Recording artist
Prince created the group
Vanity 6 in 1981, with singers
Vanity (Denise Matthews),
Brenda Bennett and
Susan Moonsie. After a number of disputes with Prince, Vanity left the group in 1983 to pursue solo endeavors. She also left behind a co-starring role in Prince's 1984 film
Purple Rain. Searching for a replacement, the film's director,
Albert Magnoli, met aspiring actress and model
Patricia Apollonia Kotero. Prince asked her to use her middle name, and as Apollonia she both stepped into the film
Purple Rain, and became lead vocalist in the group, which was renamed Apollonia 6. The group released one
self-titled album, which featured
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
The 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. ==Dissolution==