Home > The Vapors

Based in Guildford in Surrey, their members were David Fenton ( songwriter, guitar and vocals), Howard Smith ( drums), Edward Bazalgette ( lead guitar) and Steve Smith ( bass guitarThe electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument similar to the electric guitar, but larger in size and with a lower range. It is also closely related to—and inspired by—the double bass, and shares things in common with a range of bass instruments. It is and vocals).

Their early musical style owed a great deal to New Wave and Mod influences such as The JamThe Jam was an early British punk band primarily active in the late 1970s. The band originally consisted of Bruce Foxton, Steve Brookes, Rick Buckler, and Paul Weller. After forming the Jam in 1975 and 1976, Brookes left the band, who soon began playing a, Secret AffairSecret Affair was a Mod revival band formed in 1978 by singer Ian Page and guitarist Dave Cairns. Their lineup was completed by Dennis Smith (bass) and Seb Shelton. The debut single "Time For Action" reached number 13 in the British charts putting them at and The Jags .

Remembered principally for their song "Turning Japanese", they had two albums: New Clear Days (the pun on "nuclear" being intentional) and Magnets. The first was more clearly in the "traditional" New Wave style of music, while touching on social issues such as the nuclear threat as well as love themes. The second album dealt more extensively with themes of alienationAlienation is estrangement or splitting apart. In law, "alienation" refers to a transfer of title. In medicine, "alienation" can refer to a splitting apart of the faculties of the mind; an " alienist" is an old name for a psychiatrist. In sociology, "alie, with many dark lyrics about apparently psychoticPsychosis is a psychiatric classification for a mental state in which the perception of reality is distorted. Persons experiencing a psychotic episode may experience hallucinations (often auditory or visual hallucinations), hold paranoid or delusional bel characters, including the opening track, Jimmie Jones, about cult leader Jim JonesPeople's Temple portraying cult leader Jim Jones as the loving father of the "Rainbow Family". James Warren "Jim" Jones ( May 13, 1931 November 18, 1978) was the founder of the People's Temple, an originally Christian group that later mainly advocated soc.

"Turning Japanese" is a euphemism for masturbation, which is the subject of the song. A magazine reported that this had caused some embarrassment for David Fenton when his mother found out about the real subject matter.

1 See also

• One-hit wonders in the United StatesA one-hit wonder is a Top 40 phenomenon, the combination of artist and song that scores big in the music industry with one smash hit, but is unable to repeat the achievement with another hit. The term can refer to the artist, the song, or both together.