How She Blew It – Her Career That Is
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academas-177-729004 — 10 years ago(July 28, 2015 07:39 AM)
I hate the ways people use the word ignorant. How is she ignorant? She made a comment about her father who she didn't like. What do you know about him? Nothing! Which means you're ignorant to her situation with him. She's fully aware that she's half black. She wasn't talking about blacks, she was talking about her dad. And sorry, but a white guy can look like a gorilla too. Don't play the race card on the poor gorillas
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Sparky48 — 10 years ago(August 10, 2015 07:18 AM)
How is she ignorant?
For 98th time, this is the full context of Vanity's remark:
"She was into gorillas. She married my father, and
he's black
."
If I have to spell it out for you, what she's saying is that because her father is black that makes him a gorilla. If you can't see this as racist/ignorant comment, you're either stupid or a horny Vanity fan boy who's blinded by her sex appeal.
Here's an archived news account of it all:
http://books.google.com/books?id=2bMDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=vanity+%2B+gorilla&source=bl&ots=sFA1QiLyLw&sig=MckY3DKXSC7o2i13P4obWtwEMJ8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Mx76U6nZOI6MyASQloC4Bw&ved=0CGoQ6AEwDA#v=onepage&q=vanity %2B gorilla&f=false
"There are only two things that are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I'm sure about the former."
-Albert Einstein -
Ceephax — 9 years ago(June 08, 2016 06:25 PM)
Oh shut up Sparky48 you loser. You've been bitching about this for like 4 years now, lol. Get a b68life. I wanted to read this thread to see if there was any legit information on what happened to her and all I see is you just moaning about some racist remark she made on a talk show 30 years ago which for some reason really irks you, especially strange as that woman is now dead.
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HowYaLikeDemApplesWill — 13 years ago(November 28, 2012 06:53 AM)
"Vanity's only strength as an entertainer was her sex appeal. As such, she had created a strong following from brothers who adored her looks and became the bulk of her fan base. However, once word of her racist comment came out, it alienated black men for obvious reasons. As a result, they stopped supporting her, and her career fizzled out and deservedly so."
Hogwash. Prince's fan base was and is, multi-cultural, and probably majority white folk if1c84 you judge by who attends his shows.and you could say the same for Vanity.
To say that her career fizzled because she alienated her male black base of fan support, is just specualtion and no basis in fact.
She worked long after that interview, including some major motion pictures, and it is well-known that Denise became very religious and consciously decided to leave Hollyweird behind. -
Sparky48 — 13 years ago(November 28, 2012 07:31 AM)
"To say that her career fizzled because she alienated her male black base of fan support, is just speculation and no basis in fact."
Here are some facts:
From the early 80s to the mid 80s, Vanity, along with her group (Vanity 6), had major hits on the R&B charts. Tunes such as "Nasty Girl" (w/ Vanity 6)topped the R&B charts, and her solo records, such as "Pretty Mess" and "Under the Influence" became major R&B hits as well during the mid 80s.
However, after she made her crass remark in late '86, her record sales declined considerably, and Motown dropped her from the label. She subsequently signed with A&M Records and then with Geffen Records, but met minimal success with both labels. Shortly thereafter, during the late 80s, her recording career came to a demise.
Yes, Vanity did have some work in Hollywood after '86, because her exotic beauty enabled her to continue to get roles. But even then her career was soon relegated to B-movies and TV guest appearances, and I doubt it very seriously if her decision to leave "Hollyweird" was voluntary.
But her musical career crashed because of her ignorant remark and deservedly so. But don't take my word for it. Do your own research. -
HowYaLikeDemApplesWill — 13 years ago(November 28, 2012 07:59 AM)
You make valid pointsnow as Jules said, allow me to retort.
There were literally dozens (if not hundreds) of successful music acts from the early 80's, whose popularity "crashed" as the decade progressed. In fact, this is the "circle of life" in the music business.
So to directly tie Vanity's waning popularity to her insensitive and racially-perceived comment on a Joan Rivers talk show, again just doesn't make a compelling case to me. She was a beautiful woman who was a mediocre singer, who caught a star when she met Prince at the AMA's in the very early 80's, and parlayed that into her 15 minutes.
It is also well-known that Vanity was a serious crack addict in the mid-80's, so much so that she is now on dialysis for trashing her kidneys.
To be frank, her record sales were never "huge", so to say they declined considerably
after
her comments, is just unsupportable. Neither of her pre-comment solo albums that you referenced, got higher than #14 on the R&B charts, which as I'm sure you know at that time was a significantly smaller sub-set as far as sales went, compared to the overall Billboard sales charts.
b68 -
Sparky48 — 13 years ago(November 28, 2012 10:16 AM)
At the risk of being redundant, I will say again that several of Vanity songs made the top 30 of both the R&B and Dance charts before '86. But the records released after that, such as "Animals" and "Undress," did not chart at all. (Please refer to the chart at the bottomhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanity_%28performer%29)
Yes, Vanity never had any major hits on Billboard, but she was quite successful on the R&B and Dance charts prior to '86. It just so happens that for the most part these two charts reflect the African-American audience. True, success for most recording artists is short-term, but the abrupt decline of sales of her records speaks volumes to the change in attitude toward her.
I know about this situation largely from personal experience, because I was in my mid 20s when she made this racist statement. The16d0 following day after she appeared on the Joan River's show, everyone I personally knew was in uproar about the remark, and Donnie Simpson (a DJ of an R&B radio station in Wash D.C. where I reside) expressed his displeasure about the remark over the air, and vowed that he would never play her records ever again. Other DJs of black radio stations across the U.S. followed suit, and this coupled with the resentment of many of the black population, myself included, caused the sales of her records to decline considerably. And it really shouldn't take a rocket scientist to understand why.
But as Jules also said in "Pulp Fiction," "This is just where you and I differ my friend." So with that said, I'll say that we'll have to just agree to disagree and let it go at that. Peace out. -
HowYaLikeDemApplesWill — 13 years ago(November 28, 2012 10:26 AM)
Excellent retort, and that is the kind of civil discourse that SHOULD occur on message boards, iMDB and elsewhere.
btw, although I went to a so-called inner city HS that was about 80% black, and thus very much into the R&B scene of that timeat the end of the day, I'm a white guy and thus will have to defer to you on this topic.
On a side note: I know of Donnie Simpson well, as he used to host Video Soul on BET and I watched it often thru the 80's. -
LateNightCable — 13 years ago(December 12, 2012 11:38 PM)
Wrong, it's not as though black guys alone were keeping her career afloat. Her career as Vanity ended on her own terms. Due to her drug problems and ultimately her personal decision to step away from it. Nowadays, she wants nothing to do with all that.
She had an interview with Donnie Simpson (a black guy) on Video Soul in 1984. When referencing her African gorilla fur coat said "can't get more black that that." As far as the "racist comment" on Joan Rivers - or more accurately, her honest observations, she can say what she wants about her own father. And hey, if the shoe fits Many people in society would agree with her sentiment. And if black guys want to take a comment like that personally, well then that's their own racial hangup, not anyone else's. Try being less black, and more human.
" Cristal, Beluga, Wolfgang Puck It's a f#@k house." -
Sparky48 — 13 years ago(December 13, 2012 07:15 AM)
Her career as Vanity ended on her own terms. Due to her drug problems and ultimately her personal decision to step away from it. Nowadays, she wants nothing to do with all that.
Yeah, right. Vanity just voluntarily walked away from a lucrative career in the entertainment industry and forfeit the opportunity to make a ton of money, as if she had somewhere else better to go. And you really believe that, huh? If you do, then that alone speaks volumes.
She had an interview with Donnie Simpson (a black guy) on Video Soul in 1984. When referencing her African gorilla fur coat said "can't get more black that that. As far as the "racist comment" on Joan Rivers - or more accurately, her honest observations, she can say what she wants about her own father. And hey, if the shoe fits Many people in society would agree with her sentiment.
Sweetheart I doubt it very seriously if most people, particularly black folks, would concur that al111cl black people are gorillas, which was actually her point. I don't know anything about this '84 Donnie Simpson interview, but I can tell you in no uncertain terms that Donnie, like many people at the time, was incensed over the racist remark Vanity made on the Joan Rivers Show, two years later in '86.
But you're obviously a Vanity fan girl, so blinded by hero worship that you don't want to accept facts in your blind devotion to her. Therefore, I'm not going to waste my time.
You got enemies? Good. It indicates that you stood up for something, sometime in your life
Sir Winston Churchill -
Sparky48 — 13 years ago(December 13, 2012 12:54 PM)
I find it hard to believe that Vanityor any other human being"refuses" royalties, which in effect is money.
I'll take your word regarding the '84 Donnie Simpson interview, but it's irrelevant any way because it's before the fact. Sorry for assuming that you were female, but I assume that you're not black. This would most likely explain why it may be hard for you to understand why black people would have become enraged after someone impliedon national TV no lessthat all black men are gorillas.
Yes, I agree that success in the music industry for most is short term, but believe me, attitudes toward Vanity changed dramatically after she made this crass, poor taste remark, which resulted in a considerably decrease in both airplay of her music and the sale of her records.
All I'm doing here is spouting facts.
"Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"
-Albert Einstein -
LateNightCable — 13 years ago(December 13, 2012 11:28 PM)
Have you seen what she's like today, since becoming a born again Christian in the mid-90's? She's married to Jesus and is a complete evangelical. In that context, it's not so hard to understand why she would refuse even money. No doubt what she would consider dirty money at that.
I think of her as a multi-faceted all around media celebrity back then. If she wasn't making headlines - and money for singing, it was for something else, like a movie or something. As for the repercussions of her comment, she signed with A&M and then Geffen Records around that time, and was working with top people on a third album two years after those comments were made. It was unreleased, but she also made music for the soundtrack of Action Jackson, which she also starred in. Those aren't the signs of someone who blew her career with a simple comment. Blew cocaine maybe, but not her career. She associated with plenty of black people professionally and personally - Prince is black, and she was even briefly married to an LA Raider in 1995, a black guy. They appeared on the cover of Jet magazine ab68s I recall. I know this, and you're assumption is correct, I'm not black.
" Cristal, Beluga, Wolfgang Puck It's a f#@k house."