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No ‘Secret’: Sheena Easton to play Mount Airy

Sheena Easton, whose fourth album “Best Kept Secret” just turned 40, will present hits and more Aug. 26 at Mount Airy Casino Resort, located on Woodland Road, Mount Pocono.

“Best Kept Secret” features “Telephone (Long Distance Love Affair)” and “Almost Over You.” Easton cringes at the latter’s music video, which includes a self-playing piano and the perfectly coifed singer heaving an arcade video game off a balcony.

“Wasn’t that awful? What was I thinking? Why did I say yes to that? It‘s kinda funny, not in a good way. I think the song was a hit despite the video.”

Easton, however, likes the eerie “Telefone” video. Horror icons such as Frankenstein’s monster and Dracula pursue the singer, until King Kong’s animatronic hand scoops her up.

As for how “Best Kept Secret” stacks up in her 15-album discography, music “holds up for any artist if somebody loves it,” the performer said. “I’m glad when I see people’s faces light up. It brings something extra to the song for me.”

Easton - born the youngest of six children in Bellshill, Scotland - “was interested in singing my whole life. Unfortunately for my poor family, they would hear me belting out songs in my bedroom upstairs. I sang as often as I could. That was my passion as a kid.”

As a teen, Easton saw 1973’s “The Way We Were.” Hearing Barbra Streisand’s voice fill the movie theater, she wanted to “sing and move people the way I felt moved hearing that.”

The singer-actress, who performed in high school plays, was not welcome in the choir. “Nope. I would start singing my own version of harmonies, sing a lead line. I was not good at blending. Then, it was me having fun, singing loud and proud, doing it my own way.”

Easton, who kept her first husband’s surname, studied to be a speech and drama teacher at the then-Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. With a day job, she thought, she could continue singing in bands at night to make her way in the business.

In 1980, BBC documentary series “The Big Time” chronicled Easton’s rise to music stardom. “You can’t get a bigger break than that,” she said. “Nowadays, kids starting out have YouTube, all sorts of ways to gain exposure via social media. Then, it was TV and radio.”

Released in 1981, Easton’s debut album spun-off two defining hits. “Morning Train (Nine to Five)” depicts a woman whose day drags until her working man returns home. “Modern Girl,” meanwhile, showcases an independent woman, “takin’ care of herself.”

Easton insists “they weren’t political statements. People would go, ‘are you a stay-at-home person or the modern girl? I’m out working my (expletive) off, traveling, working hard since 17, supporting myself, putting myself through college.

“It would be pretentious to say they’re feminist or non-feminist anthems,” she continued. “They were just pop songs at the time.”

Easton, who moved to the USA in the early 1980s, snagged the 1982 Best New Artist Grammy. That same year, she performed her hit James Bond theme “For Your Eyes Only” - which she lip-synched in the film’s opening sequence - at the Academy Awards.

Released in 1984, Easton’s “A Private Heaven” album featured the hits “Strut” and “Sugar Walls.” The music videos displayed her intense “eyebrow acting” and “hammy” posing.

Prince, a friend and frequent collaborator of Easton’s, composed “Sugar Walls.” The track landed on the Parents Music Resource Center’s fruitless “Filthy Fifteen” offensive-songs list.

Upon first hearing “Sugar Walls,” Easton loved it. “There was innuendo all over the place,” she said. “If parents don’t want kids to listen to music, then they shouldn’t let them.”

Easton insists her shift to a sexier, sultry look and sound - peaking with hits such as 1989’s “The Lover in Me” and 1991’s “What Comes Naturally” - was not a conscious decision.

“My music matured. My taste in music matured. My access to different writers, producers increased as I had more hits. My music reflected who I was in my life at the time.”

Easton’s versatility secured her a still-unrivaled feat: top-five singles on Billboard’s pop, adult contemporary, R&B, dance and country charts. On the latter, Easton scored - thanks to duet partner Kenny Rogers, she stressed - a No. 1 with 1983’s “We‘ve Got Tonight.”

Other examples of Easton’s versatility include a 1984 Spanish-language album and a 1993 standards set, “No Strings.” She regards the latter jazz-tinged album as a favorite of hers.

“Fans sometimes hope you’ll stay stuck in a mold,” said the singer, currently residing in Henderson, Nevada. “Stuff I did led to some good results, bad results, mediocre results.”

Following her most recent album, 2000’s “Fabulous,” Easton ceased regular recording and touring. She did so, “100 percent,” to give her children, Jake and Skylar, a normal upbringing. Regular performances in Las Vegas, where she’s a longtime favorite, helped.

Easton, with TV, film and musical-theater roles to her credit, remains open to fun projects. However, the entertainer, who has felt burned out at times, has no set goals for the future.

“There’s no one thing where I’m going, ‘oh my God, I really wanna do this before I die.’ I like my life now. I work when I wanna work. I’m not tied to anything that restricts me.”

For tickets, visit https://mountairycasino.com/events/sheena-easton.

Sheena Easton will perform at Mount Airy Casino Resort on Aug. 26. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO