The Vapors

The Vapors were a  New Wave and  power pop band from  England that existed between 1979 and 1981. They had a  hit with the song " Turning Japanese" in 1980, which reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart, [1]  and No. 36 in the  U.S.  Billboard Hot 100  chart.

==Career == Based in Guildford, Surrey, their members were David Fenton (songwriter, guitarist and vocalist), Howard Smith (drummer), Edward Bazalgette (lead guitarist) and Steve Smith (bass guitaristand vocals). Their name was originally spelled "Vapours," but they removed the U to seem like an American band.

They were discovered and managed by John Weller (father of Paul Weller) and by The Jam's bassist Bruce Foxton. The song for which they are mainly remembered, "Turning Japanese", wasproduced by The Jam's producer Vic Coppersmith-Heaven and hit the Top Three in the UK at the same time that "Going Underground" was at number one. It was also a top ten hit in Canada, New Zealand and Australia, and (just barely) a top 40 in the U.S., something The Jam never managed.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The song "Turning Japanese" was believed to euphemistically refer to masturbation,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-2" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[2]  although Fenton (the song's author) denied that claim in an interview on VH1. He did, however, say he wished to thank whoever first came up with that interpretation, as he felt that the salacious rumour about what the song "really" meant may have been what made it a hit.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The band released 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 onsocial issues such as the nuclear threat as well as love themes. The second album was more lyrically varied, with themes including alienation and many dark lyrics about apparentlypsychotic characters, including the opening track, "Jimmie Jones", about cult leader Jim Jones. Sales of the second album were poor and the band broke up soon after its release in 1981. Fenton alleged in a later interview with Record Collector magazine that lack of record label support was the chief reason; apparently their intended seventh single 'Red Flag' was cancelled without explanation. Follow-up singles "News at Ten", and the aforementioned "Jimmie Jones", both coincidentally reached number 44 in the UK Singles Chart.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-British_Hit_Singles_.26_Albums_1-1" style="line-height:1em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[1]  Record producer Harry Cowell was for a while the band's drum tech. ==After the band<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;direction:ltr;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em;color:rgb(85,85,85);"> == <p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">A solicitor who specializes in music law, frontman Fenton has apparently retired from his days as a music creator and performer to concentrate on legal aspects of the music industry.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Edward Bazalgette has since become a television director, credits including a 2005 BBC documentary about Genghis Khan.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Howard Smith now runs People Independent Records in Guildford, the band's home town. ==Discography<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;direction:ltr;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em;color:rgb(85,85,85);"> == ===Studio albums<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;direction:ltr;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em;color:rgb(85,85,85);"> === ===Compilation albums<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;direction:ltr;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em;color:rgb(85,85,85);"> === ===Singles<span class="mw-editsection mw-editsection-expanded" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;padding-right:0.25em;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;direction:ltr;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="margin-left:-0.25em;margin-right:0.25em;color:rgb(85,85,85);"> ===