(THE VAPORS -New Clear Days)-debut album/with Turning Japanese-E7-LP

	A$		33
	$		22

ITEM: VINYL 12” LP 33 1/3rpm
ARTIST: THE VAPORS
TITLE: New Clear Days
COUNTRY PRINTED: OZ
CAT No: See scans
COVER: (Grade at EXCELLENT+) 1.3cm split top seam
INSERT: Gatefold lyric sheet (Grade at NEAR MINT-)
LABELS: (Grade at MINT-)
VINYL: (Grade at NEAR MINT+)
TRACKS:
?All songs written by David Fenton and Edward Bazalgette (EMI Music Publishing).

1."Spring Collection" – 2:52
2."Turning Japanese" – 3:44
3."Cold War" – 3:57
4."America" – 2:22
5."Trains" – 3:26
6."Bunkers" – 3:54
7."News at Ten" – 3:18
8."Somehow" – 3:33
9."Sixty Second Interval" – 3:52
10."Waiting for the Weekend" – 3:07
11."Letter from Hiro" – 6:23
ALBUM COMMENT: Wikipedia
New Clear Days was The Vapors' 1980 debut album containing the UK single "Turning Japanese", which reached No. 3 in the chart in February 1980. A remix of "News at Ten" (named after the well-known ITV news programme), went to No. 45 in July of that year. A third single, a re-recording of "Waiting for the Weekend" that included a horn section, failed to chart.

The title is a pun on Nuclear - nuclear weapons and power stations being major issues at that time. The album cover shows a rather grimy television screen displaying a BBC TV weather forecast. Among the symbols for clouds is one located over London that is, on closer examination, a mushroom cloud. In addition, one of the temperature symbols has been replaced with one warning of radiation and the weatherman glows.

"News at Ten", a cynical examination of the generation gap and the fear of ending up as complacent as the parent he despises for his conformism, was expected to be a hit on the back of the success of "Turning Japanese"; its poorer performance was blamed in part by the long-running strike at the BBC's Top of the Pops, which meant it received very little media exposure. There was also a marked reluctance by BBC Radio 1 - then the nation's premier radio station - to play a song named after an ITV programme.

Apart from the three singles, the best known other track is "Sixty Second Interval". Its ambiguous lyrics have been interpreted alternately as concerning the short ceasefires agreed between armies during wars to allow each to attend to their wounded in the no-man's land between them. The song was the inspiration behind the long-running "Sixty Second Interview" feature of the UK's Metro (Associated Metro Limited) free newspaper given away at public transport stations.

"Letter from Hiro", the album's lengthy melancholy finale, concerns the sense of powerlessness a boy feels as events push towards World War II, and towards the inevitable ending of his friendship with his more patriotic Japanese pen pal ("And when the sun was rising somewhere in the East, and when a flag meant more to Hiro than to me"). The song concludes with the playing of a traditional Japanese tune on a cimbalom.

The American and Canadian releases omitted both "Cold War" and "America" in favour of the single "Prisoners". The CD reissue by Captain Oi! consisted of the original UK track listing, with eight bonus tracks: "Prisoners", "Sunstroke", "Here Comes the Judge" (live), "News at Ten" (single version), "Wasted", "Talk Talk", "Waiting for the Weekend" (single version), and "Billy".

COMMENT: Wikipedia
The Vapors were an English new wave and power pop band, that existed between 1979 and 1982. They had a hit with the song "Turning Japanese" in 1980, which reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart,[3] and No. 36 in the US Billboard Hot 100.

Based in Guildford, Surrey, their members were David Fenton (songwriter, guitarist and vocalist), Howard Smith (drummer), Edward Bazalgette (lead guitarist) and Steve Smith (bass guitarist and vocals). (The band's two Smiths were unrelated.) The group's name was originally spelled "Vapours," but they removed the U to seem like an American band.

They were discovered and managed by John Weller (father of Paul Weller) and by The Jam's bassist Bruce Foxton.[1] The song for which they are mainly remembered, "Turning Japanese", was produced by The Jam's producer Vic Coppersmith-Heaven and hit the Top Three in the UK at the same time that "Going Underground" was at number one. It was also a top ten hit in Canada, New Zealand and Australia, and (just barely) a top 40 in the US, something The Jam never managed.

The song "Turning Japanese" was believed to euphemistically refer to masturbation,[4] although Fenton (the song's author) denied that claim in an interview on VH1. He did, however, say he wished to thank whoever first came up with that interpretation, as he felt that the salacious rumour about what the song "really" meant may have been what made it a hit.

The band released two albums: New Clear Days (the pun on "nuclear" being intentional) and Magnets. The first was more clearly in the "traditional" new wave style of music, while touching on social issues such as the nuclear threat as well as love themes. The second album was more lyrically varied, with themes including alienation and many dark lyrics about apparently psychotic characters, including the opening track, "Jimmie Jones", about cult leader Jim Jones. Sales of the second album were poor and the band broke up soon after its release in 1982.[1] Fenton alleged in a later interview with Record Collector magazine that lack of record label support was the chief reason; apparently their intended seventh single 'Red Flag' was cancelled without explanation. Follow-up singles "News at Ten", and the aforementioned "Jimmie Jones", both coincidentally reached number 44 in the UK Singles Chart.[3] Record producer Harry Cowell was for a while the band's drum tech.

VINYL GRADING SYSTEM

MINT:
RECORD: New condition with no surface marks or loss of sound quality.
COVER: New condition with no surface marks, creases or wear.
NEAR MINT:
RECORD: Barely noticeable surface mark with no loss of sound quality.
COVER: Barely noticeable surface mark/ wear.
EXCELLENT:
RECORD: Some signs of being played with extremely little if no loss of sound quality.
COVER: Slight wear or creasing.
VERY GOOD:
RECORD: Obviously been played with noticeable surface marks & the occasional light scratches but exhibits no major loss of sound quality.
COVER: Noticeable wear on cover, seam or spine.
+(PLUS)/-(MINUS):
Slightly up or down in condition as appears in the comments above.
NOTE:
Gradings are done visually unless there appears to be a questionable surface mark on the vinyl, it is then put on the turntable to check. A comment describing the outcome will appear if this is the case.

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