Vanity - Vanity 6 (1982), Wild Animal (1984) & Skin On Skin (1986) TRIPLE POST!!!

It is with a very heavy heart that I make this latest post.  In case you haven't heard yet, my idol Vanity aka Denise Katrina Matthews passed away at the age of 57 due to kidney failure on February 15, 2016.  It has taken me a few days to deal with this, but now I feel I must honour her with a (very lengthy) post, a post that has been requested by several of you over the years. Vanity was the reason I started this blog nine years ago.  Like so many featured on this blog, Vanity was an unsung pop star who was forgotten over the years yet deserved recognition.  She did have a higher profile, at least in the 80s, than many acts featured here, which is why I resisted doing a post on her then.  But she was my initial motivation, as I was a huge fan of hers from the moment I saw her and she remained my ultimate diva.  I had even originally named this blog after her first major film, Tanya's Island, which she made before she was known as Vanity and was using the moniker D.D. Winters.  Even my 'Nasty G' name comes from the Vanity 6 song "Nasty Girl".  Much has been written about her over the past few days, so her past is well documented on the internet and I won't go into too much detail here.  For that you can also check her Wikipedia page. But I do want to share my personal memories of her.  The first time I laid eyes on her was in 1984 when I was 14 and she appeared on the Canadian music TV show The New Music.  They were doing a feature on Prince's female protegees.  At the time I was a casual Prince fan and had just become a Sheila E. fan, so I was curious about these other women.  The moment they showed an image of Vanity I was smitten.  She was the most beautiful woman I had ever laid eyes upon (and still is) and she had an irresistible magnetism just through that one image that drew me in forever.  Then they showed some clips from her music videos and I was all hers.  The fact that she was a fellow Canadian was a huge bonus.  This was around when she released her first solo album Wild Animal, and it was the only thing I cared about receiving for Christmas that year, which I did. I adored the album (despite family and friends insisting that she couldn't really sing) and I practically wore out the cassette the first week!  I was consumed with finding images of her after that and snatched up every magazine that she was in, from Right On to Playboy to Creem, The photos went on my wall immediately.  I also scoured the television for appearances by her, though back then we had limited channels and only video cassettes to capture things on.  But I wore out those video tapes as well whenever I was able to capture anything Vanity, especially her "Pretty Mess" video.  She was always a coquettish and magnetic presence in both her performances and interviews, with undeniable charisma.  Soon after a family friend managed to find a vinyl copy of the Vanity 6 album and I was in heaven!  The sexuality and naughtiness of both albums were just the kind of rebellion I needed as a lonely, overweight, awkward teen.  I delighted in shocking everyone around me with her lyrics and image.  Her outlandishness empowered me.  I remember my father watching the "Nasty Girl" video and dismissing her after she claimed that she needed "seven inches or more", clearly intimidated by her beauty and sexuality, as he fancied himself a Casanova but knew he'd never have a chance. This pleased me even more.  Soon her movie The Last Dragon was being promoted and I longed to see it, but living in a small town with a two cinema theatre, it was never shown, so I had to satiate myself with the soundtrack and soundtrack poster, which I begged to have from the only record store in town.  Obviously I immediately adored the song "7th Heaven" from it.  Luckily our theatre did show Purple Rain and I had become a bigger Prince fan because of it, as well as a fan of Apollonia, who had replaced Vanity in the movie after Vanity, having realized that Prince would never love and focus only on her, pursued the independence that could make her career flourish.  Unfortunately Apollonia (who is also featured on the Isle) paled in comparison to Vanity in my eyes, lacking her extreme magnetism and sensuality - though I do still adore Apples. As Apollonia herself admitted this week, Vanity was a tough act to follow. ;)  I wished at that time that Vanity had stayed with Prince, as everyone's career who was connected to him was blowing up.  (Though she managed to do quite well on Motown and had two Billboard Hot 100 hits.)  Teenagers being complicated and fickle, I was soon distracted with my awkward social world.  That, combined with the extreme difficulty in tracking anyone's career in those pre-internet times, led to my surprise when I came across her second album Skin On Skin. Of course I snatched it up, though while I adored the first single "Under The Influence", the rest of the album was a bit of a let down.  It lacked the extreme electro-funk and sexuality of  Wild Animal, and while she wrote and co-produced all of the material on Wild Animal, she was barely present in the creation of Skin On Skin.  Though her vocals had noticeably improved, it seemed a lot less personal. Of course, I still loved the album, and songs like "Animals" and "Ouch!" kept up that sexy silliness. The album didn't seem to get as much attention, however, and Vanity showed up on TV less and less. During that time she was also starring in many movies like Never Too Young To Die and Action Jackson (I adored the Jesse Johnson produced track "Undress" from it and was thrilled she was in the video for the Pointer Sisters' "He Turned Me Out", also featured on it), though of course they never made it to my two cinema town, and it took years before anything new came out on video back then.  These things combined to take my focus off of her.  There was one time in 1989, however, when she was filming an episode of the Friday The 13th TV series in Toronto entitled 'Mesmer's Bauble'  (in which she starred alongside Isle postee Robey), that a friend's brother was lucky enough to be at the filming, and he came back regaling me with stories of her.  I was extremely jealous.  She had been so close! But soon I was off to university and was distracted by my new academic and social life and all that that entailed.  I thought of her occasionally (like when I randomly scored a publicity poster of her as "Miss Audio-Visual 1984", and when I used "Strap On Robbie Baby" to shock a sociology class), but she fell to the back of my mind and became a bit of a teenage embarrassment.  In 1990 I did hear that she was filming a movie called Lambada: Set The Night On Fire and was extremely excited about the new song she was to record for it, but it was soon revealed that she dropped out of the film, and the song, "Gotta Lambada", ended up being recorded by female duo Absolut instead.  She did appear in the TV movie Memories Of Murder that year, which was the first Lifetime movie ever, but of course I didn't get Lifetime. After that she was totally off my radar until 1992, when she appeared in the Jackie Collins TV mini-series Lady Boss, which I watched with a sort of sentimental melancholy.  Around that time rumours were surfacing that she was a born-again Christian, and she then shockingly (to me, at least) appeared on The Joan Rivers Show that same year, renouncing her past and emphatically preaching the word of God.  It was very jarring and, I confess, made me very uncomfortable.  She talked about how she detested her carnal identity as Vanity, and discussed her addiction to smoking crack, which led to extreme kidney damage, a kidney transplant, and almost death!  It all came as a shock to me, though looking back it suddenly seemed obvious that she was on drugs in many of her early interviews and performances. I have to admit that this new Vanity, or Denise Matthews, as she now wanted to be called, frightened me, and like one of Joan's audience members suggested, it seemed to me that she had just substituted one drug for another.  She was an extreme literal bible thumper and even spoke in tongues!  It was all too much for me, though I felt ashamed for wishing that the old Vanity would return.  It seemed like a freak show, and I chose to turn my back on it.  Then, in the later 2000s, I started to feel nostalgic and began listening to all of the older music again, Vanity most of all.  Now that the internet was everywhere, I sought out copies of her old movies and finally saw many for the first time, including the extremely controversial Tanya's Island - now I finally knew what the song "Wild Animal" was about!  I introduced her into my new world and forced her on my friends and especially my boyfriend, who was (and still is) a huge Madonna fan, but he eventually warmed up to her as well.  I pulled out old pics and posters and put them up.  I joined forums and met friends while talking about her, and created several monikers for websites derived from her various aliases, songs and films.  I made her my computer and phone wallpaper and screen savers.  I was again entrenched in the world of Vanity. Only after she passed this week did I realize just how much of her physically surrounds me in all aspects of my world.  I did check up on the real Denise Matthews at times, visiting her website and Facebook page, and I was happy that she had found happiness through religion, even if I didn't get it myself.  I felt horrible for her continuing illness, and the revelations of her abuse as a child and adult.  I read Nikki Sixx's Heroin Diaries, about his drug addiction in the year 1987, when he was dating Vanity and she was going through an equally destructive drug addiction.  She wrote several passages in the book, and I got a better idea of what she went though.  But, though Denise preferred it, I couldn't let Vanity go, and I created a Facebook page dedicated to her. I was thrilled at the response from followers and realized that I was far from alone in my love for Vanity.  Then a year or two later, I got a Facebook message from Denise Matthews herself!  In it she asked that I take the page down, as she no longer wanted her old self to be celebrated.  She asked me to call her so we could discuss it and gave me her phone number.  You can imagine my delight and horror!  Out of respect I immediately removed the page, but I could never call her.  I don't want to meet my idols, and I was also wary of her possible attempts to "convert" me.  Now that she is gone, I regret that decision.  I had no idea that she was so ill in the past months, and though I knew she was lucky to have lived this long, I was still so saddened by her death.  And though I know that she did not want people to celebrate Vanity, and I do also celebrate the amazing woman that was Denise Matthews, I need to post this tribute to her and share the music that made me so happy all of these years.  As I told her when we corresponded about the Facebook page, though she was regretful about her personal life the years she was known as Vanity, she should not dismiss or forget the joy that her music and films gave so many of us.  Without her, I would not be who I am today, which I'd like to think isn't so bad, as for some undefinable reason she instilled in me a strength and sass that I desperately needed as a teen, and I'm not sure that I would have discovered that without Vanity.  I am sorry that her life was often so sad, but I think in the end she was truly happy to go to the God she loved so dearly, and that is how I'll remember her.  Please celebrate and enjoy her work and life!

Video for He's So Dull

Video for Nasty Girl

Video for Drive Me Wild

Download Vanity 6

1 Nasty Girl
2 Wet Dream
3 Drive Me Wild
4 He's So Dull
5 If A Girl Answers (Don't Hang Up)
6 Make-Up
7 Bite The Beat
8 3 x 2 = 6

Video for Pretty Mess

Live performance of Samuelle

Live performance of Pretty Mess & Wild Animal

Download Wild Animal

1 Flippin' Out
2 Pretty Mess
3 Samuelle
4 Strap On "Robbie Baby"
5 Wild Animal
6 Mechanical Emotion
7 Crazy Maybe

Video for Under The Influence

Live performance of Romantic Voyage

Live performance of  Under The Influence & Animals

Download Skin On Skin

1 Under The Influence
2 Manhunt
3 Romantic Voyage
4 Confidential
5 Animals
6 Skin On Skin
7 Gun Shy
8 Ouch
9 In The Jungle

Mens Room - Mens Room (1984)

So I know, once again I've been negligent of this blog, but I've been very busy at work and haven't had much chance to post.  But I did manage to rip some records for my other blog, and I ran across this very rare gem in my record collection and knew I had to add it here.  Mens Room was a studio project featuring three well-known Canadian singers. Charity Brown (aka Phyllis Boltz), a Kitchener native who had success in Canada with the group Rain, had also had solo success as Phyllis Brown and as Charity Brown, her biggest hit being "Take Me In Your Arms" in 1975.  Cherrill Rae was half of the successful British-Canadian duo The Raes with her husband Robbie, who released three albums, had a hit television variety show in Canada from 1978 to 1980, and even managed a Billboard Hot 100 hit with "A Little Lovin' (Keeps the Doctor Away)". Caren Cole was a classical musician and rock singer from Toronto who would later have a Hi-NRG hit with "I Need A Lover Tonight". The group released a self-titled EP in 1983 that included four of the tracks that would be on the album.  The first single was a remake of British 80s all-female group The Belle Stars' biggest British hit "Sign Of The Times".  It got quite a bit of play on Canadian radio (I remember loving it when I was a kid, though years later I also finally heard The Belle Stars' version and love that too).  A promo single was also released of their version of The Ronettes' "Baby I Love You".  A full album followed, with the first four tracks being produced by Canadian producers Brian Ainsworth and Michael McCarty (who was President of EMI Music Publishing Canada for 18 years after this), while the last five were produced by the mysterious SST.  The rest of the album also consisted of mostly remakes of well known songs including The Ronettes' "Be My Baby", Buddy Holly's "Everyday", Modern Romance's "Best Years Of Our Lives", and The Rolling Stones' "Tell Me", and rarer tracks including BB Gabor's "Simulated Groove", and The Dooleys' "In Car Stereo". The one original,  "Baby I'm Back In Love Again", became most famous for being Family Ties star Tina Yothers' only single in 1987, which she also performed on Family Ties. Isle postees Boomerang also recorded a version for their album in 1985. Like Boomerang, the point of the group was obviously to update the girl group sound of the 60s with a decidedly new wave edge.  You be the judge as to how well it worked.  I, for one, love it!

Download Mens Room

1		Baby I Love You
2		Tell Me
3		Everyday
4		Be My Baby
5		Simulated Groove
6		Sign Of The Times
7		Best Years Of Our Lives
8		In Car Stereo
9		Baby I'm Back In Love Again

Cindy Valentine - Rock & Roll Heart Attack (1984) and Secret Rendez-Vous (1987) DOUBLE POST!!

Thanks to a dear Isle devotee, Adriana, I can now share with you one of my fave pop albums of the 1980s. Cindy Valentine was a fixture on Canadian radio and television in the 1980's. Born in Italy, she moved to Canada to pursue a career in music. At some point she crossed paths with disco producer Tony Green (he also produced Isle postee Alta Dustin). As Pat Benatar and her hard rock sound rose to fame in the early 1980s, many female singers followed her lead, and Cindy was no exception. She signed to Columbia and released Rock & Roll Heart Attack, a hard rock album laced with new wave elements. Songs such as "Victim" and "Make It Through The Night" were radio staples in Canada. But then Cindy seemed to disappear from the music scene, though she did pop up in a few small acting roles. Three years later, to my surprise and delight, she re-emerged, transformed into a dance-pop diva on her Polydor album Secret Rendez-Vous. Her first single, the brilliant "In Your Midnight Hour" (which was later a European hit for C.C. Catch), was a dance hit in Canada and the video was played on Muchmusic frequently. Her second single, the album's title track, was an even bigger success, attracting international attention, especially from freestyle fans. The whole album, also produced by Tony Green, is a dance pop dream, mixing synth-pop, freestyle and funk (similar to artists like Alisha, for whom she co-wrote the track "Into The Night" with Green). Cindy wasn't heard from again until 1989, when her freestyle single "Pick Up The Pieces (To My Heart)" hit #11 on the Billboard Dance Charts. That same year, she also contributed a couple songs to the film Teen Witch and performed in the film. Another album was apparently planned but never released. She then surprised me again by popping up on lead vocals on three tracks on Jellybean's Spillin' The Beans album. I thought this would lead to even greater success, but instead she faded from the spotlight. Wanting to know what happened to her and whether she planned on ever re-releasing Secret Rendez-Vous on CD (Rock & Roll Heart Attack was re-released in 2007), I discovered her website, under her given name Valentine Leone, and wrote to her. To my surprise, she actually wrote me back! She said she was flattered that she still had a fan base, but that she had "no intentions of going backwards and am not a fan of remakes in any form" -->. She also filled me in on her other work. It appears she decided to work in the background, working on music for several films, including Repossessed and Another 9 1/2 Weeks, as well as producing films and taking on small acting roles once again. She was excited about the musical version of Teen Witch, which uses her original songs. And though she said she didn't want to go backwards, in addition to independently releasing an MP3 album entitled Blame Yourself in 2008, she also released another MP3 compilation this year entitled Speak Your Mind, which includes unreleased tracks (likely from her unreleased album from 1989), as well as her versions of songs written for others and remixes, including those for "In Your Midnight Hour" and "Pick Up The Pieces". It's more great freestyle and dance pop. Both albums are available for download on iTunes and Amazon.com. So the lady is back! For more info on her, visit her website or her Myspace page. And you can also be part of the fan page I created for her on Facebook. Welcome back, Valentine!

UPDATE:  Cindy e-mailed me to update us on her current goings on, and she has lots of amazing things going on!  Always an honour! :)  Here is her message:

"I wanted to reach out to you again since you were kind enough to write about me a while back and genuinely care. On July 4th I released a new single called, "Le Derrière"  25% of the money going to North Shore and 25% going to help Diabetes. On iTunes, Amazon, Spotify and pretty much anywhere.

I also had a role in a new movie released two weeks ago called The Great Chameleon. I play the sister to a thief and it is another small role.

I'm releasing a second single called "Wicked Ways" this Halloween. It was remixed by DJ Mark Love Rush in the UK and the USA remix is being done by Funk Generation-H3D Rush.

I'm also planning a remake of the Teen Witch song "It's Never Gonna Be The Same Again" to coincide with the Halloween release (I know I said I wouldn't go back but I am).  I'll be giving the song away for free to all those who buy the "Wicked Ways" single.  Do, spread the word.

PS I never married Tony Green....lol Please correct that error. :-)
 
Cindy Valentine Xoxo"

UPDATE #2:  Hooray! Cindy has written to update us all again!  Here's what she had to say: 

"Since the last time we connected, The single, "Wicked Ways" was released in October 2013 for my favorite month and holiday, Halloween. What wasn't planned was my mother going through open heart surgery. :-(  Good news is, she has a second chance at life and I have a second chance to enjoy my mom.  The not so good news is, I was unable to promote the single properly and won't be attending the Grammy's this year as I did last year.  

I'm hoping the release of the music video for "Wicked Ways," that was just completed and scheduled for a Valentines Day release, will help boost and direct traffic to Itunes where you can purchase the video with a special behind the scenes extra bonus. The director, Rob Schwartz of Che Town Films, will be releasing a sneak peak on Youtube beginning the first week of February 2014. Remember that 25% goes to a good cause and your support is a blessing! 

Thanks for believing and spread the word. :-) 

Peace, Love, Happiness and keep the music alive!!"

Video for Make It Through The Night

Video for Using Me


Download Rock & Roll Heart Attack

1		Victim
2		Fool In The Night
3		Big Kiss
4		Love Child
5		Power Of Love
6		Living In The Fast Lane
7		Make It Through The Night
8		Using Me
9		Lust
10		Don't Waste Your Love

Video for In Your Midnight Hour

Download Secret Rendez-Vous

1		In Your Midnight Hour
2		Heartless
3		Don't Give Up
4		Try Your Luck
5		A Fine Mess
6		Secret Rendez-Vous
7		Savage
8		Fight The Feeling
9		Hungry Love

Apollonia - Apollonia 6 (1984) & Apollonia (1988) DOUBLE POST!!

Ah, Apollonia! This lady is one of the artists who started my obsession with sexy and cheesy girl pop (the first being the lady without whom 'Apollonia' would never have existed, the dearly departed Vanity). Everyone knows about Apollonia's history: Patricia Kotero auditioned for Prince to replace Vanity in Prince's camp, both in his girl group Vanity 6 aka Apollonia 6 (with Brenda Bennett and Susan Moonsie) and in his film, Purple Rain, and got the role. Apollonia 6 were not as revered as Vanity 6, but "Sex Shooter" (which was recorded by Vanity first) managed to be a minor hit.  The only other single, "Blue Limousine", did not. (Incidentally, The Bangles' "Manic Monday" and Sheila E.'s "The Glamorous Life", two huge Top Ten hits, were also intended for Apollonia 6, but Prince decided to not to go that route.  Listening to Apollonia's demo of "Manic Monday", he was likely right.) Once that gig ended, Apollonia went on to TV roles, most notably as a singer on Falcon Crest, and straight-to-video films. She also managed to release a solo album, thank goodness! The album retains a bit of Prince's funkiness, with a heavy dose of pop, thanks to production by Bobby Sandstrom, Steve Barri and Tony Peluso (who worked with acts like Tracie Spencer, Stacy Lattisaw and Isle postees Teen Dream). It also contains a few freestyle songs, such as the first two singles "Since I Fell For You", produced by Ish (Company B, Isle postee Shana), and "The Same Dream", produced by Ric Wake (Taylor Dayne, Mariah Carey). Overall, it is a lot of fun, with Apples' voice vastly improved since her Apollonia 6 days. But, alas, the album and none of the singles (which also included "Mismatch" and "For Your Love") were not a success, and it was Apollonia's last album. (A few years back Ish released an outtake from the Apollonia album, "Tunnel Of Love", which was a nice surprise.) Since then, Apollonia has kept busy behind the scenes in Hollywood. But would it be too much to ask for another funk-dance album, especially considering the current reverence for all things old-school Prince? With Vanity gone (RIP), Apollonia is our only hope!

Video for Sex Shooter

Parts ONE and TWO of a promo video for the album, including performances of Happy Birthday, Mr. Christian, Ooo She She Wa Wa, Sex Shooter and Blue Limousine.

Download Apollonia 6

1 Happy Birthday, Mr. Christian
2 Sex Shooter
3 Blue Limousine
4 A Million Miles (I Love You)
5 Ooo She She Wa Wa
6 Some Kind Of Lover
7 In A Spanish Villa

Video for Since I Fell For You

Live performance of Mismatch

Live performance of Your Eyes

Download Apollonia

1		Since I Fell For You
2		Synchronize
3		Your Eyes
4		The Same Dream
5		Am I Growing On U?
6		Mismatch
7		Beat Of My Heart
8		For Your Love
9		Help Wanted
10		Ay Ya Yai