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Vanity 6 (album)

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Vanity 6 is the sole album by the R&B girl group Vanity 6 that had been created by Prince as an outlet for his prolific song writing. All three women in the group (Vanity, Brenda Bennett, Susan Moonsie) shared lead and background vocals.

As was typical for Prince's side projects, he obscured his virtually complete responsibility for the production, songwriting, and instrumental performances by arbitrarily attributing the credits to other members of his musical stable or the fictional "The Starr Company". "If a Girl Answers (Don't Hang Up)" was co-written with The Time member Terry Lewis and "Bite the Beat" was co-written with Jesse Johnson. "He's So Dull" was written by Dez Dickerson.[1]

The album was originally released on August 11, 1982[2] by Warner Bros. Records on LP and cassette. A compact disc was issued in 1988. All three formats are now out-of-print.

Reviewing the album in The Village Voice, Robert Christgau wrote, "All eight of these dumb, dancy little synth tunes get me off when I let my guard down, and most of them are funny, hooky, and raunchy at the same time."[3]

Track listing

  1. "Nasty Girl" (lead vocal: Vanity, writer: Vanity) (5'13)
  2. "Wet Dream" (lead vocal: Vanity, writers: Vanity 6) (4'12)
  3. "Drive Me Wild" (lead vocal: Susan, writer: Susan) (2'33)
  4. "He's So Dull" (lead vocal: Vanity, writers: Dez Dickerson and Vanity) (2'32)
  5. "If a Girl Answers (Don't Hang Up)" (lead vocal: Vanity and Brenda, writers: Vanity 6 and Terry Lewis) (5'35)
  6. "Make-Up" (lead vocal: Susan, writer: Susan) (2'39)
  7. "Bite the Beat" (lead vocal: Brenda, writers: Brenda and Jesse Johnson) (3'13)
  8. "3 X 2 = 6" (lead vocal: Vanity, writer: Vanity) (5'15)

Singles

  • "Nasty Girl"
  • "He's So Dull"
  • "Bite the Beat"
  • "Drive Me Wild"
  • The "other woman" rap on the song "If a Girl Answers (Don't Hang Up)" is performed by Prince in an affected voice whose resemblance to that of The Time's lead singer Morris Day has sometimes led to Day being misidentified as the performer.[4]
  • Vinyl copies of the album were pressed with "Side 1" and "Side 6" on the label.
  • The song "Make-Up" was covered by The Soft Pink Truth on the album Do You Party? in 2003.
  • In 1982, Vanity 6’s "Nasty Girl" was knocked out of number one on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart by Prince's "1999".
  • "Nasty Girl" was featured in the 1983 film Private School, starring Phoebe Cates, and the 1984 box office hit Beverly Hills Cop.
  • "Nasty Girl" was used by Beyoncé on her Dangerously in Love World Tour and Verizon Ladies First Tour as a dance break after the song "Naughty Girl."
  • "Nasty Girl" was used as a sample for Japanese rapper, Twigy's song "Righ' Now."
  • "Nasty Girl" was covered by dance artist Inaya Day in 2004, and was a top 20 hit in the UK and Australia.

References

  1. ^ Dance Music Sex Romance - Prince: The First Decade, Per Nilsen - pg. 127
  2. ^ Dance Music Sex Romance - Prince: The First Decade, Per Nilsen - pg. 124
  3. ^ RobertChristgau.com
  4. ^ Dance Music Sex Romance - Prince: The First Decade, Per Nilsen - pg. 127
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