One last Vapors (more HERE) bootleg for all my COMMENTERS - you folks keep us going! This is a great-sounding FM broadcast from the New Clear Days tour.
Last chance for a word or two on The Vapors.
We await you in the COMMENTS section!
Thanks to Håkan for the rip and scan of this lost treasure.
After The Vapors (more HERE) dispersed, leader David Fenton released his only solo single in 1983.
While in instrumentation these two tracks ( "Fresh Air" b/w "Buried in Snow") are closer to the synth-pop of their time, the songs are thoughtful, melodic and vocal-heavy, which makes for a far more human final product than so much of what filled the racks of this time.
So, whats your take on Mr. Fenton's solo stand?
We await your word in the COMMENTS section!
Here's where the injustice of The Vapors' career hits its cruelest moment. Every time I listen to their fantastically unappreciated sophomore (and final!) album, Magnets I get that feeling you get when reading that part in the historical novel (say Dr. Zhivago or Cold Mountain) where our protagonists have finally found a portion of safety and even fully knowing the doom that awaits them, we hope that the mad tide of history will be stemmed by the sheer force of our will.
Sure this
album is slower, sadder and more paranoid then New Clear Days but that doesn't lessen its impact at all. The fact that the jump-out-at-you
single, `Jimmie Jones` does not tower over the album like ``Turning
Japanese` did with their debut gives this album a greater cohesion, even if it is a terribly
claustrophobic cohesion. The album`s new-wave-psychedelic-reggae-pop sound just shines, whether it`s the driving rockers like 'Live at the Marquee`, and `Lenina` or the tense ballads like `Civic Hall`and `Silver Machines`, there`s not a weak second here.
The Vapors
Live at The Civic Hall
Guildford, Surrey 11.2.81
Source : FM Broadcast
Tracklisting :
01 News At Ten
02 Johnny's In Love Again
03 Sixty Second Interval
04 Jimmie Jones
05 Turning Japanese
06 Daylight Titans
07 Magnets
08 Isolated Case
09 Letter From Hiro
10 Trains
11 Live At The Marquee
12 Prisoners
13 Civic Hall
14 Bunkers
So, where do you stand on Magnets?
We await your word in the COMMENTS section!
The Vapors first album, New Clear Days was new-wave-mod-punk-power-pop perfection. Hit-after-mother-fucking-hit but only one, `Turning Japanese` blew up.`News at Ten`, `Waiting for the Weekend`and `Sixty Second Interval`all belong on a list of Vapors classics. Of course you may have your own favourite off New Clear Days...
A great set with two tracks `Secret Noise`and `Here Comes the Judge` which were never recorded in the studio (TTBOMK).
01. Somehow
02. Prisoners
03. Bunkers
04. Johnny's In Love Again
05. News At Ten
06. Cold War
07. Letter from Hiro
08. Galleries For Guns
09. Waiting for the Weekend
10. Turning Japanese
11. Trains
12. America
13. Secret Noise
14. Here Comes the Judge
So, whats your favourite track from New Clear Days?
We await your word in the COMMENTS section!
INFLUENTIAL FRIEND: Yeah you'd like the first Vapors album.
JEFFEN: The Vapors? (wrinkles nose) Like, as in, "Turning Japanese"?
INFLUENTIAL FRIEND: Yeah that's the worst song on the album; the rest is fucking brilliant! Jeffen: No way.
Now, my late friend was not entirely correct. "Turning Japanese" (mini-doc here) is a clever, catchy construction, which has proved lasting due to its utter brilliance. But true devotees of The Vapors will occasionally go to desperate lengths to attempt to lessen the song's over-shadowing of leader David Fenton's magnificent song-writing. Lyrically, Fenton mined both a new wavish Cold War paranoia and a Ray Davies-ish eye for the quiet desperation of British life which he set to stirring tunes that the band (Edward Bazalgette: lead guitar, Steve Smith: bass, vocals, Howard Smith: drums) meted out with tightly-controlled power-pop-punk drive. It turned out I was wrong about a lot of things in 1982; country music didn't suck, a nuclear war was not inevitable and The Vapors were not one-hit wonders - they were, in fact, fucking brilliant!
Peel Session (1979-07-04)
V1) Turning Japanese
V2) Trains
V3) Cold War
V4) Waiting For the Weekend
So, where do yo stand on The Vapors and "Turning Japanese"? We await your word in the COMMENTS section!
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Re: Re-Ups
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