Vanity 6
Encyclopedia
Vanity 6 was a female vocal trio assembled by Prince
in the early 1980s.
They released one studio album
, which blended the sounds of pop
, New Wave
, dance music
, R&B
, and funk
.
, Boston native Brenda Bennett
, and his personal assistant, Jamie Shoop form a girl group
that would be called "The Hookers". Prince's vision was that the three women would perform in lingerie and sing sensual songs with lyrics about sex and fantasy. Prince had been wanting to mentor a girl singer or group since the late 70s when he saw the film A Star is Born
with Barbra Streisand
and Kris Kristofferson
.
The original trio recorded a few demos
before Prince met Denise Matthews
, a nude model and Canadian
B movie
actress, in January 1982. Prince
was so taken by Matthews' charisma that he decided she would be the perfect frontwoman for his "Hookers" project. Around this time, Prince and Matthews began a romantic relationship that lasted months. With Matthews' arrival, Shoop was dropped from the group. Matthews was eventually re-christened Vanity. Prince had originally suggested that Matthews use the stage name "Vagina" (to be pronounced /vaginɑ/); she declined and renamed herself "Vanity" instead. Other versions of the story suggest that it was Prince himself who coined the name "Vanity", as he said that looking at Matthews was like looking in a mirror at the female version of himself.
With the new trio finalized, Prince renamed the group Vanity 6 (the number representing the group's breast count). He provided the group, now dressed in lingerie and high heels, with provocative songs (although within the album credits, group members were sometimes given sole writing credits). Their first single, "He's So Dull" did not do much on the charts, but did appear in the film National Lampoon's Vacation
.
The second single "Nasty Girl
" was a hit on both the U.S. R&B
chart and U.S. Dance
chart (where it hit number one), and it also made an appearance on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
chart. The song was featured in the film Beverly Hills Cop
, although it was not included on the soundtrack. "Nasty Girl" was also featured in the 1983 sex-comedy Private School
. Members of the group also provided backing vocals on Prince's albums during their existence.
s were shot for all three singles. Their self-titled album, Vanity 6
(which would turn out to be their only release) was eventually certified gold
. The group opened up on the Triple Threat Tour, between 1982 and 1983, which also featured The Time
and Prince, as the headliner. The fact that The Time played behind a curtain while Vanity 6 performed caused a rift between the bands and friction within those friendships.
To the other group members' dismay, Prince chose Vanity to pose with him for a Richard Avedon
photograph used on the cover of an issue of Rolling Stone
magazine. The issue also contained a two-page Avedon photo of Vanity 6.
In 1983, Vanity recorded a demo for a new song, "Sex Shooter", and started reading for her lead role in Purple Rain
opposite Prince. Prior to the shooting of the movie, later in 1983, Vanity abruptly decided to leave the Prince camp and relinquish her role in the film. Many reasons were given for her sudden departure, including money, the end of their romantic relationship, and, most importantly, Vanity having been offered a lucrative solo deal from Motown Records
.
Vanity was replaced in Purple Rain by Patricia Kotero, who would later use the stage name Apollonia. She also inherited the lead role in Vanity 6, which was renamed Apollonia 6
, alongside Bennett and Moonsie. The new trio also recorded what would be their only album, Apollonia 6
in 1984.
In the years since the group's breakup, Vanity renounced her stage name and music and became a born again Christian
.
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
in the early 1980s.
They released one studio album
Vanity 6 (album)
-Charts:-Cover versions:* Several artists have covered "Nasty Girl", including Inaya Day, Lene Alexandra, Beyoncé Knowles, and Nuttin' Nyce....
, which blended the sounds of pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, New Wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
, dance music
Dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
, R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, and funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
.
Formation
In 1981, Prince, himself a rising musical star, suggested that his three female friends—his girlfriend Susan MoonsieSusan Moonsie
Susan Moonsie is an American musician best known for her association with Prince and his girl-group Vanity 6.-Early life:Moonsie, the daughter of a conservative school teacher, hailed from Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was one of Prince's high school girlfriends.-Career:Moonsie became a member of...
, Boston native Brenda Bennett
Brenda Bennett
Brenda Bennett is an American singer from Boston, Massachusetts who married the musician Prince's set-designer Roy Bennett, and then became Prince's "wardrobe mistress." Brenda's maiden name is Brenda Mosher. She started off in a CBS Records band called Tombstone Blues Band...
, and his personal assistant, Jamie Shoop form a girl group
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
that would be called "The Hookers". Prince's vision was that the three women would perform in lingerie and sing sensual songs with lyrics about sex and fantasy. Prince had been wanting to mentor a girl singer or group since the late 70s when he saw the film A Star is Born
A Star Is Born (1976 film)
A Star Is Born is a 1976 American rock music musical film telling the story of a young woman, played by Barbra Streisand who enters show business, and meets and falls in love with an established male star, played by Kris Kristofferson, only to find her career ascending while his goes into decline...
with Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
and Kris Kristofferson
Kris Kristofferson
Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...
.
The original trio recorded a few demos
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
before Prince met Denise Matthews
Vanity (performer)
Denise Katrina Matthews , better known as Vanity, but sometimes credited as Denise Matthews-Smith or D.D. Winters, is a Canadian-born former singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and model from the 1980s until the early mid-90s...
, a nude model and Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
B movie
B movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
actress, in January 1982. Prince
Prince (musician)
Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
was so taken by Matthews' charisma that he decided she would be the perfect frontwoman for his "Hookers" project. Around this time, Prince and Matthews began a romantic relationship that lasted months. With Matthews' arrival, Shoop was dropped from the group. Matthews was eventually re-christened Vanity. Prince had originally suggested that Matthews use the stage name "Vagina" (to be pronounced /vaginɑ/); she declined and renamed herself "Vanity" instead. Other versions of the story suggest that it was Prince himself who coined the name "Vanity", as he said that looking at Matthews was like looking in a mirror at the female version of himself.
With the new trio finalized, Prince renamed the group Vanity 6 (the number representing the group's breast count). He provided the group, now dressed in lingerie and high heels, with provocative songs (although within the album credits, group members were sometimes given sole writing credits). Their first single, "He's So Dull" did not do much on the charts, but did appear in the film National Lampoon's Vacation
National Lampoon's Vacation
Vacation, sometimes referred as National Lampoon's Vacation, is a 1983 comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Randy Quaid, Dana Barron and Anthony Michael Hall...
.
The second single "Nasty Girl
Nasty Girl (Vanity 6 song)
"Nasty Girl" is a song written by Prince for his protégé girl group Vanity 6. Prince gave the songwriting credit to lead singer Vanity, although he was the writer and composer. It was the second single taken from their self-titled debut album Vanity 6 and was released in 1982.The backing music was...
" was a hit on both the U.S. R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart and U.S. Dance
Hot Dance Club Play
The Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
chart (where it hit number one), and it also made an appearance on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...
chart. The song was featured in the film Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop
Beverly Hills Cop is a 1984 American comedy-action film directed by Martin Brest and starring Eddie Murphy, Lisa Eilbacher, John Ashton, Judge Reinhold, and Ronny Cox...
, although it was not included on the soundtrack. "Nasty Girl" was also featured in the 1983 sex-comedy Private School
Private School (film)
Private School is a 1983 teen oriented sex comedy film, directed by Noel Black.-Cast :* Phoebe Cates as Christine Ramsey* Betsy Russell as Jordan Leigh-Jenson* Matthew Modine as Jim Green...
. Members of the group also provided backing vocals on Prince's albums during their existence.
Dissension and dissolution
The third single, "Drive Me Wild", was another minor hit. Music videoMusic video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s were shot for all three singles. Their self-titled album, Vanity 6
Vanity 6 (album)
-Charts:-Cover versions:* Several artists have covered "Nasty Girl", including Inaya Day, Lene Alexandra, Beyoncé Knowles, and Nuttin' Nyce....
(which would turn out to be their only release) was eventually certified gold
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
. The group opened up on the Triple Threat Tour, between 1982 and 1983, which also featured The Time
The Time (band)
The Time is a funk and dance-pop ensemble formed in 1981. They are close Prince associates and arguably the most successful artists who have worked with him.-Prince, Formation and Success:...
and Prince, as the headliner. The fact that The Time played behind a curtain while Vanity 6 performed caused a rift between the bands and friction within those friendships.
To the other group members' dismay, Prince chose Vanity to pose with him for a Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon was an American photographer. An obituary published in The New York Times said that "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century."-Photography career:Avedon was born in New York City to a Jewish Russian...
photograph used on the cover of an issue of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine. The issue also contained a two-page Avedon photo of Vanity 6.
In 1983, Vanity recorded a demo for a new song, "Sex Shooter", and started reading for her lead role in Purple Rain
Purple Rain (film)
Purple Rain is a 1984 film directed by Albert Magnoli and written by Magnoli and William Blinn. Prince makes his film debut in this movie, which was developed to showcase his particular talents, hence, the film contains several extended concert sequences. The film grossed more than US$80 million at...
opposite Prince. Prior to the shooting of the movie, later in 1983, Vanity abruptly decided to leave the Prince camp and relinquish her role in the film. Many reasons were given for her sudden departure, including money, the end of their romantic relationship, and, most importantly, Vanity having been offered a lucrative solo deal from Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
.
Vanity was replaced in Purple Rain by Patricia Kotero, who would later use the stage name Apollonia. She also inherited the lead role in Vanity 6, which was renamed Apollonia 6
Apollonia 6
Apollonia 6 was a 1980s female singing trio created by Prince as a continuation/succession of a previous group, Vanity 6.-Formation and Purple Rain:...
, alongside Bennett and Moonsie. The new trio also recorded what would be their only album, Apollonia 6
Apollonia 6 (album)
Apollonia 6 is the only studio album released by R&B vocal trio and Prince-protégés Apollonia 6.The album was initially to be the second release by the Prince-formed group Vanity 6, but when lead singer Vanity departed Prince's camp, the musician hired Patricia Kotero and named her "Apollonia",...
in 1984.
In the years since the group's breakup, Vanity renounced her stage name and music and became a born again Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
.
Singles
- 1982 "He's So Dull" b/w "Make-Up"
- 1982 "Nasty GirlNasty Girl (Vanity 6 song)"Nasty Girl" is a song written by Prince for his protégé girl group Vanity 6. Prince gave the songwriting credit to lead singer Vanity, although he was the writer and composer. It was the second single taken from their self-titled debut album Vanity 6 and was released in 1982.The backing music was...
" b/w "Drive Me Wild" - 1982 "Drive Me Wild" b/w "3 X 2 = 6"
- 1982 "Bite The Beat" b/w "3 X 2 = 6"
Scheduled for Vanity 6
A number of songs were in fact intended for the Vanity 6 follow up album, but due to Vanity's departure, these songs ended up performed by others.- "Sex ShooterSex Shooter"Sex Shooter" is a song written by Prince for his protégés, girl group Apollonia 6. It appeared on the band's only album, Apollonia 6 and was released as a single in 1984.The song was performed by Apollonia 6 in the film Purple Rain...
" was released by Apollonia 6Apollonia 6Apollonia 6 was a 1980s female singing trio created by Prince as a continuation/succession of a previous group, Vanity 6.-Formation and Purple Rain:...
. Vanity 6 did in fact record at least one version of this song which has been leaked on the internet extensively. The arrangement on this version is sparse and somewhat loose in performance which may indicate that this version was merely a rehearsal or demo version. - "17 Days17 Days (song)"17 Days " is one of the most famous of musician Prince's B-sides...
", the B-sideA-side and B-sideA-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
to Prince's "When Doves CryWhen Doves CryA hit cover version by R&B singer Ginuwine was produced by Timbaland in 1996 for Ginuwine's The Bachelor album, Ginuwine's cover uses actual dove sound effects as texture for its jungle music-inspired instrumental track.-Charts:-Other cover versions:...
", ended up being released by Prince, with Bennett's background vocals still on the recording. - "G-Spot", which ended up on Jill Jones debut album. The Vanity 6/Prince demo has been leaked on the internet as well.
- "The Glamorous LifeThe Glamorous Life"The Glamorous Life" is a song written by Prince in 1984 and first recorded by singer/percussionist Sheila E. The dance song has lyrics which reflect a cynicism for the decadence and materialism of the song's protagonist, referred to in the third person, who "wants to lead a glamorous life",...
", which became the debut lead single and signature track for Sheila E. - "Vibrator", which has been leaked extensively online. This song is unique because it features PrincePrince (musician)Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...
in a comedic sketch as well as Jill JonesJill JonesJill Jones is an American singer and songwriter, who was a backing vocalist for Teena Marie and Prince in the 1980s.-Biography:...
. The song is about Vanity feeling ignored by her lover only to find solace with her (actual quote from the song) "body massagerVibrator (sex toy)Vibrators are devices for the body and skin, to stimulate the nerves for a relaxing and pleasurable feeling. Some vibrators are designed to ergonomically stimulate erogenous zones for erotic stimulation.-History:...
" which midway through the song loses power prompting Vanity to go purchase batteries at 2 different stores. The song is set in three distinct parts: 1) verse and chorus portions then 2) the comedic sketch and finally 3) Vanity achieving an orgasm with her vibrator.
External links
- [ Vanity 6 at All Music]