Dec 15

Sugar Walls

SUGAR WALLS
 
 
“Sugar Walls” is the second single from Sheena Easton’s 1984 album A Private Heaven. It spent 16 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, nine of which were in the top 40. It reached #9 overall, as well as #3 on the R&B chart and #1 on the Dance chart. The song failed to chart well in Easton’s native UK. It was composed by Alexander Nevermind, a pseudonym used by Prince. The song title is presumed to refer to the “walls” of her vagina, which was perhaps sufficiently subtle by itself, but the general content was considered suggestive enough to qualify the song for the “Filthy Fifteen”. Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart and Tipper Gore’s PMRC criticized the song when it was first released.  (More from Wikipedia)
The infamous Filthy Fifteen, along with the reasons for their inclusion on the list, follow. Not only is Prince listed first on the list, he was also the songwriter for #2, “Sugar Walls”; and Vanity, at #4, is a one-time Prince protegé. 
1. Prince – “Darling Nikki” (sex, masturbation) 
2. Sheena Easton – “Sugar Walls” (sex) 
3. Judas Priest – “Eat Me Alive” (sex) 
4. Vanity – “Strap on Robbie Baby” (sex) 
5. Mötley Crüe – “Bastard” (violence) 
6. AC/DC – “Let Me Put My Love Into You” (sex) 
7. Twisted Sister – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”  (violence) 
8. Madonna – “Dress You Up” (sex) 
9. W.A.S.P. – “Animal (F--k Like A Beast)” (sex)
10. Def Leppard – “High ’n Dry” (drug and alcohol use) 
11. Mercyful Fate – “Into the Coven” (occult) 
12. Black Sabbath – “Trashed” (drug and alcohol use) 
13. Mary Jane Girls – “In My House” (sex) 
14. Venom – “Possessed” (occult) 
15. Cyndi Lauper – “She Bop”  (sex, masturbation)
 
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Only a third of the songs on this list – “We’re Not Gonna Take It”, “She Bop”, “Sugar Walls”, “Dress You Up”, and “In My House” – were hits, and only the Twisted Sister number is really a signature song. Most of the Filthy Fifteen are deep album cuts that, even at the time, were likely unfamiliar to many of the fans of these bands and artists. For me, the Prince song “Darling Nikki” does not ring a bell; and the same goes for those by Def Leppard, Black Sabbath, Mötley Crüe, Judas Priest, and AC/DC. If this was intended as a resource to help out parents instead of just a publicity stunt, adding the album names would have saved everyone a lot of time. 
(June 2016)
Last edited: March 22, 2021