Apollonia 6

Apollonia 6 was a 1980s female singing trio created by Prince.

Origin

After a number of disputes with Prince, Vanity (Denise Matthews), the lead singer of the Prince-created Vanity 6, fled the Prince entourage in 1983 to pursue solo endeavors, recording with Motown Records and acting in films. She left open an acting position for the role written for her by Prince in the film Purple Rain.

After a frantic casting call, the film's director met actress and model Patricia Kotero. Renamed by Prince as "Apollonia", her middle name, Kotero stepped into Vanity's role in the film Purple Rain, as well as in the fragmented group Vanity 6, as lead singer. The other two members of Vanity 6, Brenda Bennett and Susan Moonsie, joined Apollonia, and the group was christened "Apollonia 6" for the film and what would be their sole album (featuring Prince associates Jill Jones and Wendy & Lisa on backing vocals).

A four-track video was filmed, based on the Apollonia 6 album, directed by Brian Thomson (Australian production designer of the original stage versions of The Rocky Horror Show and Jesus Christ Superstar), scripted by Keith Williams (concept writer for music videos by Phil Collins, Ray Parker, Jr., and Donna Summer), with a cast consisting of Ricky Nelson, Edy Williams and Buck Henry. Shot in a Los Angeles film studio in 1985, and produced by British video firm Limelight, the video never went beyond rough cut. Footage from the project has appeared on many social networking sites, such as YouTube.

Sex Shooter

"Sex Shooter" is a song written by Prince for his protégés, girl group Apollonia 6. It appeared on the band's only album, Apollonia 6 and was released as a single in 1984. The song was performed by Apollonia 6 in the film Purple Rain. It was nominated by the Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Song.

Charts

Cover versions

References

Apollonia

Apollonia or Apolonia may be:

People

Places

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday may refer to:

Film, theatre and television

Music

Albums

Brenda Bennett

Brenda Bennett (born Brenda Elizabeth Claire Siobhan; 24 January 1962) is a British-American singer from Scotland. She is best known as a member of the American group Vanity 6 who married the musician Prince's set-designer Roy Bennett, and then became Prince's "wardrobe mistress." She started off in a CBS Records band called Ken Lyon and Tombstone which toured with Mott the Hoople and Queen. Years later, through Roy Bennett, Prince gave her a "tough-girl, cigarette-smoking" persona and enlisted her in a girlgroup, Vanity 6, that he was attempting to create in 1982.

That group broke up a year later due to the departure of its lead singer, Vanity, after only minor success. But Bennett stuck around for its reincarnation, with a new lead singer, as Apollonia 6 in 1984. Bennett's image in both of the groups was that of the bad girl—she smoked and had the most attitude. Bennett also had a part in the film Purple Rain alongside Apollonia 6 members Susan Moonsie and the group's lead singer, Apollonia.