Transvision Vamp

Transvision Vamp attained short-lived dominance on the British singles and albums charts toward the end of the 1980s, notwithstanding near-universal critical disdain, chiefly because of the provocative media persona projected by frontwoman Wendy James. She presented herself as a sexually charged, defiant, style-obsessed punk whose look and attitude blended elements of Madonna, Blondie's Deborah Harry, T. Rex, and the Clash. Guitarist and principal songwriter Nick Christian Sayer, keyboardist Tex Axile, bassist Dave Parsons, and drummer Pol Burton supplied the instrumental foundation, which likewise echoed the sonic approach of the latter three acts. Their cover of Holly and the Italians' "Tell That Girl to Shut Up," together with the Top Five single "I Want Your Love," propelled the band's first album, Pop Art, into the British Top Five; the follow-up record, Velveteen, then ascended to number one on the strength of the Top Three hit "Baby I Don't Care." Momentum ended abruptly after MCA declined to issue Little Magnets Vs. the Bubble of Babble domestically, though the album finally surfaced in the U.K. in 1991 and attracted minimal notice.