Sheena Easton closed the first chapter of her career with Madness, Money, and Music, recorded in spring and released in autumn 1982.  Easton's third studio album, it was her last to be produced by Christopher Neil who had guided the Scottish superstar's meteoric ascent with such songs as "Modern Girl," "9 to 5 (Morning Train)," and "For Your Eyes Only."  The Grammy-winning Best New Artist of 1982 scarcely had any time to rest on her laurels; after recording the album at George Martin's AIR Studios in Montserrat, she flew back to America to commence her first full U.S. tour.  The 40-city jaunt began in July, but Easton and her manager Deke Arlon had a plan to bring it to even more cities.  They teamed with the pay cable service HBO - then barely ten years old - to record a concert which would then be released on VHS and Laserdisc.  Live at The Palace, Hollywood was a slick, 60-minute affair directed by David G. Hillier.  Now, that seminal concert capturing the young Easton in full flight is arriving on DVD this Friday, August 19, from Cherry Red's Cherry Pop imprint in a deluxe package also including a CD with an extended, complete version of the show featuring five previously unreleased songs and additional material.

The venue was The Palace, a 1,500-capacity house in the heart of Hollywood that had previously been known as The Hollywood Playhouse, The El Capitan, The Jerry Lewis Theatre, and most famously, The Hollywood Palace.  (Today, it's called Avalon.)  Sold by ABC-TV to a private investor in 1978, The Palace hadn't yet reopened to the public after a renovation when Easton took its stage.  She brought along a crack band including keyboardists Bias Boshell and Ian Lynn (both of whom had played on Madness), guitarist Gerry Moffett, bassist Gary Twigg, drummer Bob Jenkins, guitarist Jeff Carpenter, saxophonist Pete Zorn, and background singers Alan Carvell, Gordon Neville, and Jackie Rawe.  With two released albums and one forthcoming to draw upon, Easton's setlist encompassed familiar hits, new material, and some surprise, choice covers.

Electricity was clearly in the air at the Palace beginning with the opening strains of Bill Conti and Mick Leeson's Academy Award-nominated "For Your Eyes Only" from the 1981 James Bond film of the same name.  The vibe was loose throughout as Easton allowed her band members to shine, whether Carpenter's guitar on the gutsy opener, "Prisoner," or bassist Twigg and keyboardist Lynn on an extended romp through "Modern Girl."  Easton's debut album was tapped for both of those songs as well as the poppier "Don't Send Flowers," sweetly adoring "When He Shines," bright "Take My Time," and the inevitable, happily infectious "Morning Train."  The singer's youth was in evidence; she was just 23 and won the audience over admitting that this was her first time in Hollywood.  It wouldn't be her last.

From sophomore set You Could Have Been with Me, Sheena delivered its hit title ballad and a confident "Just Another Broken Heart."  Despite the latter's the lyrical assertion, Sheena left no doubt that she would pick up those pieces quickly.  Sheena debuted more than half of Madness, Money, and Music (which, of course, had already been released by the time of the concert's initial airing in 1983).  Mick Leeson and Peter Vale's "I Wouldn't Beg for Water" inspired some of her most passionate vocals of the evening along with Barry Black and Brian Chatton's power ballad title track.  Far-removed from the bombast of "Madness, Money, and Music" and the deliciously defiant "Weekend in Paris" was the hauntingly melancholy "In the Winter."  With her rendition of the Janis Ian song, Sheena proved she could interpret a lyric with sensitivity and subtlety.  She touched upon new wave with the perky bop of "Machinery," highlighted by Zorn's wending saxophone, and savored Billy Livesay and Graham Lyle's lively "Are You Man Enough" with the background vocalists playing off her taunting lead.

"In the Winter" was certainly an adventurous choice; so was Sheena's swaggering take on Joni Mitchell's "Raised on Robbery" which was her first encore of the evening.  Easton's gutsy vocal was matched by the tight vocal harmonies and the scorching interplay between her band members.  Indeed, Easton was already demonstrating how to make covers her own.  There's relish in her delivery of Little River Band's "Help Is on Its Way," a slice of country-funk, while a faithful rendition of Elvin Bishop's 1976 hit "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" (originally sung by future Starship lead singer Mickey Thomas) was preceded at the Palace by a sweetly coy introduction.  Easton name-checked Kiki Dee as she introduced her cover of the British singer's 1980 hit "Star," composed by Doreen Chanter.

Sheena was one of the first artists to record Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley's "Wind Beneath My Wings."  Its potential was recognized early on by the eclectic likes of Roger Whittaker, Lee Greenwood, Gladys Knight, Lou Rawls (whose rendition charted in both Pop and R&B) and country singer Gary Morris (whose rendition went top ten Country).  It took another few years before Bette Midler would transform the unabashedly sentimental ballad into an international hit with her performance from the soundtrack of the heart-tugging Beaches.  But before Miss M's own Divine rendition, Sheena evinced a strong and touching emotional connection with the anthem.   "There comes a song in every singer's life which makes a personal statement, and this is a song which I find says something I want to say," she told the audience at the Palace.  Her performance left no doubt of her sincerity.  The evening concluded with a rousing "For Your Eyes Only," its intensity bolstered by the enthusiastic crowd.

There were internal cuts to the songs made to squeeze the show into a 60-minute running time, and the songs "Don't Send Flowers," "Machinery," "Star," "Just Another Broken Heart," and "Take My Time" are wholly absent from the television special which is officially premiering here on DVD.  (Everything is restored on the CD.)  But it's still a fun and essential watch, presented here in the original 1:33:1 aspect ratio and 2.0 stereo.  Note that the DVD is NTSC Region 0, so it can be viewed by Sheena's fans everywhere as a substantial improvement over the various dodgy bootlegs that have appeared over the years.

Live at The Palace, Hollywood is a classy package through and through.  Ted Carfrae has beautifully remastered the concert audio in both formats - the CD audio is derived from the original master tapes as can be seen in photos under the disc trays - and compilation producer Adam Mattera has supplied a superlative new essay in the 12-page color booklet.  It's all housed within an attractive six-panel digipak.

With this splendid CD/DVD release, Cherry Red and RT Industries have delivered another worthy release from the Sheena Easton catalogue. Live at The Palace, Hollywood hits stores on August 19 and is available at the links below.

Sheena Easton, Live at The Palace, Hollywood: Deluxe Edition (Cherry Pop CRPOPDV250, 2022) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD

1. Prisoner
2. Don't Send Flowers (*)
3. Help Is On Its Way
4. I Wouldn't Beg for Water
5. Machinery (*)
6. Are You Man Enough
7. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
8. When He Shines
9. Modern Girl
10. Madness, Money, and Music
11. Star (*)
12. In the Winter
13. Weekend in Paris
14. Just Another Broken Heart (*)
15. Take My Time (*)
16. Morning Train (9 to 5)
17. You Could Have Been with Me
18. Raised on Robbery
19. Wind Beneath My Wings
20. For Your Eyes Only

(*) previously unreleased

DVD

1. Prisoner
2. Help Is On Its Way
3. I Wouldn't Beg for Water
4. Are You Man Enough
5. Fooled Around and Fell in Love
6. When He Shines
7. Modern Girl
8. Madness, Money, and Music
9. In the Winter
10. Weekend in Paris
11. Morning Train (9 to 5)
12. You Could Have Been with Me
13. Raised on Robbery
14. Wind Beneath My Wings
15. For Your Eyes Only