In Rick James' autobiography,he claims that Prince stole his idea for a sexy girl group."I made the mistake of telling Prince's manager about my plans",James said."The next thing I knew,Vanity 6 was onstage,parading around in their lingerie"

Whether that's true or not,I think Rick created a very good girl group who managed to have a few solid hit singles."All Night Long" and "In My House" are old school classics that still get alot of airplay and attention these days.Share your thoughts and memories about the Mary Jane Girls in this thread...

"Candy Man" (1983)

In 1996,I saw the Mary Jane Girls perform at a local nightclub,along with Con Funk Shun! It was just three of the girls,though....Jojo,Maxi and Candi.It was a special show because it was probably one of the last times that the original members (minus one) performed together.These days,Jojo tours with two other girls and bills herself as "JoJo of the Mary Jane Girls".Two other original members,Maxi and Cheri,tour with two other ladies.

so it looks like their rumored third album,Conversation,doesn't really exist at all? I was hoping it would have been released last year,as promised in that press release.

1sotrue said:

If I was to compare the two girl groups Mary Jane Girls over Vanity 6. Both groups had sex appeal but MJG had better music. For Rick James to get upset at Prince was ridiculous goes to show his ego got way out of hand fueled by his drug use. Personally I think Rick was jealous of Prince mainstream success throughout the 80s.

Not to promote jealousy but you can understand Rick's issue with Prince. Prince practically lifted his style, repackaged it, and got away with it. There are many reasons why Rick's popularity waned but P's success has to be one of if not the biggest reason why that of Rick's stalled and eventually/ quickly declined. Prince was clearly influenced by Rick and owes some of his success to him.

[Edited 6/25/15 12:01pm]

[Edited 6/25/15 18:44pm]

I was just listening to "I Betcha". Love that song.

MotownSubdivision said:

MotownSubdivision said:

1sotrue said:

If I was to compare the two girl groups Mary Jane Girls over Vanity 6. Both groups had sex appeal but MJG had better music. For Rick James to get upset at Prince was ridiculous goes to show his ego got way out of hand fueled by his drug use. Personally I think Rick was jealous of Prince mainstream success throughout the 80s.

Not to promote jealousy but you can understand Rick's issue with Prince. Prince practically lifted his style, repackaged it, and got away it. There are many reasons why Rick's popularity waned but P's success has to be one of if not the biggest reason why that of Rick's stalled and eventually/ quickly declined. Prince was clearly influenced by Rick and owes some of his success to him.

[Edited 6/25/15 12:01pm]

So true.

Back on topic, I love MJG and bought their single In My House when I was a kid. I thought they were fabulous, but liked Vanity 6 even better.

[Edited 6/25/15 14:37pm]

I agree.I love Vanity 6 but let's be honest....they were basically just a novelty act.The Mary Jane Girls were more of a 'real' female group.

1sotrue said:

If I was to compare the two girl groups Mary Jane Girls over Vanity 6. Both groups had sex appeal but MJG had better music.

Gotta love this! They proved you don't need a lot of money to make a great, memorable video.

daingermouz2020 said:

MotownSubdivision said:

Not to promote jealousy but you can understand Rick's issue with Prince. Prince practically lifted his style, repackaged it, and got away it. There are many reasons why Rick's popularity waned but P's success has to be one of if not the biggest reason why that of Rick's stalled and eventually/ quickly declined. Prince was clearly influenced by Rick and owes some of his success to him.

[Edited 6/25/15 12:01pm]

There is also Prince's The Time and Rick's Stone City Band. Not sure if TSCB ever had there own album or not. I believe I read somewhere Rick knew Vanity first before she went on to become Prince's protege. I think Purple Rain film is really what made Rick pissed off . I recall him talking about a movie featuring Teena Marie called Alice in Ghetto Land. It seems Prince beat him to the punch.

They had three albums:

In-N-Out (1980)

The Boys Are Back (1981)

Out From The Shadow (1983)

kitbradley said:

funkaholic1972 said:

Abdul said:

daingermouz2020 said:

There is also Prince's The Time and Rick's Stone City Band. Not sure if TSCB ever had there own album or not. I believe I read somewhere Rick knew Vanity first before she went on to become Prince's protege. I think Purple Rain film is really what made Rick pissed off . I recall him talking about a movie featuring Teena Marie called Alice in Ghetto Land. It seems Prince beat him to the punch.

I,too,remember Rick talking about a planned movie.This was in 1982.Rick's problem is that he took too long to develop these projects.He waited and waited,while Prince was actually doing these things If Rick had filmed his movie in 1982 or even '83,he would have beat Prince to the punch.

In Rick James' autobiography,he claims that Prince stole his idea for a sexy girl group."I made the mistake of telling Prince's manager about my plans",James said."The next thing I knew,Vanity 6 was onstage,parading around in their lingerie"

oh cry me a river! George Clintons sexy-spin-of-girl-groups (Parlet, Brides Of Funkenstein) predate both Vanity6 and MJG many years

that's like Steve Jobs bitching that Bill Gates stole the Windows GUI from Apple, while in reality both stole from Xerox. zero credibility

the problem here is that you are all prince fans and biased. the truth is rick james was on purple rain level with street songs. he was big here and overseas. as some one who work with these two artist on the road, rick james was a big deal and had his own lane. rick should have left motown and went to another label where they would have back him

kitbradley said:

Gotta love this! They proved you don't need a lot of money to make a great, memorable video.

-

First thing came to mind was that scene in Eddie Murphy's movie, "Boomerang" and all the sexual innuendo in that commercial with the fruit. LOL!

Dancelot said:

In Rick James' autobiography,he claims that Prince stole his idea for a sexy girl group."I made the mistake of telling Prince's manager about my plans",James said."The next thing I knew,Vanity 6 was onstage,parading around in their lingerie"

oh cry me a river! George Clintons sexy-spin-of-girl-groups (Parlet, Brides Of Funkenstein) predate both Vanity6 and MJG many years

that's like Steve Jobs bitching that Bill Gates stole the Windows GUI from Apple, while in reality both stole from Xerox. zero credibility

true,lol

jackson35 said:

jackson35 said:

Dancelot said:

Abracadabra
Allah baby, professor
All hail Funkin' Lesson.

But that's another topic.

MotownSubdivision said:

jackson35 said:

the problem here is that you are all prince fans and biased. the truth is rick james was on purple rain level with street songs. he was big here and overseas. as some one who work with these two artist on the road, rick james was a big deal and had his own lane. rick should have left motown and went to another label where they would have back him

What label should he have jumped to? The one that offered him the most money or a specific one? Would have been interesting if he ended up on Warner.

daingermouz2020 said:

MotownSubdivision said:

What label should he have jumped to? The one that offered him the most money or a specific one? Would have been interesting if he ended up on Warner.

I think he did end up at Warner Brothers at one point.

phunkdaddy said:

"Jealousy" is a highlight of their debut album.It has an undeniably 'pop appeal' to it and should have been able to crossover.Great song! It was the fourth single from the album.

SoulAlive said: