Apollonia 6

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Apollonia 6

Apollonia6-band.png

Band details


Assembled: September 1983
Disbanded: Mid 1985
Activity with Prince: 1984 - 1985
Live Performances
First live appearance w/Prince:
Performed regularly on tour:
Performed occasionally in shows:
Discography
With Prince:
  • None.
With Prince's Associates:
  • None.
Self Productions w/Prince:
  • Album(s)
1984 Apollonia 6 (Warner Bros. Records)
  • Single(s)
1984 Sex Shooter (Warner Bros. Records)
1984 Blue Limousine (Warner Bros. Records)

Apollonia 6 is a pop girl trio revamped from Vanity 6, after Denise Matthews departed the Prince camp and Purple Rain movie project in 1983. They were the second Prince protégée female group.

After auditions had been held in Hollywood and New York in September 1983, actress Patricia Kotero (soon renamed Apollonia), a 22-year old model, was selected to play Vanity’s part. She had a few actress roles in movies and TV series from 1980 onward.

Like Vanity 6 the band exploited a sexually charged and seductive image. The same lingerie imagery was used on record covers as well as in the Purple Rain movie and in TV shows performances. The band was in fact a sequel to the defunct Vanity 6. But because Apollonia had expressed that her sole interest was to star in the movie, but not to fully commit to the band. Although there’s no formal evidence it seems likely this was a reason for Prince to lose interest in the project already during the recording sessions. They stayed together as a group for some time in 1985, to promote their album, but it was clear to all of them a follow-up album was out of the question.

After leaving the Prince camp Apollonia pursued an actress and singer carrier under the name Apollonia Kotero. She had a ten-episode guest stint in the night-time soap "Falcon Crest". In 1988 she released her debut album as a singer and continued to play in other movies, such as Back to Back (1989) and Black Magic Woman (1991). In the early 1990s she married actor Kevin Bernhardt. Since 1996 Apollonia Kotero has been working on her singing and acting career again, releasing the bilingual ballad "Stay With Me" in 1997.

In 2005, Apollonia formed a multi-media entertainment company, Kotero Entertainment, partnering with a number of producers to produce a children animated television series, featured films, and television. Kotero Entertainment also manages young talent such as television and film star Sascha Andres and young pop singer Nikki Barreras, also known as Nikki B.

After the disbanding of Apollonia 6 both Brenda Bennett and Susan Moonsie retreated from the entertainment industry for the time being. Later Bennett occasionally performed background vocals in the Tombstone Blues Band and in 2011 she released her debut solo album: A Capella.


Line Up
Original


Additional Band Members:


Personnel

  • Band members additions
In the studio, albeit credit is given to members of Apollonia 6, Sheila E. and The Revolution most of the material was recorded by Prince alone with the help of Lisa Coleman and Brenda Bennett who both received credits. Jill Jones, Susannah Melvoin and Brown Mark provided sparse backing vocals, Sheila E. and Wendy Melvoin both participated too on one song, respectively on percussion / drums and on guitar.
Evolution

-


Contributions
Studio

The group released only one album. Most of the tracks were initially recorded by Prince for a projected second Vanity 6 album. Among them were 17 Days, Promise To Be True, Vibrator, Sex Shooter and an instrumental tune tentatively titled Wet Dream Cousin. G-Spot originally considered for Purple Rain was at some point also planned for the album. A few other songs such as Manic Monday, Take Me With U that were recorded after Vanity 6 morphed into Apollonia 6, were discarded from the project and re-used for other albums. The Glamorous Life, Oliver’s House and Next Time Wipe The Lipstick Off Your Collar were also originally intended for the Apollonia 6 project, but Prince opted to used them for Sheila E.’s debut album The Glamorous Life instead and they were never part of any sequence of the Apollonia 6 album.

In order to replace Take Me With U, Prince recorded Blue Limousine while Happy Birthday, Mr. Christian replaced Manic Monday. With Prince losing interest in the project during the recording sessions the majority of the stronger material from the record was used elsewhere.

Prince completed work on the album in June 1984 with the recording of Happy Birthday, Mr. Christian. Although the three other Prince projects of 1984 were released prior the premiere of Purple Rain film, the Apollonia 6 album wasn’t released until October, 1984, four months after the purple summer extravaganza.

The three members of the band appear in the Purple Rain movie as the Apollonia 6 band, a project put together by Morris Day’s character in order to evince The Kid’s band, The Revolution, from the First Avenue acts. The character of Apollonia serves the purpose to level up the rivalry between the two band leaders, while Brenda and Susan’s roles remain minimal.

A mini film project loosely based on the Apollonia 6 album was film as four-track video. It was directed by Brian Thomson, an Australian production designer of the original stage versions of Rocky Horror Show and Jesus Christ Superstar and scripted by Keith Williams, concept writer for music videos by Phil Collins, Ray Parker, Jr., and Donna Summer, with a cast comprising 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 the rough-cut stage.

The plot introduced three lingerie clad widows gathered to listen the reading of Mr. Christian will and testament which leaves them nothing and encourage them to work. The imagery and set is very 1960’s revamped into 1980’s colorful graphic trends. The scenes show prominent neon words such as 'FILL' at a gas station for Blue Limousine, where Brenda Bennett has the main vocal role, 'EAT' at a diner’s for Ooo She She Wa Wa, where Susan Moonsie leads while the two other find themselves struggling in front of piles of dirty dishes to wash. The part featuring Apollonia as leading role feature the word 'BUY' in a supermarket set.

An alternate video was shot and released to support Sex Shooter single. Its real life set, mainstream plot - the band meet two guys and take them back to the rehearsal warehouse for cruising purposes - as well as the filming are radically different from the mini-film, making the official video look poorly inspired compared to the more ambitious mini-film project.

Apollonia had minor impact on charts, albeit a few TV show appearances were made to promote the Sex Shooter single. Of the two singles issued from Apollonia 6, only Sex Shooter got significant success.

Live

The group never toured as a full act, and when performing on TV shows would lip-syncing over a backing tape. It also appeared as guests on occasions during the Purple Rain Tour.

 
Additional Information

See also Trivia


References
Jana Anderson All Biographies Prince Biography Apollonia