Formation and Purple Rain
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", 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 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.
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