Apollonia 6

In a flurry of activity that involved drugs, a friendship and affair with Morris Day and a demand for more money from a cash-strapped Prince, Vanity was fired before the shooting of Purple Rain began.

Understatement: This was very bad.

A suitable replacement had to be found immediately, and Patricia Kotero, soon to be rechristened Apollonia, looked the part, was a decent actress and didn't seem to have an issue showing her breasts on screen. And with that, Vanity 6 became Apollonia 6, with Susan and Brenda reprising their roles from the original group.

One would understandably assume that whatever was intended for the second Vanity 6 record would most likely end up on the Apollonia 6 album, but things are never that simple when Prince is involved. Despite a number of very strong songs that were complete or mostly finished for the Vanity album, most of them were dropped and Prince gave Apollonia 6 an album of rather weak material. Sex Shooter, which was originally meant for Vanity, was retained, but a cursory comparison of Vanity's rough vocal, which is in circulation among collectors, and Apollonia's finished vocal show how different the two women sound. Vanity's vocal is strong and confident, while Apollonia's is weak and thin, strong enough only to finish the song for the film. On top of that, Manic Monday, which was later given to the Bangles, was recorded by Apollonia 6 and placed in early configurations of the album, only to be removed shortly before release and replaced by the ridiculous Happy Birthday, Mr. Christian. What a shame.

Overall, the Apollonia 6 album feels rather mediocre when compared to all of Prince's material from the Purple Rain era, but there is a little growth in the performances of Brenda and Susan. Brenda takes lead on Blue Limousine and Some Kind Of Lover, showing she can actually sing. Her performance on Blue Limousine is rather powerful, almost as strong as anything Vanity did on the Vanity 6 album, while Some Kind Of Lover is a throwaway with a thoroughly non-believable climax at the end, but Brenda again sings, albeit not as strongly as on Limousine, but far better than on Bite The Beat. Susan also sings on Ooh She Wa Wa, leaving behind her robotic flow in favor of a rap like vocal. It's not bad but her monotone is sadly missed. Otherwise, Apollonia takes lead vocal on the rest of the album, with In A Spanish Villa being a high point for the inclusion of her beautiful spoken-word performance, done in Spanish of course.

Just in case you were wondering what songs were intended for the second Vanity 6 album prior to Apollonia's arrival here is a list of the songs known to have been considered for inclusion. Most of these have been released in one form or another, although there are some interesting exceptions.

Vibrator: A version of this Vanity led number is in circulation, and it's easily one of the dirtiest things Prince was ever involved in. Who knows if the version making the rounds is finished or not, but it's sound is on par with that of the first Vanity 6 album. Vanity's orgasm, which ends the song and should leave most people frazzled, has been reused by Prince on several occasions, the first of which The Dopamine Rush Suite from the first version of Madhouse's unreleased 24 album, although that track was edited into The Dopamine Rush that appeared on Eric Leeds' first solo album. The orgasm also appears in the aptly named Orgasm from Prince's Come album.

Sex Shooter: A rough version of this song with Vanity on lead and Prince covering all background vocals is in circulation. The 12" version of the Apollonia version of Sex Shooter is similar, but this version is more sparse and generally looked at as superior. I have to agree.

17 Days: There is no known version in circulation with Vanity on vocals, but this song was meant for the Vanity 6 album. Brenda can be heard handling background vocals. This instead came out as the b-side of When Doves Cry. Supposedly, a much longer version of the song is in limited circulation between an elite class of Prince collectors, but who knows if that's true. Hell, who knows if Vanity even recorded vocals for it, but the song was pretty much ready to be released.

G-Spot: If you listen to the end of Vibrator, at the end of Vanity's orgasm a beat comes in that should segue into another song, although it never gets there since the tape stops. The song it's about to segue into is G-Spot, and boy is it a winner. It was later given to Jill Jones for her self-titled album, albeit significantly reworked. The bootleg in circulation is most likely a rough mix with Prince's guide vocal, although it's good enough it should have been released as is.

The Glamorous Life: Yes, Sheila E.'s trademark number started life as a Vanity 6 song. Who knows how much it changed but I would assume the biggest difference would be the inclusion of Sheila's percussion and vocals.

A Million Miles (I Love You): This may have been considered for the Vanity 6 album. An incomplete copy of a rougher take with Prince on lead vocals is in circulation.

Manic Monday: This was recorded and intended for inclusion on the Apollonia 6 album, so it may have been considered for Vanity 6.


For your retro pleasure, below you will find download links for the Apollonia 6 album in lossless FLAC format (separated into two files, so grab 'em both) and V0 MP3. Enjoy!


Apollonia 6

FLAC Part 1

FLAC Part 2

V0 MP3

01 Happy Birthday, Mr. Christian
02 Sex Shooter
03 Blue Limousine
04 A Million Miles (I Love You)
05 Ooh She Wa Wa
06 Some Kind Of Lover
07 In A Spanish Villa


PS - On the wikipedia page for Apollonia 6, they mention a four-track video was shot for the album with Ricky Nelson and Buck Henry making appearances. I had never heard of this before. The page also notes that the video never made it beyond a rough cut but footage is available online. Anyone seen any of this footage? It sounds a little unbelievable to me that I'd never heard of this film before but I would really like to see this if it's out there. Anyone got the connect?