Wendy James

Wendy James (born 21 January 1966, London^[1]) is an English singer-songwriter most notable for her work with the pop band Transvision Vamp.^[2]

Transvision Vamp

James was adopted soon after birth, and left home at the age of sixteen, moving to the English seaside resort town of Brighton.^[3] Whilst there she studied drama and English literature at college. After a year she began singing in a nightclub, where she mainly sang Patti Smith cover songs.^[4] There she met Nick Christian Sayer and James and Sayer collaborated on songs (although Sayer was the principal songwriter). Eventually Sayer and James moved to London, where they teamed up with friends Dave Parsons, Tex Axile and Pol Burton. The five formed the pop-punk band, Transvision Vamp and James was the lead singer and focal point of the group, who attracted media attention with her sexually-charged and rebellious image.^[5]

The band was signed by MCA in December 1986 and released a cover version of the Holly and the Italians song "Tell That Girl To Shut Up" in late 1987. Months later the follow-up single "I Want Your Love", with its pop/punk crossover appeal, entered the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. The band went on to release the hit album Pop Art in October. 1989 was the band's most successful year, with the number 3 hit single "Baby I Don't Care" and hit album Velveteen which entered the UK Albums Chart at No. 1 and was a hit worldwide. Their Top Ten hits were "I Want Your Love" (UK No. 5), "Baby I Don't Care" (UK No. 3).^[5]

Solo career

When the decision had been made for Transvision Vamp to split, James wrote to Elvis Costello asking for his guidance. In response Costello wrote a full album's worth of material for her, and these songs became the tracks on her 1993 solo album Now Ain't the Time for Your Tears. It reached #43 in the UK Albums Chart in March 1993.^[6] However the album failed to sell in significant numbers, and James retired from the music industry.^[7]

Racine

James formed a "concept band" named Racine in 2004. Initially a solo project, she later recruited band members Henric Strahl, James Meynell and Ray Sullivan. The group released two albums, named Number One and Racine, Vol. 2 respectively.^[2] A third album was announced, but not released, and the project appears to have been quietly buried. James has announced plans to release a new solo album entitled I Came Here To Blow Minds on her MySpace blog.

Discography

See also: Transvision Vamp

Albums

• Now Ain't The Time For Your Tears (1993) MCA Records Ltd (MCD 10800)
• Number One (2004) PIA-K Recordings (PIA-K CD1)^a
• Racine, Vol. 2 (2007) Jungle (FREUDCD099)

Singles

• "The Nameless One" (1993) MCA Records Ltd (MCSTD 1732/MCSXD 1732) - UK #34
• "London's Brilliant" (1993) MCA Records Ltd (MCSTD 1763/MCSXD 1763) - UK #62
• "Do You Know What I'm Saying?" (1993) MCA Records Ltd (MCSTD 1779/MCSXD 1779)^[6]
• "Grease Monkey" [CD/DVD] PIA-K Recordings (PIA-K CDS1/PIA-K DVD1)^a

^a release credited to "Racine"

References

External links

• Wendy James at MySpace
• Wendy James at Allmusic