"Pretty mess" video (1984)

"Mechanical Emotion" video was made, but never released, in late 1984/early 1985. What happened?

September 29, 1984. Vanity performing "Pretty Mess" and "Wild Animal" on Soul Train.

Vanity performs "Samuelle" on "The Motown Revue" a Friday night musical series from the summer of 1985, hosted by Smokey Robinson.

Vanity performing "7th Heaven" on the Merv Griffin Show 1985.

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femaletrouble said:

"Mechanical Emotion" video was made, but never released, in late 1984/early 1985. What happened?

Yeah,that's a mystery "Mechanical Emotion" was getting airplay on R&B stations.Not sure why the video wasn't released.Back in those days,a music video was crucial in order for a song to climb the charts and become a hit.Wouldn't it be cool if we could finally see the video after all these years??

Maybe Vanity might have had a better shot right now since alot of singers have succesfully crossed over to films. Things were different in the 80s. Eddie Murphy was the only black actor making serious cash and roles for black women were far and in between (unless you played hookers, junkies)- sad but true, Vanity played a hooker in 52 pick up, in Action Jackson a mistress/ heroin addict and again a call girl on Miami Vice.

When she left Prince and went to Motown,they paired her up with anonymous producers/songwriters who didn't know how to bring out the best in her.Her 'Wild Animal' solo album was a complete mess.

By contrast,the Vanity 6 album was great.She was never an outstanding vocalist,but Prince supplied with her fun,catchy songs that made you forget her vocal weaknesess ."Nasty Girl" is an awesome dance record that you still hear regularly in the nightclubs.

it looks like hers was a case of an attractive woman being in the right place at the right time , who took advantage of the situation (as most would) & then she got into drugs and made reckless moves which destroyed her career.

SoulAlive said:

femaletrouble said:

"Mechanical Emotion" video was made, but never released, in late 1984/early 1985. What happened?

Yeah,that's a mystery "Mechanical Emotion" was getting airplay on R&B stations.Not sure why the video wasn't released.Back in those days,a music video was crucial in order for a song to climb the charts and become a hit.Wouldn't it be cool if we could finally see the video after all these years??

That would be awesome! But, I'm sure miss Matthews wouldn't be so thrilled about it

femaletrouble said:

Maybe Vanity might have had a better shot right now since alot of singers have succesfully crossed over to films. Things were different in the 80s. Eddie Murphy was the only black actor making serious cash and roles for black women were far and in between (unless you played hookers, junkies)- sad but true, Vanity played a hooker in 52 pick up, in Action Jackson a mistress/ heroin addict and again a call girl on Miami Vice.

When she left Prince and went to Motown,they paired her up with anonymous producers/songwriters who didn't know how to bring out the best in her.Her 'Wild Animal' solo album was a complete mess.

By contrast,the Vanity 6 album was great.She was never an outstanding vocalist,but Prince supplied with her fun,catchy songs that made you forget her vocal weaknesess ."Nasty Girl" is an awesome dance record that you still hear regularly in the nightclubs.

it looks like hers was a case of an attractive woman being in the right place at the right time , who took advantage of the situation (as most would) & then she got into drugs and made reckless moves which destroyed her career.

It's even more sad that not a hell of a lot has changed for black actresses between 1984 and 2014.

The Last Dragon premiere, March 21, 1985 at the Plitt Theater in Century City, California

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"Under the Influence" video (1986)

She also performed "Under the Influence" on Solid Gold and "Under the Influence" & "Animals" on American Bandstand.

"Under the influence" and " Romantic voyage" on RAI, Italy

On "The Tonight Show" with Joan Rivers

On "The Tonight Show" with Garry Shandling

On "The Late Show" with Arsenio Hall

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SoulAlive said:

I love Vanity but I gotta admit,her Wild Animal album is a disaster Atrocious vocals,bad lyrics and a "sterile" production.The one bright spot is "Mechanical Emotion".The final track "Crazy Maybe" is one of the worst songs I've ever heard.We all knew that Vanity wasn't much of a singer,but at least she sounded halfway decent on the Vanity 6 album.On Wild Animal,she sometimes sound as if she's losing her mind...lol...screeching,squealing but definitely *not* making a real effort to sing.If Jam and Lewis had been brought in,I know that they could have gotten some good vocals out of her.Look at what they did with Janet Jackson.

Me and my friend talk about that track nearly everytime we speak. That song is beyond dreadful. Seriously, WTF??? Wild Animal is technically a mess of an album but I like it. Now Skin on Skin is a whole other story Whew!! I can't understand how Under the influence is such a great jam and then after that, it falls to pieces. What a shame.

dancerella said:

SoulAlive said:

I love Vanity but I gotta admit,her Wild Animal album is a disaster Atrocious vocals,bad lyrics and a "sterile" production.The one bright spot is "Mechanical Emotion".The final track "Crazy Maybe" is one of the worst songs I've ever heard.We all knew that Vanity wasn't much of a singer,but at least she sounded halfway decent on the Vanity 6 album.On Wild Animal,she sometimes sound as if she's losing her mind...lol...screeching,squealing but definitely *not* making a real effort to sing.If Jam and Lewis had been brought in,I know that they could have gotten some good vocals out of her.Look at what they did with Janet Jackson.

Me and my friend talk about that track nearly everytime we speak. That song is beyond dreadful. Seriously, WTF??? Wild Animal is technically a mess of an album but I like it. Now Skin on Skin is a whole other story Whew!! I can't understand how Under the influence is such a great jam and then after that, it falls to pieces. What a shame.

The problem is with the production.The music sounds sterile and generic.On Wild Animal,the high point doesn't even arrive until "Mechanical Emotion".That's when the funk really kicks in! Skin On Skin is a better album,but it too suffers from generic,by-the-numbers production.As I keep insisting,Motown really should have brought Jam and Lewis on board.They would have given Vanity some dynamic tracks and even made her sound really good,vocally.