Two days ago, we featured a recent single by The Primitives. Today, we feature a band with whom they were compared an awful lot, Transvison Vamp. Contemporaries in the UK music scene in the late 80's and early 90's, they both played guitar-driven rock and had a bleached-blonde female lead vocalist.
Hair color, however, is the only similarity that Wendy James has with Tracy Tracy. TV was a far more straight-ahead rock band, with a rougher sound and more salacious vocals. They were also ignored in the US far more than The Primitives were. This song, their first US single, is a cover of a song originally done by Holly and the Italians - in my opinion, it far exceeds the original.
Also, Wendy James went on to have a solo career and didn't reform her band 21 years after the release of their last album to go on tour. But we can hope that she still will.
By the way, their 2nd album, Velveteen, is one of my five favorites of all time, and you need to check it out. This song was off their excellent first album, Pop Art.
OK - You made me pull Exposed II: A Cheap Peek at Today's Provacative New Rock off the record shelf to enjoy some turntable time for the first time in a very long time. I still like the Holly and the Italians version. It's possible that I played it a lot once upon a time because the P Furs' Pretty in Pink is on the same side. Billy Thorpe, OMD, and Tommy Tutone are on that record too.
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