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Nick Christian Sayer Anthony Doughty Pol Burton James Piper Martin Hallett
Transvision Vamp are an English pop rock band, originally from Putney, London. Formed in 1986 by Nick Christian Sayer and Wendy James, the band enjoyed chart success in the late 1980s, particularly in 1989. James, the lead singer and focal point of the group, attracted media attention with her sexually charged and rebellious image.
The band had 10 UK chart hits and also enjoyed considerable success in Australia.[1] Transvision Vamp's top single was 1989's "Baby I Don't Care", which reached number three in the UK and Australian charts.
Sayer wrote the majority of the band's songs, but, unlike James, did not pursue a solo career after they disbanded.
Career
The band's original lineup was James, Sayer, Dave Parsons (bass), Tex Axile (keyboards), and Pol Burton (drums).[2] Sayer was originally in an early punk band formed in 1977 and based in Bexhill-on-Sea called The Plastics, later Plastix, playing gigs in Hastings, Eastbourne, and Brighton as well as in London at The Roxy. When The Plastix split, Sayer and the drummer Mark Storr Hoggins joined the Brighton band Midnight and the Lemon Boys, who supported U2 on their first UK tour in 1979. Parsons and Axile had also both been in punk bands before joining Transvision Vamp, Parsons in The Partisans and Axile in various bands, most notably The Moors Murderers and X-Ray Spex offshoot Agent Orange.[3]
In December 1986, Transvision Vamp were signed by MCA, which released the band's first single, "Revolution Baby", the next year. It stalled at number 77 in the UK in September 1987.[4] A cover of the Holly and the Italians' song "Tell That Girl to Shut Up" was released as the band's second single in March 1988, reaching number 45 on the UK Singles Chart.[4] The single became the band's only charting entry on the US Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at number 87.[5]
Transvision Vamp's third single, "I Want Your Love", with its pop/punk crossover appeal, became the band's first major hit, topping the Norwegian singles chart[6] and peaking within the top 10 in the UK,[4] Ireland,[7] Australia,[8] New Zealand,[9] Sweden,[10] and Switzerland.[11] The next single was a re-release of "Revolution Baby", which rose to number 30 in the UK,[4] 17 in Ireland,[7] and 24 in both Australia[8] and New Zealand.[9] Their fourth single, "Sister Moon", narrowly missed the UK top 40 at number 41.[4]
In October 1988 the band released their debut album, Pop Art. It was a major success in the UK, where it stayed on the album chart for 32 weeks, peaking at number 4.[4] The album achieved similar success in Australia, where it was certified platinum[12] and became the 25th-highest-selling album of 1989.[12] The album also did well in Switzerland (#20) and Sweden (#25).
The 1989 releases of the single "Baby I Don't Care" and the album it was on made that year Transvision Vamp's most successful. The song peaked at number three in both the UK[4] and Australia;[8] it was the band's highest-charting single in both countries. In Australia, the song spent 20 weeks in the top 50.[8] The band's second album, Velveteen, was released shortly after, debuting atop the UK Albums Chart and remaining on it for 26 weeks.[4]Velveteen also reached number two on the Australian Albums Chart,[8] spending 25 weeks in the top 100[13] and becoming the 39th-bestselling album of the year. Velveteen was also a significant success in New Zealand (reaching number 12) and parts of Europe, including Switzerland, Germany, and Norway, where it entered the top twenty.[12] The other singles from Velveteen—"The Only One", "Landslide of Love" and "Born to Be Sold"—all peaked within the top 30 in the UK[4] and the top 20 in Ireland.[7]
In June 1991, MCA nixed a UK release of the band’s third album, Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble, reportedly because the label disliked the direction the music was taking, an evaluation it thought was justified after two singles from the new album did not do as well in the UK as their Velveteen ones.[citation needed] The album was, however, released in New Zealand, where it reached number 14, and in Australia, where it peaked at number 25[8] and spent three months on the ARIA top 100 albums chart.[13] MCA also opted to release it in Sweden, where it reached number 27. The album's first single, "(I Just Wanna) B with U", peaked at number 16 in Australia,[8] charted at number 30 in the UK, and entered the Irish top 30.[4][7] The second single, "If Looks Could Kill", entered the top 40 in New Zealand[9] and just missed the UK top 40 at number 41; it became the band's final single release. A third single from the album, "Twangy Wigout", was planned and promo copies issued, but MCA shelved it after further disputes. Of the third album, James has stated that
It came out 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 [in the UK], we'd already decided to split up, and so it never came out.[14]
Following a statement from MCA, Transvision Vamp officially disbanded in February 1992. In 1993 Wendy James launched her solo career with the Elvis Costello-written album Now Ain't the Time for Your Tears.
Post-split activity and reunion
Anthony Doughty (Tex Axile) joined a band called Max, with Matthew Ashman, Kevin Mooney, John Reynolds and John Keogh in which he played keyboards. They released a Trevor Horn-produced album Silence Running in 1992.[15] Keogh died soon after the release and Ashman a couple of years later. Doughty continues to release solo albums on his own label. Parsons, meanwhile, joined British post-grunge band Bush, who would achieve commercial success in the 1990s.
Wendy James embarked on a solo career, first with a collaboration with her 1993 album Now Ain't the Time for Your Tears, which reached number 43 on the UK Albums Chart.[16]The lead single, "The Nameless One", reached 34 on the UK Singles Chart,[16] while the second single, "London's Brilliant", peaked at only number 62[16] while the third single, "Do You Know What I'm Saying?", reached number 78 in the UK.[17] MCA and James parted company in August of that same year. In 2004, James formed a band named Racine, with which she released two albums. A single, "Grease Monkey", charted at number 114 in the UK in April 2005.[18] Racine broke up and closed down their official band site in December 2008.
In July 2025, James announced that she had reformed Transvision Vamp with a new line-up, including a returning Dave Parsons and two new members: Thurston Moore collaborator Alex Ward on guitar, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds drummer James Sclavunos.[19] The band's co-founder and songwriter, Sayer, is not part of the new lineup.
Band members
Current members
Wendy James – lead vocals (1986–1991, 2025–present)
Dave Parsons – bass, backing vocals (1986–1991, 2025–present)
Alex Ward – guitar, backing vocals (2025–present)
James Sclavunos – drums (2025–present)
Past members
Nick Christian Sayer – guitar, backing vocals (1986–1991)
Top 100 peaks from January 1990: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDFed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p.284.
1 2 3 4 "1989 ARIA Albums Chart". ARIA. Retrieved 23 August 2017. N.B. The chart published on this site is missing some certifications, including the platinum certification for Velveteen.
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