I believe Jesse produced this song for Vanity on the "Action Jackson" movie soundtrack. The sound of his guitar playing on this track is something that I've never heard on any other song. I'm trying to find out what he's doing here so that I can introduce somethging new to my 14 year old son who plays guitar and is advancing rapidly...is it stuio affects...is it backwards???

OOPS! SHIT! SORRY! (wrong forum )
[Edited 2/25/08 18:25pm]

AzhnConnectzhn said:

No problem. Report it to moderator next time will ya? thanks. Moving to associated artists forum

this song was fresh..was it just for the soundtrack?

AzhnConnectzhn said:

Wow...would love to respond to this cuz I could tell u what Jesse was doing....but I can't cuz I have never even heard of this track. Never even saw the movie. ....Yeah, I know. Never wanted to see it for some reason.

blackguitaristz said:

Well thanx to my fellow brother, the other Blaque, who sometimes I get confused with, which is an honour, sent me the track. NOW I can comment on it. I dig the song actually. Nice vocals by Vanity too. Musically, it reminds me of P's Electric Intercourse. Jesse's guitar was cool. Sounded a tad restraint but cool never the less. His guitar is obviously backwards. But it may not have been manully reversed though. Not like part's of Fool's Paradise and Blueberry Gossip. But the effect is backwards inspired. Might have sounded "too wild" for this track if it was a legit reverse. I like the song. Thanx Blaque.

"Faraway Eyes" by Vanity (1988)
Written and produced by Jesse Johnson
From the 'Action Jackson' Motion Picture Soundtrack


One of Vanity's best songs as a solo act.She needed more great songs like this.This is cool.I think it even could have been a single.I have the 'Action Jackson' movie soundtrack and I bought it mainly for this song.It's better than anything on her 'Wild Animal' album.It's got a wistful melody that I really like.On this tune,she's actually attempting to sing and she sounds great.Jesse was the ideal producer for her.He brought out the best of her limited abilities.
[Edited 2/26/08 4:02am]

blackguitaristz said:

Seriously? It was worth seeing just for Vanity,she was HOT in this film I remember seeing it in 1988.It was a double feature with Spike Lee's 'School Daze', which was out around the same time.Ironically,Vanity plays a nightclub singer who is strung out on drugs...very similiar to what she was going through in real-life.She performs two songs in this film---"Faraway Eyes" and "Undress"----both written and produced by Jesse Johnson.

blackguitaristz said:

Yeah, I always thought it sounded awkward and actually I never really cared for it (guitar)... I love the song, though! ...now that you mention it, it does kinda have that "Electric Intercourse" sound to it. Thanks folks for your help and input! I knew ya'll could help!

AzhnConnectzhn said:

Oh I'm sure Blaque thanx u as do I. Actually, I was staing that I dug Jesse's guitar in this song. What I mean by "Might have sounded too wild" was if Jesse really used a backwards guitar track like he did on Blueberry Gossip" on this song as oppossed to a reverse type effect. I think what he used was softer and fit more with the track.

blackguitaristz said:

oic...coo'! I gotta check out the "Blueberry Gossip" cut... is that one of his jams???

AzhnConnectzhn said:

yep jesse had some badass sharp guitar cuts check out the long version on baby lets kiss, and the long version of lovestruck your son may find them intriging

jimmiev1967 said:

Hey thanks! right now I only have the album versions of those two cuts. I might have "Blueberry Gossip", too, but I don't recall that right now.

AzhnConnectzhn said:

no problem that blueberry gossip lp by tamara and the seen is a good start as well play trhe whole album

SoulAlive said:

I agree. Would have loved to have heard him do a whole album with Vanity.

SoulAlive said:

I've actually heard Undress. I like Faraway Eyes better. Since P sat on Electric Intercourse, Jesse said fuck it, I'll get with that vibe.

blackguitaristz said:

That could have been interesting.

blackguitaristz said:

Yeah,I like "Faraway Eyes" much better."Undress" is cool too....a hard,funky Minneapolis groove.

I like her little rap version on 'Undress'. I don't know if that full length was released or not. But I heard it in Saudi Arabia of all places.

Faraway Eyes is lovely. I wasn't that keen on her vocals though. But it is very signature 'Vanity'.

blackguitaristz said:

According to her, that was the plan for her unfinished/unreleased third solo album --- along with Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis & Prince.

GoActive said:

I wonder why that album never materialized.It most likely would have been her best album!

I want to say because of the hospital stint, but Vanity's timeline gets a bit hazy for me during that period. The 3rd LP was planned around '88-'90, but kidney failure among other ailments didn't happen until '94 I think?
[Edited 2/27/08 8:03am]

During her performance of "Undress" on Club MTV in '88 promoting "Action Jackson" (unfortunately the clip has been taken off of youtube), Downtown Julie Brown asked and Vanity said her 3rd album would be coming out later that year. All I know is that she was with A&M records and that Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis and Tony Lemans were working with her on it. After hearing "Undress" and "Faraway Eyes", it sounds like Vanity was moving towards a Janet Jackson-type sound, which I think suited her voice/style quite nicely.

Speaking of the Action Jackson soundtrack, has anyone heard her 3rd song off of it, called "Shotgun"? I can't find it anywhere!

blue22-do you know the rap lyrics on "Undress"? I never knew about that version of the song!

SoulAlive said:

Perhaps if she hadn't been on coke and if Prince was willing to pay her what she was worth for Purple Rain, it might have.

BlaqueKnight said:

blue22 said:

I have the Undress 12" and the rap is on that version.

mimi2 said:

I have the soundtrack and even though Vanity is credited as being on that song, I can't hear her vocals anywhere! Either someone made a mistake or her voice is buried way deep in the mix.

On a somewhat related note:

How in the hell was Prince able to pull the 'Undress' video from Youtube? He has no involvement in that song whatsoever

He must own the rights to the name Vanity if he was able to pull that off.

GoActive said:

You have to understand how Web Sheriff and companies like that work. They are basically mini search engines that those companies use to find stuff using keywords. The person/company hiring them can submit their own keywords to add to their database. Since youtube has decided to bend over backwards for every Sheriff-like company on the net, nobody asks questions. Its done - no questions. Its easier for people to just start another account and repost the vid than it is to fight to have it done legally. Denise would have no problems having her old stuff pulled down as she seems to be currently running from her past anyway.
[Edited 2/27/08 11:35am]

BlaqueKnight said:

That I understand --- just not the correlation between Vanity and Prince after her departure from his camp and Warner Bros. I clicked on a link to what I assume was a performance piece of Vanity singing Undress, and it had been removed due to copyright mumbo jumbo courtesy of Prince/NPG. To my knowledge, Prince has no artistic/legal connection to the tune, other than the fact Vanity and Jesse Johnson were both once his recording artists before they made the split. The Action Jackson soundtrack itself was issued through the Lorimar label. It just boggles me that Prince/NPG would be able to have a form of media removed that doesn't contain any of his licensed work (that I know of).

Also, Denise seems more keen on trying to completely obliterate her Vanity past rather than runaway from it