{"id":41355,"date":"2009-02-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-02-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/vanity-6\/"},"modified":"2009-02-12T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-02-12T00:00:00","slug":"vanity-6","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/vanity-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Vanity 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

The origins of Vanity 6 are somewhat inconclusive due to Prince surrounding himself in equal parts of mystery, innuendo and privacy at the time.\u00a0 Due to his exclusive deal with Warner Bros., he had the power to sign and record anyone he wanted to, and it was his desire for an R-rated girl group that was the catalyst for the formation of Vanity 6.\u00a0 At one time featuring his girlfriend Susan Moonsie and personal assistant Jamie Shoop, the group was originally to be called The Hookers.\u00a0 Rumor has it that Moonsie was to be known as Vagina (pronounced \u201cVageena\u201d) before settling on Vanity after her staunch refusal.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Just before recording sessions for their debut album began, Prince met Canadian nude model Denise Matthews and was quickly smitten.\u00a0 She was then given the Vanity persona, leaving Moonsie relegated to back-up duties along with Brenda Bennett.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t long before Matthews and Prince were an item, and now with the line-up complete, work began on the record.\u00a0 Although all music was performed and the album produced by Prince (under the guise of The Starr Company) the liner notes credit writing to all three girls and to some members of The Time on a few tracks.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The three women formed a unique look, mixing lingerie with leather jackets and stilettos.\u00a0 And while the first single released, \u201cHe\u2019s So Dull,\u201d didn\u2019t exactly set the world on fire, it was the second single — coupled with its seductive video — that shot the group to stardom while climbing the dance charts to the top.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cNasty Girl\u201d is sex personified; a seductive groove and three delicious looking women wearing next to nothing worked a treat.\u00a0 Matthews was not a great singer, but her charisma and looks more than compensated when she appeared live or onscreen.\u00a0 This track has since been sampled and covered many times, but never has it sounded as sexy and smooth as in its original state.\u00a0 It also appeared in movies and TV shows, most notably in Beverly Hills Cop <\/i>during a scene in a strip club. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWet Dream\u201d continues this theme with Matthews making her desires known for — guess who — \u201cHe\u2019s so good lookin,\u2019 he\u2019s the cutest dude I ever seen \/ He\u2019s my little lover, number one star of my wet dream.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s probably the most \u201cPrince\u201d sounding of all the songs here, and his voice is detectable in the chorus harmonies.\u00a0 \u201cDrive Me Wild\u201d is one of two songs credited to Moonsie and it\u2019s the album\u2019s most simplistic song, featuring a minimalist arrangement that\u2019s pretty much New Wave, but with none of the funky solo or breaks that were a staple of Prince\u2019s sound back then.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s So Dull,\u201d which was used as the lead single, is easily the most mainstream moment here.\u00a0 It is in sound and execution very much a Revolution track — not surprising as this one has Dez Dickerson (of The Revolution) credited with a co-write.\u00a0 It\u2019s surprising it wasn\u2019t a hit because it\u2019s so ready made, Prince could have done it himself.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

In parts, the album is wickedly funny due to Prince\u2019s penchant for all things perverse as well as some awesome lyrics in the form of a phone conversation on \u201cIf A Girl Answers (Don\u2019t Hang Up).\u00a0 Allow me to indulge:<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Vanity: Oh, I see, did he just take out the trash?<\/o:p>
Jimmy\u2019s girl: No, that’s somethin’ he use 2 do, now he’s taking out me<\/o:p>
Vanity: Oh, I see, well, tell ’em he left his pants over here last night <\/o:p>
Jimmy\u2019s girl: That’s OK, U keep ’em, he won’t be needin’ ’em 2 night<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Jimmy\u2019s girl is, of course, played to hilarious effect by Prince, and along with Brenda\u2019s rap to end the conversation, it\u2019s a true highlight.\u00a0 \u201cMake-Up\u201d is Moonsie\u2019s second song and follows in the same vain as the first.\u00a0 It\u2019s again a minimal affair in both music and lyrics with a kind of hypnotic groove that gives the album a real New Wave edge.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Brenda takes the lead for \u201cBite The Beat,\u201d which is surprisingly one of the album\u2019s strongest tracks.\u00a0 Her voice is deeper and more mysterious than those of her counterpart\u2019s, and at times her androgynous delivery rivals Prince in the weirdness stakes.\u00a0 Lyrically, it covers familiar ground, but this time the intent is not as clear as it\u2019s buried in double entendres and clever innuendos.\u00a0 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

The album closes with a sweet song of love and a plea to the sisterhood to wait for Mr. Right.\u00a0 \u201c3 x 2 = 6\u201d is an enchanting ballad and gives Matthews a chance to let her voice shine.\u00a0 Lyrically it\u2019s the most accomplished song on the record and also closely resembles Prince\u2019s solo work.\u00a0 There\u2019s a wonderfully sincere quality hearing Matthews sing, \u201cMy made-up name is Vanity cuz a girl’s best friend’s her pride \/ And a working girl don’t have 2 tolerate the Mailman’s tricks.\u201d<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Vanity 6 became a popular side attraction to the Purple One\u2019s circus at the time.\u00a0 Along with The Time, they supported Prince on the Triple Threat Tour — of which anyone who was there will tell you, the shows are very deserving of their now legendary status.\u00a0 Although by the time of his Purple Reign in \u201984 with Matthews no longer around, the now famous Apollonia was his muse and the group was rechristened Apollonia 6.\u00a0 However, there\u2019s no replicating the original and Vanity 6 are a constant reminder of that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":29748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[8344],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-41355","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-vanity-6","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/67"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/41355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29748"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=41355"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=41355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}