an's page is full of his random thoughts, and there are many of them, concerning the best band of the late 80's and early 90's, but there is a huge recollection story at the bottom. Enjoy!

The new site is great, I love it, the links put up have helped alot, and I've been able to purchase a new copy of the Bubble album, which I must say is Vampishly cool. It has worsened my feelings for the press & MCA, and their treatment of Wendy & the Band, as the Vamps were getting better and better. Twangy Wigout is so mellowy Wendy, I ain't stopped smiling over it yet. My first impression of the Bubble LP is that though it's 9 years old, it is still extraordinarily re-freshing, different, unique to the Vamps, and still better than half the stuff going around today.

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Over here in the UK, and in particular Wendy, who never got a seconds peace from our tabloids, and so called music press. I don't need to tell you how good they were and that Wendy's public image was a big falasy. She's a great character, however she paid a cost for her individuality, because she was more than most people could handle, on and off stage. I love Echobelly, very Vampish in patches and lead singer Sonya Madan get's treated in the same manner. They can't control her or silence her so they resort to "Dirty" tactics, and it was exactly the same with Wendy. It's a disgusting trait of British culture to build someone uo to celebrity status then publicly "execute" them when they don't live up to public expectations. It's great to have a site that's totally Transvision Vamp, 'cos to be honest I still miss them.

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I was a huge Vamper in the 80's, and still love them now - they were awesome!! I worked in London for a while around Paddington, Notting Hill and Ladbroke Grove {w11 Blues}, and saw Wendy around this area many times - she was spot on with me. After I came back from Europe after my"o,s" experience they had split - I was gutted, I grieved for ages!! They sound better now than they did then because they were unique and have stood the test of time.

Wendy got treated disgustingly by UK tabloids, but still all the girls wanted to be her, and all the lads wanted to be with her, the 80's "it" girl. I saw them live often, and they were awesome. Please help a ex-teenager relive a vampish past!!

"That was then, this is now" "Ain't no rules!!"

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Cam, Sorry to have gone awol, just had a extremely busy time, hope you are well and the job's going good. So I'll move on to those balmy days around 87/ 88 when i first encountered the Vamp's.

Was working at Heathrow airport at the time, and living in a house share in Hounslow, It was well winter and the heating had jacked, the toilet had froze and I couldn't be bothered moving out of bed so had the company of a old box B/W tv for the day. The Vamp's were a mystery, "I Want Your Love" was being played a lot on Local Radio, but nobody knew anything about them. Can't remember what the programme was called, but they announced the screen debut of T V V. It was her, definately her, the tatty headed, in ya face, sooo bad songstress. I'd never seen anything like her, (the blokes in the band were good, Icould make that out), but that woman had the lot,Wendy James, had gatecrashed my private party and she was not going to leave, that was ok, I didn't want her to anyway. It took ages to get the tickets for the gig, standing freezing cold, and nobody knew what the band was going to be like. POP ART, never left the tape-deck, I was on a Vampy role.

Inside the gig the crowd was amazing, a real feel good atmosphere, and people who didn't know each other were the best of mates.You could smell the anticipation and feel the love generated by this band. The lights dimmed, smoke filled the air, and the amp's were buzzing as the band hit the stage, Wendy being fashionabley late, was the last to hit stage and the place erupted. She stood there, silouetted by dry ice and and back-lights, came to the front of the stage and breathed in that throaty accent," HI-Ya 'And 'OW ARE YA DOIN'??", the place erupted again, and Wendy, who had not done anything really, looked rather bashful and embarrased by the chaos she had just caused, gave the standard Vamp yell and we were off, "Revolution Baby","Tell that girl to shut up", etc,the crowd were amazing, it was crash and bang, bodies colliding, picking each other up and just getting off on it. The whole gig was about love, a love of being young, a love of being yourself and a love of being alive, and that was what Wendy was about, I'll never forget her look of surprise when she was confronted with adoring adulation, and when she told us all she loved us, we believed her, because above all she meant it, she was just too upfront and honest for her own good. I swear undiluted Testosterone *and* Oestrogen dripped unashamedly from the walls as Wendy and the Band misbehaved on stage, they were loud, unashamed, freespirited and very-very good.

I saw them 4 more times and they were exactly the same, and Wendy the Vamp was just so charasmatic, all the girls wanted to be her, and all the blokes wanted to be WITH her. I saw her the once around town, down Covent Garden, where she had been shopping for one of those large hats, a nd was causing chaos by attracting quite a large crowd who all wanted a slice of her, she delt with it jovally and was generally interested in the people who would'nt let her go home, her modesty stood out as her biggest attribute. Being typically British and not wanting to grow old, Iwent on a OS experience to Europe and on my return the Vamps had split, MCA had done the dirty and the smug uk music media had won out, and my Fav band were no more. I was gutted. I will never forget them and still love them to this day, that old box tv bit the dust years ago but i will forever owe it a huge debt. I was lucky, right place, right time to experience them first hand, if i have bored ya, im genuinely sorry, if i've entertained ya,i'm glad, guess i just don't know when to shut up about T V V & WJ. I can some up the lack of legacy that has gone on since they split, by saying, i bought a cd copy of Little Magnets versus the Bubble of Babble last year, and it wont surprise you when i say, it was the best, most original record i bought all year. My how there missed. [Jan 2000]

- Ian Price (We Are Transvision Vamp! fan from Wales)

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