maleeboo said:

It's very entertaining though, I wonder how many other hidden movie projects and videos will emerge?

yeah,I wonder the same thing.Imagine if there was a Sheila E 'Romance 1600' mini movie that was never released!

I like the idea of video albums.Beyonce does these with all of her albums these days

Brenda Bennett talks about this project:

Tell us about the unreleased long-form video for the Apollonia 6 album...Presumably, you are talking about the "Mr. Christian" video project. The project was a concept of doing an extended EP per se, only in a video format as opposed to an audio EP: take one of the songs from the album ("Happy Birthday, Mr. Christian"); write a story line around the subject of that song and incorporate other songs from the album into the story to create a mini movie. It was a great idea and the project was a lot of work, but fun. I'm just sorry that it didn't get completed and released. Someone out there got their hands on it and released it on YouTube in its unfinished version. It created a lot of cult interest and keeps appearing from time to time.

-Brenda Bennett

I watched it very often when I first saw it on Youtube. It´s so cheesy and yet so amazing. WTF was Prince thinking while directing this? This was directed by him, right? How does one come up with such a storyline?

The girls look adorable, Brenda´s voice on Blue Limousine sounds perfect for that song, and Blue Limousine and Sex Shooter have a killer groove.

I absolutely love love LOVE this video ! I wonder how much it must´ve cost back then.

Been a long time since the last time I watched it so this thread made me watch it again...and again and again.

I read in the comments section that the reason this wasn´t released is because Ricky Peterson (the one who plays Mr.Christian) died a few months after this was filmed.

I could be wrong,but I don't think that Prince was the director of this.

KoolEaze said:

I read in the comments section that the reason this wasn´t released is because Ricky Peterson (the one who plays Mr.Christian) died a few months after this was filmed.

It's actually Ricky Nelson

Brenda Bennett discusses this project:

We did a “mini-movie” version or long-form video of the album where there was a story line and parts were acted out to coincide with four of our songs off the album. The project was dubbed “Mr. Christian’s Birthday.” As long and hard as the hours were on this project, I really enjoyed doing it. I could see a lot of potential in this being a good tool for promotion. One of the biggest highlights of this project for me was working with Ricky Nelson. He played Mr. Christian. It was about a month later that he died in a plane crash. Unfortunately, Prince never liked the “Mr. Christian” project and it never got any further than the first edits. Such a waste of time and money…but, somehow, somewhere along the line, someone got their hands on it and parts of it will show up on YouTube now and then. The other project we did was a semi-nude photo session using live doves. There were a dozen or more cages of all these white doves that were set free once we got on the set and began to start posing. The photo session was to produce a poster. I never saw the finished product, but I do know it got out there finally.”

KoolEaze said:

Brenda´s voice on Blue Limousine sounds perfect for that song, and Blue Limousine has a killer groove.

I still can't believe that this song didn't become a major hit single.Makes no sense.This song has all the ingredients to be a Top 10 smash hit in 1984/85.

SoulAlive said:

KoolEaze said:

Brenda´s voice on Blue Limousine sounds perfect for that song, and Blue Limousine has a killer groove.

I still can't believe that this song didn't become a major hit single.Makes no sense.This song has all the ingredients to be a Top 10 smash hit in 1984/85.

Sorry I got Ricky Nelson and Ricky Peterson mixed up.

Yes, Blue Limousine could´ve been a big hit.

I remember Prince posting a snippet of it and comparing it with the SOS Band´s Borrowed Love , which was written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and had a similar melody.

Borrowed Love is classic SOS Band song but I don´t remember if it was successful.

KoolEaze said:

SoulAlive said:

I still can't believe that this song didn't become a major hit single.Makes no sense.This song has all the ingredients to be a Top 10 smash hit in 1984/85.

Sorry I got Ricky Nelson and Ricky Peterson mixed up.

Yes, Blue Limousine could´ve been a big hit.

I remember Prince posting a snippet of it and comparing it with the SOS Band´s Borrowed Love , which was written and produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis and had a similar melody.

Borrowed Love is classic SOS Band song but I don´t remember if it was successful.

"Borrowed Love" was a minor hit single for the SOS Band in 1986,reaching Number 14 on the R&B singles chart.

The promotion for the Apollonia 6 album was strange."Blue Limousine" was released as a single,but there was absolutely no promotion for it.There was no music video for it.I never once heard it on the radio and then the "mini movie" was cancelled. Not sure why Warners didn't promote it in any way.

a little more info on this proect.....

A mini film project as four-track video was filmed, loosely based on the Apollonia 6 album. It was directed by Brian Thomson, an Australian Production Designer of the original stage versions of Rocky Horror Show and Jesus Christ Superstar and scripted by Keith Williams, concept writer for music videos by Phil Collins, Ray Parker, Jr., and Donna Summer, with a cast comprising Ricky Nelson, Edy Williams and Buck Henry. Shot in a Los Angeles film studio in early 1985, and produced by British video firm Limelight, the video never went beyond the rough-cut stage.

The plot introduced three lingerie clad widows gathered to listen the reading of Mr Christian's will and testament which leaves them nothing and encourages them to work. The imagery and set is very 1960's revamped into 1980's colorful graphic trends. The scenes show prominent neons words such as 'FILL' at a gas station for Blue Limousine, where Brenda Bennett has the main vocal role, 'EAT' at a diner's for Ooo She She Wa Wa, where Susan Moonsie leads while the two other find themselves struggling in front of piles of dirty dishes to wash. The part featuring Apollonia as leading role features the word 'BUY' in a supermarket set.

SoulAlive said:

a little more info on this proect.....

A mini film project as four-track video was filmed, loosely based on the Apollonia 6 album. It was directed by Brian Thomson, an Australian Production Designer of the original stage versions of Rocky Horror Show and Jesus Christ Superstar and scripted by Keith Williams, concept writer for music videos by Phil Collins, Ray Parker, Jr., and Donna Summer, with a cast comprising Ricky Nelson, Edy Williams and Buck Henry. Shot in a Los Angeles film studio in early 1985, and produced by British video firm Limelight, the video never went beyond the rough-cut stage.

The plot introduced three lingerie clad widows gathered to listen the reading of Mr Christian's will and testament which leaves them nothing and encourages them to work. The imagery and set is very 1960's revamped into 1980's colorful graphic trends. The scenes show prominent neons words such as 'FILL' at a gas station for Blue Limousine, where Brenda Bennett has the main vocal role, 'EAT' at a diner's for Ooo She She Wa Wa, where Susan Moonsie leads while the two other find themselves struggling in front of piles of dirty dishes to wash. The part featuring Apollonia as leading role features the word 'BUY' in a supermarket set.

Oh, so it wasn´t directed by Prince himself.

Thanks for the info.

I love the colors and all the neon signs in this video, and the lingerie and teddy bear.

It´s such an odd video.

KoolEaze said:

SoulAlive said:

a little more info on this proect.....

A mini film project as four-track video was filmed, loosely based on the Apollonia 6 album. It was directed by Brian Thomson, an Australian Production Designer of the original stage versions of Rocky Horror Show and Jesus Christ Superstar and scripted by Keith Williams, concept writer for music videos by Phil Collins, Ray Parker, Jr., and Donna Summer, with a cast comprising Ricky Nelson, Edy Williams and Buck Henry. Shot in a Los Angeles film studio in early 1985, and produced by British video firm Limelight, the video never went beyond the rough-cut stage.

The plot introduced three lingerie clad widows gathered to listen the reading of Mr Christian's will and testament which leaves them nothing and encourages them to work. The imagery and set is very 1960's revamped into 1980's colorful graphic trends. The scenes show prominent neons words such as 'FILL' at a gas station for Blue Limousine, where Brenda Bennett has the main vocal role, 'EAT' at a diner's for Ooo She She Wa Wa, where Susan Moonsie leads while the two other find themselves struggling in front of piles of dirty dishes to wash. The part featuring Apollonia as leading role features the word 'BUY' in a supermarket set.

Oh, so it wasn´t directed by Prince himself.

Thanks for the info.

I love the colors and all the neon signs in this video, and the lingerie and teddy bear.

It´s such an odd video.

yeah,the visuals are really interesting.And just think,this is the unfinished version.Imagine what a little more editing and smoothing out the rough edges would have done as Brenda said,this could have been a very effective promotional tool for their album.

maleeboo said:

Ooh she she wa wa is a great track . It's really sparse and funky , the video is weird in comparison . Lol I love them , but the sophistication of the music does not match the visuals . They should've been huge , both records vanity 6 and appollonia 6 , far superior tracks to what was big at the time

I love the "Ooh She She Wa Wa" segment I think it captures the fun and the spirit of the song.

I agree,the A6 album deserved a much better fate.At the very least,"Blue Limousine" should have been a major hit single.

Would'nt it be fantastic if the Apollonia 6 album was released as a 2 disc deluxe edition. The 1st disc would b a digitally re-mastered version of the original album also containing their version of Manic Monday. The 2nd disc would contain the 4 videos from the film project as well as the official version video of Sex Shooter. Somebody somewhere please make this happen!

jungleluv said:

SoulAlive said:

maleeboo said:

It's very entertaining though, I wonder how many other hidden movie projects and videos will emerge?

yeah,I wonder the same thing.Imagine if there was a Sheila E 'Romance 1600' mini movie that was never released!

Ooohhh, I wish there was a Sheila E 'Romance 1600' mini movie

KoolEaze said:

SoulAlive said:

a little more info on this proect.....

A mini film project as four-track video was filmed, loosely based on the Apollonia 6 album. It was directed by Brian Thomson, an Australian Production Designer of the original stage versions of Rocky Horror Show and Jesus Christ Superstar and scripted by Keith Williams, concept writer for music videos by Phil Collins, Ray Parker, Jr., and Donna Summer, with a cast comprising Ricky Nelson, Edy Williams and Buck Henry. Shot in a Los Angeles film studio in early 1985, and produced by British video firm Limelight, the video never went beyond the rough-cut stage.

The plot introduced three lingerie clad widows gathered to listen the reading of Mr Christian's will and testament which leaves them nothing and encourages them to work. The imagery and set is very 1960's revamped into 1980's colorful graphic trends. The scenes show prominent neons words such as 'FILL' at a gas station for Blue Limousine, where Brenda Bennett has the main vocal role, 'EAT' at a diner's for Ooo She She Wa Wa, where Susan Moonsie leads while the two other find themselves struggling in front of piles of dirty dishes to wash. The part featuring Apollonia as leading role features the word 'BUY' in a supermarket set.

Oh, so it wasn´t directed by Prince himself.

Thanks for the info.

I love the colors and all the neon signs in this video, and the lingerie and teddy bear.

It´s such an odd video.

Not only it wasn't directed by Prince but IIRC he had (and wouldn't have) nothing to do with it, it was something initiated by WB in order to help promote the A6 album but it got shelved for undisclosed reasons. It's possible there isn't even a copy of it in the vault and that only WB has the original film.

databank said:

KoolEaze said:

Oh, so it wasn´t directed by Prince himself.

Thanks for the info.

I love the colors and all the neon signs in this video, and the lingerie and teddy bear.

It´s such an odd video.

Not only it wasn't directed by Prince but IIRC he had (and wouldn't have) nothing to do with it, it was something initiated by WB in order to help promote the A6 album but it got shelved for undisclosed reasons. It's possible there isn't even a copy of it in the vault and that only WB has the original film.

Wow, that is interesting. Are you sure he wanted nothing to do with it? So this whole thing has zero creative input by Prince other than the music?

.

This thread reignited my interest in Apollonia 6 and I´ve been listening to a couple of songs on repeat for the last couple of days. I especially like that Sex Shooter extended dance version.

I think that the whole Apollonia 6 project had more potential than I remembered. Some really catchy tunes, pretty women and very special image. Too bad that they were more or less considered a Vanity 6 copy or leftover. I mean, they indeed were, but still.....I like(d) them a lot.

Maybe because I was too young back then to really be fully aware of Vanity 6.

When I first got interested in Prince and his music I was around 12 and Apollonia was already there.

KoolEaze said:

databank said:

Not only it wasn't directed by Prince but IIRC he had (and wouldn't have) nothing to do with it, it was something initiated by WB in order to help promote the A6 album but it got shelved for undisclosed reasons. It's possible there isn't even a copy of it in the vault and that only WB has the original film.

Wow, that is interesting. Are you sure he wanted nothing to do with it? So this whole thing has zero creative input by Prince other than the music?

.

It's from memory and I don't remember where I read it, sorry, but I'm almost sure.