| Yap Gun! | "Oh,
Sheila!"
by Melissa A. Weber |
| Sheila Brody & Melissa "Baby Freakalene" Weber cut up. A mini interview. | |
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| "Hear any noise? It's just me and the girls!" (l. to r.) Baby Freakalene, Sarah "Funkychild" Fritz, Sheila Horne-Brody, and Mallia "Queen of Funk" Franklin. 1996. |
The following is an excerpt from the transcript of the interview Ms. Sheila Horne-Brody did as a guest on my 5th Annual P-Funk Marathon on WWOZ in New Orleans. Sheila is an original 1980 Bride of Funkenstein who rejoined the P-Funk All-Star lineup last year in '95 (Editor's note: Sheila has since left the group to pursue solo projects). She is a terribly charming lady who, as one of the few females left in the current Mob, must fight for respect and an occasional solo showcase. But she winds up getting what's hers on the stage and off. She damn well deserves it. She can also sing her behind off. Not to mention, she's funny as hell, as evidenced by all the laughing we did together during the interview. One Nation presents the yuk-fest to you.
MELISSA: How did you first get hooked up with the Brides of Funkenstein?SHEILA: There were 2 Brides first: Dawn (Silva) and Lynn (Mabry). I met Lynn and then she introduced me to George and then he hired me, and then that was it.
MELISSA: What year was that in?
SHEILA: Oh, I have no idea. I was 10 at the time. (laughs)
MELISSA: And you're only 21 now!
SHEILA: You got it, baby. Forever!
MELISSA: So you joined in the late 70s.
SHEILA: The 80s.
MELISSA: The 80s? You were a Bridesmaid, weren't you?
SHEILA: (cracks up) I don't wanna talk about it. (more laughs) It's a long crazy story. But I ended up a Bride. I don't wanna go back to the Bridesmaids.
MELISSA: O.K. (laughs)
SHEILA: But it was interesting. There were 3 Bridesmaids (Brides' background vocalists). One of the Bridesmaids wanted to be a Bride really bad so she . . . (pauses). I can't believe I'm telling this story.
MELISSA: Oh, tell!
SHEILA: She tried to sabotage the thing between the other 2. It just shows you how karma is and how God doesn't like ugly. It turned out she ended up leaving before we did. (laughs) It was amazing. So you gotta be true to your heart and do the right thing because eventually that pays off. When you do bad things, it comes back to haunt ya.
MELISSA: Good advice. And you were on the 2nd Brides of Funkenstein LP . . .
SHEILA: . . . yeah. Never Buy Texas From a Cowboy.
MELISSA: Any interesting stories while recording that?
SHEILA: Well, yeah. I remember George making me do certain things, like, over and over and over again. It was like (in exasperated voice), "OK, George, it all sounds the same!" And he's like, "No, one more time." And, as y ou know, there was a lot of screaming and very intense singing in that (album). I'll never forget that. It was pretty intense.
MELISSA: What was it like back then, being one of the Brides of Funkenstein. I'm sure you had guys just clawing at you.
SHEILA: Well, yeah. I mean, still!!
(entire room falls out laughing)
MELISSA: Any current projects?
SHEILA: I'm working on doin' an alternative album, and Dawn and I are putting some songs together. We're doing a Brides of Funkenstein tribute. It'll be Dawn Silva and Sheila Brody or Sheila Brody and Dawn Silva. We'll have to decide. (laughs)
MELISSA: You all (the Brides) are going back on tour, I heard.
SHEILA: Yeah, we're putting a tour together now in between recording and touring with George.
MELISSA: When you were in the Brides there were 3. You, . . .
SHEILA: . . . Jeanette McGruder, and Dawn Silva.
MELISSA: What is Jeanette doing right now?
SHEILA: Jeanette's in Toronto and she's very successful at being a comedienne. She was voted the #2 or #1 comedienne in Toronto. And she sings in her act; she's really good. But Dawn and I are doing the new Brides. There w as gonna be another girl, but we decided it was gonna be better with just us.
(We talk about the Brides' song "Smoke Signals" where Sheila breathes and moans just like Donna Summer circa "Love to Love You Baby.")
SHEILA: I was made to, uh, (clears throat) pretend I was somewhere else, you know, and (laughs) just go for it. And somehow it worked.
(We also listen to "Party Up in Here" where Sheila's bigger-than-life voice kicks in.)
SHEILA: That's me "Big Mouth." Any rock'n'roll stuff you hear is me cause I grew up on rock'n'roll. So anything you hear that's raunchy or rockin', it's probably me cause I'm the rocker in the group.
MELISSA: What's it like being back with George?
SHEILA: It's awesome, really, because he's a really special person, as everybody knows. He's just very down to earth. I love being around him. It's family.
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