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In 1980, Sheena Easton was studying at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama...when the producers of a British TV show called "The Big Time" contacted one of her professors asking for talent recommendations.
("The Big Time" was an early reality series that tracked talented people on their journeys to stardom, sort of a cross between "British Idol" and "Britain's Got Talent.")
Sheena was recommended, and the producers were stunned at just how talented she was. Before her segment of the show even aired, they released her first single, "Modern Girl." It was a modest hit in the UK.
But then, after she appeared on the show, they released her second single...and a star was born.
The second song was about a woman whose husband went off to work every morning, leaving her to dream about the fun they'd have when he got home. The title was "9 to 5," and in May of 1980, it reached #3 on the British charts.
Sheena's record company, EMI, wanted to release it in North America...but there was a problem: Dolly Parton had just released the title cut from her film, "9 to 5" and it was already climbing up the charts across the pond.
So they waited a bit, and finally released the song in February of 1981. In deference to Dolly, and to make sure radio listeners wouldn't be confused, they altered the title to "Morning Train (Nine to Five").
They needn't have worried. Sheena's "Morning Train" tracked all the way to #1 on the Top 40 and Adult Contemporary Charts in both the US and Canada as well as in Australia and New Zealand."
Trivia: The video for the song was filmed on the Bluebell Railway, a heritage line running between East and West Sussex in England, and featured a fully preserved steam locomotive!
"Morning Train (Nine to Five);" A Great Song of 1980-81...and the start of a great career for Sheena Easton! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_3vZYOYNYU
Tomorrow: A good kind of pain.
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