Deadflow3r said:

I went and listened to these songs and for some reason Grace Jones came to mind. I wondered how she would have sounded singing the same songs. Grace also got her start as a model. I then went and watched a couple of Grace Jones videos and it all became clear why none of Prince's protege's went straight to the top. Both dance and sing provocatively but you can't help but see what Prince meant when he said "I love her for the artist she wanted to be". Something like that, . She is still the most beautiful of all his women in my book.

I was just about to type that Wild Animal had a Grace Jones vibe to the music and her vocal style.

Vashtix said:

purplegirl00 said:

Agreed. The song is very MPLS style & sound.

Morris vocals really made this song- that and his drums.

.

This is one of my favorite Vanity songs. She is not a singer- but what she recorded was a perfect fit for her just like this song-

.

Anyone know what the french part says?

Anyone know why the video was never released?

Did Vanity speak French or was this just for her song?

[Edited 8/3/17 20:21pm]

Just bumping this to see if I maybe someone can answer the questions-

CatB said:

From her diary -

25 Oct 83 Packed everything, leaving tomorrow for LA. Got enough courage up to call Prince, said in plain forgiven English, wishing the best for the film, crossing my fingers, no need to, but am sure in spite of everything I'll miss and love him. He showed at First Avenue... said a genuine Hello. Come to think of it, we never said Goodbye. Cried of course. Goodnight night, sweet dreams of you again and again and again.


26 Oct 83 [...] God, I will miss him he'll never know. But I know this is the right thing. Could bear no longer.

Going back over the docs that are said to be her diary, I realize that it's possible that she might not have left Minneapolis right away after leaving Prince, and that is why the dates might be off. I came to the conclusion as well that she might not have been speaking about the goodbye party, but probably that Prince showed up at First Ave one night when she was there before she had left for LA. Although there's nothing really solicitous, I'm kind of hoping this isn't her diary. IDK, it feels weird to read it, kind of how I felt seeing the intimate text between Prince and Manny online...

[Edited 8/5/17 21:58pm]

Toban (Vanity's former brother in law) said Prince gave Vanity a rose at the AMA the night she gave him the award. This has to be that rose!

*

[Edited 8/5/17 20:27pm]

I took a few paragraphs out of an article reminiscing about vanity and The Last Dragon by; Stereo Williams (thedailybeast.com)– February 16, 2016. (The day Denise passed away.) http://www.thedailybeast....-found-god

*

After splitting from Vanity 6 and Prince prior to his leap into mega stardom with Purple Rain (she was originally the film’s expected love interest, a role that eventually went to former Rams cheerleader and then-unknown TV actress Apollonia Kotero), Vanity signed with Motown. Her first solo album built on the sex kitten image she’d cultivated under Prince, but without his songwriting and production, the project underperformed. Nonetheless, she was cast as the female lead in a martial arts fantasy film from Motown Productions, 1985s The Last Dragon. Grossing under $26 million at the box office, The Last Dragon wasn’t exactly a hit, but the movie introduced Vanity as a prominent leading lady and would go on to become a celebrated slice of campy ‘80s cinema.

The death of Denise Matthews was heartbreaking for anyone who grew up a fan of R&B and black pop culture in the 1980s. Granted, in her heyday, Vanity was a mainstream star with pop hits and movie and TV credits. But for me, as a black kid growing up heavily immersed in the uber-whiteness of John Hughes movies, with Heartland rock on MTV and under the gaze of President Ronald Reagan and his conservative-minded administration, seeing Vanity as Laura Charles in The Last Dragon was profoundly important.Even if I only recognized that importance in hindsight.

We got The Last Dragon on VHS when I was a kid and I would watch it whenever it aired on channel 46, one of our local TV stations. When I think back, it was one of the few black films I had in my collection circa the mid-‘80s, alongside movies like The Goonies, the Star Wars films and the aforementioned John Hughes classics that featured white ‘80s teen stars like Molly Ringwald. I knew almost every word of that movie and was entranced by Vanity as Laura Charles. I’d obviously been too young to catch “Nasty Girl” and Vanity 6 at their height, so my strongest firsthand memories of Vanity are of her exchanging flirty glances with Bruce Leroy (Taimak) while coyly uttering phrases like, “You sure look like a master to me.”

She was perhaps my earliest on-screen crush, and it was rare for me to see beautiful black women presented as the desirable female lead in movies. Even on TV, I’d only seen Thelma from Good Times and Denise from The Cosby Show and a young Janet Jackson as Charlene on Diff’rent Strokes up to that point. I’d missed the years of Diahann Carroll and Pam Grier; as ‘80s kids, we were mostly exposed to the Ringwalds, Phoebe Cateses, and Kerri Greens, and only beginning to see Jennifer Beals and Rae Dawn Chong. Vanity was as glamorous and as gorgeous as any iconic beauty of that generation. And I was so enamored with her.

I’m sure a lot of young boys that grew up at the time felt the same way.

*

[Edited 8/6/17 9:28am]

Vashtix said:

Vashtix said:

Morris vocals really made this song- that and his drums.

.

This is one of my favorite Vanity songs. She is not a singer- but what she recorded was a perfect fit for her just like this song-

.

Anyone know what the french part says?

Anyone know why the video was never released?

Did Vanity speak French or was this just for her song?

[Edited 8/3/17 20:21pm]

Just bumping this to see if I maybe someone can answer the questions-

There was a video? I had no idea, but now I have the same questions as you.

I'm trying to imagine what a video for this song with Morris would look like. Someone translated the French portion and was something about mirrors, so there would have to be those in the video.

I do agree with you on Morris' vocals on this song are strong.

And I happen to like her voice on this song, it's very fitting.

luvgirl said:

Toban (Vanity's former brother in law) said Prince gave Vanity a rose at the AMA the night she gave him the award. This has to be that rose!

*

[Edited 8/5/17 20:27pm]

You're probably right, that's the rose. Can't tell if it's white or yellow. Anyway, that was sweet of him.

Vashtix said:

Vashtix said:

Morris vocals really made this song- that and his drums.

.

This is one of my favorite Vanity songs. She is not a singer- but what she recorded was a perfect fit for her just like this song-

.

Anyone know what the french part says?

Anyone know why the video was never released?

Did Vanity speak French or was this just for her song?

[Edited 8/3/17 20:21pm]

Just bumping this to see if I maybe someone can answer the questions-

Telling by the way she speaks it in the rap, I don't think she spoke French.


From what I understand it says:

Mirror that reflects everything I see. Mirror that reflexes me. Mirror that reflects becomes me and it changes it changes and becomes you. I love this mirror. Well yes it's you I see.

CatB said:

Vashtix said:

Just bumping this to see if I maybe someone can answer the questions-

Telling by the way she speaks it in the rap, I don't think she spoke French.


From what I understand it says:

Mirror that reflects everything I see. Mirror that reflexes me. Mirror that reflects becomes me and it changes it changes and becomes you. I love this mirror. Well yes it's you I see.

Hi CatB!

Thank you for responding. I do not have an ear for the french language so it is great that you responded since you do.

You know the mirror/vanity thing is supposedly why Prince named Denise Vanity. She is his mirror.

It is so amusing to me that little line in this song. Maybe that was how it was explained to her -the reason for the name.

Thanks again for the response.

[Edited 8/6/17 5:45am]

Vashtix said:

CatB said:

Telling by the way she speaks it in the rap, I don't think she spoke French.


From what I understand it says:

Mirror that reflects everything I see. Mirror that reflexes me. Mirror that reflects becomes me and it changes it changes and becomes you. I love this mirror. Well yes it's you I see.

Hi CatB!

Thank you for responding. I do not have an ear for the french language so it is great that you responded since you do.

You know the mirror/vanity thing is supposedly why Prince named Denise Vanity. She is his mirror.

It is so amusing to me that little line in this song. Maybe that was how it was explained to her -the reason for the name.

Yeah and the line is probably the "source" where a certain person got the idea from that they were "communicating with mirrors" ... lol

CatB said:

Vashtix said:

Hi CatB!

Thank you for responding. I do not have an ear for the french language so it is great that you responded since you do.

You know the mirror/vanity thing is supposedly why Prince named Denise Vanity. She is his mirror.

It is so amusing to me that little line in this song. Maybe that was how it was explained to her -the reason for the name.

Yeah and the line is probably the "source" where a certain person got the idea from that they were "communicating with mirrors" ... lol

That just maybe where they got it from. I did check the vids with mirrors and it is intriguing. I especially like it in Somewhere Here On Earth.

Vashtix said:

CatB said:

Yeah and the line is probably the "source" where a certain person got the idea from that they were "communicating with mirrors" ... lol

That just maybe where they got it from. I did check the vids with mirrors and it is intriguing. I especially like it in Somewhere Here On Earth.

What they fail to see is that he didn't only have the mirror thing with Vanity.

SoulAlive said:

*

Awesome picture disc.

CatB said:

Vashtix said:

That just maybe where they got it from. I did check the vids with mirrors and it is intriguing. I especially like it in Somewhere Here On Earth.

What they fail to see is that he didn't only have the mirror thing with Vanity.

Vanity said it in her Playboy interview. I realize that there are always women in the spot Vanity vacated. I look at as the Purple Rain effect. Vanity left and he replaced her with Apples- and on and on it goes . . . .

But for this song(Mechanical Emotion) I find it amusing that Vanity shared the mirrors. I think she was musing Prince.

luvgirl said:

Toban (Vanity's former brother in law) said Prince gave Vanity a rose at the AMA the night she gave him the award. This has to be that rose!

*

[Edited 8/5/17 20:27pm]

Is that Billy "Loverboy" Ocean in the background?

Vanity just had one of those faces, she could look all sweet and innocent one moment, all sultry and alluring the next and all wild and scary in another moment.

MAGNOLI When I met Vanity, I was at [nightclub] First Avenue, in the mezzanine area. Before anyone even said a word, I felt a quickening in the air. Within seconds, people started buzzing, “Vanity’s here, Vanity’s here.” I saw her coming through, one of the most beautiful women you could ever lay your eyes on, packed into latex or whatever second skin, looking exquisite.

COLEMAN Vanity was supposed to be the lead, but she left right before the film. It almost tanked the film. I don’t know what happened. Maybe it was a personal issue between her and Prince. They were dating.

MELVOIN My only speculation was that they had a big blowout. That’s what I heard. They had a huge blowout and she bolted.

MAGNOLI What happened was — and it’s the Hollywood story — Martin Scorsese was casting for The Last Temptation of Christ, and they gave her an offer to play Mary Magdalene. She came to me and said, “Listen, I’ve got this offer, my agent wants me to take it, what should I do?” I felt bad for her because I knew she was in a terrible bind. In the end, she and her representative made the determination that they would do the Scorsese project, which then got delayed because of financing.

OldFriends4Sale said:

CoolMF said:

Is that Billy "Loverboy" Ocean in the background?

yep,that's him.

CoolMF said:

luvgirl said:

Toban (Vanity's former brother in law) said Prince gave Vanity a rose at the AMA the night she gave him the award. This has to be that rose!

*

[Edited 8/5/17 20:27pm]

Is that Billy "Loverboy" Ocean in the background?

I never, ever noticed she was wearing a gorilla fur vest in this pic.

.

That vest is so familiar.

.

This is why I love reviewing things years later. I never, ever, ever noticed that vest. Vanity has such original style. She was a trendsetter. She was not being styled by Prince. She had her own style.

Clearly one rock starts loved, Adam Ant, Billy Idol, Prince just to name the ones we know about.

luvgirl said:

Pretty interesting intricate dress

Vanity performing "Pretty Mess" on Solid Gold in 1984

^^I wonder why that performance doesn't have the second verse of the song? Perhaps the line "I'm drippin' like a hot tea" was too much for the Solid Gold audience?

another nice shot

http://yesgalak.tumblr.co...del-denise