Keith Doughty discusses songs, albums and artists that are unappreciated, unknown, and/or unfairly-maligned by the general public. This is Hidden Tracks.

Vanity 6 – "Nasty Girl"

Uh, It's time to jam,
Nasty girls, dance, dance, dance

1982 was a big year for Prince. He released “1999”, his most popular album to date and a precursor to the style of music he would explore more fully on the “Purple Rain” album. That same year Prince’s protégé band, The Time, released their second album, “What Time is it?”, with Prince handling the production, much of the instrumentation and, legend has it, the songwriting.  Although not nearly as successful as “1999”, The Time would go on to play Prince’s rival group in the Purple Rain film two years later and score a couple minor hits.

Finally, 1982 saw the release of the only album by Prince’s other protégé band, Vanity 6. Unlike The Time, Vanity 6 was unquestionably under the complete control of Prince, who wrote, produced and played the instruments on all their songs. Vanity 6 front woman Vanity (real name Denise Matthews, Prince enjoyed giving female artists new names in the 80s) was Prince’s girlfriend at the time and she was expected to play the role of his love interest in Purple Rain.