Wendy James
Encyclopedia
Wendy James is an English
singer-songwriter
most notable for her work with the pop
band
Transvision Vamp
.
soon after birth, and left home at the age of sixteen, moving to the English
seaside resort
town
of Brighton
. There she met Nick Christian Sayer, who became her boyfriend and musical collaborator. Sayer and James moved to London
, where they teamed up with friends Dave Parsons
, Tex Axile and Pol Burton, with whom they formed the pop-punk band, Transvision Vamp. James was the lead singer and focal point of the group, and attracted media attention with her sexually-charged and rebellious image.
The band was signed by MCA
in December 1986 and released a cover version
of the Holly and the Italians
song "Tell That Girl To Shut Up" in late 1987. Months later the follow-up single "I Want Your Love", with its pop/punk crossover appeal, entered the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart
. The band went on to release the hit album Pop Art
in October. 1989 was the band's most successful year, with the number 3 hit single
"Baby I Don't Care" and hit album
Velveteen
which entered the UK Albums Chart
at No. 1 and was a hit worldwide. Their Top Ten hits were "I Want Your Love" (UK No. 5), "Baby I Don't Care" (UK No. 3).
asking for his guidance. In response Costello, collaborating with his then wife Cait O'Riordan
on some songs, wrote a full album's worth of material for James. These songs made up the tracks on her 1993 solo album Now Ain't The Time For Your Tears
. Produced by Chris Kimsey
, it reached #43 in the UK Albums Chart
in March 1993. However the album failed to sell in significant numbers, and James "dropped from the music scene". She signed to One Little Indian and recorded an album entitled Lies In Chinatown, which was not released.
and Racine Volume 2
respectively.
The band Racine broke up in December 2008 prior to shutting down their official website. The members of the band went onto join other bands and none worked on the next Wendy James album.
James announced on her myspace.com blog that she had been working on an album entitled I Came Here To Blow Minds
, which was recorded in Paris in 2009 and mixed in Australia, later that year. Finally a release date of 19 October 2010 (for digital release) was posted on James' official Facebook page in August 2010. One track from the album had already been made available for download on RCRD LBL. since May 2009.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
most notable for her work with the pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
Transvision Vamp
Transvision Vamp
Transvision Vamp were a British alternative rock group. Formed in 1986 by Nick Christian Sayer and Wendy James the band enjoyed chart success in the late 1980s...
.
Transvision Vamp
James was adoptedAdoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
soon after birth, and left home at the age of sixteen, moving to the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
seaside resort
Seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...
town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
of Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
. There she met Nick Christian Sayer, who became her boyfriend and musical collaborator. Sayer and James moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where they teamed up with friends Dave Parsons
Dave Parsons
Dave Parsons is a British bass guitarist, most notable as a member of The Partisans, Bush and Transvision Vamp.-With Transvision Vamp:*Pop Art *Velveteen...
, Tex Axile and Pol Burton, with whom they formed the pop-punk band, Transvision Vamp. James was the lead singer and focal point of the group, and attracted media attention with her sexually-charged and rebellious image.
The band was signed by MCA
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
in December 1986 and released a cover version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the Holly and the Italians
Holly and the Italians
Holly and the Italians were a short-lived American pop punk band that was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1978 by Chicago born singer and guitarist Holly Beth Vincent, bassist Mark Sidgwick, and drummer Steve Young...
song "Tell That Girl To Shut Up" in late 1987. Months later the follow-up single "I Want Your Love", with its pop/punk crossover appeal, entered the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. The band went on to release the hit album Pop Art
Pop Art (album)
Pop Art is the debut album from UK pop/rock band Transvision Vamp. It was released in 1988 and features the band's first top ten hit "I Want Your Love"...
in October. 1989 was the band's most successful year, with the number 3 hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
"Baby I Don't Care" and hit album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
Velveteen
Velveteen (album)
Velveteen is the second album from UK pop/rock band Transvision Vamp. The album was released in 1989, a year after their debut album Pop Art. Velveteen produced such hits as "Baby I Don't Care" which reached number 3 in the UK and Australia...
which entered the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
at No. 1 and was a hit worldwide. Their Top Ten hits were "I Want Your Love" (UK No. 5), "Baby I Don't Care" (UK No. 3).
Solo career
When the decision had been made for Transvision Vamp to split, James wrote to Elvis CostelloElvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
asking for his guidance. In response Costello, collaborating with his then wife Cait O'Riordan
Cait O'Riordan
Caitlín O'Riordan is a British musician. She played bass guitar for the British-Irish punk/folk band The Pogues from 1983 to 1986. She later played with Elvis Costello, her husband from 1986 to 2002, as well as several other projects....
on some songs, wrote a full album's worth of material for James. These songs made up the tracks on her 1993 solo album Now Ain't The Time For Your Tears
Now Ain't The Time For Your Tears
Now Ain't The Time For Your Tears is the debut solo album by former Transvision Vamp lead singer Wendy James. Released in 1993, two years after the Transvision Vamp disbandment, the album saw James maintain the pop/rock sound she had become famous for...
. Produced by Chris Kimsey
Chris Kimsey
Christopher Kenneth Kimsey is a record producer, mixer and musician most famous for having co-produced The Rolling Stones' Undercover and Steel Wheels albums...
, it reached #43 in the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
in March 1993. However the album failed to sell in significant numbers, and James "dropped from the music scene". She signed to One Little Indian and recorded an album entitled Lies In Chinatown, which was not released.
Racine
James formed a band named Racine in 2004. The group released two albums, named Number OneNumber One (Racine album)
Number One is the first album released by indie rock band Racine. The band was fronted by Wendy James, who was notable for previously being the lead singer of the late 80's pop/rock band Transvision Vamp....
and Racine Volume 2
Racine 2
Racine 2 is the second album by indie rock band Racine. Lead singer Wendy James wrote and produced the entirety of the album, as she had done with the band's first album Number One....
respectively.
The band Racine broke up in December 2008 prior to shutting down their official website. The members of the band went onto join other bands and none worked on the next Wendy James album.
James announced on her myspace.com blog that she had been working on an album entitled I Came Here To Blow Minds
I Came Here to Blow Minds
I Came Here To Blow Minds is the second solo album by former Transvision Vamp and Racine lead singer Wendy James. It was originally released in October, 2010 as a digital album, but saw a physical release in March 2011....
, which was recorded in Paris in 2009 and mixed in Australia, later that year. Finally a release date of 19 October 2010 (for digital release) was posted on James' official Facebook page in August 2010. One track from the album had already been made available for download on RCRD LBL. since May 2009.
Transvision Vamp albums
- Pop ArtPop Art (album)Pop Art is the debut album from UK pop/rock band Transvision Vamp. It was released in 1988 and features the band's first top ten hit "I Want Your Love"...
(1988) - VelveteenVelveteen (album)Velveteen is the second album from UK pop/rock band Transvision Vamp. The album was released in 1989, a year after their debut album Pop Art. Velveteen produced such hits as "Baby I Don't Care" which reached number 3 in the UK and Australia...
(1989) - Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of BabbleLittle Magnets Versus the Bubble of BabbleLittle Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble was the third album by UK pop rock band Transvision Vamp. The album was released in 1991, two years after their UK #1 album Velveteen....
(1991)
Solo albums
- Now Ain't The Time For Your TearsNow Ain't The Time For Your TearsNow Ain't The Time For Your Tears is the debut solo album by former Transvision Vamp lead singer Wendy James. Released in 1993, two years after the Transvision Vamp disbandment, the album saw James maintain the pop/rock sound she had become famous for...
(1993) - I Came Here To Blow MindsI Came Here to Blow MindsI Came Here To Blow Minds is the second solo album by former Transvision Vamp and Racine lead singer Wendy James. It was originally released in October, 2010 as a digital album, but saw a physical release in March 2011....
(2011)
Singles
- "The Nameless OneThe Nameless One (song)"The Nameless One" is the debut solo single from former Transvision Vamp lead singer Wendy James. It was released in the first quarter of 1993 as the lead single from James' debut solo album Now Ain't The Time For Your Tears. Written by Elvis Costello, the song marked a more alternative direction...
" (1993) - UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#34 - "London's BrilliantLondon's Brilliant"London's Brilliant" is a song by former Transvision Vamp lead singer Wendy James. It was released in 1993 as the second single from her debut solo album Now Ain't The Time For Your Tears and was written by Elvis Costello and his then wife Cait O'Riordan...
" (1993) - UK #62 - "Do You Know What I'm Saying?Do You Know What I'm Saying?"Do You Know What I'm Saying?" is the third and final single released from Wendy James' debut solo album Now Ain't The Time For Your Tears. The single was released in 1993 and was written by Elvis Costello.-Track listing:CD single/Maxi single...
" (1993)