The Vapors are an English new wave and

power pop Power pop (also typeset as powerpop) is a subgenre of rock music and form of pop rock based on the early music of bands such as the Who, the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds. It typically incorporates melodic hooks, vocal harmonies, ...

band formed in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

, active from 1978 to 1982 before reforming in 2016. They are best known for their 1980

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

, " Turning Japanese", which reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 36 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Career

1978–1982

Based in

, Surrey, an early version of the group were playing at The Three Lions pub in

Farncombe Farncombe, historically Fernecome, is a village and peripheral settlement of Godalming in Waverley, Surrey, England and is approximately 0.8 miles (1.3 km) north-east of the Godalming centre, separated by common land known as the Lammas L ...

when

The Jam The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, consisting of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in ...

's bassist

Bruce Foxton Bruce Douglas Foxton (born 1 September 1955) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Foxton's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as bassist and backing vocalist of mod revival band the Jam. ...

spotted them. The group's line-up stabilised with David Fenton (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Howard Smith (drums), Edward Bazalgette (lead guitar) and Steve Smith (bass). Howard Smith and Steve Smith were not related. The group were originally named The Vapours but had removed the "u" to help garner more attention in America. Foxton then offered the group a few gigs and agreed to jointly-manage them with John Weller (father of

Paul Weller John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...

). The Vapors were then offered a slot supporting

on the Setting Sons tour in 1979. The group signed to United Artists, releasing their first single, "Prisoners", at the end of 1979, but it failed to chart. Their second single, " Turning Japanese", is the song for which they are best remembered. The track was produced by The Jam's producer Vic Coppersmith-Heaven and reached number 3 in the UK and number 1 in Australia. It was also a top-ten hit in Canada and New Zealand and reached the top 40 in the United States. "Turning Japanese" was believed to euphemistically refer to

masturbation Masturbation is a form of autoeroticism in which a person Sexual stimulation, sexually stimulates their own Sex organ, genitals for sexual arousal or other sexual pleasure, usually to the point of orgasm. Stimulation may involve the use of han ...

, although Fenton (the song's writer) denied that claim in an interview on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

. He did, however, say he wished to thank whoever first came up with that interpretation, as he felt the salacious rumour about what the song 'really' meant may have been what made it a hit. The follow-up singles "News at Ten" and "Jimmie Jones" both peaked at number 44 in the UK Singles Chart. The group released two albums; '' New Clear Days'' (1980) and ''

Magnets A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, ...

'' (1981). ''New Clear Days'' contained "Turning Japanese" and displayed a new wave sound with socially-conscious lyrics. That album reached the middle of the charts in the UK, Canada, and US. ''Magnets'' revealed a

sound and darker lyrics, with the song "Jimmie Jones" making reference to

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

leader

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. That album sold poorly and the band broke up in 1982. Fenton alleged in a later interview with ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine focussing on rare and collectable records, and the bands who recorded them. It was founded in September 1979 and distributes worldwide. It is promoted as "the world’s leading authority o ...

'' magazine that lack of record label support was the chief reason for the band's split, while a planned single release was cancelled without explanation. After the Vapors broke up, David Fenton joined the legal profession in the early 1990s, concentrating on the legal aspects of the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

, and from 1999 he worked as a London-based in-house solicitor for the Musicians' Union. Edward Bazalgette became a television director; his credits include a 2005

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

documentary about

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and two episodes of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' in 2015. For many years Howard Smith ran an independent record shop, People Records in Guildford, the band's home town. Steve Smith formed the band Shoot!Dispute, which appeared in

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

sessions, and toured in support of

; and later joined the rap/rock band 1ST.

2016–present

After 34 years of inactivity, David Fenton, Ed Bazalgette, and Steve Smith appeared on stage at the Half Moon in Putney on 30 April 2016. With a guest drummer standing in for Howard Smith, they played "Turning Japanese" and then left the stage. Rumors of a reunion were rife, and the Vapors completed a four-date tour in October–November 2016 with Michael Bowes on drums. The Vapors continued with six more concerts in 2017 and 10 in 2018. That included three dates in New York City with David Fenton's son, Danny, standing in for Ed Bazalgette on lead guitar, where they played several new tracks, including "Sundown River", "Letter to Hiro (No11)", "The Right Stuff", "One of My Dreams", and "King L". As of 2017, the band's catalogue masters are controlled by Razor & Tie Industries, which acquired them from

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational entertainment and record label Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the "Record label#M ...

, whose

Alternative Distribution Alliance Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) is a music distribution company owned by Warner Music Group, which represents the rights to various independent record labels. ADA provides "independent artist and label partners with access to the resource ...

serves as RT Industries' worldwide distributor when RT was newly launched in 2018. On 21 April 2018, they re-released "Turning Japanese" on red vinyl with bonus tracks for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is a semi-annual event established in 2008 to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". Held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November, the day brings together f ...

. In April 2019, the band was announced as the support to From the Jam on the 30-date Setting Sons 40th Anniversary tour. The Vapors had been the opening act for

on the original 1979 Setting Sons tour. Bazalgette left the band around that time and was replaced by Danny Fenton. On 3 March 2020, the Vapors announced that they would be releasing a new album, ''Together'', and issued "Crazy" as its lead single. ''Together'' was released on 15 May. It was the first album from the Vapors in 39 years, marking one of the longest gaps between studio albums. On 30 August, "Girl from the Factory", the third single from the album, reached number one on the United DJs ''Heritage Chart''. Follow-up single "Wonderland" also reached the top of the Heritage Charts on 22 November. The band celebrated their top-selling album by going out on the New Clear Days 40th Anniversary Tour in 2021. The download-only singles "One of My Dreams Came True" (2021), "Novocaine" (2022), and "Eyes on the Prize" (2024) all reached the Heritage Chart top ten, maintaining the band profile. On 2 September 2022 the band returned to their Guildford roots to play at the town's Suburbs Holroyd Arms In January 2023, a US show was announced: the band played at the Cruel World Festival in

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California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

on 20 May 2023. In August 2024, the band announced plans to crowdfund the production of their fourth album, to be released in March of 2025. The album, ''Wasp in a Jar'', was released on 28 February 2025.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

References

External links

*
True Spin The Vapors – The Story Behind "Turning Japanese" YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vapors, The 1978 establishments in England 1982 disestablishments in England English new wave musical groups English power pop groups Liberty Records artists United Artists Records artists Elektra Records artists Musical groups established in 1978 Musical groups disestablished in 1982 Musical groups reestablished in 2016