{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Romance 1600 | type = studio | artist = Sheila E. | cover = Sheila E Romance 1600 cover.jpg | alt = | released = August 26, 1985<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/gold-platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=sheila+E#search_section|title=RIAA|website=Recording Industry Association of America }}</ref> | recorded = January 4 – February 8, 1985 | studio = | genre = Funk, pop, R&B | length = 38:59 | label = Paisley Park, Warner Bros. | producer = {{hlist|Sheila E.|Prince}} | prev_title = The Glamorous Life | prev_year = 1984 | next_title = Sheila E. | next_year = 1987 | misc = {{Singles | name = Romance 1600 | type = studio | single1 = Sister Fate | single1date = July 26, 1985 | single2 = Bedtime Story | single2date = August 12, 1985 | single3 = A Love Bizarre | single3date = October 1985 }} }}

'''''Romance 1600''''' is the second album by the American singer and musician Sheila E. It was released on August 26, 1985, by Warner Bros. Records and Paisley Park Records. The album was recorded from January 1985 to February 1985,<ref name="Tudahl">{{cite book|last=Tudahl |first=Duane |date=2021 |title=Prince and the Parade and Sign O' The Times Era Studio Sessions 1985 and 1986 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9781538144527}}</ref><ref name="Clerc">{{cite book|last=Clerc |first=Benoît |date=October 2022 |title=Prince: All the Songs |publisher=Octopus |isbn=9781784728816}}</ref> and was produced by Sheila E. herself, alongside Prince.

==Recording and production== The recording of the album took place over a monthly period.<ref name="Tudahl"/><ref name="Clerc"/> The album was recorded in various locations including Cheshire Sound Studios, Master Sound Studios in Atlanta, Georgia; Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood, California; Le Mobile in Houston, Texas; and 5th Floor Recording Studio in Cincinnati, Ohio.<ref name="Romance1600linernotes">Romance 1600 Album Liner Notes</ref> Sheila wrote two songs "Merci for The Speed of a Mad Clown in Summer" and "A Love Bizarre"; the latter of which was co-written with Prince.<ref name="Romance1600linernotes"/> Prince wrote and produced the remaining songs on the album.<ref name="Romance1600linernotes"/>

==Release and promotion== {{Quote box | quote = They thought the whole thing about the first album was to sell sex, which was how it was presented. But for the second album, I cut my hair and wore a long-sleeved blouse and long pants, because I wanted to be seen as a strong musician. But no one got it. | source = — Sheila E. ''Prince and the Parade and Sign O' The Times Era Studio Sessions'' in 2021<ref name="Tudahl"/> | align = right | width = 20em | fontsize = 88% }} After American singer and musician Prince founded his own record label Paisley Park Records in 1985, Sheila E. became one of the first artists to sign to the label.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=prQDAAAAMBAJ Sheila E. in recording pact with Prince label (page 23)]. ''Jet''. Retrieved on February 12, 2026</ref> In collaboration with Warner Bros. Records, Paisley Park Records released ''Romance 1600'' on August 26, 1985. On October 12, 1985, she performed "Sister Fate", "A Love Bizarre", and "Holly Rock" on musical variety television show ''Soul Train''. She also performed "A Love Bizarre" on Dutch music television program ''Countdown'' in 1986.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAGrQo8A8Kw Sheila E. - A Love Bizarre (Countdown, 1986)]. YouTube. Retrieved on February 12, 2026</ref>

To further promote the album, Sheila appeared as the female lead in the musical comedy-drama film ''Krush Groove'', released by Warner Bros. Pictures on October 25, 1985. She performed two songs in the film, "A Love Bizarre" and "Holly Rock"; a single released on the film's soundtrack. On June 16, 1986, a concert film titled ''Live Romance 1600'' was released by Warner Reprise Video.<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7171732/ Sheila E.: Live Romance 1600]. imdb. Retrieved on February 12, 2026</ref> The concert was filmed at the Warfield Theatre in San Francisco, California, and featured a special appearance by Prince and the Revolution.<ref>[https://letterboxd.com/film/sheila-e-live-romance-1600/ Sheila E.: Live Romance 1600 (Overview)]. Letter Box. Retrieved on February 12, 2026</ref>

===Singles=== "Sister Fate" was released as the album's lead single on July 26, 1985. The song failed crossover to the pop chart, only making an impact on the Hot Black Singles chart at number 36.<ref name="billboardcharts">[https://www.billboard.com/artist/sheila-e/ Sheila E. Billboard Chart History]. Billboard. Retrieved on February 11, 2026</ref> The accompanying music was directed by Prince.

"Bedtime Story" was released as the second single on August 12, 1985. Like its predecessor, the song was only released in the United States, however it did not make the charts.

"A Love Bizarre" was released the final single in October 1985. The song became an immediate success, peaking at number 11 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and topping the US Hot Dance Club Play chart; her second song behind "The Glamorous Life" (1984) to achieve this.<ref name="billboardcharts"/> The song also peaked at number 3 on the Hot Black Singles chart.<ref name="billboardcharts"/> Internationally, "A Love Bizarre" reached the top-twenty in Austria,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://austriancharts.at/showitem.asp?interpret=Sheila+E.&titel=A+Love+Bizarre&cat=s |title=Austrian Singles Chart |author=MegaCharts |publisher=Austrian Charts |date=May 1, 1986 |access-date=July 18, 2010}}</ref> and several European countries.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Sheila+E%2E&titel=A+Love+Bizarre&cat=s |title=Dutch Singles Chart |author=MegaCharts |publisher=Dutch Charts |access-date=February 12, 2026}}</ref> The accompanying music video was directed by Michael Schultz.

==Critical reception== {{Music ratings | rev1 = AllMusic | rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="allmusic">[{{AllMusic|class=album|id=r17859|pure_url=yes}} Allmusic review]</ref> | rev2 = Robert Christgau | rev2score = B<ref>[http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?id=1238&name=Sheila+E. Robert Christgau review]</ref> | rev3 = Rolling Stone | rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref>[https://archive.org/details/rollingstonealbu0000unse/page/630/mode/2up The Rolling stone album guide : completely new reviews : every essential album, every essential artist]. ''Rolling Stone''. Retrieved on February 12, 2026</ref> }} ''Romance 1600'' received mixed reviews from music critics. Alex Henderson of AllMusic noted "Although Escovedo did most of the writing and producing herself, Prince's influence is strong throughout the album."<ref name="allmusic"/> ''The Ottawa Citizen'' praised Sheila E. as the "most promising Prince spinoff".<ref name="Tudahl"/> According to the 2021 publication ''Prince and the Parade and Sign O' The Times Era Studio Sessions'', ''People'' magazine gave the album a harsh review, referring to the album's lyrics as "foolishness" and "cornball".<ref name="Tudahl"/>

==Commercial performance== ''Romance 1600'' debuted at number 79 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 on September 21, 1985.<ref name="elpee">[https://elpee.jp/album/Romance%201600/Sheila%20E/ Romance 1600 Billboard 200 Chart History]. Elpee. Retrieved on February 12, 2026</ref> On March 8, 1986, the album peaked at number 50 on the chart.<ref name="elpee"/> During its final week, it fell to number 179 on May 3, 1986, before dropping off the chart after a total of thirty-three weeks.<ref name="elpee"/> ''Romance 1600'' peaked at number 12 on the US Top Black Albums chart.<ref name="billboardcharts"/> Internationally, ''Romance 1600'' peaked at in the top forty in Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden.<ref>[http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Sheila+E%2E&titel=In+Romance+1600&cat=a Sheila E. Romance 1600 dutchcharts]. Dutch Charts. Retrieved on February 12, 2026</ref> ''Romance 1600'' was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 28, 1986.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS |title=Recording Industry Association of America |publisher=RIAA |accessdate=March 7, 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130225031458/http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS |archivedate=February 25, 2013}}</ref>

==Track listing== {{Track listing | headline = Side one | all_writing = Prince, except where noted<ref name="Tudahl"/><ref name="Clerc"/> | title1 = Sister Fate | length1 = 3:50 | title2 = Dear Michaelangelo | length2 = 4:38 | title3 = A Love Bizarre | writer3 = Prince, Sheila E. | length3 = 12:18 }} {{Track listing | headline = Side two | title4 = Toy Box | length4 = 5:32 | title5 = Yellow | length5 = 2:11 | title6 = Romance 1600 | length6 = 3:56 | title7 = Merci for the Speed of a Mad Clown in Summer | writer7 = Sheila E. | length7 = 2:47 | title8 = Bedtime Story | length8 = 3:45 }}

==Personnel== *Sheila E. – lead and backing vocals, percussion (all but 4), drums (1, 5, 7), Simmons SDSV (1), strings, arranger, producer, writer *Juan Escovedo – percussion (3) *Eddie M. – backing vocals (3, 4); saxophone (all but 5) *Ken Grey – Yamaha DX7 (1) *Stef Burns (Stephan Birnbaum) (It) – electric guitar (1), 12-string acoustic guitar (8), backing vocals (3, 4) *Prince – lead (3, 5) and backing vocals (1–3), electric guitar (2–4), Yamaha DX7 (all but 7), Oberheim OB-SX (2), Hammond organ (1, 4, 7), piano (1, 8), keyboards (3, 6), bass guitar (1, 3–5, 8), Linn LM-1 (1, 2, 5, 6), LinnDrum (3, 4), percussion (4), drums (8) *Micheal Weaver – backing vocals (4) *Susie Davis – backing vocals (2, 3, 6) *Jerome Benton – backing vocals (3) *Benny Rietveld – backing vocals (6), bass guitar (1, 7) *John Liotine – trumpet (5) *Steve Madaio – trumpet (5) *Ron Jannelli – trumpet (5), trombone (5) *Dick Hyde – trombone (5) *Robert Martin – saxophone (5) *Tim Misica – saxophone (5)

==Charts== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}}

===Weekly charts=== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |+Weekly chart performance for ''Romance 1600'' ! scope="col"| Chart (1985) ! scope="col"| Peak<br />position |- {{album chart|Netherlands|33|artist=Sheila E.|album=In Romance 1600|rowheader=true|accessdate=June 6, 2019}} |- {{album chart|Germany|36|id=25570|artist=Sheila E.|album=In Romance 1600|rowheader=true|accessdate=June 6, 2019}} |- {{album chart|Sweden|33|artist=Sheila E.|album=In Romance 1600|rowheader=true|accessdate=June 6, 2019}} |- {{album chart|Billboard200|50|artist=Sheila E|rowheader=true|accessdate=June 6, 2019}} |- {{album chart|BillboardRandBHipHop|12|artist=Sheila E|rowheader=true|accessdate=June 6, 2019}} |} {{col-2}}

===Year-end charts=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center" |+Year-end chart performance for ''Romance 1600'' ! scope="col"| Chart (1986) ! scope="col"| Position |- ! scope="row"| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (''Billboard'')<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/charts/year-end/1986/top-r-and-b-hip-hop-albums|title=Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1986|magazine=Billboard|accessdate=July 13, 2021}}</ref> | 40 |} {{col-end}}

==Certifications== {{Certification Table Top|caption=Certifications for ''Romance 1600''}} {{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Sheila E|title=Romance 1600|award=Gold|type=album|relyear=1985|certyear=1986|accessdate=April 13, 2026}} {{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{Sheila E.}} {{Authority control}}

Category:1985 albums Category:Sheila E. albums Category:Albums produced by Prince (musician) Category:Paisley Park Records albums Category:Warner Records albums