Vanity 6 – Vanity 6

If there's one album that defines electro-funkiness then this is the one. It combines three striking forces that happened to have met at one precise moment: Vanity 6 (Brenda, Vanity and Susan - starlets wannabe) as lead singers and allegedly producers, Prince (under the alias The Starr Company) as producer and backing singer, and The Time as musicians.
It was not necessarily an accident. These people hanged out together and, at different points in time, worked together in different productions even if only as guest stars. However, this is a very relevant moment in the carreers of both Prince and The Time. As for Vanity 6, this album is their whole carreer. Vanity would go solo on Motown for a couple of records and the other two would Apollonia to form Apollonia 6 (also a one record act).
Prince is all over this album. Funky guitars and metalic drums, telephones ringing, girls moaning. Strangely enough this album sounds more like Prince then many of his own productions. On "Nasty Girl" Vanity sings "I don't like this groove. Try and give me something I can croon to. Catch my drift?" and the song goes into a sample of "Around The World In A Day". The album is predominantly feminine and interestingly enough many of the tracks have a similar production to those that Prince recorded under the name Camille ("If I was Your Girlfriend", "Scarlet Pussy", "The Ballad Of Dorothy Parker"...) and those of darker tone in "The Black album".
Prince's music (and persona) has always been associated with a plurality of talent and possibilities. Thus, Vanity 6 is probably one of Princes most significant productions that could have never been what is should he have chosen to sign the project himself.
Twenty two years later, this record sounds very fresh apart from the off moment, "He's So Dull", which sounds like very cheap Dolly Parton and very unlike Prince (probably Vanity 6's only production credit, my guess).
Classic tracks: "Nasty Girl", "Drive Me Wild", "If A Girl Answers (Don't Hang Up)", "Make-Up", and "Bite The Beat" (Where Felix Da Housecat ripped "What Does It Feel Like?" from).