Up to today, my knowledge of The Vapors pretty much started and ended with their seminal hit "Turning Japanese," a song that has more than stood the test of time. In 1980, a lot of bands were riding the first wave of new wave, and the raw energy of those heady days was pretty awesome. I always liked the song, but back then my purchasing power was pretty limited and there was an awful lot of music I would have liked to have ... but it was the age-old balancing of needs and wants. I wanted a lot of stuff that I honestly didn't need. Well, that and I had no money.
This was always a band I was curious about, and figured one day I'd pick up the album. As fate would have it, I found a copy that had seen better days - the cover was worse for wear, but the vinyl inside was immaculate. I could live with that. I'm managing to scratch a lot of things off my old "want" list ... and it seems with every item I cross off, I find something else to add in its place. I don't mind, I'm really only limited by space ...
The album kicks off with "Turning Japanese" and boy howdy, it's as awesome now as it was back when I was in high school. Their brand of power pop was infectious and New Clear Days, while not a big hit here in Canada, did okay, but it was the single that really hit it big here - of course, big is always relative.
I liked what I heard, so I also ended up getting a digital copy of the album because I wanted to have this available outside of my turntable - my kids keep bugging me for not having Spotify.
It's starting to feel like one of those commercials that used to be on in the middle of the night. "For about the same cost as a single download, you can have access to millions of songs anytime you like. For less than what it would cost for a cup of coffee a day, you can have the world of music at your disposal." One day perhaps, but not today. I'm a Luddite.
I discovered that, like so many other releases, the North American pressings were often re-sequenced, hoping to maximize the impact of a big single. New Clear Days pushed the single to the front of the queue, and moved the album's six-minute closer "Letter from Hiro" to the end of the first side - I suspect to emphasize the Japanese elements in the song and tie it into the album's opener. They also dropped two really solid tracks, "Cold War" and "America," and added a non-album track, "Prisoners," which I suppose had more appeal.
Well, considering this is still new to me, albeit a few decades after the fact, the impact of the changes really didn't get in the way, and frankly, unlike a few albums recently (Pseudo Echo, cough, cough), I was pleasantly surprised that with the big first, the rest of the album isn't hindered by the weight of a classic song. While not as strong, the rest were all very enjoyable, and I found myself playing the album a few times.
I find this period in pop music really fascinating. While the band wasn't as punk as The Clash, The Vapors weren't separated by that many degrees of separation either, and I found myself thinking about bands like The Records, 20/20 and The Jam - it was The Jam's bassist Bruce Foxton who would end up co-managing the band.
With a title like New Clear Days, the boys were just a couple of years early to be riding the nuclear annihilation wave that was coming around the corner. Still, their lyrics weren't especially heavy handed, but they did have something to say.
David Fenton - lead vocals, rhythm guitar
Howard Smith - drums, percussion
Edward Bazalgette - lead guitar
Steve Smith - bass, backing vocals
If you're wondering, I know I was - Steve and Howard aren't related. I know, with a surname like Smith, chances are they weren't - but in a band it's more likely there are ... but in this case they weren't.
Now you know. You're welcome.
The boys would release their follow-up Magnets a year later, but label issues and lack of sales would mark the end of the line for a pretty promising band.
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