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Transvision Vamp
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Transvision Vamp promotional photo (1991)
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Putney, London, England |
| Genres | New wave, pop rock, alternative rock |
| Years active | 1986–1992 |
| Labels | Uni, MCA |
| Past members | Wendy James Nick Christian Sayer Dave Parsons Anthony Doughty Pol Burton James Piper Martin Hallett |
Transvision Vamp were an English pop rock band. Formed in 1986 by Nick Christian Sayer and Wendy James, the band enjoyed chart success in the late 1980s, particularly in 1989. James, the lead singer and focal-point of the group, attracted media attention with her sexually charged and rebellious image. The band had 10 UK chart hits and also enjoyed considerable success in Australia.[1] Transvision Vamp's top single was 1989's "Baby I Don't Care", which reached number three in the UK and Australian charts.
The band's original line-up was James, Sayer, Dave Parsons (bass), Tex Axile (keyboards) and Pol Burton (drums).[2] Parsons and Axile had both been in punk bands prior to joining the band; Parsons in The Partisans, and Axile in various bands, most notably The Moors Murderers and X-Ray Spex offshoot Agent Orange.[3]
Transvision Vamp were signed by MCA in December 1986 with the band's first single, "Revolution Baby", being released the following year. It stalled at number 77 in the UK in September 1987.[4] A cover of the Holly and the Italians' song, "Tell That Girl to Shut Up", was released as the band's second single in March 1988, reaching 45 on the UK Singles Chart.[4] The single became the band's only charting entry on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at 87.[5]
Transvision Vamp's third single, "I Want Your Love", with its pop/punk crossover appeal, became the band's first major hit, topping the Norwegian singles chart,[6] and peaking within the top 10 in the UK,[4] Ireland,[7] Australia,[8] New Zealand,[9] Sweden,[10] and Switzerland.[11] The next single was a re-release of "Revolution Baby", which rose to number 30 in the UK,[4] 17 in Ireland,[7] 24 in Australia[8] and New Zealand.[9] The fourth single, "Sister Moon", narrowly missed the UK top 40 at number 41.[4]
In October 1988 the band released their debut album, Pop Art. It was a major success in the UK where it stayed on the album chart for 32 weeks, peaking at number 4.[4] The album achieved a similar level of success in Australia, where it was certified platinum,[12] and placed as the 25th highest-selling album of 1989.[12] The album also did well in Switzerland (number 20) and Sweden (number 25).
1989 proved to be Transvision Vamp's most successful year, with the release of the single "Baby I Don't Care" which peaked at number three in both the UK[4] and Australia,[8] making it the band's most successful single in both countries. In Australia, the song spent 20 weeks in the top 50.[8] The band's second album, Velveteen, was released shortly after, debuting atop the UK Albums Chart and remaining on the chart for 26 weeks.[4] Velveteen also reached number two on the Australian Albums Chart,[8] spending 25 weeks in the top 100,[13] becoming the 39th best selling album of the year. Velveteen was also a significant success in New Zealand (reaching number 12), and parts of Europe, including Switzerland, Germany and Norway, where it entered the top twenty.[12] The other singles from Velveteen: "The Only One", "Landslide of Love" and "Born to Be Sold" all peaked within the top 30 in the UK,[4] and the top 20 in Ireland.[7]
In June 1991, MCA refused to release Transvision Vamp's third album Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble in the UK, reportedly disliking the direction of the music and after the two singles released from the album didn't chart as highly as previous singles on the UK charts. The album was, however, released in New Zealand, where it reached number 14, and in Australia, where it peaked at number 25[8] and spent 3 months in the ARIA top 100 albums chart.[13] It was also released in Sweden and reached number 27. The album's first single, "(I Just Wanna) B with U", peaked at number 16 in Australia,[8] and charted at number 30 in the UK also entering the Irish top 30.[4][7] The second single released from the album, "If Looks Could Kill", entered the top 40 in New Zealand[9] and just missed the UK top 40 at number 41; it became the band's final single release. A third single from the album, "Twangy Wigout" was planned and promo copies were issued but it was shelved by their label after disputes. Of the third album, James has stated "it came out in America. But then we decided to split up, during which time the English record label had said they weren't convinced about this record, we're going to hold off on it and see how well it does in other countries first. By the time they were ready to release it, we'd already decided to split up, and so it never came out."[14]
The group officially disbanded in February 1992 following a statement from MCA. Wendy James launched her solo career in 1993 with the Elvis Costello-written album Now Ain't the Time for Your Tears.
Anthony Doughty (Tex Axile) joined a band called 'Max' with Matthew Ashman, Kevin Mooney, John Reynolds and John Keogh in which he played keyboards. They released a Trevor Horn-produced album Silence Running in 1992.[15] Keogh died soon after the release and Ashman a couple of years later. Doughty continues to release solo albums on his own label.
Dave Parsons joined British post-grunge band Bush, who would achieve commercial success in the 1990s.
Wendy James embarked on a solo career, with limited commercial success. Although her 1993 album Now Ain't the Time for Your Tears (written by Elvis Costello) reached number 43 on the UK Albums Chart,[16] none of the three singles released from it entered the UK Top 30. The lead single, "The Nameless One", reached 34 on the UK Singles Chart,[16] while the second single, "London's Brilliant", peaked at only number 62[16] And the third single, "Do You Know What I'm Saying?", reached number 78 in the UK.[17] MCA and James parted company in August of that same year.
A follow-up solo album, recorded for One Little Indian Records, was not released.[18] In 2004, James formed a band named Racine, with which she released two albums. Neither album charted anywhere. A single, "Grease Monkey", charted at number 114 in the UK in April 2005.[19] Racine broke up and closed down their official band site in December 2008.
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Certifications | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [4] |
AUS [8] |
GER [20] |
NOR [6] |
NZ [9] |
SWE [10] |
SWI [21] |
US [22] | |||
| Pop Art | 4 | 13 | — | — | 50 | 25 | 20 | 115 | ||
| Velveteen |
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1 | 2 | 25 | 20 | 12 | 37 | 16 | — | |
| Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble |
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— | 25 | — | — | 14 | 27 | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||||||||
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [4] |
AUS [8] |
GER [20] |
IRE [7] |
NL [25] |
NOR [6] |
NZ [9] |
SWE [10] |
SWI [11] |
US [5] | |||
| "Revolution Baby" | 1987 | 77 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Pop Art |
| "Tell That Girl to Shut Up" | 1988 | 45 | 44 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 87 | |
| "I Want Your Love" | 5 | 7 | 23 | 3 | 32 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 4 | — | ||
| "Revolution Baby" (re-issue) | 30 | 24 | — | 17 | — | — | 37 | — | — | — | ||
| "Sister Moon" | 41 | 95 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Baby I Don't Care" | 1989 | 3 | 3 | — | 6 | — | — | 29 | — | — | — | Velveteen |
| "The Only One" | 15 | 30 | — | 7 | — | — | 22 | — | — | — | ||
| "Landslide of Love" | 14 | 70 | — | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Born to Be Sold" | 22 | 108 | — | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "(I Just Wanna) B with U" | 1991 | 30 | 16 | — | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble |
| "If Looks Could Kill" | 41 | 56 | — | — | — | — | 38 | — | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||||||||||
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