The Vapors

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The Vapors
General information
origin Great Britain
Genre (s) Postpunk , new wave
founding 1978, 2016
resolution 1982
Last occupation
Dave Fenton
guitar
 Ed Bazalgette
Steve Smith
Howard Smith

The Vapors are a postpunk and new wave band from Guildford, UK . With Turning Japanese the group had their only hit in Great Britain in 1980.

history

The Vapors was founded in 1978 by singer and guitarist Dave Fenton. 1979 the line-up was completed with guitarist Ed Bazalgette, drummer Howard Smith and electric bassist Steve Smith. One of the band's first concerts in Guildford saw Bruce Foxton of The Jam . He invited her then as the opening act for Setting Sons - tour and took over with The Jam manager John Weller, the management of The Vapors. The band was signed by United Artists Records and released the less than successful single Prisoners in late 1979 . The second single Turning Japanese, however, was a chart success. Two months after this single, the debut album New Clear Days followed , which only made it to the bottom of the chart. The second album Magnets , released in 1981, was also a commercial failure. Because of this, the group disbanded in 1982.

After 34 years, the group re-formed for a short festival appearance with Turning Japanese in the spring of 2016, this appearance received a lot of attention on the Internet, so they decided to reunite permanently. Since then they have been performing regularly in England. In early 2020 they announced the release of a new album entitled Together .

Turning Japanese

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
New Clear Days
  UK 44 06/07/1980 (6 weeks)
  US 62 December 06, 1980 (28 weeks)
Magnets
  US 109 05/09/1981 (9 weeks)
Together
  UK 87 05/28/2020 (1 week)
Singles
Turning Japanese
  UK 3 
silver
silver
02/09/1980 (13 weeks)
  US 36 09/27/1980 (17 weeks)
New at Ten
  UK 44 07/05/1980 (4 weeks)
Jimmie Jones
  UK 44 07/11/1981 (6 weeks)

The single Turning Japanese reached number three in the UK Top 40 and number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100. Based on the lyrics, it was assumed that the piece is about masturbation and homosexuality , which singer and author of the song Dave Fenton always denied. When music video for Turning Japanese led Russell Mulcahy directing. The piece gained some popularity in the USA. Due to a strike in the television industry, reruns of Japanese Godzilla films were shown and viewers brought the song into connection because of its title Turning Japanese , which means something like turning to Japanese in German .

The song has been used in numerous film soundtracks , including The Only Adults Only (1984), Charlie's Angels (2000), Jackass: The Movie (2002) and Let Me In (2010). The song was covered by Liz Phair in 1995 . In 2010 the Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami shot a music video for the piece, the song was sung by Kirsten Dunst as "Majokko Princess".

Discography

Albums

  • 1980: New Clear Days
  • 1981: Magnets
  • 2020: Together

Singles

  • 1979: Prisoners
  • 1980: Turning Japanese

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d Rick Buckler: That's Entertainment: My Life in The Jam . Omnibus Press, 2012, ISBN 978-1-78323-530-8 , pp. 143 f .
  2. ↑ The Vapors are reuniting for their first shows in 35 years - Goldmine Magazine . In: Goldmine Magazine . September 13, 2016 ( goldminemag.com [accessed September 22, 2018]).
  3. ↑ The Vapors Official (@vaporsofficial). In: Twitter. Retrieved September 22, 2018 .
  4. ↑ The Vapors Official (@vaporsofficial). In: @vaporsofficial. March 20, 2020, accessed on March 20, 2020 .
  5. ↑ a b Sources chart placements: UK US , accessed on February 18, 2016.
  6. ↑ Music Sales Awards: UK
  7. ↑ Mark O'Thomas: Turning Japanese . In: Christa Albrecht-Crane, Dennis Cutchins (Eds.): Adaptation Studies. New approaches . Fairleigh Dickinson Univ. Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-8386-4262-7 , pp. 46 f . ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  8. ↑ 10. The Vapors - 'Turning Japanese'. In: Rolling Stone . Retrieved February 18, 2016 .