Transvision Vamp

Transvision Vamp was a popular British alternative rock group. Formed in 1986 by Nick Christian Sayer and Wendy James the band enjoyed chart success in the late 1980s. James, the lead singer and focal-point of the group, attracted media attention with her sexually-charged and rebellious image. The band's original lineup was James, Sayer, Dave Parsons (bass), Tex Axile (keyboards) and Pol Burton (drums). Parsons and Axile had both been in punk bands prior to joining the band - Parsons in The Partisans, and Axile in various bands, most notably The Moors Murderers and X-Ray Spex offshoot Agent Orange. The band were signed by MCA in December 1986 and released their first single Revolution Baby the following year.It was considered a flop by their label so they released a cover single of the Holly and the Italians' song Tell That Girl to Shut Up in April 1988, but it only reached number 45 on the UK Singles Chart. A month later the follow-up single I Want Your Love, with its pop/punk crossover appeal, entered the top 10, and peaked at number 5 in the United Kingdom. Minor success was achieved with 2 further singles, the re-released Revolution Baby and Sister Moon, which reached 30 and 41 respectively on the UK Singles Chart in 1988. The band went on to release the hit album Pop Art in October. It stayed on the album chart for 32 weeks, peaking at number 4. 1989 was the band's most successful year, with the number 3 hit single Baby I Don't Care and hit album Velveteen, which went entered the UK Albums Chart at #1 and stayed on the chart for 26 weeks. In June 1991 MCA refused to release Transvision Vamp's third album Little Magnets Versus the Bubble of Babble in the UK, reportedly disliking the mellower direction of the music.[citation needed] after two heavy promoted singles failed to chart well.Wendy James has stated ...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, we'd already decided to split up, and so it never came out. The group officially disbanded in February 1992 following a statement from MCA. Wendy James launched her solo career in 1993 with the Elvis Costello-written album. It was not a commercial success, and MCA and James parted company in August 1993. James later relaunched her solo career in 2004 as an independent. [edi...