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VANITY thy name is APOLLONIA

Jason | Raleigh, NC USA | 10/18/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Apollonia is probably best remembered as Prince's leading lady in the 1984 film "PURPLE RAIN."

The role was originally intended for the lead singer of VANITY-6, but when Vanity withdrew from the production,

Prince auditioned Patty Kotero and re-named her Apollonia, who then became the lead singer for APOLLONIA-6.

They released an album in 1984, and then Apollonia left the Prince entourage to pursue

an acting career, eventually appearing on the TV series "Falcon Crest."



In 1988 she released a solo album "APOLLONIA," produced entirely WITHOUT Prince, which really wasn't bad at all.

The result is a collection if slickly produced high-energy dance music which should appeal to fans

of of late-80's Paula Abdul. Two singles were released:

"Since I Fell For You" which opens the album with a jolt of exuberant energy, and

"MisMatch" which sounds reminiscent of Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done For Me Lately?"



Apollonia works with several different producers, which makes the album somewhat uneven.

Some songs are excellent, while others are "just okay." Her voice sounds better than it did

on the APOLLONIA-6 album, and the album should have been more successful than it was.

Unfortunately, the songs got little airplay, and the album (along with Apollonia) soon disappeared.

But used copies of the CD and LP are worth hunting down for fans of late-80's high energy dance music.

(And for fans of VANITY/APOLLONIA-6)"

"APOLLONIA" - Apollonia

Jason | 10/24/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Born Patricia Kotero in Santa Monica, CA, Apollonia (re-christened by Prince) became one of the female artists in the '80s to benefit from her association with the 'Purple One'. Her career began as a model and actress in the late '70s, including an appearance on the television show 'CHiPS'. In 1984, she landed the female lead in Prince's 'Purple Rain' and replaced Vanity in the female trio VANITY 6, performing with them in the movie under the name APOLLONIA 6. The three scored a minor hit with "Sex Shooter," but it was her duet with Prince "Take Me With You" from the soundtrack that made a greater chart impact. When the two had a falling out over the direction of her career, APOLLONIA 6 split up and Kotero ended her association with Prince. She went on to appear in several minor films during the period (reportedly declining to appear in the 'Purple Rain' follow-up 'Under the Cherry Moon') before landing a role in the night time drama 'Falcon Crest' during 1985-1986. Apollonia finally released this debut in 1988, but the set of energetic R&B/dance songs failed to make much impression on the music-buying public and the album soon vanished from sight. It is a hard to find collectible today. In 1997, Apollonia released a Spanish/English album entitled "Stay With Me", but it seems likely that her profile will never be as high as it was during the years of her association with Prince."

Apollonia strikes out on her own!

C. Odom | New York, NY | 11/02/2004

(3 out of 5 stars)

"A few years after the success of "Purple Rain", Apollonia had done some television and film work and was ready to dive back into her music career. Her voice is not fantastic by any means, but like Vanity, Paula Abdul and others, she had sex appeal and star quality. The tracks that make up this ablum are a little uneven, but when they are good, they are very good. The opener, "Since I Fell For You", is good fun. Very high energy and easy to sing along and dance to. Another stand out track, and my personal favorite, is "Am I Growing On U". I thought it was the most commercial sounding song and was surprised that it was not chosen as a single. The song "Mismatch" is simply a rip-off of "Opposites Attract" by Paula Abdul. A shameless rip-off at that. There are a couple of pretty bad songs on here, but overall, Apollonia made an impressive solo debut, putting out some fun, very '80s sounding music."