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Prince · S4 E6
Vanity 6
A girl group Prince writes, produces, and controls completely. 'Nasty Girl' becomes an underground anthem and a blueprint for the future
1982. Prince takes three women, writes their songs, plays every instrument on their album, and puts them on stage in lingerie with a single instruction: be as provocative as possible.
"Nasty Girl" (Vanity 6, 1982). The signature track from Prince's girl group project. He wrote it, produced it, played every instrument, and created the entire concept. Vanity, Brenda Bennett, and Susan Moonsie are the voices and the faces. Prince is the invisible architect.
Nasty Girl, Vanity 6 (1982)
"Nasty Girl" is built on a stripped-down Linn drum beat and a bubbling synth bass, with Vanity's breathy vocal riding on top like she's whispering a dare. The production is deliberately minimal: Prince leaves huge gaps in the arrangement, making every sound hit harder. Listen for how the backing vocals respond to Vanity like a Greek chorus of temptation. The song is a blueprint that acts like Salt-N-Pepa, TLC, and Destiny's Child would build on for the next two decades.
Sources
Hahn, Alex. "Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince." Billboard Books, 2003.
Thorne, Matt. "Prince: The Man and His Music." Faber & Faber, 2012.
The Puppet Master
Vanity 6 is Prince's most controlled creation. With The Time, at least the band members could play their instruments live. With Vanity 6, Prince writes every song, records every instrument, and choreographs the visual concept down to the lingerie. The three women learn their parts and perform them, but everything else is Prince.
Sources
Hahn, Alex. "Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince." Billboard Books, 2003.
Nilsen, Per. "DanceMusicSexRomance: Prince, the First Decade." Firefly Publishing, 1999.
TAP TO REVEAL: What was Vanity 6 originally going to be called?
The Minneapolis Empire
By 1982, Prince is running a one-man musical empire out of Minneapolis. He has his own albums, The Time as his fake rival band, and now Vanity 6 as his girl group. All three acts are competing on the charts simultaneously, and Prince is the only person who knows he's writing and producing all of them.
Sources
Hahn, Alex. "Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince." Billboard Books, 2003.
Thorne, Matt. "Prince: The Man and His Music." Faber & Faber, 2012.
“He had a vision for everything. What we wore, how we moved, what we said in interviews. Prince didn't leave anything to chance.”
— Brenda Bennett (Vanity 6 member), as recounted in Alex Hahn, "Possessed: The Rise and Fall of Prince" (Billboard Books, 2003)
Vanity 6: The File
Private Joy, Prince (1981)
From the Controversy album, "Private Joy" is widely believed to be about Denise Matthews, the woman Prince renamed Vanity and placed at the front of his girl group. The song captures the early, private stage of their relationship, before Prince turned their connection into a public spectacle. While Vanity 6 is performance and provocation, this song is the real thing underneath.
Private Joy, Prince (1981)
The lyrics are about a happiness that only exists between two people, away from the spotlight. Prince sings about keeping something precious hidden from the world. Knowing that he would soon put Vanity on a stage in lingerie and make their relationship very public, these lyrics read like a last breath of intimacy before the circus begins.
Who replaced Vanity when she left the group?
Prince now has three acts on the charts, all created from his home studio. But there's one venue in Minneapolis where all of it comes together. Next episode: First Avenue, the nightclub where Prince tests new material, breaks in new bands, and builds the stage for everything that's about to happen.
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