Transvision Vamp

Transvision Vamp
Origin	England
Genre(s)	Pop, Rock
Years active	1986-1991
Associated acts	Racine Bush X-ray Spex The Partisans
Website	http://www.transvisionvamp.com
Members
Wendy James Nick Christian Sayer Dave Parsons Anthony Doughty
Former members
Pol Burton James Piper Martin Hallett

Transvision Vamp were a popular British alternative rock group. Formed in 1988 by Nick Christian Sayer and Wendy James the band enjoyed chart success in the late 1980's. James, the lead singer and focal-point of the group, attracted media attention with her sexually-charged and rebellious image.

Career

James and Sayer, along with Dave Parsons (formerly of The Partisans) and Anthony Doughty (a.k.a. Tex Axile, formerly of X Ray Spex) were the band's four permanent members. Additional members Pol Burton, James Piper and Martin Hallett were engaged to play during live concerts: Burton, then later Hallett (a.k.a. Mallet), on drums, and Piper on guitar.^[1]

The band was signed by MCA and released a cover single of the Holly and the Italians' song "Tell That Girl to Shut Up" in April 1988, but it only reached number 45 on the UK Singles Chart. A month later the follow-up single "I Want Your Love", with its pop/punk crossover appeal, entered the top 10, and peaked at number 5 in the United Kingdom. Minor success was achieved with 2 further singles, titled "Revolution Baby" and "Sister Moon", which reached 30 and 41 respectively on the UK Singles Chart in 1988. The band went on to release the hit album Pop Art in October. It stayed on the album chart for 32 weeks, peaking at number 4.

1989 was the band's most successful year, with the number 3 hit single "Baby I Don't Care" and hit album Velveteen, which went entered the UK Albums Chart at #1 and stayed on the chart for 26 weeks.

In 1990 MCA refused to release Transvision Vamp's third album Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble in the UK, reportedly disliking the mellower direction of the music.^{[citation needed]} Wendy James has stated "...it came out in America and did better than the other two albums 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."^[2]

Post-Vamp activities

James went on to a solo career, with limited success. Her Elvis Costello-penned album only reached #43 in the charts, and none of the three singles she released made the UK Top 30. She announced her "retirement" from the music industry in 1993. In 2004 she formed the band Racine.

Dave Parsons joined Bush, a popular post-grunge band.

Band members

• Wendy James - vocals (1986-1991)
• Nick Christian Sayer - guitar (1986-1991)
• Dave Parsons - bass (1986-1991)
• Tex Axile - keyboards and drums (1986-1991)
• Pol Burton - drums (1986-1989)

Discography

Studio albums

• Pop Art (1988, Universal Records) [UK #4, AUS #13]
• Velveteen (1989, Universal Records) [UK #1, AUS #2]
• Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble (1991, Universal Records) [AUS #25]

Singles

• "Revolution Baby" (1987) [UK #77]
• "Tell That Girl to Shut Up" (1988) [UK #45, US #87, AUS #44]
• "I Want Your Love" (1988) [UK #5, AUS #7, SA #1]
• "Revolution Baby" (re-issue) (1988) [UK #30, AUS #24]
• "Sister Moon" (1988) [UK #41]
• "Baby I Don't Care" (1989) [UK #3, AUS #3]
• "The Only One" (1989) [UK #15, AUS #30]
• "Landslide of Love" (1989) [UK #14]
• "Born to Be Sold" (1989) [UK #22]
• "(I Just Wanna) B with You" (1991) [UK #30, AUS #16]
• "If Looks Could Kill" (1991) [UK #41, AUS #56]

Compilations

• Mixes (1991, MCA Japanese only CD of extended mixes)
• Kiss Their Sons (1998, Universal Records 'best of'. Also available as a double CD - the 2nd CD featuring b-sides and extended versions)
• Baby I Don't Care (2002, Spectrum Music - 'best of')

References