enjoyable.

Thanks for this.

Aaron
Aaron
December 18, 2019 11:55 am

Welcome back Paul! I think I speak for everyone when I say we were getting a bit worried. So glad you are on the mend and feeling better!