Before Miley, Taylor, Ariana, and Selena there was Wendy James.In the late 80s and 90's James was the UK IT girl. As the front woman of Transvision Vamp, the pop-punk band she formed at the age of 16 with Nick Christian Sayer, James attracted media attention with her sexually charged and rebellious image.The band enjoyed chart success, toured the world, sold a bunch of records and James had her face splashed across every tabloid in the country. But just when they were at the height of their fame Transvision Vamp split.James has since gone solo and has produced The Price of the Ticket, a new album with musical legends Glen Matlock from the Sex Pistols, Lenny Kaye from the Patti Smith Group, and James Sclavunos from Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds.We caught up and talked about her early years, fame, and Miley.NOISEY: The first single "Indigent Blues" has quite a 1960’s French pop element. Was this an inspiration?
Wendy James: You’re not the first person to ask this… The track is the double- side first single, and I felt I was evoking English 60s pop, a sort of carefree suburban London sound. Do you know the film Georgy Girl?Yes, of course.
Well then you must know the song? "Indigent Blues" was inspired by that sound, and also the Rolling Stones “Factory Girl”. That kind of working class English feel. There was a period in the late 50s to 60s, where theatre, music, playwriting, and politics, all came together. There was a great sense of optimism but also naivety in young English people. I’m not talking the hipsters on Carnaby Street dropping LSD but more out in the sticks where they wear their mini skirts for the first time. That kind of optimism.
I see a lot of myself in Miley, even the hair and the outfits. I doubt Miley has any knowledge of who I am but it’s possible that her stylists do. She’s more together than I was. She’s making millions and we kind of crashed and burned. The other girls before her, like the Disney girls, Britney etc. have gone off the rails…Maybe it’s because Miley has grown up in a show business family but I just get the feeling that she can take this as long as she wants to. I don’t find any worrying aspect about Miley at all. How old is she? She’s fucking 19, or 21.
I started at 16! So that shows you how the media has changed because the tabloids jump on Miley for smoking a fucking bong! Who gives a fuck?
We were doing much worse than that, much earlier and she’s passed any legal age requirement to do anything she wants.I was watching your interview with a London interviewer who was really jumping down your throat on pretty much anything. How do you think the media has changed in the way they look at the “girl power movement”?
Miley isn’t as accessible to ask those kind of questions. I think her organisation is run like a tight steel drum. So you get half an hour with her to ask her how happy she is with the record. I didn’t have that. I was kind of thrown to the lions. When you’re 18 or 19, whether you’re famous or not, you say whatever comes to mind. Then you’re charged for all sorts of reasons, bitchy, political, jealousy, music business, or just headline reasons and none of it really means anything. Basically we didn’t run a tight ship!You were arguably one of the first personifications of sexual power, as a woman. And the media criticised your outfits, as naughty or whatever at the time…
But honestly isn’t that what all 17-year-old girls do? I was just having a good time.Do you miss that level of fame?
Yes. In as much as I miss having the infrastructure of a record label. I like to have control now so you have to balance that with delegating to other people. In Transvision Vamp I didn’t pay attention to any of it. I just turned up to wherever the tour schedule said we were going. It was the same for artwork, press releases and diaries. Now I control all those things but there were certainly benefits to have a functioning machine that was taking care of business. In regards to Miley as a “Girl Power” the more trouble and mischief I got myself into, the better. Even when Britney broke down, those were great headlines for the media and the business people, it’s in their interest for you be as crazy as possible!
Well not on purpose. I’m the songwriter now and in those days I worked with Nick Sayer. We just hit that sound which sometimes happens. Whether it’s the Beatles, or whoever. You just ride that wave. They say that the magic ingredient is timing, and the timing was right for Transvision Vamp. A lot of Transvision Vamp fans would disagree with me but the music I’m making now is one thousand times better.Do you think your current album it’s the best you can do or is it the beginning a new future?
I’m working with musicians who really excite me. I’ve really worked hard, learning how to be good at what I do and I’ve really put the time in. I have respect from musicians which I possibly couldn’t have had that when I was 17-years-old and… I’m still fucking hot! I’ll go toe to toe with Miley in a furry outfit any day.
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Wendy James: You’re not the first person to ask this… The track is the double- side first single, and I felt I was evoking English 60s pop, a sort of carefree suburban London sound. Do you know the film Georgy Girl?Yes, of course.
Well then you must know the song? "Indigent Blues" was inspired by that sound, and also the Rolling Stones “Factory Girl”. That kind of working class English feel. There was a period in the late 50s to 60s, where theatre, music, playwriting, and politics, all came together. There was a great sense of optimism but also naivety in young English people. I’m not talking the hipsters on Carnaby Street dropping LSD but more out in the sticks where they wear their mini skirts for the first time. That kind of optimism.
What are your thoughts on Miley Cyrus, Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande?
I see a lot of myself in Miley, even the hair and the outfits. I doubt Miley has any knowledge of who I am but it’s possible that her stylists do. She’s more together than I was. She’s making millions and we kind of crashed and burned. The other girls before her, like the Disney girls, Britney etc. have gone off the rails…Maybe it’s because Miley has grown up in a show business family but I just get the feeling that she can take this as long as she wants to. I don’t find any worrying aspect about Miley at all. How old is she? She’s fucking 19, or 21.
I started at 16! So that shows you how the media has changed because the tabloids jump on Miley for smoking a fucking bong! Who gives a fuck?
We were doing much worse than that, much earlier and she’s passed any legal age requirement to do anything she wants.
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Miley isn’t as accessible to ask those kind of questions. I think her organisation is run like a tight steel drum. So you get half an hour with her to ask her how happy she is with the record. I didn’t have that. I was kind of thrown to the lions. When you’re 18 or 19, whether you’re famous or not, you say whatever comes to mind. Then you’re charged for all sorts of reasons, bitchy, political, jealousy, music business, or just headline reasons and none of it really means anything. Basically we didn’t run a tight ship!You were arguably one of the first personifications of sexual power, as a woman. And the media criticised your outfits, as naughty or whatever at the time…
But honestly isn’t that what all 17-year-old girls do? I was just having a good time.Do you miss that level of fame?
Yes. In as much as I miss having the infrastructure of a record label. I like to have control now so you have to balance that with delegating to other people. In Transvision Vamp I didn’t pay attention to any of it. I just turned up to wherever the tour schedule said we were going. It was the same for artwork, press releases and diaries. Now I control all those things but there were certainly benefits to have a functioning machine that was taking care of business. In regards to Miley as a “Girl Power” the more trouble and mischief I got myself into, the better. Even when Britney broke down, those were great headlines for the media and the business people, it’s in their interest for you be as crazy as possible!
You’ve stated that you’re finally making the music that you want to make. In your youth were you more inclined to make music that sold records?
Well not on purpose. I’m the songwriter now and in those days I worked with Nick Sayer. We just hit that sound which sometimes happens. Whether it’s the Beatles, or whoever. You just ride that wave. They say that the magic ingredient is timing, and the timing was right for Transvision Vamp. A lot of Transvision Vamp fans would disagree with me but the music I’m making now is one thousand times better.Do you think your current album it’s the best you can do or is it the beginning a new future?
I’m working with musicians who really excite me. I’ve really worked hard, learning how to be good at what I do and I’ve really put the time in. I have respect from musicians which I possibly couldn’t have had that when I was 17-years-old and… I’m still fucking hot! I’ll go toe to toe with Miley in a furry outfit any day.