Transvision Vamp

In the late 1980s saw a pop rock band emerge with a sassy rebellious young lady leading the group. The band was formed in 1986 by Nick Slater and lead singer Wendy James and they were ably backed up by Dave Parsons, Tex Axile and Pol Burton.

The band were signed up by MCA records and quickly released the single 'revolution baby' and 'tell that girl to shut up' both singles failed to reach the top 40, although it did get some success in Australia and America.

They then released 'I want your love' and this proved to be the stepping stone the band were looking for as it reached the top 10 in the UK reaching the dizzy heights of number 5. It's pop/rock/punk feel seemed to grab the UK audience and they very much carried on in that vain. They re-released 'Revolution baby' and this fared better by hitting the top 30. The next single 'sister moon' failed to dent the top 40 but the release of the album 'pop art' where it reached number 4 in the UK charts and stayed over 6 months in the charts.

1989 saw the band at it's commercial peak when they released the single 'Baby I don't care' which peaked at number 3 in the UK charts and the subsequent album follow up 'Velveteen' hit number one in the UK charts and again stayed over 6 months in the charts. The follow up single 'the only one' hit number 15 in the charts. Two further singles followed 'Landslide of Love' and 'born to be sold' both did well and hit the top 30.

The band then split following the release of 'little magnets verses the bubble of babble' in 1991, the record label were not convinced by the more mature mellow sound and did not release the album in the UK, as a result the band had decided to call it a day.

Wendy James went solo but the success did not follow and called it a day within a year and the rest of the band stayed within music with Dave Parsons going on to huge success with grunge band Bush.

The band enjoyed success in a short stay with 2 top four albums and 2 top five singles and Wendy James gave a shot in the arm that it was okay for girls to rock.