Still vamping it up
| Still vamping it up |
 Daren Pope speaks with former Transvision Vamp frontwoman, Wendy James.
Wendy James, one time lead singer of
80s pop group, Transvision Vamp, has a reputation for speaking her mind. One
media report even goes so far as to refer to the sexy singer as a ‘loud mouth’.
The inference is that a woman who employs sex appeal in her act should just
shut up and enjoy the ride.
But shutting up doesn’t sit well
with this singer/songwriter’s post-punk attitude, as evidenced by her cutting
comments about the ‘girl power’ movement of the 1990s.
“There’s always been girl power, in
every generation,” James tells MCV.
“Mary Pickford was girl power, Louise Brookes was girl power, certainly Marilyn
Monroe was – I think it’s sexist to even have that term, ‘girl power’, because
in both genders there have been powerful people since the beginning of time.”
James is in
Since the heady success of
Transvision Vamp, whose charts hits included ‘Revolution Baby’, ‘I Want Your
Love’ and ‘Baby I Don’t Care’, James has been through several periods of
re-invention.
There were a number of releases as a
solo singer, including Now Ain't the Time
for Your Tears (1993), a poorly received album of songs written for her by
Elvis Costello.
While that album may have lead to
the demise of her contract with MCA, it also served as a wakeup call. James has
since pursued the independent path, flexing her muscle as a singer/songwriter
and ultimately taking control of her own career.
Reflecting on the past, James says
she’s always considered herself independent and strong willed.
“I think it’s like most people, the
older you get the more sure you are of your decisions, and the more able you are
to make a direction for yourself, regardless of what other people may think,”
James tells MCV.
“My evolution is probably not much
more remarkable than any other person.”
These days, as well as working as a
DJ, James fronts her own
James says her DJ sets are a direct
extension of
“It’s certainly my musical choice
and personality,” she says. “I play what turns me on – garage, indie, hip-hop,
With the street cred she’s garnered
as an alternative DJ and producer/performer of her own indie band, I wonder aloud
whether James is not deliberately playing up to the rebellious “loud mouth”
tag.
She laughs at the proposition.
“Hey, when you die, you have to go
out proud.”
Wendy James DJ Set @ The Northcote Social Club,
www.northcotesocialclub.com
Set as favorite
Bookmark
Email This
Comments (3)
Minor Advisory re 'Drybaby'
written by Atomsk , December 27, 2008 'Drybaby' is, on the evidence, the same troll who, under the nom-de-net 'Charm Pinkerton' ultimately destroyed a perfectly pleasant site devoted to WJ some years ago. He seems to have major obsessive hate/identification issues. I would respectfully suggest approaching him as a Major Troll if not a Minor Nuisance  report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
“Hey, when you die, you have to go out proud.”
written by DryBaby , December 16, 2008 Wendy James SHUT DOWN her website this week.. Dec 12th Her MySpace page is currently being "managed" by someone else.. (NOT HER..) “Hey, when you die, you have to go out proud.” She went out coward. http://drybaby1.blogspot.com/ DRYBABY report abuse
vote down
vote up
Votes: +0
Write comment
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed