So we're ending the second month of 2016, and we keep losing musicians every freakin' Monday. I write this on a Tuesday, after learning that Vanity passed away last night. Based on current trends, another musician is dying as you're reading this. Who knows how many RIP posts I'm gonna do before the year is out? Anyway, today's a tribute to Vanity. Even though she renounced her crazy old life and turned to God, she still left behind some cool music.
It's totally fair to say that this song wouldn't exist without Prince, because that's 100% correct. Vanity was basically a stand-in because Prince couldn't transform himself into a woman and sing these songs. But that doesn't mean she was untalented. Here's a way to test it: try to sing this song. Seriously. It's like a wave of words and rhythm that just keep slapping against you. You can run out of breath before you even get to the chorus.
Think Scott can't do four more? THINK AGAIN.
When Vanity basically abandoned Prince, she left with his sound and some of his style. Her solo album from 1984 is clearly Prince-inspired, although nothing close to what he was doing at the time. But consider this: Vanity walking away kind of inspired a good chunk of Purple Rain. Yeah, go watch it again and consider Apollonia is just a stand in for Vanity and "Darling Nikki" gets a lot more cruel. But hey, if she had stayed, there might have been no "Purple Rain" ever. And the world of music might be a very different place.
The story goes that Prince described Vanity as his reflection, so it shouldn't be surprising how bits of this video strive to be Under The Cherry Moon. The song didn't do so well but it might actually fit in better with today's neo-retro pop. Around this time Vanity was also moving to acting instead of music. And she was also doing a lot of drugs.
This particular song comes from Action Jackson, which isn't really a good movie but had a good movie hiding inside it somewhere. It was pretty much the last time Vanity did a song. Well, on purpose anyway.
Vanity 6 - If A Girl Answers Don't Hang Up
This is a rare occasion in Music Monday: the songs I want to talk about aren't actually on the Internet, so I gotta use a stand in. In the song I linked, Prince plays a woman on the other end of the phone fighting with Vanity about a guy. I chose this because it illustrates that they were partners at one point. While partners, Vanity recorded a song called "Vibrator" which was mostly just her singing about her favorite sex toy, then having an orgasm. In 1993, Prince released a song called "Orgasm" that featured, well, exactly what you'd think. Credit went to "She knows..." but it was actually Vanity's old track repurposed into a new song. Probably she didn't even get offered a royalty.
I'd be remiss not to say that Vanity was born again after an overdose, threw out all of her old music, and began working with churches. She ended her life as Denise Matthews, a God-loving woman who admitted to who she'd once been, but simply wasn't that person any more. A tribute to her persona wouldn't be fair or complete without noting that. Rest in peace, Vanity. Thanks for what you suffered through.
Let us just remind you: some images come from the corresponding Wikipedia page and are here under fair use. See you next week.