Did Transvision Vamp invent '90s punk-pop – or alternative rock – in the '80s, with lead singer Wendy James a grunge Deborah Harry? The UK band foreshadowed the likes of Garbage but haven't been afforded their dues. Now they're back on the road, it's surely time to reappraise Transvision Vamp's legacy.
Transvision Vamp always enjoyed success in Australia and, in early February, launched an international comeback tour at The Triffid in Meanjin/Brisbane, having last touched down here three decades ago (James has returned as a solo act). Though the band's New Wave heritage isn't fully acknowledged, they have benefited from nostalgia. This tour announcement generated buzz online, with gigs selling out despite minimal press.
Tonight is Transvision Vamp's second show in Naarm/Melbourne (the first a week prior) and the final date of the Australian leg, and the band are well honed. The majestic Northcote Theatre would be the perfect venue were it not for the icy blasts from the air conditioning.
Transvision Vamp's choice of support is suitably idiosyncratic – Aotearoa/New Zealand indie-rock outfit The Response (vocalist/guitarist Andy and multi-instrumentalist Victoria Knopp) boasting all of 5,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, yet deserving more. The duo may be performing in Australia for the first time, but they aren't newcomers, having released five albums (the latest in 2025, Novel Idea).
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The Response were briefly based in Vancouver, Canada, before the pandemic and, back home in NZ, have opened for Aussie raves Big Scary. In fact, the choicest 'special guests' are unpredictable rather than a sonic replica of the main draw. Unleashing surprisingly heavy rock, The Response recall The Kills. Besides, they have fun – and win over the crowd.
Transvision Vamp was formed in London in 1986 by the charismatic James – her rebellious feminism presaging riot grrrl energy – and guitarist Nick Christian Sayer, the group's primary songwriter, but in 2026 no longer part of the band and apparently inactive in the music biz.
Indeed, Transvision Vamp now has only two original members, James and bassist Dave Parsons – perhaps better known as co-founder of the Gavin Rossdale-fronted Bush. In Australia, Transvision Vamp V2 is rounded out by distinguished musicians: James' longtime axeman Phillip "Pip" Stakem, Thurston Moore's guitarist Alex Ward, drummer James Sclavunos, another American and a member of Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds and Grinderman, plus keyboardist Matt Millership.
An art-rock entity, Transvision Vamp premiered with the T Rex-sounding bop Revolution Baby, followed by their debut album Pop Art via MCA Records in 1988. Pop Art landed in the UK Top Five and clocked up platinum sales in Australia (future 1 Giant Leap stalwart Duncan Bridgeman co-produced it). Transvision Vamp broke out with single three, I Want Your Love.
The band would revel in otherwise anachronistic influences from the '50s, '60s and '70s, their meta lyrics exploring themes of fame, commodification and artifice. Ironically, the music media questioned James' authenticity in much the same way they did Madonna (and later Lana Del Rey), misogyny ever-present.
Bigger again was 1989's sequel Velveteen, a UK chart-topper with amplified psychedelia and a smash in the lead single Baby I Don't Care – now Transvision Vamp's signature.
In 1991 came an experimental third album, Little Magnets Versus The Bubble Of Babble, which MCA declined to release in the UK. Alas, the project was not only under-promoted but met with a muted response – although its acid house, trip-hop and Britpop aesthetics have defied the ages. However, Little Magnets Versus The Bubble Of Babble charted in Australia.
Transvision Vamp split during 1991's US tour. Inevitably, James began a solo career, linking with Elvis Costello for 1993's Now Ain't The Time For Your Tears – but, retrospectively, she's expressed ambivalence towards the material (it isn't on Spotify). In the 2000s, James relocated to New York and started another band in Racine. She currently resides in the South of France.
In Naarm/Melbourne, Transvision Vamp perform a 'greatest hits' show with some twists. James, the iconic peroxide blonde instantly recognisable in a black sheath dress, opens with the Pop Art deep cut Trash City – a droney, futuristic robotic voiceover intro interrupted by brash rhythmic guitar, leading into the band's '80s cover of Holly And The Italians' anthemic Tell That Girl To Shut Up, a minor US hit. Punters sing along.
There are several highlights – among them the mellow Sister Moon, an almost-ballad from the Pop Art era, the big, catchy hit The Only One (which James dedicates to Naarm/Melbourne) and Born To Be Sold, with spoken word rap redolent of Lou Reed or even that subversive electroclasher Princess Superstar (and the last single off Velveteen).
James reminisces about when, in 1989, Transvision Vamp played Festival Hall, and she had a wardrobe malfunction (many in the audience caught them at The Metro Nightclub).
Transvision Vamp's most underrated song, Landslide Of Love from Velveteen, is less lush without the recording's prominent strings yet dynamic live.
Still, as with the California-style I Want Your Love, Baby I Don't Care receives a rousing reception as the official finale – James rocking out like Billy Idol's fraternal twin.
Little Magnets Versus The Bubble Of Babble might not have been a commercial triumph, but James reclaims its songs – one, the dubby LP cut Pressure Times, up there with Tricky or Morcheeba. The album's psyched-out lead single (I Just Wanna) B With U, a Top 20 hit here, similarly goes hard. Curiously, James' distinctive voice has become raspier, and she occasionally evokes Martina Topley-Bird.
James also dips into her solo catalogue, but conspicuously eschews Now Ain't The Time For Your Tears. Instead, the star pulls out the heady, semi-autobiographical poetry of You're A Dirtbomb Lester – The Velvet Underground-meets-post-punk theatricality – from 2016's The Price Of The Ticket, prefacing it as "a banger".
James saves the best for the very last with a stunning encore rendition of Velveteen's (10-minute!) epic, string-led, creepy-cool punk-opera title-track, the male duet vocals supplied by Millership. James, bathed in purple lights, notes that Transvision Vamp never performed it in their heyday.
In 2026, James is the epitome of the cult artist. As it happens, Transvision Vamp have just announced their first UK tour since 1991 – and it'd be apt if they popped up at Glastonbury. Let's just hope Transvision Vamp return to Australia soon.
