The album title, the artist's name, and the cover art are all rather mysterious on this debut release. It's also a mystery who wrote the music on the 11 tracks, even though they make sure you know that
Schascle wrote the lyrics. Dig a little deeper and you'll find big money was spent on
Haunted By Real Life. Big time
Madonna producer Patrick Leonard handled the production. Added to the mix are several top-notch studio musicians, including
Luis Conte, Paulino da Costa,
Steve Lukather, David Paich,
John Patitucci, and the late Jeff Porcaro, along with Maxine Waters, N'dea Davenport, and the Andrae Crouch Choir on background vocals. As it turns out,
Schascle (pronounced "Chess-el" according to a sticker on the cover), is quite the blue-eyed soul singer. Her voice is sometimes reminiscent of
Stephanie Mills. The songwriting is pretty good also. If one were to judge this book by the cover, which, in this case, would be the cover art and the album title (along with the artist's name), one might think this were a world music or a folkie, contemplative release, not a soulful pop album by a girl from Florida. However, it's a decent album, and a mystery still remains why the record company never released another
Schascle album. ~ Tim Griggs