In less than a month my 10th album THE SHAPE OF HISTORY will be released and i will be out on the road again!
A 16 date in-store tour of some of the most wonderful record stores in the UK AND NOW INCLUDING CARDIFF, WALES! I have added SPILLERS to round out the tour!
Every one of these venues takes pride in delivering music to their customers, introducing new music, re-issuing music gone by and in my case… the culmination of a 10 album odyssey which began in 1986 when I co-formed Transvision Vamp!
I’m so excited to introduce everyone to the songs on my 10th Album ‘The Shape Of History’
It’s been a helluva journey, I have consistently delivered music without compromise, music I am so proud of and that I cherish, and of course, it’s the fans who’ve sustained me, built me up, been loyal to me and come on the journey with me. It means so much to me!
It’s going to be a brilliant evening! I’ll play some new tunes from ‘The Shape Of History’ and I’ll also play a selection from each of my albums! I’ll intersperse the music with conversation and questions from the audience, all unprompted!! So, it should be a fun and lively night, rounding up at the merch desk where I will sign and personalize for everyone who’s bought something of mine, and take photos too!
I cannot wait to see you all!!”
***** ADMITTANCE:
To attend the in-store performance you will need to have purchased your entry with your location of choice (the retail version of the vinyl and cd are different to the Deluxe versions on sale in my webstore!)
Come and meet Wendy before the show, hang out for a little while and have her personalize your items. (Exact logistics will differ, location to location so you’ll receive an email with instructions of where/how/when!)
And just to re-up my wonderful singles so far, taken from The Shape Of History
Here is
1. FREEDOMSVILLE
2. EVERYTHING IS MAGIC
I’m so proud of this work and very very excited for you to have the whole album!
Here is the video for my second single ‘Everything Is Magic’ from my forthcoming 10th Album ‘The Shape Of History’
About ‘Everything Is Magic’: “I needed this song to soar, to be ethereal, uplifting and exultant, cresting a darker undertone with emotional builds and dynamics. The magnificence of human nature when it rises up in the face of adversity and meets great challenges, endures great suffering and remains graceful and humble, with awe inspiring dignity. The impermanence of one’s own existence, merely the passage of eternity. The will to remain in the light. This song does exactly what a song should do, even with no lyrics to guide you, one will feel the weight of emotions, of history, of life, sometimes lifting up, sometimes falling down and sometimes comfortably numb. Some of the lyrics are personal to me, there is a subjective truth here and I get a wry pleasure from them, but I’ve written broadly too, everyone can relate.”
Written and Produced and Mixed by Wendy James Recording Engineer – Tomas Gagliardo assisted by Rosendo Zinny at LeMob Studios, West London, UK, Al Lawson at Mix Studios, West London, UK, Ben Rice at Degraw Sound, Brooklyn NY, USA Mix Engineer: Jesse Nichols at Atomic Garden West Recording Studio, Oakland, CA. USA Mastering Engineer: Frederic Kevorkian at Kevorkian Mastering Inc. Brooklyn, NY, USA
Lead & Backing Vocals – Wendy James Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Piano, Keys, Clarinet – Alex Ward Additional Lead & Rhythm Guitar – Louis Eliot Piano, Organs, Keys – Dave ‘The Moose’ Sherman Bass – Harry Bohay Drums & Percussion – James Sclavunos
Artwork Design – Wendy Jame & Noah Eve Photography – David Leigh Dodd Video – David Leigh Dodd
Come and meet Wendy before the show, hang out for a little while and have her personalize your items. (Exact logistics will differ location to location so you’ll receive an email with instructions of where/how/when!)
To attend the in-store performance you will need to have purchased your entry with your location of choice, (****FYI – the retail vinyl and cd are different to the Deluxe versions I sell in my webstore) but once you’re in you will watch the show from a dedicated space and enjoy the full gig experience with Wendy and her band.
The whole event will include an ‘unplugged’ performance of some of the new songs and other favorites, by Wendy and her guitarist Alex.
It will also include a spontaneous Q&A session! So think of a question you’d like to ask and step up to the mic! It is bound to be a lively, funny and interesting talk!
When the performance and q&a is finished, Wendy will be at the merchandise stand to sign anything you purchase and take photos too!
*There are only 10 passes available per gig
The Dates are as follows:
25TH OCTOBER – BEYOND VINYL – NEWCASTLE (EVENING)
26TH OCTOBER – ASSAI – EDINBURGH (DAYTIME)
26TH OCTOBER – ASSAI – GLASGOW (EVENING)
27TH OCTOBER – ROUGH TRADE – NOTTINGHAM (EVENING)
28TH OCTOBER – ROUGH TRADE – LIVERPOOL (EVENING)
29TH OCTOBER – ROUGH TRADE – BRISTOL (EVENING)
30TH OCTOBER – ROUGH TRADE – LONDON (EAST) (EVENING)
31ST OCTOBER – PIE AND VINYL – PORTSMOUTH (DAYTIME)
31ST OCTOBER – A SLICE OF VINYL – GOSPORT (EVENING)
1ST NOVEMBER – VINILO – SOUTHAMPTON (EVENING)
2ND NOVEMBER – BANQUET – KINGSTON UPON THAMES (LATE AFTERNOON)
3RD NOVEMBER – TRUCK – OXFORD (LATE AFTERNOON)
4TH NOVEMBER – SOUND KNOWLEDGE – MARLBOROUGH (EVENING)
So! Enjoy the second single! I think it’s BEE-U-TIFUL! And… there will be a third one just prior to the Album release, which is on OCTOBER 25TH! Mark your calendars! My fulfillment company will be shipping to make sure you have your vinyl or cd arrive on the 25th October (or, near as dammit!)
So get your tickets for the tour, your VIP upgrades, and preorder THE SHAPE OF HISTORY! After 3 years… we are now minus 5 weeks away from release date!
TO CELEBRATE THE RELEASE OF WENDY’S 10TH ALBUM ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY’
Come and meet Wendy before the show, hang out for a little while and have her personalize your items. (Exact logistics will differ location to location so you’ll receive an email with instructions of where/how/when!)
To attend the in-store performance you will need to have purchased your entry with your location of choice, but once you’re in you will watch the show from a dedicated space and enjoy the full gig experience with Wendy and her band.
The whole event will include an ‘unplugged’ performance of some of the new songs and other favorites, by Wendy and her guitarist Alex.
It will also include a spontaneous Q&A session! So think of a question you’d like to ask and step up to the mic! It is bound to be a lively, funny and interesting talk!
When the performance and q&a is finished, Wendy will be at the merchandise stand to sign anything you purchase and take photos too!
*There are only 10 passes available per gig
The Dates are as follows:
25TH OCTOBER – BEYOND VINYL – NEWCASTLE (EVENING)
26TH OCTOBER – ASSAI – EDINBURGH (DAYTIME)
26TH OCTOBER – ASSAI – GLASGOW (EVENING)
27TH OCTOBER – ROUGH TRADE – NOTTINGHAM (EVENING)
28TH OCTOBER – ROUGH TRADE – LIVERPOOL (EVENING)
29TH OCTOBER – ROUGH TRADE – BRISTOL (EVENING)
30TH OCTOBER – ROUGH TRADE – LONDON (EAST) (EVENING)
31ST OCTOBER – PIE AND VINYL – PORTSMOUTH (DAYTIME)
31ST OCTOBER – A SLICE OF VINYL – GOSPORT (EVENING)
1ST NOVEMBER – VINILO – SOUTHAMPTON (EVENING)
2ND NOVEMBER – BANQUET – KINGSTON UPON THAMES (LATE AFTERNOON)
3RD NOVEMBER – TRUCK – OXFORD (LATE AFTERNOON)
4TH NOVEMBER – SOUND KNOWLEDGE – MARLBOROUGH (EVENING)
1. Pop Art 2. Velveteen 3. Little Magnets versus The Bubble Of Babble 4. Now Ain’t The Time For Your Tears 5. Racine No.1 6. Racine 2 7. I Came Here To Blow Minds 8. The Price Of The Ticket 9. Queen High Straight 10. THE SHAPE OF HISTORY
The Shape Of History will be released on Friday 25th October and will be available digitally and on Deluxe Vinyl and Deluxe CD.
Wendy: “I grew up, musically, in the age of the sequencer. There was Transvision Vamp and there was Sigue Sigue Sputnik and we were both drawn into the future by Ridley Scott’s movie Bladerunner. The futuristic, seedy glamour of an overcrowded Chinatown and the high, high skyscrapers, where the masters of the universe observed and policed down below. Also Polanski’s movie ‘Frantic’, Beineix’s movie ‘Diva’, European dark electro and Klaus Nomi’s ‘The Cold Song’. I wrote Freedomsville on guitar like all my songs and in the end I didn’t use sequencers at all, it’s all real playing very rhythmically on repeat for just short of six minutes straight!”
A wide spine cover, double vinyl LP. One 12” vinyl and one 10” vinyl, to allow for top quality audio for all 13 brand new songs. The 12” plays at 33 1/3 rpm and the 10” plays at 45 rpm. They are packaged together with fully printed sleeves, inner sleeves and a 12 page full size booklet, containing multiple new photographs, all the lyrics, the credits and hand written liner notes by Wendy (you also get an automatic digital download)
ALBUM LENGTH – 56:30
12” SIDE A 33 1/3 RPM
1. Sweet Like Love (3:41) 2. A Happy Life (3:09) 3. Everything Is Magic (5:23) 4. May I Kiss You? (Just Enough To Get Us Into Trouble) (4:13) 5. The Crack And The Boom Of The Creeps And The Goons (3.35)
12” SIDE B 33 1/3 RPM
6. A Big Vicious Rumble (5:53) 7. Do You Dig It? Do You Love It? Is It Groovy? (3.53) 8. Don’t Let Daylight Into Magic (4:35) 9. This Declaration Of Love (4:21)
The CD is packaged like a mini vinyl! There is the outer front cover, a fully printed inner sleeve and a 24 page booklet containing multiple new photographs, all the lyrics, the credits and hand written liner notes by Wendy
ALBUM LENGTH – 56:30
1. Sweet Like Love (3:41) 2. A Happy Life (3:09) 3. Everything Is Magic (5:23) 4. May I Kiss You? (Just Enough To Get Us Into Trouble) (4:13) 5.The Crack And The Boom Of The Creeps And The Goons (3.35) 6. A Big Vicious Rumble (5:53) 7. Do You Dig It? Do You Love It? Is It Groovy? (3.53) 8. Don’t Let Daylight Into Magic (4:35) 9. This Declaration Of Love (4:21) 10. Freedomsville (5:47) 11. Step Aside Roadkill (4:36) 12. Thank You For The Time We Shared (2:23) 13. The Shape Of History (4:31)
Wendy: “My 10th album! My songwriting has always been a wide mix of sounds, which naturally reflect the different music and references I have and love. My sweet spot is mid-late 70’s downtown NYC New Wave Punk: CBGB and Max’s Kansas City. It is from this sound that my taste for sequenced and dark NY and Euro electro and no-wave evolves, original punks ‘The Stooges’, glam rockers the ‘New York Dolls’, English Punk/Pop the ‘Sex Pistols’, French Yé-Yé Girls, American 1950’s Rock and Roll, Rockabilly and 60’s Motown, Girl Groups, Phil Spector, Brian Wilson. Also Hip Hop music, original B-Boys the ‘Beastie Boys’, East Coast versus West Coast, Dr. Dre! The King of New York Lou Reed and ‘The Velvet Underground’, black rhythm and blues from 1930’s depression era America, African American slave era Spirituals and therefore Country and Bluegrass music, Willie Nelson and his fellow Outlaws! Bob Dylan, Jamaican Ska, British Northern Soul and movie soundtracks! Big scores! Big opening numbers! George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and the New York Skyline ‘Rhapsody In Blue’. London and The Kinks ‘Waterloo Sunset’ or Paris, Saint Germain and Serge Gainsbourg ‘Initials BB’. Movies, movie directors, literature, authors, artists, activists, all filtered through the prism of my adventures and experiences in life and in music. I work with musicians and engineers who share the same or similar references as mine. They are my fellow musicians and my friends, I trust them implicitly to push until the very last take and to always give everything they possibly have inside them.”
I have spent so much time with this music, I know it note for note and I love it and I am so happy for you to now make it your own.
Love
Wendy xo
CREDITS
Written and Produced and Mixed by Wendy James
Recording Engineer – Tomas Gagliardo assisted by Rosendo Zinny at LeMob Studios, West London, UK, Al Lawson at Mix Studios, West London, UK, Ben Rice at Degraw Sound, Brooklyn NY, USA
Mix Engineer: Jesse Nichols at Atomic Garden West Recording Studio, Oakland, CA. USA
Mastering Engineer: Frederic Kevorkian at Kevorkian Mastering Inc. Brooklyn, NY, USA
Lead & Backing Vocals – Wendy James
Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Piano, Keys, Clarinet – Alex Ward
Additional Lead & Rhythm Guitar – Louis Eliot
Piano, Organs, Keys – Dave ‘The Moose’ Sherman
Bass – Harry Bohay
Drums & Percussion – James Sclavunos
Artwork Design – Wendy James & Noah Eve
Photography and Video – David Leigh Dodd
All songs written and composed by Wendy James. Released by The Wendy James Label. P & C Wendy James 2024. All rights reserved.
Wendy James ‘The Shape Of History’ Deluxe 12” & 10″ Vinyl + Hi Res Download
The vinyl is now in production for test pressings!
With audio quality top of mind I am splitting the album into 2 vinyls! 9 songs on the 12″ and the remaining 4 songs on 10″. The 10″ vinyl is packaged inside the 12″ sleeve! This way you get the deepest grooves, the best sound!
4. May I Kiss You? (Just Enough To Get Us Into Trouble (04:13)
5.The Crack And The Boom Of The Creeps And The Goons (03.35)
12” SIDE B
6. A Big Vicious Rumble – (05:53)
7. Do You Dig It? Do You Love It? Is It Groovy? (03.53)
8. Don’t Let Daylight Into Magic (04:35)
9. This Declaration Of Love – (04:21)
10” SIDE A
10. Freedomsville (05:47)
11. Step Aside Roadkill (04:36)
10” SIDE B
12. Thank You For The Time We Shared (02:23)
13. The Shape Of History (04:31)
Written and Produced and Mixed by Wendy James
Recording Engineer – Tomas Gagliardo assisted by Rosendo Zinny at LeMob Studios, West London, UK, Al Lawson at Mix Studios, West London, UK, Ben Rice at Degraw Sound, Brooklyn NY, USA
Mix Engineer: Jesse Nichols at Atomic Garden West Recording Studio, Oakland, CA. USA
Mastering Engineer: Frederic Kevorkian at Kevorkian Mastering Inc. Brooklyn, NY, USA
Lead & Backing Vocals – Wendy James
Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Piano, Keys, Clarinet – Alex Ward
Additional Lead & Rhythm Guitar – Louis Eliot
Piano, Organs, Keys – Dave ‘The Moose’ Sherman
Bass – Harry Bohay
Drums & Percussion – James Sclavunos
All songs written and composed by Wendy James. Released by The Wendy James Label.
Pre-order your copy of Wendy James Album 10 ‘The Shape Of History’ Deluxe 12” & 10″ Vinyl today!
(This image is a placeholder image until official artwork is designed)
AND!!!!!
PS! I have ONE test pressing left of ‘I CAME HERE TO BLOW MINDS’:
SOMEONE GET IT! It’s a magnificent album and one I’m so proud of! How far we’ve come
*Signed and Personalized (specify your preference at checkout)
Thank you and with all my love!
I will have bonafide confirmed promo dates to announce very soon, it’s all being organized right now, in record stores around the UK, to Q&A, sign, meet and greet and….. play a few tunes!
Since getting back from San Francisco and my album mix with Jesse Nichols, he and I have undergone 3 lots of revisions of the final mixes! Tonight is the last one!
The record will go off to Fred Kevorkian for mastering in Brooklyn, NY and be in the manufacturing plant in Poland by June 1
It sounds AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! perfection!!!!!!!! Can’t believe it!!!!!!!!
– and the artwork is coming together beautifully too! That needs to be into the pressing plant by mid-June!
Exquisite photos taken by David Dodd (he also did Queen High Straight, my previous double album)
I have release dates to announce! 3 singles (digital) upfront!
More elaboration on the formatting of the release! The Vinyl and CD are advertised as deluxe and boy are they deluxe
So…… I’m moving forward!
There will be q&as, signing and performance at all the ROUGH TRADE stores around the UK, Berlin and NYC too, a gig to announce in London and touring for all 2025 in support of my 10th Album
Visuals will be filmed by Douglas Hart (originally Jesus and Mary Chain and now a fabulous video director!)
I’m back at home after having been in Oakland, CA USA mixing my 10th album ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY’ with mix engineer Jesse Nichols (you may remember, he mixed a previous album of mine, The Price Of The Ticket).
The album is finished!!
Mastering has to happen of course, with Fred Kevorkian in Brooklyn NY. I’m going to listen to the album tomorrow and make notes! I know I have such a perfect album and I know you’re going to love it!
It’s got the mix I usually deliver: from alt rock indie punk new wave pop through to hard core guitar stomps and soft and intimate ballading….
I’ve started designing the artwork and next week 26-28 April I will shoot the photo session for the album art.
Then the album, once mastered, will go off to be manufactured and that will determine the release date, to be announced soon!
I started tracking the recording in West London in May 2023 and I finished mixing with 2 minutes to spare, last Saturday night in Oakland!
Recording Engineer – Tomas Gagliardo assisted by Rosendo Zinny at LeMob Studios, West London, UK, Al Lawson at Mix Studios, West London, UK, Ben Rice at Degraw Sound, Brooklyn NY, USA
Mix Engineer: Jesse Nichols at Atomic Garden West Recording Studio, Oakland, CA. USA Lead & Backing Vocals – Wendy James Lead & Rhythm Guitar, Piano, Keys, Clarinet – Alex Ward Additional Lead & Rhythm Guitar – Louis Eliot Piano, Organs, Keys – Dave ‘The Moose’ Sherman Bass – Harry Bohay Drums & Percussion – James Sclavunos
I have made an immense 13 track album!
1. SWEET LIKE LOVE 2. A HAPPY LIFE 3. EVERYTHING IS MAGIC 4. MAY I KISS YOU? (JUST ENOUGH TO GET US INTO TROUBLE) 5. THE CRACK AND THE BOOM OF THE CREEPS AND THE GOONS 6. A BIG VICIOUS RUMBLE 7. DO YOU DIG IT? DO YOU LOVE IT? IS IT GROOVY? 8. DON’T LET DAYLIGHT INTO MAGIC 9. THIS DECLARATION OF LOVE 10. FREEDOMSVILLE 11. STEP ASIDE ROADKILL 12. THANK YOU FOR THE TIME WE SHARED 13. THE SHAPE OF HISTORY
Thank you to all of you who’ve pre ordered!
– and if you’ve not already then PLEASE DO! https://thewendyjames.com/store every preorder counts toward a chart position in the opening week!
– Thank you to all the VIPs who visited the studio! and to everyone who’s sent an enthusiastic and encouraging message along the way!
My 10th album ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY’ is moving onto the MIX STAG
– and I’ve decided to mix it with Jesse Nichols who mixed THE PRICE OF THE TICKET with me back in 2015 (released February 2016)
The Price Of The Ticket was of course, the legend filled album of #JamesWilliamson (#IggyandtheStooges) #LennyKaye (#ThePattiSmithGroup) #GlenMatlock (#SexPistols) and #JamesSclavunos (#NickCaveandtheBadSeeds) recording engineer #IvanJulian (#RichardHellandtheVoidoids)
We mixed in #Berkeley, #California at #FantasyStudios, which is now closed, so Jesse has his own place in #Oakland. My flight is booked! I go to #SanFrancisco on March 30th and we mix straight through until the 14th April….
Yes! It’s real!
So, may I extend the VIP pass to anyone in the USA (or anywhere) that fancies a little time in Oakland CA… come to San Francisco, see Alcratraz! Visit China and Japan Town, take a look around Berkeley, take in the Oakland A’s and…. come VIP with me!
So, it’s crunch time…… no second chances, no do-overs. Al Lawson and I have recorded exceptional music from James Sclavunos, Alex Ward, Harry Bohay, Dave The Moose Sherman and Louis Eliot and now it’s time to get those faders up and make something of it.
13 Brand New Songs, written by me:
1. SWEET LIKE LOVE 2. A HAPPY LIFE 3. EVERYTHING IS MAGIC 4. MAY I KISS YOU? (JUST ENOUGH TO GET US INTO TROUBLE) 5. THE CRACK AND THE BOOM OF THE CREEPS AND THE GOONS 6. A BIG VICIOUS RUMBLE 7. DO YOU DIG IT? DO YOU LOVE IT? IS IT GROOVY? 8. DON’T LET DAYLIGHT INTO MAGIC 9. THIS DECLARATION OF LOVE 10. FREEDOMSVILLE 11. STEP ASIDE ROADKILL 12. THANK YOU FOR THE TIME WE SHARED 13. THE SHAPE OF HISTORY
I am very much looking forward to reuniting with Jesse. He is a BAD-ASS!
Suffice to say, this next step brings me a massively closer to having a finished album to go to manufacture with! My 10th Album ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY… very happy, very excited!
It is official! My 10th album ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY’ is finished in the recording process. What started last May 2023 and has involved about 16 weeks of recording, in 2 week increments, has now completed.
You can scroll back through my feed and see the day I caught the bus along Marylebone Road to Scrubs Lane for the first day of live recording.
I am so lucky to be surrounded by JAMES SCLAVUNOS on drums and percussion, ALEX WARD on lead, rhythm guitar and keyboards of all sorts, HARRY BOHAY on bass, DAVE SHERMAN on piano and keyboards, with guitar overdubs from LOUIS ELIOT.
Engineers Tomas Gagliardo, Al Lawson and Ben Rice. Al Lawson being the main recording engineer, on whom I relied so intensely.
I thank you all for your incredible talent and undoubtable friendship. The album wouldn’t have turned out so well as it has, were it not for you all.
I thank all the wonderful VIP guests who visited the recording process and in turn helped the recording process, it was a pleasure to meet each of you!
I thank every single pre-order and purchase from my store https://thewendyames.com/store. I pay my own way, what I earn, I spend on the next record. I couldn’t do it without you and I thank you so much and encourage you to buy more!!!
NEXT: MIXING
I will be sorting out who the mix engineer is going to be over the next week or 2 and when the mix will happen.
Then Master!
Then Manufacture!
Then Release!
But, for today: I’ve listened to the reference mixes I walked out of the studio with at 9pm on Saturday night and they are GREAT. I am excited and confident.
So, Thank you all…..
With love Wendy xoxo
PRE-ORDER ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY’ and all purchases of all my albums, all my fabulous merchandise and extras, including box fresh Transvision Vamp vinyl, signed and personalized
Next week, for two weeks: 15th January – 27th January, I will be back in West London, for what I think will be the final recording session of my 10th Album. I began recording last spring and so many sessions have happened since then! Full band sessions, overdub sessions, the NY piano and keyboards overdubs and now it’s time for James Sclavunos and Alex Ward to come in and put their cherry on top: Percussion, Keyboards, Guitar and finally I will sing all the backing vocals I’ve written: not just harmonies but also whole arrangements.
So many of you have VIP accompanied me in the studio, and just like VIP gigs, it’s a pleasure for me to meet you, spend time with you and get to know you.
From POP ART, VELVETEEN, LITTLE MAGNETS VS THE BUBBLE OF BABBLE, NOW AIN’T THE TIME FOR YOUR TEARS, RACINE 1, RACINE 2, I CAME HERE TO BLOW MINDS, THE PRICE OF THE TICKET, QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT and now… THE SHAPE OF HISTORY.
Please do pre order ALBUM 10 Deluxe CD, Deluxe Vinyl, Test Pressings, Posters, T-shirts, Artwork Proofs and all my albums on delicious vinyl and CD’s, including some box-fresh TVV vinyls and cds which can be personalized!
I posted these pictures on my instagram page of the giant Snoopy balloon floating around 5th Avenue and Central Park, the aerial shot and a brilliant photograph of Snoopy’s head passing by the window of two girls’ apartment block! Captured magically by Elliott Erwitt during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. New York City, 1988.
So, thank you indeed! Just think! Transvision Vamp were already releasing records and having hits when this photo was taken!
SO! ALBUM 10 ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY’
I was in London a couple of weeks ago, doing the previous session, integrating all the piano parts I’d recorded in NYC, into the master recordings, and making qualified reference mixes, mixes I can sit at home with and hear everything going on and make detailed criticisms, knowing what needs to happen next. I can say definitively that the last recording session for ALBUM 10 in London will be January 15th-27th so for those of you curious to see and hear what happens in the studio, this is your final chance to attend a recoding session.
Here is how THE SHAPE OF HISTORY opens! Played beautifully by Dave ’The Moose’ Sherman in Brooklyn, NY the other week… it’s the opener for track 1 ’Sweet Like Love’
– Ain’t it pretty!
I think I will make the mix sessions available for VIP but I’m not yet certain who is going to be the mix engineer or where it’s going to happen, so I’d say get your VIP now! Anyone who’s attended will tell you what a pleasure it is for both them and me, (and Al, the engineer) to share the hours together, I chat and get to know you as much as work permits and at the same time, you get to hear and see my new album being made! I recommend the experience!
I’ll be singing backing vocals and Jim and Alex will be in for final guitar, final keyboards and all percussion. Plus more reference mixes.
There’s a vague timeline in my mind for 2024: Finish recording in January. Find a mix engineer and mix the album in March/April-ish, Master in May, get in the manufacturing queue for Vinyl, make the artwork, whilst waiting for vinyl to press, and basically release the album early summer, with touring to promote for the back end of 2024……
All of this is subject to change of course, one cannot predict other people’s diaries!
Either way, Album 10 ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY’ is rounding the last couple of corners and you’ll have it soon. It is SO musical, both direct and subtle, depending on the song and I know you’re going to be in love with it! If you’ve not yet preordered, then Vinyl, CD, Poster, T-Shirt, Artwork Proof and Test Pressings are all available for preorder here:
Decorations and trees are going up, for those who celebrate Christmas, on the streets there is an abundance of glittering lights! I love Christmas lights! I love fireworks too… Some things never change, I’ve always been delighted by the twinkling magic of nighttime lights and fireworks bursting in the sky… I hope you’ve got a few days respite from your daily routines and a plan to be with people you care about and who care about you, or… if you’re happy being alone and just need some space!! I get that too! I’ll write again in a few weeks time to say “Merry Christmas” but for now, I remind you I’ve got some seriously good quality picture discs in stock: RACINE 2 and Splatter Pattern vinyl for I CAME HERE TO BLOW MINDS reissue, I’ve got test pressings, rare and collectable, some original Transvision Vamp vinyl I can sign to you (or whomever) and really great merch: from the classic t-shirts: Kurt, Icon, Face, Tatler, to my luxurious hoodies, the ‘1989’ world tour hoodie and the ‘Revolution Baby’ image hoodie, both 4ply organic thick fleecy hoodies! From super cool stickers and patches to a preorder of an artwork proof and of course, my many albums on cd and vinyl… many, many presents for anyone who loves music, art and clothes!!
– This time last week I was walking alongside the Hudson from Battery Park to W.14th Street, glorious it was too….
During my NYC time I recorded all the keyboards with Dave ‘Moose’ Sherman for my 10th Album ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY’. Wonderful work!
Now I’m headed to LDN Shepherds Bush to finish editing the lead guitar and now, all the keyboard parts. A two week stretch! You can get your VIP pass to see/hear the action from my webstore:
I’m at the stage where anyone VIP’ing will hear, more of less, the entire album! It is without a doubt my most advanced record of my life, with songs and production so perfect they defy belief!!! I couldn’t be more happy or more inspired.
After this November editing stage, strings will happen in LA, USA and then backing vocals/percussion/additional overdubs in London…… dates to be announced.
Then…………………. it’s done
Then………………….it’s mix time…..
Wow!
So come to the VIP it’s a pleasure for me to meet you and spend time with you!
Yes, I would say I’m half way through recording ALBUM 10 ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY’
– AND it is MAGNIFICENT!
There are multiples of my trademark choppy, new wave, punky songs and there is a stretch too! A 7 minute 80’s dance track, no.10 ‘FREEDOMSVILLE’, combining sounds as wide as Blondie’s ‘Call Me’ to Klaus Nomi to Transvision Vamp’s ‘Trash City’ and another favorite of mine, currently trk 11 ‘THANK YOU FOR THE TIME WE SHARED’ clocking in at only 2.25 minutes but SO soulful, in the vibe of CALIFORNIA SOUL by Marlena Shaw….
ALEX WARD – RHYTHM/LEAD GUITAR + WURLITZER AND PIANO
LOUIS ELIOT – ADDITIONAL GUITAR
Here are two stonking solo’s done by Alex and Louis…… I LOVE them!!!!!!!!!
GUITAR SOLO IN TRACK 11 ‘STEP ASIDE ROADKILL’
GUITAR SOLO IN TRACK 12 ’THANK YOU FOR THE TIME WE SHARED’
I’m off, in two weeks time, back to NYC to record DAVE ‘MOOSE’ SHERMAN (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds) on all keyboard instruments! From Grand Piano to electric synth sounds to theremin and harp!!!!!
I’ll return to London to edit in these parts, do some ref mixes and send them out to Hollywood where Adam Peters, (who used to remix TVV) an orchestral composer and arranger, will write some string parts for the album.
GET A VIP PASS TO THE RECORDING STUDIO! COME AND SEE/HEAR IT HAPPEN! SPEND AN AFTERNOON WITH ME IN THE STUDIO! Next sessions available: the first two weeks of November! Everyone who has done it, has loved it… fascinating behind the scenes times and we get to spend some time together too!
I will then sing all my backing vocals, Jim Sclavunos will do his percussion, any other instruments will be considered at this stage: Horn Section etc or other overdubs….
– and that get’s us to END OF RECORDING!!!!!!
For this album I think I’m going to go looking for a specific MIX ENGINEER, someone who specializes in mixing hit records… it is my 10th album, it is full of musical arrangements and needs to show itself off in the very best way. Mix engineers tend to have different ears to producer ears.
So, all things being said and done, expect to have a finished album by springtime 2024, in manufacture for 3 months and a release date of early summer 2024!
*****Please do preorder, I think I’ve said before, as well as the obvious help it gives me, paying for everything, every preorder is chart eligible so the more I sell before release date the more it helps a healthy chart position.
There is a deluxe VINYL w/ download and a deluxe CD, there are test pressings, artwork proofs, an official tshirt, an official poster – all signed by me xo
ALBUM 10 ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY’ will be a brilliant bit of work and I am proud to say, marks my 10th album release in all glory for the long, long journey it’s been! So many adventures, trials, jubilations, lessons, struggles, obstacles, life lessons, time changes (from 1987 to 2024!) and yet… of all the things that remain constant: YOU, ME, MUSIC – it hasn’t changed. It remains so joyful and lovely to see you at gigs, hear from you by email and know you via social media posts…… I am so, so, so, grateful and I love you all so much!
Well, the first session is complete! We tracked drums, bass and rhythm guitar… plus guide vocals.
What an incredible session is was…. Smooth, stress free, and full of great music and incredible playing! All 13 songs, each with their own personalities starting to show themselves.
It’s interesting, I have no plan when I write, I look at my large collection of lyrics, pick up the guitar and start playing around, until something, a melody, a rhythm, a lyrical hook develops. I never know what direction the song is going to go in until the chords start suggesting a vibe to me, and then I pick up the trail and start pursuing it!
James Sclavunos joins me on Drums (again), Alex Ward on Rhythm Guitar and Harry Bohay on Bass. All three played on Queen High Straight (although Alex was saxophone on that album, not guitar…)
I shall be playing rhythm guitar too, plus a lead guitarist, a lead piano and organ player, strings, who knows what else!
I can already tell, the album will be incredible… there’s a way to go but it is going to be incredible. Not one detail will be compromised and I shall give everything I have to achieve the very best piece of music.
Having my VIP guests was a delight… you know I relish the chance to meet you, know you, become friends with you and this opportunity I opened up in the studio was just that. I welcomed people into the studio where they watched us rehearse, create and record whichever track we were doing on the day they visited. Thank you all for your presence, we all loved having you with us.
There will be many, many dates, so you can find one that works for you. I will announce the next session dates soon.
So! 13 songs – these are the song titles:
WENDY JAMES ALBUM 10 ‘THE SHAPE OF HISTORY’
1. SWEET LIKE LOVE
2. A HAPPY LIFE
3. EVERYTHING IS MAGIC
4. MAY I KISS YOU? (JUST ENOUGH TO GET US INTO TROUBLE)
5. THE CRACK AND THE BOOM OF THE CREEPS AND THE GOONS
6. A BIG VICIOUS RUMBLE
7. DO YOU DIG IT? DO YOU LOVE IT? IS IT GROOVY?
8. DON’T LET DAYLIGHT INTO MAGIC
9. THIS DECLARATION OF LOVE
10. FREEDOMSVILLE
11. STEP ASIDE ROADKILL
12. THANK YOU FOR THE TIME WE SHARED
13. THE SHAPE OF HISTORY
We worked 10 days straight per 10 hour days, I’m a little burnt right now, but after a couple of days recovery I shall be ‘up and at ‘em’. It was a fun routine catching the bus along Marylebone Road on the way to the studio, past Regents Park into Harrow Road and my original area, Ladbroke Grove, West London… and at night, taking an Uber back along the Westway, lights and tower blocks twinkling in the night.
So! Onwards… the next stage will be master lead vocals and that will happen in a few weeks time
My 10th Album will be everything you want it to be!
And of course the many brilliant pieces of music and merchandise I have in store at https://thewendyjames.com/store including a couple of test pressings I still have! ‘Queen High Straight’ double vinyl, Splatter Pattern ‘I Came Here To Blow Minds’ and picture disc ‘Racine 2’, and all my classic t-shirts and posters!
I am very excited! I shall be joined, so far, in a musician line-up of James Sclavunos (drums/percussion) Alex Ward (guitar, keyboard, other) David ‘Moose’ Sherman (piano/keys) Adam Peters (strings, other) with more to be announced!!!!
These songs are perfectly constructed for a simple acoustic rendition and very ready for a large production! We shall make something wonderful!
This is my 10th album and it is: THE SHAPE OF HISTORY
This newsletter was scheduled for last Tuesday. However, when the vinyl for ‘I CAME HERE TO BLOW MINDS’ splatter pattern reissue arrived in the UK, ready for distribution, I discovered that the colour choice I’d ordered was not the same as the vinyl delivered.
I do love the new one, I approve it, so it has immediately become a collector rarity, because I’ve held back 45 copies and the rest are being swapped out for my original colour choice. So, the 45 additional very rare copies are now up for grabs……
For all of you who preordered, your record is on the way and you have something special!
For all you who who did not! Please order a copy! You will briefly (as long as stock lasts) have the choice to receive the Pink/White version in 4 weeks time or the specialty Red/White/Blue now…
This is my ‘break-out’ LP and features 13 original compositions.The songs are typically ranging from my love of New York New Wave Rock n Roll through to more Country Ballad and Phil Spector ‘Wall Of Sound’ production. Reissued now as a Special Edition Colour Splatter 12” vinyl. Not only that… the artwork: jacket, inner-sleeve and labels have been re-envisioned and updated, clearly this is a one-off run of vinyls!
TRACK LISTING
SIDE ONE
1. The Moon Dead in the River (4.57) 2. Where Have You Been, So Long? (4.27) 3. Don’t Shoot – I Ain’t Dillinger (4.41) 4. Municipal Blues (3.26) 5. New Wave Flowered Up Main Street Acid Baby (2.44) 6. Speedball (3.59)
Side One – Total running time: 23 minutes
SIDE TWO
7. No Dice (3.22) 8. You Tell Me (3.46) 9. King Hoodlum (3.26) 10. One Evening, in a Small Café (3.45) 11. These Beggar Memories (4.21) 12. You’re a Fucking Mess, But You Sure Is Pretty (2.19) 13. I Came Here to Blow Minds (3.21)
Side Two – Total running time: 23 minutes
Total Running Time: 46 Minutes
MUSICIANS Wendy James – Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, Keys Jeremy Orsel – Rhythm & Lead Guitar, Bass Guitar Hadrien Grange – Drums
All songs written and produced by Wendy James All songs mixed by Wendy James & Scott Horscroft Photography by James Traill Art Direction by Wendy James & China Heights
*Mastered for Vinyl
There are 2 accompanying Artwork Proofs left, which are beautiful and I will personalize to you, and I have 1 Vinyl Test Pressing as well, which I can also sign and personalize AND some hand-written lyrics!
Here is a video message I prerecorded at the end of last week! Not only announcing ‘I Came Here To Blow Minds’ availability but also the fact that I’ve finished demo-ing Song 9 of The Wendy James Album 10, it’s called ‘This Declaration Of Love’.
I know I’ve said all along that there would be 10 songs for Album 10 but I do have 2 further ideas so it might be that Album 10 has 12 songs on it!
Either way, the wait for the writing stage is nearly over and I’ll be able to start scheduling the recording sessions and therefore the VIP studio visits too! Don’t worry – the recording process will stretch out over half a year I’m sure, so there will be many dates to choose from!
ALBUM 10
Song Titles so far are:
1. SWEET LIKE LOVE 2. A HAPPY LIFE 3. EVERYTHING IS MAGIC 4. MAY I KISS YOU? (JUST ENOUGH TO GET US INTO TROUBLE) 5. THE CRACK AND THE BOOM OF THE CREEPS AND THE GOONS 6. A BIG VICIOUS RUMBLE 7. DO YOU DIG IT? DO YOU LOVE IT? IS IT GROOVY? 8. DON’T LET DAYLIGHT INTO MAGIC 9. THIS DECLARATION OF LOVE
I haven’t done a newsletter in a while! I’ve been getting on with my writing of Album 10. I want to have it all written by the end of summer so I can then start scheduling recording sessions. Those of you who’ve bought VIP for the recording sessions will be able to start to choose which dates to come on! If you want a VIP RECORDING spot, where you get to come for the day, see and hear the recording session and hang out, here is the link:
I am up to writing song 8! So, three songs to go, I think 10 songs for Album 10.
I’ve written some beautiful, gentle and sparse numbers, with a lot of emotion and depth going into my lyrics, and, of course, some songs which are instant (Hits! Exciting!! I’m so pleased…) speed rocking grunge, the type of song I seem to come up with, time and time again, on each album! I want to continue pushing myself to write songs which you can all dance to and sing along to and relate to… It will be a big moment for me when I finish writing, and am able to announce it to you all! – and start sending the demos out to my chosen musicians for Album 10 and for them to start making themselves familiar with the songs. Please preorder ALBUM 10, it’s available on Deluxe Vinyl, Deluxe CD, Standard CD, plus preorder of artwork proofs, test pressings, official t-shirt, official poster and of course the VIP studio visits… here:
THE WENDY JAMES TRANSVISION VAMP ARCHIVE AUCTION 3
Here it is then! The 3rd part of The Wendy James Transvision Vamp Archive Auction!
This time there is a wider variety of items, ranging from the incredible Enrique Badulescu original collage artworks of photos and design for the campaign of Transvision Vamp’s third and final album Little Magnets versus The Bubble Of Babble, through to Japanese mini discs, still sealed, artwork proofs for the cover of Born To Be Sold and Little Magnets, two Wendy notepads (!), some 12” vinyl picture discs, a Bad Valentine test pressing, some promo only vinyl, a collection of magazine Wendy cover postcards and a couple of VHS performance videos with extras… and they all come bundled with a glossy print photo and 1989 Velveteen Backstage Pass! I will happily sign (and dedicate), so please let me know at checkout when you win your bid! The auction lasts 5 days…
There is something affordable there for everyone, right through to high value collectables…
The auction will be live between 5pm GMT Friday 20th May until 5pm Wednesday 25th May.
Enjoy!!
Here’s the full list:
1. WENDY NOTEPAD (2) 2. ‘THE BUBBLE OF BABBLE’ ARTWORK TEMPLATE (1) 3. ‘BORN TO BE SOLD’ ARTWORK TEMPLATE (1) 4. ‘BAD VALENTINE’ 12” TEST PRESSING (1) 5. ‘POP ART’ 12” PROMO VINYL (1) 6. ‘BABY, I DON’T CARE’ 12” PROMO VINYL (1) 7. ‘REVOLUTION BABY’ 7” VINYL SINGLE (1) 8. ‘THE VELVETEEN SINGLES’ VHS VIDEO COMPILATION (1) 9. ‘IF LOOKS COULD KILL’ VHS VIDEO COMPILATION (1) 10. ‘B WITH U’ 12” WHITE LABEL VINYL (4) 11. ‘I WANT YOUR LOVE’ 12” VINYL MAXI SINGLE (1) 12. ‘POP ART’ 12” VINYL PICTURE DISC (3) 13. ‘REVOLUTION BABY’ 12” VINYL PICTURE DISC (1) 14. ‘BABY, I DON’T CARE’ JAPANESE MINI DISC (1) 15. ‘TELL THAT GIRL TO SHUT UP’ JAPANESE MINI DISC (2) 16. ‘I WANT YOUR LOVE’ JAPANESE MINI DISC (2) 17. ‘LANDSLIDE OF LOVE’ JAPANESE MINI DISC (1) 18. WENDY JAMES MAGAZINE COVER POSTCARD PULL OUT (1) 19. ‘(I JUST WANNA) B WITH U’ ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY ENRIQUE BADULESCU 20. ‘(I JUST WANNA) B WITH U’ ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY ENRIQUE BADULESCU (ALT) 21. ‘WENDY AS A GANGSTER’ ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY ENRIQUE BADULESCU 1 22. ‘WENDY AS A GANGSTER’ ORIGINAL ARTWORK BY ENRIQUE BADULESCU 2
The splatter pattern 12” vinyl reissue of I Came Here To Blow Minds is in the final stages of manufacture, I should have the artwork proofs ready to send out to those of you who’ve bought them, very soon! The vinyl itself was approved a while ago, but because of Brexit, Covid and a general shortage of Pressing Plants around the world, the queue for vinyl has been more lengthy than usual! My eta for delivery is the summer months… none-the-less, when I do have the vinyls and you have them in your hands, it will have been worth the wait! Not only is it a great album, containing some of my favorite songs, but the look and quality of the vinyl will be so nice! I think there is a test pressing still available for ICHTBM and there are a couple more artwork proofs too…..
I think there is a test pressing still available for ICHTBM and there are a couple more artwork proofs too….. so get those!
Preorder your reissue I Came Here To Blow Minds! Vinyl, Test Pressing, Artwork Proof here:
Though I’m in songwriting stage, I have said I’ll do a special performance in Ireland on Saturday July 16th… it’s at the Forever Young Festival held at Palmerston House Estate in Kildare! I do have some VIP passes available so! See you there! It’ll be so much fun I’m sure!! Here’s the VIP link:
A busy summer! But a good one!
I send my love out to you all…… see you soon, and as always… Thank you
Well… here’s a video of me, playing acoustically, one of my songs I’m writing for ALBUM 10.
I thought you’d all like to hear and see it, I find it very charming, playing like this, and I think I’ll do more as I proceed through my songwriting for Album 10.
Also, with this new pressing of ‘I Came Here To Blow Minds’ color splatter 12” vinyl, comes a couple of 12” Vinyl Test Pressings and five full Artwork Proofs!
As you know, the manufacturers and pressing plant send the test pressings to me to check that the master vinyl is correct, before the full run goes into production and ditto the artwork proofs, so I can check every detail/color and also give them the green light to go into production
Both of which I will sign, number and personalize to you!
Both such lovely things to own and frame! I would buy all three, if this is one of your favorite albums, or if you’re a collector! The splatter color vinyl 12”, the test pressing and the artwork proof!
Two very desirable collectors pieces along side the special edition splatter vinyl!
I CAME HERE TO BLOW MINDS is in production for vinyl reissue! Not only that… it’s had an upgrade!
It is now as a special edition color splatter 12” vinyl and the artwork: jacket, inner-sleeve and labels have been reimagined and updated! This is a one-off run of vinyls! I love this splatter vinyl color choice and the artwork looks wonderful! I’m very pleased! I love it!
– I love this album so much, it contains so many of my favorite songs, ranging from my love of New York New Wave Rock n Roll through to more Country Ballad and Phil Spector ‘Wall Of Sound’ production, and it also brings me so many great memories! I wrote the album in my apartment in Greenwich Village, NYC, I recorded it with French indie musicians in the left bank of Paris in the tiny and brilliant basement recording studio of the atelier clothing label APC! Such good times! Getting the metro to Rue de Rennes from Trinité – d’Estienne d’Orves on line 12, each morning, grabbing a coffee and pastry and heading in for whole days of magic with the French Musicians: Jeremy Orsel – Rhythm & Lead Guitar, Bass Guitar, Hadrien Grange – Drums.
However! One of the songs, ‘Speedball’ didn’t get done in Paris! It was done in Sydney, Australia in the Surry Hills Area… I was over there DJ’ing and I met a Sydney Indie Band and we decided to go in the studio where one of them worked! It happened to be the studio belonging to Scott Horscroft, a known and successful Australian record producer… we all mic’d and amped up and the whole song was recorded live, including my vocals… Sydney Musicians: Brock Fitzgerald – Guitar, Wade Keighran – Bass, Sam Pearton – Drums,
The whole atmosphere was so enjoyable and yielded such great results that I decided to have Scott co-mix the album with me and wow, it came out great. I actually re-recorded and played everything on ‘These Beggar Memories’ in the control booth of Scotts studio and it is naturally so personal and up-close in it’s sound.
When the whole mix was complete I awoke the next morning and stared out of my warehouse window, across the rooftops of Surry Hills, I put on Nina Simone’s ‘Mr Bojangles’ and was filled with one of those magic moments, where life feels perfect. I love a good rooftop view across a city and it felt so joyous to have made a record I knew was great and which I’d love for ever!
The photographs were taken early, early in the morning by my friend James Traill, outside, on the curb, waking up, going into a photo session by a different photographer. I was barely awake, in my socks! Smoking (I’ve since given up!!) and drinking coffee. The artwork layout was done by the people who’s warehouse loft I was staying in, called China Heights.
Finally the record was mastered for vinyl, expertly by Fred Kevorkian back in NYC, he has mastered all my music for me ever since!
Thank you to all involved!
TRACK LISTING
SIDE ONE
1. The Moon Dead in the River (4.57) 2. Where Have You Been, So Long? (4.27) 3. Don’t Shoot – I Ain’t Dillinger (4.41) 4. Municipal Blues (3.26) 5. New Wave Flowered Up Main Street Acid Baby (2.44) 6. Speedball (3.59)
Side One – Total running time: 23 minutes
SIDE TWO
7. No Dice (3.22) 8. You Tell Me (3.46) 9. King Hoodlum (3.26) 10. One Evening, in a Small Café (3.45) 11. These Beggar Memories (4.21) 12. You’re a Fucking Mess, But You Sure Is Pretty (2.19) 13. I Came Here to Blow Minds (3.21)
Side Two – Total running time: 23 minutes
Total Running Time: 46 Minutes
All songs written and produced by Wendy James
I CAME HERE TO BLOW MINDS vinyl reissue is currently a preorder here:
****In other news: I have done a stock check on which of my t-shirts are running low and not in production again, so snap up these last limited t-shirts:
I would like to wish you all a ‘Very Merry Christmas’ and ‘Happy Holidays!’
I hope you are with the people you love and who love you!
If you prefer to be alone, then I hope you’re having a really good time doing what you choose!
– However you decide to spend these last couple of weeks of 2021 and wherever you are…
I send my fondest love and all my thanks for sharing this year with me!
To all of you who came out to my tour! I loved playing for you, I loved meeting so many of you! It was a fantastic time for all of us!
To all of you, not in the UK Mainland where the tour happened, well: I guess I need to start playing shows farther afield and seeing all of you! News to come!
Remember my storewide sale is in effect until Midnight GM time December 31st, so get your 15% reduction of everything there… keep going until you’ve got ALL the music! ALL the t-shirts! ALL the posters! ALL the hoodies! ALL preorders for ALBUM 10 and so much more! https://thewendyjames.com/store
I’m so excited to announce to you my new design T-Shirt!
‘THE IMPRESSION OF NORMALCY’
You’ll recognize the photo from my video shoot for THE IMPRESSION OF NORMALCY by David Leigh Dodd – my speed-punk number from Queen High Straight.
In the shot:
A vintage 1967 #FenderTwinReverb amplifier and all round microphone classic #ShureSM58gig mic. (I use the Beta58 when I sing live).
This photo is just too damn good to not be a t-shirt. Preorder now, delivery in about 10 days…
The T-Shirt features the photo, the title, some lyrics from THE IMPRESSION OF NORMALCY and is produced on 100% soft white cotton in a classic unisex round neck, straight cut shape and available in S. M. L. XL. XXL.
PS. I’ve stocked up on all the merchandise that sold out on tour so there are good amounts of everything instore again now AND some new releases to be announced asap!
It is now 9 days after the final show on my 28 date UK tour with THE WENDY JAMES BAND!
My first two days home were spent unpacking and sleeping! I’m just about getting back in the swing of things but there is so much to do!
I’m desperately trying to reach an empty headspace and calendar where I can just immerse myself in the constant writing of my ALBUM 10. Next week I will listen to the songs I had demo’d before setting out on tour and then move on from that. I want to make Album 10 as spectacular as I possibly can, something that will musically and lyrically amaze both you and me. I have my sights set high and my ideas are coming together for both the direction and production.
*Please do preorder all manner of ALBUM 10 items: Vinyl, CD’s T-Shirts, Posters, rare Test Pressings, Artwork Proofs etc, as before, limited numbers apply, there are finite amounts of test pressings and artwork proofs I can receive…
Playing all my varied songs on this tour The Wendy James Band has just done made me so, so happy, to play, to sing, to hear and feel all the music I’ve written and then to see you all react to it, older songs and newer songs, favorites alike. I tend to live in the moment, not the past or the future, and so it’s been exhilarating and really life affirming to meet you all and hear your stories of how you first saw me perform a gig or on television, where you were, how old you were and what it meant to you. The history I now carry with me, and in you, all the emotions and stories, I am so lucky to have lived my life like this. Thank you!
Thank you for your reactions to the shows! To see you loving the music and the performance is everything I wish for.
Thank you for all those brilliant after-show merchandise signings/selfies/stories! Wow! … And my V. I.P. guests, who are now part of our traveling Rock n Roll family! So many faces to names have been synched! I recognize many of your names from social media comments or when you buy something from my store, but not really what you look like, now I know and it’s wonderful! We can greet each other with very happy familiarity next time!
The Wendy James Band are so very good! We had the best fun touring around the UK (I love motorway stops and cheese sandwiches!), of course we worked very hard in rehearsals and arrived at our first show in Blackpool match fit. We rehearsed 10 hours a day for 2 weeks and then the shows themselves! Our gigs reached a level of quality you can only get when you do a lengthy tour, when you hone the music perfectly, hit cruise control and really enjoy it. You’ve now all witnessed Jordan Cook on Drums, Leo Kurunis on Bass, Andrew Saunders and Alex Ward on Guitar and Keyboards and Pip Stakem on lead Guitar! It’s a very good band! A band that can handle and achieve anything!
I have a big touring idea, which I am now, just beginning, to explore with an agent and a promoter. It would get me into international territories and bring both my old music and new music to countries outside of the UK. I will make this announcement when it’s ‘for sure’. Toward the end of this tour we just completed, I did start telling people my idea! So I know some of you know and I know it was met with 100% approval!
THANK YOU!
The Merchandise
All my Music, T-Shirts and Posters are now back in my online store, so if you missed out on any of them on the road, here they are: https://thewendyjames.com/store
Nearly all the hoodies sold out, so I’ve ordered more of those, ditto the Kurt Shirt and The Icon T-Shirt!
Here are the last numbers for these items, so get them now!
There is a new t-shirt coming online soon, and some re-pressed vinyl for I Came Here To Blow Minds and The Price Of The Ticket. I’ll let you know when you can put your orders in!
Mission Accomplished
So! Mission Accomplished! After 3 Covid delays my tour happened without any hitch, without anyone getting ill and in some amazing venues! Thank you to all the bookers and promoters who brought my band into their venues! There is not a gig I didn’t love… I had no idea anything could be better than the amazing reception we received in Blackpool! But boy oh boy, how incredible you all were! Leeds Brudenell, Glasgow King Tuts, Brighton Patterns, London o2 Islington, Manchester Deaf Institute, Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach… I’m just going to list them all! Nottingham Bodega, Norwich Arts Centre, Stoke Sugarmil, Truro Old Bakery, Bristol Fleece, Oxford o2, Guildford Boileroom, Cambridge Junction, Tunbridge Wells Forum, Queens Hall Nuneaton, Portsmouth Wedgewood Rooms, Gloucester Guildhall, Barrow Underground Music Society, Jimmys Liverpool, Birmingham Institute, Leicester Firebug, Newcastle Cluny, Edinburgh Bannermans, Swansea Cinema & Co and The Parish in Huddersfield!
I’m just so grateful and happy to have played for you all, to have met so many of you and for it to have been such a success. We all needed this to happen, after such a long wait, missing live shows for so long and having been away from gatherings, it was so exciting, so necessary for us to all be together again. It felt so good!
Shot in Rome last Saturday… Here is the video for…
THE IMPRESSION OF NORMALCY
‘The Impression Of Normalcy’ is track 16 of my 20 Track Deluxe Album ‘QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT’. It is a perfect speed-punk moment in the last quarter of the album! Originally I’d written it more in the vein of Nirvana: quiet verse, loud chorus and I guess it was mid-tempo. Having started in on recording rehearsals, James Sclavunos put his sticks in the air, from behind his drum kit, and said “Can we speed this fucking song up?”
So… we went to the extreme and basically thrashed and shredded this song out, I then edited it down so it’s a perfect three and a half minutes of pop speed punk!
Video by Doddywood
QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT is out on Deluxe Double Vinyl, Deluxe CD, Standard CD and Download
Plus there is a 15% discount offered throughout my webstore: https://thewendyjames.com/store until this coming Saturday night! Code at checkout: AllJuly15
When Wendy James released her 5th solo album QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT on 1st May 2020 to critical acclaim, she was supposed to be heading out on a UK tour. But as Covid-19 hit and the world went into lockdown, Wendy had to reschedule her tour three times.
Reflecting, Wendy says, “The venues, who’ve been under extraordinary pressure to stay afloat, were inundated with every single band rescheduling! But! We did it… Thank you to the venues, the promoters and of course thank you to the National Health Service, my love to anyone and everyone who has lost someone to this pandemic, thank you to you all for getting vaccinated and helping open our collective lives again! And… Thank you to THE WENDY JAMES BAND! Most musicians have had to find other ways of money earning because they simply couldn’t work their chosen vocation… very hard indeed, but my band did what they had to do, and we’re still standing and happier than ever to be heading into rehearsals to get this mammoth setlist learnt and then hit the road! Finally!”
She will embark on a whopping 28-date tour of the UK on 26th August. “From Truro to Paisley and from Norwich to Swansea and everywhere in between!” she exclaims with her infectious enthusiasm. “Not only are we celebrating a return to live venues, we are celebrating my No.16 album QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT, and also a different set list every night, from Transvision Vamp through all my albums! It’s a tour not to miss, and one which will not happen again, like this!”
An English singer-songwriter born in London, Wendy exploded onto the British music scene in 1988 as the fearless front woman of chart-topping alt-rockers Transvision Vamp. When the band broke up Wendy went on to collaborate with Elvis Costello, James Williamson (Iggy & the Stooges), Lenny Kaye (The Patti Smith Group) and James Sclavunos (Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds), who joins her on drums and percussions for QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT. Also joining her on this album are James Sedwards (lead guitar), Harry Bohay (bass), Alex J. Ward & Terry Edwards (horn section) and Louis Vause (accordion).
Wendy began writing QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT after a long stretch of writing/recording/delivering/touring her previous album ‘The Price Of The Ticket’, which charted in the UK at No.14. Wendy says of the title track, “I gravitated toward some jazzy type of chords which lent a gentle lilt to the song, it sounded smooth and it reminded me of when I was a young child listening to Sergio Mendes ‘Brasil ’66’! Some of those lovely chord progressions, some of that lovely harmonizing the singers did and of course Bacharach and David.”
“Overall, my taste and style have not changed with time,” Wendy says. “The music that excites me now, ultimately, is the same as when I was starting out songwriting and back through my days in Transvision Vamp. I continue to marvel at Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground, I continue to be blown away by The Stooges, I continue to be everlastingly enthralled by Bob Dylan, but of course, the older one gets the more one discovers and I am now informed more cohesively and fully by all the music, new and old, which settles into my consciousness.
“My track listings are never altered from the order in which I write the songs, maybe it’s because it’s too tangential for me to try to shuffle songs around but really I think, in some kind of holistic way, the order in which the songs are written must surely be thevery most natural order for them to be listed in. Around song 14 ‘Bliss Hotel’ I hit a wall. I did not know where the inspiration was going to come from! But then somehow, miraculously, it comes again and one pushes on through, as it turned out, to some of my favourite songs on the entire album. My perfect moment? song 18 ‘Cancel It… I’ll See Him On Monday’; it was a ‘Eureka’ moment. I ran outside and started dancing, “I’ve got it! I’ve got it!!!”
Elsewhere on the album, Wendy embraces Motown with ‘Here Comes The Beautiful One’ and ‘Little Melvin’, she returns, once again, to her favourite guitar guttural filth and sex for ‘Perilous Beauty’ and an unlikely sounding love song in ‘Chicken Street’, 90’s pop groove in ‘Ratfucking’, melancholia in ‘Testimonial’, Django Reinhardt whimsy in ‘I’ll Be Here When The Morning Comes’. On ‘The Impression Of Normalcy’, Wendy says, “Thanks to James Sclavunos, who told me to “speed the fucking song up”, I have a proper speed punk song.” Finally, track 20 ‘Kill Some Time Blues’ is the ultimate 60’s girl group number.
Wendy last toured the UK in 2019 with THE WENDY JAMES BAND opening for The Psychedelic Furs, and was a huge success.
TOUR DATES
BLACKPOOL WATERLOO MUSIC BAR – THURSDAY 26TH AUGUST NORWICH ARTS CENTRE – FRIDAY 27TH AUGUST STOKE SUGARMILL – SATURDAY 28TH AUGUST TRURO OLD BAKERY STUDIOS – TUESDAY 31ST AUGUST CARDIFF CLWB IFOR BACH – WEDNESDAY 1ST SEPTEMBER BRISTOL FLEECE – THURSDAY 2ND SEPTEMBER OXFORD O2 ACADEMY2 – FRIDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER GUILDFORD BOILEROOM – SATURDAY 4TH SEPTEMBER CAMBRIDGE JUNCTION – TUESDAY 7TH SEPTEMBER TUNBRIDGE WELLS FORUM – WEDNESDAY 8TH SEPTEMBER QUEENS HALL NUNEATON – THURSDAY 9TH SEPTEMBER PORTSMOUTH WEDGEWOOD ROOMS – FRIDAY 10TH SEPTEMBER GLOUCESTER GUILDHALL – SATURDAY 11TH SEPTEMBER BARROW UNDERGROUND MUSIC SOCIETY – TUESDAY 14TH SEPTEMBER MANCHESTER DEAF INSTITUTE – WEDNESDAY 15TH SEPTEMBER NOTTINGHAM BODEGA – THURSDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER LIVERPOOL JIMMY’S – FRIDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER BIRMINGHAM O2 INSTITUTE3 – SATURDAY 18TH SEPTEMBER LEICESTER FIREBUG – TUESDAY 21ST SEPTEMBER NEWCASTLE CLUNY – WEDNESDAY 22ND SEPTEMBER GLASGOW KING TUTS – THURSDAY 23RD SEPTEMBER PAISLEY ROCKNROLLAS – FRIDAY 24TH SEPTEMBER EDINBURGH BANNERMANS – SATURDAY 25TH SEPTEMBER SWANSEA CINEMA & CO – TUESDAY 28TH SEPTEMBER LEEDS BRUDENELL – WEDNESDAY 29TH SEPTEMBER BRIGHTON CONCORDE 2 – THURSDAY 30TH SEPTEMBER LONDON O2 ACADEMY2 ISLINGTON – FRIDAY 1ST OCTOBER HUDDERSFIELD THE PARISH – SATURDAY 2ND OCTOBER
QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT TRACK LISTING 1. Queen High Straight 2. Perilous Beauty 3. Free Man Walk 4. Stomp Down, Snuck Up 5. Little Melvin 6. Marlene et Fleur 7. A Heart Breaking Liar’s Promise 8. Here Comes The Beautiful One 9. Chicken Street 10. Testimonial 11. Bar Room Brawl & Benzedrine Blues 12. Ratfucking 13. She Likes To Be (Underneath Somebody) 14. Bliss Hotel 15. Freak In 16. The Impression Of Normalcy 17. I’ll Be Here When The Morning Comes 18. Cancel It… I’ll See Him On Monday 19. Sugar Boy 20. Kill Some Time Blues All songs written, produced and mixed by Wendy James.
The album is available as a 20-track deluxe gatefold double vinyl, gatefold deluxe CD, regular CD and Digital Download / Streaming.
QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT is available from https://thewendyjames.com/store and this store is the main driver for all of Wendy’s recordings and associated art, t-shirts, all things Wendy.
For further information please contact Alix Wenmouth at Wasted Youth PR on 07760 105469 or email alix@wastedyouthpr.com
YOU CAN ALSO PRE-ORDER A SELECTION OF THE WENDY JAMES ALBUM 10 – which is coming along really well! I’m very excited, inspired and happy with the songs I’ve written so far!
1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT’S RELEASE
Hi Everyone!
Today is May 1st, incredibly… one whole year since the release of QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT, last year in pandemic year 2020!
I thought I’d take a moment to remember the making of and the run up to it’s release!
Quite a few of you visited the various recording studios I worked in on Queen High Straight and saw the kind of intense detail that went into the recording, some of you saw vocal sessions! Some of you saw whole band sessions and if I recall correctly, some saw the horn and woodwind overdubs too!
I have incredible musical memories from the recording sessions, aided and abetted by world class engineers who worked hours and hours and hours to help me get onto tape what it was, as producer, I needed to hear.
One particular memory is trumpet player Terry Edwards playing in unison with James Sedwards perfect guitar solo in Track 17 ‘I’ll Be Here When The Morning Comes’ to watch and hear them play with this feel and precision was awesome. The clarinet playing on Track 1 ‘Queen High Straight’ is Alex Ward improvising from the top of the song to the bottom and playing so many beautiful motifs from which I could cherry pick, and it makes the whole song so dreamy. Louis Vause’s extraordinary accordion playing in the Middle 8 of Track 18 ‘Cancel It… I’ll See Him On Monday’ makes that whole hobo sound of jumping on freight trains somewhere out in the dust bowl of the USA and making it to Nashville!
My music, as well as being well written pop and rock songs, also create little musical movies, the lyrics and the sounds tell each song’s story…
Video for Queen High Straight
I flit from the night-time streets of Soho, London in the 1950’s and ’60s, in the French House and the Colony Rooms with London’s underworld hi and lo in Track 10 ‘Testimonial’, through to 1970’s Malibu and the Pacific Coast Highway in Track 4 ‘Stomp Down, Snuck Up’, Ladies of the night on Rue Saint Denis in Paris in Track 13 ‘She Likes To Be (Underneath Somebody)’, Street Crime in 1990’s Baltimore, USA in Track 5 ‘Little Melvin’, The pursuit and fight for Civil Rights in Track 3 ‘Free Man Walk’, and back in time for Track 6 ‘Marlene et Fleur’ conjuring the annexation of Jewish Ghettos in Germany before the mass extermination began in World War II. A war that was fought to preserve Democracy in the West against the rise of Fascism. I love track 14 ‘Bliss Hotel’, I sing “Just hit your marks, Stay in the light and Do the same thing, Do the same thing, Do the same thing…” about the somewhat rote banality of finding a formula for success and then just rinse and repeat. Something I can genuinely say I’ve avoided in my musical life! I love my speed punk Track 16 ‘The Impression Of Normalcy’ – as I wrote in the liner notes for the Double Vinyl and Deluxe CD release of Queen High Straight, my demo for this song was far more along the lines of a Nirvana-esque mid-tempo quiet verse, loud chorus but my wonderful drummer James Sclavunos shouted out from behind his kit, after a few practice runs, “Can we speed the fucking thing up?” And how right he was! – it’s one of my favorite songs on the album and I’m still intending to make it back to Rome to shoot a video for it with David Leigh Dodd, who you all know by now as the photographer for the entire presentation of this album and also the accompanying videos, which unbelievably he shoots on iPhone and edits too…
Video for Cancel It… I’ll See Him On Monday’
All the musicians on Queen High Straight are phenomenal, Harry Bohay came up with and played the most perfect bass lines and in the studio had them down within 2 takes, he is just so naturally gifted, if you follow him on instagram you get to see him play guitar, bass, and beautiful pedal steel. James Sedwards on lead and rhythm guitar, James came into the studio loaded with so many perfect melodies for the guitar as well as the power riffs I love so much! I am in a very happy place musically where I work with such gifted musicians.
Once the album was finished, the artwork complete, off went the parts, as they are called, to the pressing plant in Poland in December. Little did we know that a pandemic was looming!! I was in New York in January as the news from China was permeating and now we know cases were already in the US, from China and from The UK and Europe, I remember saying “there’s no way it will still be around in May” when my tour for Queen High Straight was originally scheduled to start! Of course how uninformed and naive we all were… now one year later we are slowly making our way out of emergency measures and my tour, having been rescheduled 3 times is now going ahead, later in the year! The poor pressing plant in Poland was hit badly, people sick and otherwise furloughed like nearly every business during pandemic, but somehow, thanks to the coordinator Liz Brown at Key Production, everything was delivered perfectly and on time, including the lovely man from Lithuania who drove from Poland to France to bring me thousands of covers to sign, then drove them back to Poland to be assembled with their CD’s and Vinyls! The poor guy arrived one day early and so with masks and gloves on, we helped him forklift the boxes from his lorry and carry them up flights of stairs to a room where I emptied all the boxes and just sat there and signed, signed, signed until about 6pm that same day where we loaded them back onto the lorry, gave him some food (he was only eating mini-packs of cereal) and off he went. Miraculously the records made it to their distribution hubs in Los Angeles and London and with the inevitable postal delays of COVID permitting, we delivered QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT, to those of you who’d preordered, on May 1 or during that week!
The rest is history, right? The best reviews of my life! Not least of all from you, the fans, you’ve all been so incredible in telling me how much you’ve loved this album, to this day, many of you say it’s still on constant play As it should be!! We’ve communicated well! Even having you choose your pick of a single to go to Radio! Track 6 ‘Marlene et Fleur,’ coupled with Track 20 ‘Kill Some Time Blues’
Video for Kill Some Time Blues
So! Thank you very much for your love of QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT – if you don’t yet have it, you must!
Here’s a look back at the video I made and released on May 1 2020 to celebrate the release!
Video for Wendy’s party of 1 in COVID isolation!
2021 TOUR NEWS!
My live band THE WENDY JAMES BAND are Wendy James on Vocals, Leo Kurunis on Bass Jordan Cook on Drums, Rupert Greaves on Keyboard and Guitar, Pip Stakem on Guitar, Alex Ward on Keyboard and Guitar. Finally! We will see you out on the road in a few months time! Starting on August 26th in Blackpool, the much delayed tour is now going ahead! We are traversing mainland UK for 5 nights on, 2 nights off for 5 straight weeks! Taking in everywhere from Truro to Paisley!
We will go further afield in 2022, coming to Northern and Southern Ireland and Europe for sure and then on to USA, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and more I hope!
My band and I are rehearsing up 3 hours worth of material from all my albums, from Transvision Vamp, through to the two RACINE albums, I Came Here To Blow Minds, The Price Of The Ticket and of course a large helping of Queen High Straight. From this massive list of songs we will be able to do a revolving and different set list per night! So, if you can, come to more than one show! It’s a massive and comprehensive tour of the UK and one I cannot think I will do again! So this could well be the last time you get to see me live in so many places on the map! It will be an incredible tour, we are all so looking forward to it. Rehearsals are booked for the 1st August and we will be ready for you on August 26th! Back in the van, loaded high with Alan Partridge DVD’s – here we come!!
See you there!
ALBUM 10 NEWS!
Now, I’m so happy with Album 10 progress.. I’m nearly onto Song 4, and the first three songs are dynamite. I am really, really pushing myself, I am trying for melodies, which as soon as you’ve heard them, you cannot stop singing! Once again, I can start to imagine the full production and the thrill of recording with the musicians…
This album inevitably is rather special. It’s my 10th Album and I mean to make it one to love and cherish. A landmark piece of work.
There are various formats available, official posters, t-shirts, and the limited edition of artwork proofs… which I sign and personalize. There is also the chance, once again, to visit the studio during recording!
**I’ve also added to the items in my store, as you know: the Icon and If Looks Could Kill posters, the t-shirts and the Revolution Baby and 1989 hoodies!
So, now, I must go back to my guitar and see if I remember what I wrote last night! That’s how I test it out, if it sticks then it sticks, if it doesn’t then it doesn’t!
A2 IF LOOKS COULD KILL & ICON POSTER
My love to you all! See you soon!
And Congratulations QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT! You’re one year old!
Song 1 of THE WENDY JAMES ALBUM 10 is complete in guide form! I’m very excited about this! I can already hear the production I want for this song and soon I’m going to send it out to my musicians to start having a play around with it! I’m actively writing Song 2 as I break off to write this update!
Of course any purchase you make goes toward the enormous climb it is, each time, to afford to record an album… I don’t have a record label or a huge amount of savings to make this easy! It’s purely down to what I earn… so, I Thank you in advance and I promise the music will not disappoint, I’m sure you know that!!
Yes, indeed! I have added to the store 2 Hoodies! The ‘1989’ Wendy James/Transvision Vamp Tour Hoodie and the ‘Revolution Baby’ Wendy James / Transvision Vamp Hoodie AND the Wendy James / Transvision Vamp ‘Icon’ T-Shirt! They are amazing! The ‘Icon’ t-shirt is rapidly becoming a best seller, along side the ‘Kurt Shirt’ and the hoodies are just so luxurious! The ‘1989’ is incredible, in as much that with your help, my agents, my old managers help and various online data bases, I managed to compile every gig we played in the breakout year of 1989 – a full world tour! So for all of you who attended one or more of these shows, then this hoodie is for you! The ‘Revolution Baby’ hoodie is in black and I love it so much! I love the shot of me and I love the logo on the back with lyrics from the song ‘Revolution Baby’.
The other two new items in the store are 2 companion posters!
The Wendy James / Transvision Vamp ‘If Looks Could Kill’ poster… this is the image which is on the ‘Kurt Shirt’ and was Transvison Vamp’s tour t-shirt in 1991 to promote Little Magnets versus The Bubble Of Babble. The ‘Icon’ poster is literally the companion to the ‘Icon’ T-Shirt and is simply one of my favorite photos of all time. Both posters in ‘silk matte’ finish and A2 in size… WONDERFUL!
It really does look like 3 is the magic number! We’ve had to delay from May 2020 to September 2020, from September 2020 to March/April 2021, from March/April 2021 to finally: August/September 2021! I’m even adding more dates! *To Be Announced! There will be a different set list every night of the tour! I’m going to play as many songs from Transvision Vamp and all my solo albums as possible and of course play you the tracks of Queen High Straight! It will be wonderful! I’ll start rehearsing the band at the front of August and we will hit the ground running on August 26th in Blackpool!! Every ticket you’ve already bought is still valid, every VIP pass you’ve spent is still valid and I look forward very much to seeing/meeting you all!
If you don’t yet have a ticket, now’s the time to do it! On the live page of my website are direct links to each venue’s box office: https://thewendyjames.com/live and if you’d like to VIP and come and spend soundcheck and the evening with me and the band, then the VIP pass is here: https://thewendyjames.com/product/v-i-p-the-wendy-james-gig-pass/
In case you’d forgotten (!!) Here are the reviews for QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT:
“packed with 20 songs, remarkably filler-free, brimming with colourful vocabulary, catty character study (a Supremes-y Little Melvin), melodic excellence and stylistic dexterity… There’s everything from Bitter Sweet MOR (Testimonial) to kitsch-pop (Ratfucking), but few nail flat-out punk rock as convincingly as does James on Perilous Beauty and The Impression of Normalcy. She means it, man, and it’s a joy throughout.” – 4/5 MOJO
“A superior collection of cosmopolitan pop music, the 20-song set is both catchy and complex. “I spend each day in splendid isolation, the quintessential intersection of nothing,” she sings on the waltz-time wonder that is Free Man Walk. In doing so, she might just have written the anthem that best describes the lives of everyone who hears it.” – The Telegraph
“A Motown flecked ode” (Little Melvin) – The Times
“A characteristically ambitious album, a double, 20 songs… a varied retro-pop clutch; James knows her way around the chords, and how to keep things moving. But the charm lies in their personality…” – Metro
“Written, produced and mixed by (ex-Transivision Vamp) Wendy James fronting a strong band and dabbling in a dizzying variety of styles.” – Classic Rock
“stylish, vintage sounds, in thrall to the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan and 1960s pop.” – 4/5 Mail on Sunday
“Wendy gets the last laugh with an up-for-it 20-song double album of punk, rock & roll and general mayhem. Just as energetic as the Vamps, the songs are sharper than ever.” – Daily Star
“James specialising in a Stooges belligerence as she rampages across half the album as if about to wreak terrible vengeance on the speakers. There’s an insouciant poise throughout, as James ensures her devilment is backed up by strong tunes… It’s impressive, showcasing what an under-rated writer and producer James has matured into.” – Classic Pop
“Reflective music from a real queen… an album for James fans and newcomers alike.” – Vive Le Rock
I am so happy to announce two new posters to add to the growing collection in my webstore!
1. THE WENDY JAMES / TRANSVISION VAMP ‘IF LOOKS COULD KILL’ POSTER
The famous shot from the ‘Kurt Shirt’ i.e the Transvision Vamp ‘If Looks Could Kill’ shot, turned into the touring t-shirt for the year 1991. Kurt Cobain bought his shirt from the US leg of world touring and proceeded to wear often!
This photo of Wendy is truly iconic! One of her most famous and recognizable shots… It is printed on quality rich paper, in matte and is A2 size: 420 x 594 cm. It is unique to this store.
I decided to go A2 on these, hopefully you’ll buy both as a set! I really love both of these shots, they represent so much to me, and I’m sure in your memories too! Typically I’m not one to linger in a nostalgic past but these two shots (and a handful more) are timeless and I think they deserve to be available….
Much Love, talk soon with news of ALBUM 10 writing progress and more!
Hello Everyone! How are you? Did you have a good Christmas and holiday? I hope so!! Are you cranking up the gears into the new year?
I want to announce and present to you 3 new clothing items in the web store and I’m BEYOND excited and thrilled with them!
THE WENDY JAMES / TRANSVISION VAMP ‘REVOLUTION BABY’ HOODIE!!
This stunning photo of Wendy was originally on a picture disc for a remix of Transvision Vamp’s first ever single ‘Revolution Baby’. Now the picture disc artwork has been restored and is an Official Wendy James Hoodie. The hi-resolution image of Wendy is on the front of the hoodie and the Transvision Vamp logo is on the back with the Revolution Baby lyrics:
“I’m so bored of this institution I need something to set me loose and Music’s gonna be my Revolution Baby”
“I’ve had enough of burnt out reunions I need someone to set me loose and I want you to be my Revolution Baby”
“I’m so tired of all this confusion Everyone talking like there’s no solution When a change of heart could be the Revolution Baby”
“You could be that Revolution Baby”
The hoodie itself is in black and extremely high quality. It is Combed 3ply organic cotton, certified ‘Vegan approved’. It is a classic unisex styling with the kangaroo pocket on the front, raglan sleeves and drawstring double face hood.
This hoodie is the ultimate Transvision Vamp tour hoodie! Between databases, agents, managers and fans (!) all the tour dates, starting in May 1989, for Transvision Vamp’s momentous year out on the road, gigging the No.1 hit album ‘Velveteen’ and the previous No.4 hit album ‘Pop Art’, have been gathered and put in order. The tour dates are on the back of the hoodie, find the ones you went to! This ‘1989’ hoodie is for you!
Transvision Vamp
1989
May
18 Bari Azzurro Teatro Petruzzelli 20 Bari Azzurro Teatro Petruzzelli
June
4 Törnävänsaari Seinäjokini Provinssirock 11 Bristol Studio 12 Brighton Top Rank 13 Portsmouth Guildhall 15 Oxford Apollo 16 London Brixton Academy 17 Folkestone Leas Cliff Hall 18 Birmingham Aston Villa Leisure Centre 19 Leeds University 21 Glasgow Barrowland 22 Edinburgh Playhouse 23 Aberdeen Music Hall 24 Manchester International II 25 Liverpool Royal Court Theatre 26 Nottingham Royal Concert Hall 27 Cambridge Corn Exchange 28 London Brixton Academy
July
1 Leysin Festival Centre des Sports 21 Tokyo Ink Stick 22 Tokyo Ink Stick 27 Brisbane Seagulls R.L.F.C. 28 Brisbane Alexandra Hills Hotel 29 Brisbane Calamvale Hotel 31 Melbourne Metro Nightclub
August
1 Melbourne Metro Nightclub 4 Melbourne Festival Hall 5 Canberra Tuggeranong Hotel 6 Jindabyne Lake Hotel 7 Jindabyne Lake Hotel 9 Newcastle Workers Club 10 Sydney Selinas Nightclub 11 Sydney Horden Pavillion 12 Sydney Horden Pavillion 14 Adelaide Old Lion Hotel 16 Perth Stadium Herdsman Hotel 17 Perth Palladium Nightclub 18 Perth Palladium Nightclub 19 Perth Cargos Nightclub 23 Los Angeles The Roxy 29 New York City The Cat Club
1 Milan Rolling Stone 3 Valencia Arena Auditorium 4 Madrid Sala Jácara 5 Barcelona Zeleste 7 Paris Le Palace 8 Brussels Ancienne Belgique 15 Aberdeen Capital 16 Edinburgh Playhouse 17 Glasgow Barrowlands 18 Glasgow Barrowlands 20 Sheffield City Hall 22 Newcastle City Hall 23 Manchester Apollo 24 Manchester Apollo 25 Hanley Victoria Hall 27 London Hammersmith Odeon 28 London Hammersmith Odeon 29 London Hammersmith Odeon 30 Poole Arts Centre
November
1 Newport Centre 2 Newport Centre 3 Birmingham Aston Villa Leisure Centre 4 Birmingham Aston Villa Leisure Centre 5 Birmingham Aston Villa Leisure Centre 7 Exeter University 8 Cornwall St Austell Coliseum 9 London Brixton Academy 10 London Brixton Academy 11 Liverpool Royal Court Theatre 12 Dublin Point Theatre 13 Belfast Ulster Hall 30 Lisbon Pavilhão de Belenenses
December
1 Oporto Pavilhão Infante de Sagres
On the front is a well known and loved, classic shot of Wendy in her denim jacket. A version of this image was, in fact, on an original tour t-shirt and a massive poster, but it is now a hi resolution print on a luxurious hoodie!
The hoodie itself is in white and extremely high quality. It is Combed 3ply organic cotton, certified ‘Vegan approved’. It is a classic unisex styling with the kangaroo pocket on the front, raglan sleeves and drawstring double face hood.
This T-Shirt is truly iconic! One of the most famous and recognizable shots of Wendy in Transvision Vamp is now a beautiful hi-resolution print on a 100% soft black cotton t-shirt in a classic unisex round neck, straight cut shape and available in S. M. L. XL. XXL. Bound to rival The Wendy James / Transvision Vamp ‘Kurt Shirt’ in popularity!
I’m so in love with all three of these items! I have a size small sample of each and I have not stopped wearing them! Let me tell you: The ‘Revolution Baby’ and ‘1989’ Hoodies are so thick and luxurious and the quality of the prints are exceptional. I love them! And the ‘Icon’ T-Shirt is so, so, so cool and the hi res print is amazing! It’s perfect! – and really pleasing to have the t-shirt in black!
They are, all three, must-haves! They are a piece of history and of the present!
To other matters:
Well, I’m fully underway writing ALBUM 10 and I will post updates on the progress I make as I complete a demo for each song!
I’ve rescheduled THE WENDY JAMES BAND 2021 UK Club Tour for August / September, not one slip up, not one date lost and I know we all cannot wait to be at the shows!
You may also notice now, how https://thewendyjames.com/store has been redesigned to show off all the different aspects i.e Music, T-Shirts, Posters and Artwork Proofs and more.. I think it’s very good indeed!
So! Happy New Year Everyone! and I present to you the three new classics! The ‘Revolution Baby’ and ’1989’ Hoodies and The ‘Icon’ T-Shirt!
This is my second official solo album. (*Not including my post Transvision Vamp previous release, collaboration with Elvis Costello, ’Now Ain’t The Time For Your Tears’).
RACINE 2 was recorded in New Jersey and Brooklyn, USA and mixed in Brooklyn, USA and Tokyo, Japan. It has 11 original songs on it and really planted the flag for my production and sound going forward. Under the name Racine, I wrote and produced and co-mixed this album and made clear my musical intentions. RACINE 2 only ever came out on CD in 2006! Now, here it is on Picture Disc Vinyl, with fully printed matte inner-sleeve and jacket cover, consistent with the original artwork of RACINE 2.
WHERE THERE’S A WILL… AND THERE IS A FUCKING WILL…
I can’t believe it’s 14 years since RACINE 2 came out on CD. To this day I play these songs live and they always thrill me. Now, with momentum gathering after I Came Here To Blow Minds, The Price Of The Ticket and Queen High Straight, it seems to me a perfect moment to reissue RACINE 2 but this time on vinyl!
I’ve chosen to do a double sided picture disc, the art extrapolated from the original label, with lovely matte printed inner sleeves for lyrics and credits and the vinyl jacket remains integral to the original artwork, too.
I think the presentation is wonderful! The music rocks! I am reminded of all the places I traveled to, to record and mix this album! From Hoboken, New Jersey, to Brooklyn, New York to Tokyo, Japan!
In my original liner notes I wrote:
“Remember the Path train and 6th Avenue and Dunkin Donuts? There is nothing better in the world than being in a band and feeling like a gang.” “This album is the recorded moments of getting in a live room and laying down some sweet, sweet vibes”
How true and how some things never change!
Thank you to everyone from the first time around! Thank you to all of you now, as we continue on with more and more music in front of us.
Love
Wendy 2020
Running Time – 35.01
TRACK LISTING
Side A
1. WAY – 2:48 2. I’M FREAKING OUT – 1:58 3. RACINE – 4:14 4. BOBBY’S GOING ELECTRIC – 2:58 5. YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, SISTER – 3:16 6. THERE AIN’T NO WAY – I CAN’T DO NO TWENNY IN THIS – 5:00
Running Time -19:34
Side B
7. OUI OU NON – A STRAIGHT BOOGALOO – 2:48 8. STONED, RIPPED AND TWISTED – 4:00 9. ESSEX DOG – 3:01 10. THOSE LEG MOTHERFUCKERS – 2:52 11. BITTER FUNNY – 3:26
Running Time – 15:27
MUSICIANS
Vocals – Wendy James Guitar & Bass – Henric Strahl Bass – James Meynell Drums & Percussion – Ray Sullivan
Written, Produced and Mixed by Wendy James Recording Engineers – Ted Young & Josh Copp Mix Engineer – Glen Robinson
Recorded and Mixed at Water Music, Hoboken NJ, McKibbin Street, Brooklyn NY & Atomic Studios, Brooklyn NY
*I’m Freaking Out, Oui ou Non – A Straight Boogaloo, Essex Dog & Bitter Funny – Mixed by Kunihko Imai and Hideyuki Matsuhashi at IRc2 Studio Tokyo, Japan
All tracks mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk, NYC
*Remastered by Fred Kevorkian, NYC
Photography – James Traill Art Direction – Wendy James Layout Jeremy Lawson & Angela Won-Yin Mak at A•WY•M Studio
We are moving the tour! This time we are pushing back to August and September 2021. The dates are set and confirmed and all your tickets and VIP remain valid. All direct ticket links can be found at https://thewendyjames.com/live
I know we are all looking forward to this and have been for a year now! The pandemic of COVID19 hit us in January 2020 and since then we’ve all been playing counter-punch to the virus. I’ve spoken with all the promoters on this tour and no-one thinks that enough vaccinations will have been administered in time for un-socially distanced venues and that’s what we’re looking for! A hot, steamy venue where we are all up close and personal and deep in the music!
So! Let’s get it together and put COVID19 in the rear view mirror! Sit tight one more time, for August/September 2021.
These are the dates, venues and links (with more to add!):
One of the things that has happened in the year since we originally were meant to be out gigging Queen High Straight in May 2020 is that I’ve had the time to listen back to my previous albums. I loved what I heard and have so many favorites, as I’m sure you do, so I’ve made a decision and a commitment to play a varied set list every night of the UK 2021 club tour so all these songs can have their moment and of course, play you Queen High Straight!
Personally it’s been very tough for me to not be with my band, rehearsing and all the camaraderie that goes along with that and so I am as ready as anyone to get this show on the road.
Onwards!!
I miss you all!!!!
Mark your calendars! We are moving to August / September!
Get your tickets now and get your VIP if you want to spend time with me and the band, see the soundcheck and through the whole evening for the show!
Today is the 23rd December and I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and the loveliest time over the holidays.
I hope you all have managed to survive this pandemic year 2020 with as little fallout economically, physically and emotionally as possible!
Beyond how our daily lives, loves and work have been affected and how we’ve all had to adapt to manage to cobble together some semblance of reality which isn’t too upsetting, keeping in mind all the tragedy this pandemic has wreaked and all the resolve and bravery it has engendered in parents, teachers, health care professionals, volunteers, friends, co-workers and extended family members, this holiday season is one for us all to take care of each other and thank goodness we have 2021 to move into!
May 1st, 2020 was and always shall be a treasured calendar date for me! It’s he day that my 20 Track Deluxe Album QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT was released! It took me 3 and a half years to make this album, from the first chord of the demo of the track Queen High Straight through to my mastering engineer sending me over a zip file of hi definition masters to go off to the pressing plant.
In that journey I worked with some amazing engineers, some incredible musicians, a fantastic photographer and make up artist, graphic designers, some wonderful, hard working and dedicated people in the manufacturing, fulfillment and distribution of the album, brilliant PR people, some great DJ’s at radio and my marvelously obsessive team who help me run my website and store.
Also in the journey there was, of course, as always: YOU. You who’ve not left my side since 1986! When Transvision Vamp began and you all first started liking, digging, loving the music I make. Boy oh boy, I wouldn’t be here without you, it’s that simple… From your letters to fan clubs in the early days, through to messages on social media, we’ve always had a good exchange. I try to give as much time and consideration to every message that comes my way, and in turn, you give me love, excitement and resilience to finish what I start and to deliver without compromise. I am so proud of how far we’ve come, I’m so happy to be able to view Transvision Vamp with pride and I am so happily astonished by the albums I’ve made since: Now Aint’ The Time For Your Tears, Racine No.1, Racine 2, I Came Here To Blow Minds, The Price Of The Ticket, Queen High Straight and now I am so confident in the future for (working title) Album 10.
Queen High Straight received the best reviews I’ve ever had for any record I’ve made! And how lovely that was! It was manufactured at the height of the first wave of COVID19 and yet, thanks to everyone involved, it suffered no delays. The only subsequent delays were related to delivery by a hobbled international postal service, but you got your albums and you loved it! The excitement and rush throughout June and July as you discovered the album with a daily wave of amazing reaction is something I’m just so happy and grateful for.
There is much to be done! Primarily there are tours to go on, gigs to play (finally! How wonderful it will feel for us all to be at shows again!) I can’t wait to start rehearsals with my band and having had the time to listen back to my previous albums and been pleased with what I heard, I’ve made a commitment to play a varied set list every night of the UK 2021 club tour! My band and I have 3 hours of material to rehearse up so that a set list per night can serve up different favorites. For a musician, this is a lot of work and it’s challenge to know 44 songs (that’s the number) off by heart and then perform them as effortlessly as needs must! But it’s a challenge we relish and I know the songs, including some from Racine No.1 are going to get fleshed out and sound incredible. I am so fortunate to have the band I love… I am hopeful that the March / April dates will go ahead, thanks to the Scientists and NHS for upcoming vaccinations and the promoters who’ve been flexible, to say the least! They’ve been run ragged rescheduling so many bands dates amid being furloughed and with their venues in doubt. If March and April are not viable then fear not, I have a pencilled and confirmed delayed schedule for later in the year. Buy your tickets now because it helps me and importantly it helps the venues: all ticket links and vip: https://thewendyjames.com/live. I also hope The Wendy James Band get booked onto some festivals for 2021. There is an EU tour being booked for October ’21 and I can tell you, also afoot, are exciting tour plans for 2022!
When I’m not rehearsing and gigging I will be writing ‘Album 10’. I have my notes made, I have done the preliminary work I tend to do, to launch into the songwriting stage. I have my musical ideas I want to explore! and on January 1st I will sit down, on my bed, guitar in hand, like all the other albums I’ve made, this is how it starts, and Track 1 will begin! Album 10 will be an anniversary album and as much as I can’t quite figure out how to top Queen High Straight, I am determined I shall and to serve up some completely desirous and moreish songs! Songs that will freak me out, in retrospect, as to how on earth I ever did them! It’s always a retroactive mystery to me! I listen to Queen High Straight and I marvel at it, yet in the moment, my process is clear and intentioned and I know exactly what I’m doing! Hopefully some of you will come on studio visits! And I’m going to ask David Leigh Dodd to start filming the whole process for a documentary!
Thank you for every purchase you’ve made… You know it turns right back around and goes toward enabling more work. Alongside the love you show me and my music, your purchases help make my new albums and tours become reality.
The Wendy James Store ‘Happy December’ Sale is still on! Please take advantage of that discount and get your free patch and stickers too!
Add the codes: DecemberSale15 and FreeSet15 at the checkout.
So! Enough about me, what about you?
Well… I hope you have family and loved ones, in some shape or form on speed dial, on Zoom, on WhatsApp, on Skype, on FaceTime and in a limited manner, in person. I hope you eat and drink until you’re fit to bust! I hope you’re warm and loved and that for a few days you don’t worry about so much, you let loose, you relax. For all of us who are in a position of, if not wealth, at least relative comfort, let’s give a thought and even a good deed to help someone who might not be so fortunate. Times are hard at the best of times, and for some people who, in their own life stories, have fallen into difficulty, in a cold winter with social restrictions, when money and food and basic well being are an exhausting and daunting destination far off, mental and physical stability can seem beyond reach. Spare a moment for everyone around the world, without color, creed, gender, sexuality or religion factoring into judgment, just simply the fundamental humanity of us all.
There’s nothing more warming, elevating and nourishing than someones love and it’s the easiest and least expensive thing to give.
I think 2021 will be wonderful for many of us! I hope as many as possible… and for my part, I will not slack in any effort or commitment I make to you.
Have a wonderful Christmas, a lovely holiday season and thank you for everything.
Well, it’s going to be a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays throughout the month of December at The Wendy James Store!
At the checkout add the code DecemberSale15 and you will get 15% off all your items.
If you’ve not already got your copy of Queen High Straight or you think of someone you know who would love it, then now’s the time! The poster for Queen High Straight is beautiful too, why not add that in?! There are two *rare & collectable Queen High Straight double vinyl test pressings, the T-Shirts of course, all classics! The RACINE 2 remastered vinyl picture disc, there are 11 ‘I Came Here To Blow Minds’ cd’s left, 4 Queen High Straight Artwork Proof + T-Shirts bundles left (signed and personalized) and now you can pre-order THE WENDY JAMES ALBUM 10 too! And much much more…
ADDITIONALLY…
For the month of December I am giving away 100 patch and stickers sets. Comprising of ‘The Wendy Fucking James’ embroidered patch and 2 ‘It’s all in the hips, the lips, the eyes & the thighs’ stickers: one with white text, one with black text.
At the checkout add the code FreeSet15 and you will get your Patch and Stickers set for free
*The free Patch and Stickers Set is applicable to all store items except the Digital Downloads, VIP passes and The Wendy James Album 10 pre-order. You can also buy the patches, stickers and sets by themselves or as an add on.
The code for your 15% discount is: DecemberSale15 and the code for your free Patch and Stickers Set is: FreeSet15 and you enter them both at the checkout.
I’ll write again for a holiday round-up, well wishes for all and to celebrate the year of Queen High Straight and to look forward to next year, but for now… Good shopping!
The code for your 15% discount is: DecemberSale15 and the code for your free Patch and Stickers Set is: FreeSet15 and you enter them both at the checkout.
Hello Everyone! I’ve a lot of tell you! Some updates and some new news!
THE WENDY JAMES ALBUM 10
I’ve started! It took a while to get my head around going deep back into the songwriting process but… that’s what I do and that’s what I’m doing! I cannot make any predictions about the album yet… (although you know I will post whenever I’ve had a ‘Eureka’ moment!) I have some notes and I have some influences I want to look into, I also want to expand the sound again! It was so musically rewarding to have such complex backing vocals, piano and organ playing, horn section and accordion on QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT and I’ve always been a sucker for a big arrangement! Whether it’s Phil Spector or Motown or Bacharach and David or even Lou Reed… I am tempted to see if I can get some orchestral arrangement into my sound, my sound which forever will be rooted in crunchy, edgy guitar New Wave and Pop.
To this end: I’ve launched the pre-order campaign for THE WENDY JAMES ALBUM 10!
Just as we managed together with Queen High Straight, the more you pre-order the more it helps me realize the budgets necessary for recording…
Let’s begin now!
ALBUM 10 will be an anniversary album, a landmark album, and I am determined to make it INCREDIBLE!!
THE RACINE 2 12” PICTURE DISC
I had word last night from my manufacturing company that there are now delays on delivery of the RACINE 2 picture disc. The Pressing Plant is in the Czech Republic and they are being hit very hard by COVID with some of their workers on sick leave, plus… it’s now running into Christmas deliveries and rushed orders, so I’m afraid our lovely Picture Disc will not reach us until January 2021. I’m so sorry… Of course everyone I work with is ensuring, to the best of their abilities, to deliver the album as soon as possible!
If you’ve not yet got a copy, pls do! I remastered for vinyl and we changed and adapted the original CD art around to suit the vinyl presentation. It’s a two sided picture disc, there are fully printed inner sleeves with lyrics and my signature liner notes! And of course a fully designed thick matte card album jacket.
Many of you congratulated me or observed the high quality of the pressing and packaging for Queen High Straight and this release, as with all my releases, shall be no less!
I’m in production making these two new amazing pieces!
A double faced, soft brushed, organic, heavyweight cotton, cream colored hoodie with TWFJ emblazoned hi res across the chest and a cream, double layer knit, ribbed, watch cap with the TWFJ logo on the cuff!
*visuals of hat to be updated
I’ve sourced a really high quality hoodie and watch cap (beanie). Both are going to be perfect and so, so good for the winter months, come to think of it – all year around! I love wearing a beanie watch cap in the winter, down over my ears and then you pull your hoodie up over it… very cool, very effective and very functional!
I’m looking at the art and logistics for reissuing ‘I Came Here To Blow Minds’ on vinyl and also ‘The Price Of The Ticket’. With the latter I’m researching possible format combinations that would get, for the first time, all 13 tracks onto vinyl. Obviously with the first release, because of vinyl groove limits, I released 9 songs on Vinyl, 13 on CD, so I’m thinking about ways to insert a 7” vinyl or EP into the package, containing the missing four songs from the original vinyl. An item you’ll be able to buy by itself to make up your vinyl collection or if you don’t have The Price Of The Ticket on vinyl yet, then you naturally receive all 13 songs!
Finally… the UK MARCH/APRIL WENDY JAMES BAND TOUR
This tour was originally on the books for May 1 2020 when QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT was released. I remember last January thinking “surely COVID will have passed by May!!” But not so… we rescheduled into September 2020 and that came and went (I forgot I’d booked hotel rooms in some locations and lost my money! Grrrr) and now we’re into March / April 2021. Who knows… if a vaccine becomes available and districts start to open up, we might be ok… if it’s slower then sure enough we will have a contingency to reschedule until later in the year… BUT THE SHOWS WILL GO ON!
I’ve had extra time to think things through and as you know I have listened back to my previous albums and therefore have ambitiously decided to produce a different set list each night, so I can show off the many, many songs I’ve now written and some that truly deserve fleshing out on stage with my band!
The ‘video for ‘CANCEL IT… I’LL SEE HIM ON MONDAY’
(my favorite song on Queen High Straight)
If there was radio DJ justice in the world, this song would be on maximum rotation playlists in every nation! And.. we’d all be singing the damn chorus again and again and again!!!
When I wrote this song, which is track 18 of 20! (can you imagine having a eureka moment this far into the songwriting process of an album?!!) I ran outside shouting “I’ve done it! I’ve done it” – a perfect song!
Complemented, infinitely, by the playing of James Sclavunos on drums/percussion, Harry Bohay on bass, James Sedwards on lead and rhythm guitar, Alex Ward and Terry Edwards on horn section, Louis Vause on accordion and me on vocals, backing vocals and keys….
Expertly recording engineered along the way by Ian Dowling, Joe Sage, Al Lawson and mix engineered by Tim Morris
and now……. THE VIDEO
Filmed and Edited by David Leigh Dodd
(he also did all the photos for the album presentation by the way)
Make Up by Domitilla Coni
We shot in Fabrica di Roma on this deserted and perfect train track… we climbed into the old railway through a gap in the barbed wire fencing, despite CCTV warnings, dumped our bags of make up, lightings, tripods and so on and started in before the thunderous rainstorm hit us two hours later.
I was sold by the station itself – that lovely Roman yellow washed stone and the overgrown train tracks, but when we discovered a discarded old train carriage a bit further down, then providence truly smiled upon us, as it always does when one embarks on an unknown adventure!
I just returned from Rome, Italy, where I met up with David Leigh Dodd, once again, this time to shoot two videos: one for ‘Cancel It… I’ll See Him On Monday’ – one of my favorites from QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT and ‘Perilous Beauty’, another of my favorites! Tracks 18 and 2 respectively.
The first video we shot was ‘Cancel It… I’ll See Him On Monday’. We traveled to a deserted railway station and tracks in a little place called Fabrica di Roma. It was an incredible location to shoot a video depicting the determination and joie de vivre of the song! Styled in a 60’s kind of happy go lucky girl way with a miniature suitcase and a sixties sailor cap, we had a ball… dancing along the old platform, the tracks, the waiting room…and finished just seconds before a massive and torrential downpour which didn’t let up for 48 hours!
Here’s the teaser trailer for the video!
Cancel It… I’ll See Him On Monday
After a rainy Sunday in Rome, doing some wonderful tourist stuff, I rose on Monday to attend a fitting for a dress to wear the next day in the video of ‘Perilous Beauty’. A dress of bright, roman, cardinal red silk…
The location for filming Perilous Beauty was once again an hour outside Rome but in the other direction, to the great castle ‘Villa Borghese’. The Borghese family are a long, long line of Roman nobility with Popes and Cardinals numbered among them. The Castle was one of the locations for Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 movie Romeo and Juliet and the balcony where Juliet exclaims “Romeo, Romeo where art thou Romeo” is the actual balcony of Castle Borghese.
Juliet’s Balcony
Pope Paul V, born Camillo Borghese
Princess Borghese aka Nike Arrighi was an actress when she was younger and as fate would have it, she is in one of my all time favorite movies called ‘LA NUIT AMERICAINE’ or in English: ‘Day for Night’ starring #JacquelineBisset and #JeanPaulLeaud, shot by #FrancoisTruffaut. The music, the soundtrack is heaven and composed by a #GeorgesDelerue. Nike plays ‘Odile the make up artist’.
La Nuit Américaine or Day For Night
The world is getting smaller, indeed it is! She is the loveliest of ladies… and here in this video is our story of the whole day and and you see Nike showing me her ancient instrument from China, she held the lights for our video and she lit candles all up the curved enormous staircase of her home, she poured me wine and brought me crisps! She showed us the loveliest hospitality and instant friendship…
Thank you to Nike, to her daughter Flavia, to David Leigh Dodd… and Domitilla Coni who did this amazing make-up!
David and I are editing both videos now and I am so excited to share them with you when they’re done!!
As I said: both songs are from QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT so do get your copy of the vinyl, the cds, the poster, the original artwork and the T-Shirt! https://thewendyjames.com/store
RACINE 2 TEST PRESSINGS
As luck would have it, the factory have sent me an additional 5 test pressings for RACINE 2… they are unlike any other I’ve dealt with, the white vinyl denotes where the picture disc will be, so instead of white label on black vinyl, these test pressings are thick solid white vinyl… and they come packaged in an inner sleeve and the most amazing professional cover. A really lovely surprise for me and for you too!
Five of you out there can now have a test pressing! An unexpected and rare treat! I sign and personalize them to you so – first come, first served.
RACINE 2 PICTURE DISC VINYL is officially in production now, I remastered it for vinyl and I couldn’t be more happy to have this reissue on vinyl 14 years after it originally came out on CD! Get RACINE 2 here:
I’m just about to pull the trigger and go into production with this beauty, for winter! A double faced 100% organic brushed soft thick cotton hoodie! The Wendy Fucking James!!! Quite right too… I know I will proudly wear it all winter and there’s nothing better than a high quality hoodie in the winter to keep your ears warm!
And….. I think I will reissue I CAME HERE TO BLOW MINDS on vinyl as well…. It’s such a great album and deserves to be in stock. You can currently get the CD in the store here but the vinyl sold out a while ago. I am thinking it through and will no doubt do something with the artwork to make clear it is a second round of production and different from the first! I like things to be special each time…
So, as winter closes in I’m going to finish editing the videos, get some production going for hoodies and vinyls and sit down and start learning all my songs again!! If I start now, I should be ready for March 2021!
I’m also making the TEST PRESSINGS available as a collector’s item. These Test Pressings are made so I can listen to the sound quality, the running order, the spacing of the songs and give my approval for the full production. They will never be re-produced and are a real collectors item.
This is my second official solo album. (*Not including post Transvision Vamp previous release, collaboration with Elvis Costello).
RACINE 2 was recorded in New Jersey and Brooklyn, USA and mixed in Brooklyn, USA and Tokyo, Japan.
It has 11 original songs on it and really planted the flag for my production and sound going forward.
Running Time – 35.01
TRACK LISTING
Side A
1. WAY – 2:48
2. I’M FREAKING OUT – 1:58
3. RACINE – 4:14
4. BOBBY’S GOING ELECTRIC – 2:58
5. YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, SISTER – 3:16
6. THERE AIN’T NO WAY – I CAN’T DO NO TWENNY IN THIS – 5:00
Running Time -19:34
Side B
7. OUI OU NON – A STRAIGHT BOOGALOO – 2:48
8. STONED, RIPPED AND TWISTED – 4:00
9. ESSEX DOG – 3:01
10. THOSE LEG MOTHERFUCKERS – 2:52
11. BITTER FUNNY – 3:26
Running Time – 15:27
MUSICIANS
Vocals – Wendy James
Guitar & Bass – Henric Strahl
Bass – James Meynell
Drums & Percussion – Ray Sullivan
Written, Produced and Mixed by Wendy James
Recording Engineers – Ted Young & Josh Copp
Mix Engineer – Glen Robinson
Recorded and Mixed at Water Music, Hoboken NJ, McKibbin Street, Brooklyn NY & Atomic Studios, Brooklyn NY
*I’m Freaking Out, Oui ou Non – A Straight Boogaloo, Essex Dog & Bitter Funny – Mixed by Kunihko Imai and Hideyuki Matsuhashi at IRc2 Studio Tokyo, Japan
All tracks mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk, NYC
*Stoned, Ripped & Twisted re-mastered by Fred Kevorkian, NYC
Photography – James Traill
Art Direction – Wendy James
Layout Jeremy Lawson & Angela Won-Yin Mak at A•WY•M Studio
*Mastered for Vinyl
*Limited Edition
*Pre-Order (8-10 weeks for delivery approximately)
I am looking for RACINE 2 masters to potentially run an amount of Vinyl for RACINE 2. I listened to the album last night! Yeah… it’s great!!
I am keeping in mind what you all witnessed, if you joined Tim Burgess Listening Party: Doing a live show playing VELVETEEN top to bottom! Listening with all of you who joined was so exciting and it was a pleasure to hear Velveteen again! My band THE WENDY JAMES BAND could do this so, so well!
AND… most importantly, as crazy as it seems, I have begun to start to think about writing my next album… I can’t help the impulse in me to make music! I have started looking at my lyrics and notes and started to adapt to the reality of writing a new album!!
I am not letting go of QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT yet, as far as I’m concerned, it is to be celebrated all year long, in terms of the work I do, (I’m going to make a video for ‘Cancel It… I’ll See Him On Monday’ in September) and come next March I will be in rehearsals to tour the UK, playing it and other good hits from previous albums!
I have listened to I Came Here To Blow Minds and it’s epic too… all my albums are: The Price Of The Ticket… and when I play live I’ll be bringing out TVV hits alongside a large helping of all my solo work, including RACINE 2. Racine 1 has some amazing songs on it too… I must do something with that as well!!
Yes, a great, great Live Set is coming up, I will alternate setlists per show! My musicians are incredibly good! and I cannot wait to see you all! So there is lots to be done!
Do get your tour tickets now, the tour will sell out! Get your tickets and support my tour and support the venues sooner than later! COVID is particularly tough on live venues and musicians for whom live gigging is their way of making a living.
Prompted by questions about the original, official ‘THE PRICE OF THE TICKET’ t-shirt, which sold out a long time ago, I’ve ordered up another run but this time, up’d my game a little by making it the original color photograph from the album cover! It’s rather wonderful!
This is the first front cover I ever did. Photographed by legendary David Bailey and styled by an icon of the fashion world, Isabella Blow. I think it looks amazing too!
I would encourage you all to buy your tickets sooner than later and support your venue of choice and my tour!
And… I’m in the middle of designing the box set of 5 x 7” Singles from Queen High Straight AND listening through to my demos of Queen High Straight with a view to making them available as well!
I’m thrilled with the video, I wanted to close out my 20 track album Queen High Straight with a ‘wall-of-sound’ 60’s girl group sounding song, a big number! The horn sections played by Terry Edwards and Alex Ward are marvelous! The guitar parts played by James Sedwards are magnificent and the drumming and percussion by James Sclavunos and bass playing by Harry Bohay, superlative! – and I must say I’m rather pleased with my singing too!
To this end, I went on a video clip treasure hunt to find some great shots of The Supremes, The Ronettes, The Vandellas, The Shangri-Las, and I stumbled upon some fabulous old footage of 60’s girls letting loose and getting their freak on! Spliced and cross-faded into this wonderful footage is footage of me performing live at Hultsfred Festival in Sweden and a performance on a broadcast tv show called Live At The Dome.
The video is masterfully timed out, edited and presented by David Leigh Dodd, who has been the photographer and videographer for the entire presentation of Queen High Straight.
I think the video is an enormous success and it serves to amplify this great song! Chosen by you all to be a double-a-side single along with Marlene et Fleur!
THE WENDY JAMES BAND TOUR 2021!
– is rescheduled and expanded! It is now a 22 date tour (with more to announce!) and is happening in March / April 2021!
Here are some of the wonderful press quotes its’ garnered…. Not least of all you, who have taken it to heart and are loving it! Long may it continue!
“packed with 20 songs, remarkably filler-free, brimming with colorful vocabulary, catty character study, melodic excellence and stylistic dexterity… She means it, man, and it’s a joy throughout.” – 4/5 MOJO
“A superior collection of cosmopolitan pop music, the 20-song set is both catchy and complex.” – The Telegraph
“A Motown flecked ode” (Little Melvin) – The Times
“A characteristically ambitious album, a double, 20 songs… a varied retro-pop clutch; James knows her way around the chords, and how to keep things moving. But the charm lies in their personality…” – Metro
“Written, produced and mixed by (ex-Transvision Vamp) Wendy James fronting a strong band and dabbling in a dizzying variety of styles.” – Classic Rock
“stylish, vintage sounds, in thrall to the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan and 1960s pop.” – 4/5 Mail on Sunday
“Wendy gets the last laugh with an up-for-it 20-song double album of punk, rock & roll and general mayhem. Just as energetic as the Vamps, the songs are sharper than ever.” – Daily Star
“James specializing in a Stooges belligerence as she rampages across half the album as if about to wreak terrible vengeance on the speakers. There’s an insouciant poise throughout, as James ensures her devilment is backed up by strong tunes… It’s impressive, showcasing what an under-rated writer and producer James has matured into.” – Classic Pop
“Reflective music from a real queen… an album for James fans and newcomers alike.” – Vive Le Roc
So! Onwards! Enjoy the videos and more news coming soon!
Can you believe it? A whole year, minus one month, on from when THE WENDY JAMES BAND were originally set to gig the UK this year.
I have been waiting as long as I could, to see if it was likely that gigs would go ahead this year without detriment to peoples health.
The practice of social distancing is kind of redundant in a gig setting… that’s the whole point, big and small venues alike, we all want to get up close and personal with the shared, communal, musical experience.
Some of the venues I’m scheduled to perform in aren’t even considering opening until November at the earliest… and it became apparent the whole thing needed to be moved to what, we hope, will be a safer 2021.
Back in May, when I first rescheduled to September 2020, I really did think that was enough time! How ridiculous it seems now… ‘curves’ may be ‘flattening’ but a second wave of COVID19 is anticipated for Autumn and until there is a vaccine I think we must all remain cognizant of our health and that of those around us.
For the venues, it’s a disaster… to open up with social distancing would mean financial doom for them, worse even than shuttering, so there is no doubt, in my mind, that this is the correct course to take.
UPSIDE:
I have added OXFORD 02 and PAISLEY ROCKNROLLAS into the tour AND… to be confirmed: Liverpool, Sheffield and I expect some dates in Ireland and Northern Ireland too, preceding the mainland tour.
I’ve also been offered MEXICO and USA! Plus, I know there are a couple of big ticket announcements for 2021, where I will be a very choice opening act for a couple of bands… to be revealed!
So, once again, we make lemonade from lemons! And move forward!
Now there really is NO EXCUSE for a single person in the audience to not know QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT by then!!
All TICKET LINKS REMAIN VALID. ALL TICKETS REMAIN VALID. ALL VIP REMAIN VALID
Print out your local flyer from the carousel and go spread the news!!
THE ALBUM!!!!!
QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT surges forward with universally ecstatic listeners! As always I am overjoyed by the comments you make to me on different social media sites!
Your handpicked double a-side single KILL SOME TIME BLUES + MARLENE ET FLEUR is going up to radio at the moment and I hope it finds some friends there! Don’t hesitate to tweet the shows you listen to and ask them to play it!
I have added additional links on the QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT page of my website: https://thewendyjames.com/queen-high-straight/ so for those of you who want to view the album Liner Notes and Lyrics can:
If you want your favorite song’s lyrics, in the form of my recording session notes (and the mix notes), then I can personalize them to you and send them…
Last Friday, 19th June, I hosted Soho Garage on Soho Radio, standing in for James Meynell. I thoroughly loved the experience and I think it went well!
Listen back to the mixcloud archive here:
So, as much as I am going to snatch victory in 2021 from the jaws of COVID19 for THE WENDY JAMES BAND, I also hope that you all…….. are coping with the adjustments having to be made for the pandemic and the culture changing marches and movements across the planet that beckon in a better future for us all.
Did you watch the BRUDENELL TV live broadcast? I was interviewed for an hour by Dave Simpson of The Guardian Newspaper. I enjoyed it, thoroughly and I’ve posted it to YouTube:
I also LOVED the QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT live streaming session that preceded the interview! I couldn’t keep up with everyone’s comments, so many were there! The passion and enthusiasm you shared with me for Queen High Straight is so wonderful! Thank you so, so much!
If you haven’t got your copy of Queen High Straight then PLEASE DO.
You all voted for your favorite two songs from QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT over a period of a couple of weeks to decide which songs would be the next Double A-Side Single to go to radio and the winners were KILL SOME TIME BLUES + MARLENE ET FLEUR! Very good choices.
Thank you all so much for participating and with such determination and vested interest to have your favorites be the winners!
Here is the artwork for the single and I will let you know when we’re going to radio with it!! I hope you all have the golden touch!
PRESS
ALL KILLER! NO FILLER!
QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT has been getting so much good press… here are some examples:
“packed with 20 songs, remarkably filler-free, brimming with colourful vocabulary, catty character study (a Supremes-y Little Melvin), melodic excellence and stylistic dexterity… There’s everything from Bitter Sweet MOR (Testimonial) to kitsch-pop (Ratfucking), but few nail flat-out punk rock as convincingly as does James on Perilous Beauty and The Impression of Normalcy. She means it, man, and it’s a joy throughout.” – 4/5 MOJO
“A superior collection of cosmopolitan pop music, the 20-song set is both catchy and complex. “I spend each day in splendid isolation, the quintessential intersection of nothing,” she sings on the waltz-time wonder that is Free Man Walk. In doing so, she might just have written the anthem that best describes the lives of everyone who hears it.” – The Telegraph
“A Motown flecked ode” (Little Melvin) – The Times
“A characteristically ambitious album, a double, 20 songs… a varied retro-pop clutch; James knows her way around the chords, and how to keep things moving. But the charm lies in their personality…” – Metro
“Written, produced and mixed by (ex-Transivision Vamp) Wendy James fronting a strong band and dabbling in a dizzying variety of styles.” – Classic Rock
“stylish, vintage sounds, in thrall to the Velvet Underground, Bob Dylan and 1960s pop.” – 4/5 Mail on Sunday
“Wendy gets the last laugh with an up-for-it 20-song double album of punk, rock & roll and general mayhem. Just as energetic as the Vamps, the songs are sharper than ever.” – Daily Star
“James specialising in a Stooges belligerence as she rampages across half the album as if about to wreak terrible vengeance on the speakers. There’s an insouciant poise throughout, as James ensures her devilment is backed up by strong tunes… It’s impressive, showcasing what an under-rated writer and producer James has matured into.” – Classic Pop
And… THE TOUR!
My band THE WENDY JAMES BAND is still currently scheduled for our September dates and I would love to be certain they will go ahead… of course, safety for everyone is the only concern so if venues tell me that it’s not possible for September to go ahead then I will simply reschedule, once again, into the future when it’s more likely to be possible.
All tickets are valid, all VIPS are valid and all links to both are working!
Keep on playing and listening and loving QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT and make sure you’ve got the t-shirt! the poster! the personalized artwork proofs (which are massive by the way!) the test pressings, the personalized lyric sheets or mix notes! And previous albums and 7” singles are in the store too! https://thewendyjames.com/store
Much, much, much, much love!
Wendy xoxo
– And here is the QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT video again…
I am so excited to announce a bona-fide ‘happening’ next Wednesday June 03!
Leeds Brudenell Social Club (iconic venue which THE WENDY JAMES BAND will be playing later in the year) are live streaming, direct to multi platforms: Facebook and YouTube among them!
BRUDENELL TV!
On Wednesday June 3rd I shall be on air, first with an interactive listening party for QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT
We will listen down to the album and I will comment on the songs, their meaning, the recording anecdotes and memories, the musicians and the adventures we had making my 20 Track Deluxe Album! You can live message any questions you may have, or observations, on QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT or any kind of question, within reason!!
In the second hour of broadcast I will be joined on split screen by renowned journalist for The Guardian, Dave Simpson and he will be conducting an hour long interview with me! About Queen High Straight and about my life in music, from the beginning!
What a treat! What a night!
Please all mark this off in your diaries and join me for this unique event!
UK TIME:
7.30PM – QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT LIVE STREAM
8.30PM – IN CONVERSATION WITH Dave Simpson
Broadcasting on YOUTUBE / FACEBOOK LIVE / PERISCOPE
THE WENDY JAMES DOUBLE A-SIDE SINGLE PEOPLE’S CHOICE POLL
This idea came to mind because so many of you, now owning the 20 Track Deluxe Album QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT, are posting to different social media your various favorites!
I am going to go to radio at least 5 times with Double A-Side Singles this year and in the Autumn of 2020 I will present a box set of all the 7” Vinyl Singles from Queen High Straight.
So, for the next single I think you guys should decide which songs ‘win’ the two top spots for the next Double A-Side Single!
Firstly, you obviously need to be in possession of the whole album. Be it Double Vinyl, Deluxe CD, Standard CD or Digital Download and therefore you will own and be getting familiar with all 20 songs!
I am going to leave the poll running for a couple of weeks through until Friday May 29th and you can monitor which songs are rising to to winning spots!
How exciting!
The next single to go to radio will be YOUR CHOICE!
I thank you all and I am very excited to see the results!
Today, now… May 1, this morning! QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT is out. It’s released. It is delivered.
– Where should I begin?
– I’ll begin with THANK YOU.
You, who have been with me throughout the making of my album, including the 1 year, 2 months you stayed connected with me while I wrote it and then proceeding through the next 2 years it took to record and complete this epic piece of work!
Most often it’s your responses to the bits of news I share on social media that sustain and propel me forward. Not for nothing are you the very best of people!
For some, life on social media comes naturally… for me, I tend toward a more private inclination and especially so when I’m working, I simply don’t have time, or desire, to break off and do a selfie or this and that, but I’ve adapted and now I look forward to engaging and I find the reward of interacting with you all has been so very worth it. These platforms we communicate on bring us all closer and enable us to feel like a community.
Some of you visited the recording studio and observed the labor we all put in – me, the musicians, the engineers: the detail and precision and obsessive quest for perfection we are all driven by. At the same time, we shared so many laughs, between ourselves and with you! What joyful memories to always have. Up in Lincolnshire when the band went residential through to the various studios around London when I did my vocal sessions and the musicians came in for their overdub sessions.
Thank you all so much for sharing some of these moments.
Thank you for the preorders you made, which have helped deliver Queen High Straight. All the records I’ve done since Racine No.1, Racine 2, I Came Here To Blow Minds, The Price Of The Ticket and now Queen High Straight have been self funded. I have to work to earn to record to work to earn to record and so on…
Philosophically and retrospectively I think this has played to my advantage because, tricky as it’s been at times, the breaks I’ve been forced to take to earn money to continue on have provided me with the artistic headspace and the clarity with which to make right decisions. I do think my music has benefited from this circumstance and none more so than Queen High Straight.
Queen High Straight is so complex in its arrangements and musicality that to attempt to do all of this in one go would have been reckless and foolish. One would have blundered into muddled decisions and with no overview. Overview which is essential to hear the ‘finish’ in ones head, to know what it is one is attempting to achieve.
Moments I’m most proud of?
There were quite a lot of Eureka moments when I was writing the album. Let’s be real! There were 20 Eureka moments each time a song completed. I have so many memories attached to each song, vividly recalling sitting on the bed, staring out of the window, noodling my guitar, looking at my lyrics, imagining the sentiment of where I was headed and searching out the chords to express that. Queen High Straight was the first song I wrote and it took me by surprise, I stumbled upon inversions of chords that suggested a more jazzy type of sound and immediately my mind was drawn to childhood when Bacharach and David and Sergio Mendes ‘Brazil ’66’ were in the background. Osmosis is everything! I love the content of the lyric and the way the song builds and arcs. The feeling when I’d finished writing and recording the demo for Queen High Straight was “Ok, I have begun…” Very exciting and very confident in the face of now having to commit to writing 19 more perfect songs!
I could repeat this story out for all the songs as they completed, I remember ‘Perilous Beauty’ (it’s on Facebook and Instagram, a little video of me playing the demo in the basement of the house in the South of France where I was staying), I remember ‘Little Melvin’, dancing and jubilant and playing it back on my phone. I remember them all… I remember being thrilled by ‘I’ll Be Here When The Morning Comes’ because it evoked a favorite, funny scene in a Steve Martin movie called ‘The Jerk’ where he sings a lonesome, tender ditty with his true love in the movie, Bernadette Peters. ‘Cancel It… I’ll see him on Monday’ – when I finished this song (and I love the title by the way) I flew down the stairs and outside shouting “I’ve written a hit, I’ve written a hit” (I filmed and posted me dancing along to that demo too!). At the end of last year I played it on Soho Radio and as the sound went around the foyer of the building and into peoples ears I was in wonderment, it sounds so damn good!
The whole album is a resounding success for me. I know, for myself, I’ve reached great musical and lyrical heights with Queen High Straight and what makes it all the sweeter are the myriad memories infused in each note, each arrangement, each edit, each session with the musicians. I’m so proud of the way we, the musicians, came together and made this music. We all have that indefatigable drive to push for performances which are exquisite and we succeeded.
To those involved:
The Musicians on this album are incredible, versatile, supremely gifted people, they also are nice! They are so nice to be around. The perfect blend of total dedication and pursuit of the ultimate performance and humble, funny, generous, caring people. I thank James Sclavunos, James Sedwards, Harry Bohay, Alex Ward, Terry Edwards and Louis Vause. Friends for life!
The Engineers… it’s funny, whenever I go to initial meetings with engineers, I always warn them that I work long hours and I cannot let anything go or settle for anything other than that which I need or want. They always say “sure, they are used to working in intense situations of long hours of focus and sometimes obsessive demands”, but even they have lost it with me on occasion, when we get into the weeds and struggle with an edit or the workload ahead of us, but, I am happy to say we come out the other side and, to a man, they have heard the record and are proud of it. I am so grateful to Ian Dowling, Joe Sage, Pieter Riekerk, Al Lawson, Tim Morris and Fred Kevorkian. They are my conduit from imagination and vision to reality.
The Photographer David Leigh Dodd. What a terrific story that turned out to be. Originally David was meant to come on a studio visit and he hoped to get some photos of me there, working, but the schedule never panned out, so instead, during the summer of 2019 I jumped on a plane to Rome, where he lives, and stayed for a long weekend. On the back of his moped we drove out to the area of Rome designed by Mussolini called EUR (Esposizione Universale Roma). It is deeply impressive with its enormous, conforming buildings, originally meant to celebrate Mussolini’s Fascism, very imposing, a great setting for some photos (and a tourist spot!). We got up the next day and took the metro (which broke down and we had to change to a bus, all in Italian on the outskirts of Rome!), destination Cinecittà, the iconic Italian movie studios and home to the great Frederico Fellini. We paid our money and joined the tour and while the guide was lecturing the party, we snuck off and took all the cinematic stills we could! In 100 degrees! We spotted a (typical) fountain and square in central Rome, near the hotel I was staying in, not a big important square or fountain but beautiful and a bit shabby too. We shot there and then finally wandering the backstreets of old Rome at night. What a haul of photos we got, and so much tomato, buffalo mozzarella and basil along the way! David has taken some of the finest photos of me ever taken, I give my everlasting thanks to him, and I must say I would not have looked so fine had it not been for The Make-Up Artist Domitilla Coni who made perfect cat-eyes for me and used make up which miraculously didn’t melt off in the extreme heat! So, Thank you to her too.
The Graphic Artist Stuart Preston. Poor Stuart… I worked him hard. You cannot even begin to get your head around how labor intensive the layout has been for 4 different formats of music, poster, t-shirts, tour flyers, vip pass and banners. The Deluxe CD alone comes with a 16 page booklet containing all the lyrics, technical aspects, liner notes, credits and 16 pages worth of photographic layout too! So many words for him to check, double check, line up, triple check, space out and on and on. It took us 6 months to make all this artwork. He freaked out only twice! What a star. My thanks and friendship to Stuart for ever. The presentation of this album is exceptional. It is precision engineering! He is a marvel.
The Website Manager Pete. Peter and his team built my website and they keep it running with great efficiency. Goodness knows the coding they had to do to add all the items into the store, create the Queen High Straight page and embed carousels for showing all of the artwork.The website is completely integral for me to get my music and items to you. Thank you Pete.
And now…
So what now? Well… please buy Queen High Straight and all it’s lovely trimmings!!
The T-Shirt is so cool, The Poster is so beautiful, The Lyric Sheets and Mix Notes are lovely things to own and I dedicate them to you, on the song/s of your choice. There are limited edition Artwork Proofs of the Deluxe CD and Standard CD, once again I personalize them to you and, for 3 lucky people – 3 sets of Double Vinyl Test Pressings.
Enjoy the album! I love it. It’s going to take you a good while to choose your favorites. 20 songs. Which ones will be your favorites?
I hope you find the finished album rewarding for the wait of three years. I think you will.
The tour for Queen High Straight, originally scheduled for May, has had to be delayed, as you know, but we are on for September, by which time, I hope, you will all know the lyrics and have your favorites! On the live page of the website there are all the direct ticket links per venue and of course the associated VIP pass per gig.
So…
It’s here.
I have done it.
We have done it.
Stay well out there! And Enjoy QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT