A-Side: Jimmie Jones
B-Side: Daylight Titans
Record label: Liberty BP 401
Producer: Dave Tickle
Released: 22/05/81
Purchased: 15/07/81
One Hit Wonders?
The Vapors have finally lost the tag of being ‘one hit wonders’ with the chart entry of “Jimmie Jones”. The band who were discovered by Jam bass player Bruce Foxton in their home town of Guildford, got the tag after the massive worldwide success of “Turning Japanese”.
The single got to number 3 in this country, hit the top 30 in America, the Top 10 in Canada and New Zealand and number 1 in Australia. It was also voted as the Best Single by the readers of the influential American magazine ‘Rolling Stone’.
Lead singer Dave Fenton, a qualified solitor who rejected a career in Law for The Vapors says: “I was surprised at how universally it was accepted. I still haven’t worked out why it caught on even now, 18 months later. If I had I’d be rich and famous.”
The band which consists of Edward Bazalgette on guitar, Steve Smith on bass and Howard Smith on drums, found themselves living in the constant shadow of “Turning Japanese”. The follow-up single “News At Ten” was prevented from success by the musicians strike that blacked out ‘Top Of The Pops’ last year and by the turmoil of EMI’s absorption of The Vapors’ label Liberty – United.
The diminutive Fenton claims: “We found ourselves moved from a roster of 12 bands like The Stranglers, Dr. Feelgood and The Buzzcocks to the 120 on the EMI roster which were all being dealt with by the same handful of people.”
The band also embarked on a lengthy worldwide tour which took in two American jaunts and Autralia.
“We chased the Albatross of “Turning Japanese” around the world and that probably slowed up our development as a band which also kept us as a ‘one hit wonder band’ until the time we can prove ourselves,” adds Fenton.
But “Jimmie Jones” looks set to destroy the ‘one hit wonder’ label for good and finally stabilise the band. The song is about the Reverend Jimmie Jones who was responsible for the mass suicide in Guyana in 1979 and the responsibility of those who have power over people, even rock stars. Does that include Dave Fenton?
“It’s inevitable in my position as a singer.” he says. “It depressed me when I read about the 4-Skins in Southall. Whoever is on stage is always in control and you can’t ever deny responsibility for the people who come to see you.” (Music Press, June 1981)
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