Interview with Wendy James – From Transvision Vamp to The Shape of History

All Music Magazine UK – Desh Kapur - Interview With Wendy James

In a world where pop stars are born in tweets and fads burn fast, Wendy James stands as a testament to longevity, attitude, and unapologetic artistry. From fronting Transvision Vamp in the late ’80s with defiant swagger and chart-topping anthems like Baby I Don’t Care and I Want Your Love, she’s built more than a career—she’s forged a legacy. Now, more than three decades on, James isn’t living in her past. With ten albums under her belt, a solo career marked by fearless reinvention, and a fanbase that still hangs on every bold lyric, she’s back on stage, back in the studio, and more herself than ever. I’m Desh Kapur of All Music Magazine UK, and today I talk to Wendy James about what drives her now, what she’s learned, and how she stays both rebel and revelation.

All Music Magazine UK: The Shape of History marks your 10th album—a real milestone. How does it feel to reach this point in your career, and what does this record represent to you personally?

Wendy James: 10 is a big number isn’t it! I have written so many songs now, and along the way had so many adventures and experiences with musicians and technicians all over the world, from LA and NY to Japan, to Paris, to Sydney and of course London. Nowadays I have quite a cohesive team around me, my musicians are trusted comrades and the engineers I like working with are as obsessive and micro attention to detail as I am. We don’t need to explain each action to each other, we already know what has to happen. So, I am very proud to reach my 10th album and I love the songs on THE SHAPE OF HISTORY, the lyrics too. When I’m in the songwriting stage I edit and edit and edit until every lyric is presented in its best form and each melody and rhythm is just right. It is only then that I send my guitar/vocal demo out to my musicians! I love this….. and so…. there will be an 11th album!!

All Music Magazine UK: Looking back to those first Transvision Vamp days, from Pop Art and Velveteen to being a global chart presence—what stands out to you most about that whirlwind rise?

Wendy James: One of the things that stand out are the sheer number of flights we took to European TV shows! Whilst TOP OF THE POPS was the tastemaker show for not just the UK, but also EU, USA, there were many TV shows similar to this across all of Europe. TVV was signed to a major label and so the roll-out of a release was a huge and well-coordinated plan. By 1987 we were flying around Europe and Scandinavia performing on pop TV shows all the time, in and out of Heathrow every single day. That was a definite change to lifestyle, which up until then had been in London and relatively sane!

All Music Magazine UK: After Transvision Vamp, you worked with Elvis Costello on Now Ain’t the Time for Your Tears. How do you reflect on that collaboration now, as part of your journey from pop frontwoman to independent artist?

Wendy James: The Elvis story is such an incredible one! From me writing to him on Hollywood Hotel ’Sunset Marquis’ stationary asking for any help he might give me, to be a conduit between Transvision Vamp and my future as a self-determining songwriter, whereupon he wrote a whole album of music for me… to the adventure of recording in France and mixing at Sunset Sound in Hollywood (Exile On Main Street!), the furore around the album, the expectation of it and then - my realization that in fact the biggest gift this album presented me with was the clarity that from hereon in I would write my own melodies, my own rhythms, my own style, my own lyrics, my own heart, my own instinct! It was as clear as any other pivotal moment in my life. What a gift!

All Music Magazine UK: Across your solo career, you’ve recorded in New York, Paris, Sydney, London, and beyond. Do the cities and environments you’re in shape the music you make?

Wendy James: I don’t think the cities themselves determine the music because of course it’s written in my head. However… I am inspired via movies, culture, literature and music which are made in various cities! NYC for downtown New Wave mid-70’s music and Andy Warhols’ Factory, The Velvet Underground, Ann Arbor, Michigan for The Stooges and MC5, Paris for the Ye Ye Girls…. London for edge….. LA for crazy, Sydney has a thriving indie scene, but so does Copenhagen and Stockholm… I’ve had mad-cap adventures in all these cities. I even got stranded in Palm Springs with Ronald Reagan’s Chef d’Equipe one New Years Eve… but that’s another story!

All Music Magazine UK: You’ve worked with some iconic figures—James Williamson, Lenny Kaye, Glen Matlock, James Sclavunos, to name a few. What have you taken from those collaborations that’s stayed with you?

Wendy James: I have gravitated naturally toward musicians, men, who have been that much older than me and that much more informed (at that given time) than me in Music History and in Punk Rock Character and fortitude. Men like: Lenny Kaye, Mick Jones, James Sclavunos, Glen Matlock, James Williamson, Nick Sayer… each at different stages of my life, these men have been friends, they’ve nurtured me, encouraged me, and told me stuff I didn’t know, music I should learn, history I should know. Each time these men have generously indulged my young fresh mind and energetic lust for growth and I, without fail, immersed myself in the information they gave me. In other words, I was educated by my elders and my peers. I am so grateful, they are all wonderful people.

Women - that’s a different subject: Strength is what I have shared and absorbed from women. Intellect too, resolve also. There is a female strength that is an unbreakable core. I hope, in turn, I’ve passed on that strength to men and women, girls and boys.

All Music Magazine UK: Queen High Straight was a 20-track double album that received glowing reviews. Did that project free you up creatively to approach The Shape of History differently?

Wendy James: Queen High Straight was such a clear decision for me. I was fresh off the momentum of The Price Of The Ticket and I wanted to make a gatefold vinyl. I remember loving gatefold vinyls, I had Quadrophenia, I had Sandinista (Triple), Exile On Main Street, and many more! I loved opening up the cover and finding all the pictures, the lyrics, the technical notes, the liner notes… So I very easily worked out that audio wise, one cannot really go above 5 songs per side of vinyl without degrading audio quality, so it was easy maths… 20 songs! 5 songs a side.

I started writing song 1 and I ended at song 20! I love Queen High Straight, as I do all my albums, and then it came to THE SHAPE OF HISTORY. By now, I have this wonderful team of musicians and technicians, great engineers and they are all repeat team members, so I typically sit down, spend a year writing songs, by myself, on guitar, recording into my phone, solid guide tracks, indicating where each song needs to go, and then I send them out to Jim, to Alex and other players I think should be on the album. Harry Bohay has been my bass player on this album and QHS. We compare diaries with my recording engineer Alexander Lawson and we make a plan!

So, The Shape Of History started like that, in West London and then I flew to NYC to pick up keyboards with Dave ‘The Moose’ Sherman and back to London and then finally - Berkeley/Oakland with Jesse Nichols to mix the album. He was the mix engineer on Queen High Straight… and as you can hear, I range typically from my love of NYC new wave punk, to The Stooges to The Velvets, to Ye Ye girls to a California vibe, Topanga Canyon vibe (I lived there for a while), the California freeways, Joan Didion as an influence…. I just let my heart go where it wants!

All Music Magazine UK: Touring has always been a huge part of your story—from the Transvision Vamp years to your solo shows. What can fans expect from the upcoming tour in terms of setlist and energy?

Wendy James: The musicians in my band including Dave Parsons from Transvision Vamp, James Sclavunos from the Bad Seeds, Alex Ward from Thurston Moore, we all give such energy and connection with our audiences! I’ll be playing a good amount of TVV classics and also favorites from across all 10 of my albums. When I walk out on stage, I give everything. It’s a two way street! A full participation sport! The better the audience reception the better the gig rises up to be!

All Music Magazine UK: Looking back, you’ve navigated the music industry from major-label stardom to fiercely independent releases. What advice would you give younger artists today about longevity and artistic survival?

Wendy James: Know your decisions, question yourself, edit yourself, be in touch with your instinct and when you’re sure of a song or a position then don’t let other people whittle you down. It’s the music business, not the music friendship! Protect your neck!!

All Music Magazine UK: Finally, when listeners hear The Shape of History, what do you hope they’ll take away from it—both musically and emotionally?

Wendy James: Fulfillment!! An hour of musical inspiration. Provoking attitude and also providing comradeship. We each have a story, and we each arrive at places from different walks, but at a point, at a musical point we become united, whether the performer or the audience. When music communicates well, at a gig or on a recording we all find peace and respite and strength and inspiration. I hope my album/s do that for you! I think they do….

WENDY JAMES TOUR DATES

Wednesday 1st October - 100 Club, London

Thursday 2nd October - HMV Empire, Coventry

Friday 3rd October - Hangar 34, Liverpool

Saturday 4th October - Sugarmill, Stoke

Tuesday 7th October - Met Lounge, Peterborough

Wednesday 8th October - Cluny, Newcastle

Thursday 9th October - Brudenell, Leeds

Friday 10th October - The Brook, Southampton

Saturday 11th October - Old Bakery Studios, Truro

Tuesday 14th October - Cheese and Grain, Froome

Wednesday 15th October - Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff

Friday 17th October - Waterloo Music Bar, Blackpool

Saturday 18th October - Pryzm, Kingston upon Thames

Tuesday 21st October - Deaf Institute, Manchester

Wednesday 22nd October - King Tuts, Glasgow

Thursday 23rd October - Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh

Friday 24th October - Georgian Theatre, Stockton on Tees

Saturday 25th October - Tivoli, Buckley

Tuesday 28th October - Fleece, Bristol

Wednesday 29th October - One Ninety Four, London

Thursday 30th October - Patterns, Brighton

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