I just discovered
Vanity
died yesterday. I was saddened to hear the news and began hearing her
music in my mind. She only made two albums but she made an impression on
me when she was in full swing.
She was a model before
Prince discovered her In 1980 and propelled her into the music
scene. She met
Prince at the
American Music Awards.
Prince renamed her Vanity because, he said, he saw his female
reflection when he looked at her. She first sang backing vocals for his song
Free on his 1982 album,
1999; she reappeared on his 1994 album,
Come, in the song,
Orgasm. In 1982, she sang on the album,
Vanity 6, along with
Brenda Bennett and
Susan Moonsie, one of many projects produced by
Prince. The hit song from the album was the
funky,
Nasty Girl, which was composed and written by
Prince.
Funk is a
music genre that originated in the mid- to late
1960s when
African American musicians created a
rhythmic,
danceable new form of music through a mixture of
soul music,
jazz, and
rhythm and blues (R&B). The word
funk
initially referred (and still refers) to a strong
odor. It is originally derived from Latin "fumigare" (to smoke) via Old
French "fungiere" and, in this sense, first documented in English in
1620. In 1784 "funky" meaning "musty" is first documented, which, in
turn, led to a sense of "earthy" that was taken up around 1900 in early
jazz slang for something deeply or strongly felt. It was a term used in
the early sixties by the gay community; it was picked up by funk
musicians in the late sixties.
Due to its explicit lyrics,
Nasty Girl met with resistance on mainstream American radio, peaking within the U.S.
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart. It did, however, become a sizable hit on U.S.
R&B radio and it hit number one on the U.S.
Hot Dance Club Play chart for four weeks in November 1982. The song was knocked off the number one position by Prince's
1999.
Lead singer Vanity, who later became a Christian preacher, subsequently
denounced the song and told members of her congregation who listened to
the song to "keep praying for the Holy Spirit"
Vanity was born Denise Katrina Matthews on January 4, 1959, in
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. Her mother is of Polish descent and was born in Germany and her father was
African American. She won the Miss Niagara Hospitality title in 1977 and went on to compete for Miss Canada in 1978.
In 1980, Matthews had a small role in the horror movie
Terror Train, which was filmed in
Montreal a year earlier. She then went to Toronto to film the lead role in the
B-movie,
Tanya's Island.
At the time of both film roles, she was billed as D.D. Winters. After
her music career started, as Vanity she starred in a number of movies,
including
The Last Dragon, which featured her underground hit
7th Heaven. In 1986 she starred in
Never Too Young to Die opposite
John Stamos. The film also featured
Gene Simmons. She went on to appear in
52 Pick-Up and 1988's
Action Jackson, her highest profile role, in which she starred opposite
Carl Weathers,
Craig T. Nelson, and
Sharon Stone.
Vanity was linked romantically to
Adam Ant and
Billy Idol. In 1987, she stated that she and
Mötley Crüe bassist,
Nikki Sixx, were engaged; she joked that she would become Vanity 6 (Sixx) again.
In 1994, Vanity overdosed on crack cocaine and suffered from near-fatal
renal failure. She recalled that after being rushed to the hospital,
doctors said she had three days to live while on life support. She said
that
Jesus appeared to her at this time and spoke to her, saying if she promised to give up her Vanity persona, he would save her. When she recovered, she renounced her stage name and career and became a
born-again Christian.
In 1995, she said, "When I came to the Lord Jesus Christ, I threw out
about 1,000 tapes of mine — interviews, every tape, every video.
Everything."
She stated that she had chosen not to receive any further revenue from
her work as Vanity, and cut off all ties with
Hollywood and her former
life in show business.
Matthews suffered from
sclerosing encapsulating
peritonitis, a rare complication of a
peritoneal dialysis, and died in a
Fremont, California hospital yesterday, February 15, 2016. She was 57.
1 -
The Pointer Sisters - He Turned Me Out - written by LeMel Humes,
Mary Lee Kortes - Producer: Richard Perry - 4:25
2 - Madame X - Action Jackson - written by
Bernadette Cooper - Producer: Bernadette Cooper - 5:01
3 -
LeVert - For The Love Of Money - written by
Kenneth Gamble, Leon Huff &
Anthony Jackson - Producers: Craig Cooper*, Gerald Levert, Marc Gordon - 5:24
4 -
Vanity - Undress Me - written by Kim Cage &
Jesse Johnson - Producer:
Jesse Johnson - 4:10
5 -
Herbie Hancock - Building Up "Action Jackson" - written by
Herbie Hancock - Producer:
Herbie Hancock, Co-producer:
Michael Kamen - 4:05
Side 2:
1 -
Sister Sledge - Keeping Good Loving - written & produced by:
Kae Williams Jr.,
Kathy Sledge, Phillip Lightfoot - 5:24
2 -
Dave Koz &
Vanity - Shotgun, Featuring Kareem - written by Autry DeWalt II - Producer: Jeff Lorber - 4:12
3 -
Vanity - Faraway Eyes - written by Sue Ann Carwell &
Jesse Johnson - Producer:
Jesse Johnson - 4:24
4 -
Skyy - Lover's Celebration - Producers: Randy Muller & Solomon Roberts Jr. - 3:46
5 - MC Jam & Pee Wee Jam - Protect And Serve - Producer:
Stevie Salas - 5:05
Notes:
Some covers are gold stamped as promotional.
Barcode and Other Identifiers:
Barcode (Scanned): 075679088611
Net links:
Action Jackson cast and crew on IMDb
Action Jackson info on Forgotten Flix
Action Jackson Roger Ebert review
Yahoo Obituary
CNN Obituary
Rolling Stone Obituary
Washington Post Obituary
Variety Obituary
NY Daily News Obituary
YouTube links:
Vanity - Faraway Eyes
Vanity - Undress Me
Vanity 6 - Nasty Girl
Action Jackson Official Trailer
~ ~ ~
I
started the Vinyl LP series because I have a collection of over 20,000 vinyl record albums I am
selling; each blog entry is about an album from my collection. Inquire
for information here.
~ ~ ~
Those far away eyes will be missed!
Styrous® ~ Tuesday, February 16, 2016
