The Vapors

Vocalist and guitarist Dave Fenton led the Vapors, a brief new wave guitar band remembered chiefly for the edgy pop single “Turning Japanese.” He assembled the group’s initial lineup in 1978, yet remained its sole survivor once that configuration dissolved. In 1979 former Ellery Bops members Ed Bazalgette on lead guitar and Howard Smith on drums entered the fold, followed soon afterward by bassist Steve Smith. Bruce Foxton of the Jam caught one of their early shows and invited the Vapors to join his band’s Setting Sons tour. Management duties soon passed to Foxton and John Weller, the Jam’s longtime representative and father of its frontman Paul Weller.

The Vapors inked a deal with United Artists and issued their debut single “Prisoners” late in 1979, though it made no chart impression. Their follow-up, “Turning Japanese,” proved a substantial success, climbing to number three on the British charts in March 1980. Two months later the band delivered its first album, New Clear Days, which failed to match the single’s commercial impact. The more expansive Magnets appeared in 1981, yet drew muted critical notices and weak sales, prompting the group to disband shortly afterward.