Vanity — Under The Influence

JUL 01 1986 · 12:00

Vanity — Under The Influence (1986) Era: Mid-1980s R&B/Dance-Pop Crossover (1986) - Peak MTV era; Motown's modernization push blending Minneapolis funk aesthetics with mainstream pop video production. High. A rare surviving promotional video for one of mid-1980s R&B's most culturally complex figures, sitting at the intersection of the Prince universe, Motown's commercial evolution, and Black female action-film iconography. The video's noir-theatrical aesthetic and documented chart performance (#9 R&B) make it an essential artifact for any archive of 1986 Black pop visual culture. Director credit currently unknown, making this a priority item for production company research. Context: Released April 12, 1986, 'Under the Influence' arrived at the apex of Motown's effort to reposition itself in a post-Prince, MTV-dominated market. Vanity (Denise Matthews) had been mentored and named by Prince before departing to sign with Motown in 1984, making her a living symbol of the Minneapolis Sound's commercial diffusion into mainstream Black pop. The video's noir-glamour staging — trench-coated men, wind effects, gun props — directly mirrors Vanity's concurrent film career in action and crime genres (52 Pick-Up, Never Too Young to Die, both 1986), collapsing her musical and cinematic identities into a single MTV-ready package. Director notes: The video was produced in support of 'Under the Influence,' the lead single from Vanity's second Motown album Skin on Skin (released May 24, 1986). The song was produced by Skip Drinkwater and Tommy Faragher. Per IMDb plot synopsis, the video features Vanity entering a dressing room trailed by men in trench-coats, performing in a wind-blown decorated set, and a narrative climax in which she dances with a male figure before drawing a gun on him and departing. No director credit appears in any publicly available source.