Why did Vanity, Brenda, Susan and Apollonia perform wearing lingerie? Do u think they would have had bigger success had they not have done this. Hey I'm no prude but if u think about it this is a bit tasteless. They would have had a broader audience by covering up a bit more. I know it should be about the music but image is important. I doubt they had much respect in the entertainment industry. Vanity said in a recent interview " why did'nt someone tell me to put some clothes on!". Sure it got them attention but 4 the wrong reasons.

Hard to make that comparison by today's standards, cause by today's standards they were covered up. Most push the envelope one way or the other.
[Edited 10/9/07 13:34pm]

Well they were created by Prince...he was always going for the more slutty risque thing at the time..even in his own act. didn't many people consider him pornographic?

There are a thousand and one women who have done full nudity for the acting, singing profession and have had decent, sustainable careers, AND there are those who have done full nudity and have never had a real career in mainstream entertainment. The mainstream POP culture is too volatile and crazy anyways, it changes too often to ever have a real standard for beauty.

Another perspective is that regardless of what they wore or didn't wear, maybe that was all the talent they could muster, and a long life in the entertainment business is not guaranteed for anyone, hopefully they have found better uses of their talents.

UncleGrandpa said:

I thought wearing lingerie was their main talent .

That's the problem with a lot of acts, they have too broad an audience. When you try to please too many different types of people, then the future music starts changing and getting weaker to please all those different types of people.

I know we are talking image here and not music but Vanity 6 was a product of Prince who was known for performing on stage in his underwear and singing songs about sex. Naturally, he was going to put out a group that fit his image at the time which was nasty, filthy, and X rated. We, the fans, didn't want a clean Prince or clean protegees that came from him. We wanted them just as nasty and obscene as he was. As for the broader audience, we didn't want that either because it would change things for the weaker. Just look how Prince himself changed after he got that broad audience with "Purple Rain".

Exactly. Prince was a whore himself so naturally he was going to dress his women like whores.

Yeah, many people thought Prince was the nastiest thing out there. Personally, I didn't think he was nasty enough. Instead of performing in his underwear, he should have really gone wild, pulled his underwear off, and performed in the nude. When he performed "Head", instead of having someone pretend to give him head, he should have had them actually give him head on stage for everyone to see.

vainandy said:

Oh my god you never fail to crack me up vainandy. U lust Prince as hardcore as I do!

If she let Prince name her, you can bet he's the one that told her to take her clothes off in the first place, and I don't hav ve to tell anyone she gladly did, more times that once.

Krystal666 said:

Him being "pornographic" was one of the reasons I was so intrigued with him as a kid. (My mom disapporoved of him, and I liked him all the more.)

lipstick said:

The reason they didn't get respect in the industry had nothing to do with their stage wardrobes, but everything to do with the fact that the music was really nothing special and everybody knew they knocked boots with the purple wonder to get the job in the first place.

vainandy said:

Or gave someone head onstage. Taken the classic Bowie guitar move one step further. Oh God, just picturing that....

I think Prince wanted to call Vanity, "Vagina," instead - so we can see his concept for the band right there. And, it was the eighties - Madonna wore loads of lingerie in this period, it was a look.

sj1600 said:

That's more or less the story I heard too.

meow85 said:

So classy! Thank God she put her foot down.

sj1600 said:

Prince has dumb ideas some days.

werent they supposed to be called "the hookers"?

electrorock said:

That rings a bell actually, was it supposed to be Vagina and the Hookers?

I've just found this in Imp of the Perverse by Barney Hoskyns, "Originally they were to be know as The Hookers, with Dee Dee (Denise) tastefully christened Vagina."



Lovely.
[Edited 10/25/07 3:16am]

Serious said:

Brenda could have worn some clothes, her voice was cool

sj1600 said:

Check my signature, Madhouse man clarified this not long ago

CalhounSq said:

Ah - there we go then!

BTW, you're right about Brenda - she was

sj1600 said: