Those of you that are old enough will recall the New Wave/Post-Punk bands The Vapors and Department S.
The Vapors had a worldwide hit with ‘Turning Japanese’ in 1980 and Department S had a hit with ‘Is Vic There?’ in the following year.
The great news is that both bands are back in action and will be performing on the same night at The Con Club in Lewes on Saturday 8th December 2018.
The Vapors reformed in 2016 after 35 years apart. They were originally co-managed by Paul Weller’s Father John and The Jam bass player Bruce Foxton. They were discovered by Foxton whilst playing in a pub in Guildford and they were invited to tour with Paul Weller and The Jam on the ‘Setting Sons’ tour, which came to the Brighton Centre on Saturday 15th December 1979.
After a number of other single releases including ‘News at Ten’ and ‘Jimmie Jones’ and two critically acclaimed albums ‘New Clear Days’ and ‘Magnets’ the band parted company.
Guitarist Ed Bazalgette went on to become a successful TV director with recent credits including ‘Poldark’, ‘Versailles’ and ‘Dr Who’, whilst lead singer Dave Fenton became a Music Lawyer.
After reforming in 2016 for the successful ‘Waiting For the Weekend’ mini tour, the band went back out in 2017, with a number of shows and festivals in the UK, including a concert at ‘The Prisoner’ tv show village Portmeirion in North Wales on 9th December. More locally, The Vapors played a storming gig at the Ropetackle Arts Centre in Shoreham on 29th July 2017.
The Vapors are Dave Fenton, Ed Bazalgette, Steve Smith and Michael Bowes and they set to head off the the USA for some dates and then will return to the UK to play their Lewes concert.
For more information on The Vapors, visit: https://www.facebook.com/TheVaporsOfficial/
Special guests on the night will be the wonderful Department S. The guys re-formed back in 2007 after a 25 year absence. The current line-up is Eddie Roxy, Pete Jones, Phil Thompson and Alan Galaxy.
In 2016 they released a new album titled ‘When All Is Said and All Is Done’ with the ‘45 Revolutions: Singles 1980 – 2017’ compilation album following a year later.
For more information on Department S, visit: https://www.facebook.com/Department-S-44329344560/
Grab your Lewes Con Club concert tickets here: http://www.wegottickets.com/event/444141
