Known for its trashy, soft-porn image and sexually exploitative lyrics, Vanity 6 was a short-lived female vocal trio that came out of <a target='_blank' href="http://www.last.fm/music/Prince" class="bbcode_artist">Prince</a>'s funk-rock empire in 1982. Vanity 6 was formed in Prince's hometown of Minneapolis, where singer/actress <a target='_blank' href="http://www.last.fm/music/Vanity" class="bbcode_artist">Vanity</a> (whose real name is Denise Matthews) got together with fellow singers Brenda Bennett (a native of Boston) and Susan Moonsie. Supposedly backed by <a target='_blank' href="http://www.last.fm/music/The+Time" class="bbcode_artist">The Time</a> although Prince actually performed all the music himself, Vanity 6 recorded its self-titled debut album for Warner Bros. in 1982. The single "Nasty Girl" became a major hit, and like Prince's albums, Vanity 6 successfully bridged the gap between R&B/funk and rock/pop/new wave. Vanity 6's first album was also its last; in 1984, Vanity left the group and signed with Motown as a solo artist. Susan and Brenda, meanwhile, hooked up with singer <a target='_blank' href="http://www.last.fm/music/Apollonia" class="bbcode_artist">Apollonia</a> (another Prince disciple) and formed a new group called <a target='_blank' href="http://www.last.fm/music/Apollonia+6" class="bbcode_artist">Apollonia 6</a>. That trio recorded a self-titled album for Warner Bros. in 1984 and had a hit with "Sex Shooter," which was featured in Prince's film Purple Rain. Apollonia 6 also turned out to be a one-album act; in 1985, the group broke up. As a solo artist, Vanity didn't get very far commercially; none of her Motown albums were big sellers. And when she became a born-again Christian in the 1990s, Vanity gave up secular music for good.
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