wendy james tour 2023

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Wendy James

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Awesome gig from start to finish ! Loved it so much I booked tickets to see her again at VIP members club on Friday !

If you only go to one gig this year , make it this one !

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Wendy James (Ex Transvision Vamp)

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Transvision Vamp’s Wendy James announces UK Tour

Twitter | Wendy James

Transvision Vamp star Wendy James is heading out across the UK for a new solo tour. 

Kicking off August 26 in Blackpool, the trek runs through October, hitting cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Leeds and London. 

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“The venues, who’ve been under extraordinary pressure to stay afloat, were inundated with every single band rescheduling,” she says. “But! We did it… 

From Truro to Paisley and from Norwich to Swansea and everywhere in between! Not only are we celebrating a return to live venues, we are celebrating my No.16 album QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT, but also a different set list every night, from Transvision Vamp through all my albums! pic.twitter.com/0ttRpdBUAN — THE WENDY JAMES (@THEWENDYJAMES) July 21, 2021

“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!”

The shows will feature tracks from Wendy’s solo career – including latest LP ‘Queen High Straight’ – along with favourites from her Transvision Vamp years. 

And don’t expect the same experience twice – the singer has teased a completely different setlist for each night of the tour. 

Tickets are on sale now . 

The full list of tour dates is as follows: August 26 – Waterloo Music Bar, August 27 – Arts Centre, Norwich August 28 – Sugarmill, Stoke August 31 – Old Bakery Studios, Truro September 1 – Clwb Ifor Bach September 2 – Fleece, Bristol September 3 – O2 Academy 2, Oxford September 4 – Boileroom, Guildford September 7 – Junction, Cambridge September 8 – Forum, Tunbridge Wells September 9 – Queens Hall, Nuneaton September 10 – Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth September 11 – Guildhall, Gloucester September 14 – Underground Music Society, Barrow September 15 – Deaf Institute, Manchester September 16 – Bodega, Nottingham September 17 – Jimmy’s, Liverpool September 18 – O2 Institute 3, Birmingham September 21 – Firebug, Leicester September 22 – Cluny, Newcastle September 23 – King Tuts, Glasgow September 24 – Rocknrollas, Paisley September 25 – Bannermans, Edinburgh September 28 – Cinema & Co, Swansea September 29 – Brudenell, Leeds September 30 – Concorde 2, Brighton October 1 – O2 Academy 2 Islington, London October 2 – The Parish, Huddersfield

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Latest News

Extra l.a. show added by popular demand.

9th May 2024

A second show at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles has just been added for Thursday 26th September. General sale starts Friday 10th May ... Read more

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19th April 2024

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Available until midnight tonight (18 April) from our store, the Yummy Deluxe Download features 4 additional tracks available nowhere els... Read more

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14th April 2024 | Jim

Hi everybody, out there in Jamesland. On behalf of the whole band and the extended James family, I'd like to give my heartfelt thanks and love to you all for your incredible support buying, streaming and downloading 'Yummy'. It's not something we ever take for granted but your unwavering loyalty is truly remarkable.... Read more

Tonight I raise my glass to an old friend. Angelo Badalamenti.

12th December 2022 | Tim

Tonight I raise my glass to an old friend. I'm sad and brimming with happy memories – Angelo Badalamenti died yesterday evening. I spent most of 1995 working with him making the 'Booth and the Bad Angel' album over an idyllic year in New York. I was obsessed with the Julee Cruise 'Floating Into The Night' CD and h... Read more

Playground Festival, Glasgow – September 2021

2nd December 2022 | wearejames

Photos by Elly Lucas Photographics.... Read more

RIP Dick Rabel

18th November 2022 | Jim

Dick Rabel was our front of house soundman, the guy that makes the gig sound great. Dick loved working with us, and us him. He loved our anarchic approach and revelled in the spontaneity and unpredictability that scared off lesser soundmen. His beaming grin appearing in the dressing room after the show to grac... Read more

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From the No. 1 album Yummy . Get the deluxe 2xCD edition Yummy + Pudding here .

2nd single from ‘Yummy’—out now. Get yours on all formats here .

Is This Love

1st single from our brand new album ‘Yummy’—coming 12 April & available to pre-order on all formats from 25 Jan

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Wendy James

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Past Events

Here are the most recent UK tour dates we had listed for Wendy James. Were you there?

December 2021

• Wed 22 Dec London, 100 Club The Wendy James Band

October 2021

• Sat 2 Oct Huddersfield, The Parish Wendy James
• Fri 1 Oct London, O2 Academy Islington Wendy James

September 2021

• Thu 30 Sep Brighton, Concorde 2 Wendy James
• Thu 30 Sep Brighton, Patterns Wendy James
• Wed 29 Sep Leeds, Brudenell Social Club Wendy James
• Thu 23 Sep Glasgow, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut Wendy James
• Wed 22 Sep Newcastle upon Tyne, The Cluny Wendy James
• Tue 21 Sep Leicester, The Firebug Wendy James
• Sat 18 Sep Birmingham, O2 Institute Wendy James
• Fri 17 Sep Liverpool, Jimmy's Wendy James
• Thu 16 Sep Bodega Nottingham Wendy James
• Wed 15 Sep Manchester, The Deaf Institute Wendy James
• Sat 11 Sep Gloucester Guildhall Wendy James
• Fri 10 Sep Portsmouth, The Wedgewood Rooms Wendy James
• Thu 9 Sep Nuneaton, Queens Hall Wendy James
• Wed 8 Sep Tunbridge Wells Forum Wendy James
• Tue 7 Sep Cambridge Junction Wendy James
• Sat 4 Sep Guildford, The Boileroom Wendy James
• Fri 3 Sep O2 Academy Oxford Wendy James
• Thu 2 Sep Bristol, The Fleece Wendy James
• Wed 1 Sep Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach Wendy James

August 2021

• Sat 28 Aug Stoke-on-Trent, The Sugarmill Wendy James
• Fri 27 Aug Norwich Arts Centre Wendy James
• Thu 26 Aug Blackpool, The Waterloo Music Bar Wendy James
• Fri 30 Apr London, O2 Academy Islington Wendy James
• Thu 29 Apr Brighton, Concorde 2 Wendy James
• Tue 27 Apr Bristol, The Fleece Wendy James
• Sat 24 Apr Birmingham, O2 Institute Wendy James
• Fri 23 Apr Portsmouth, The Wedgewood Rooms Wendy James
• Thu 22 Apr Cambridge Junction Wendy James
• Sat 17 Apr Norwich Arts Centre Wendy James
• Fri 16 Apr Manchester, The Deaf Institute Wendy James
• Thu 15 Apr Blackpool, The Waterloo Music Bar Wendy James
• Wed 14 Apr Leeds, Brudenell Social Club Wendy James
• Sat 10 Apr Glasgow, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut Wendy James
• Wed 7 Apr Newcastle upon Tyne, The Cluny Wendy James
• Tue 6 Apr Bodega Nottingham Wendy James
• Sat 3 Apr Stoke-on-Trent, The Sugarmill Wendy James
• Fri 2 Apr Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach Wendy James
• Thu 1 Apr O2 Academy Oxford Wendy James
• Tue 30 Mar Guildford, The Boileroom Wendy James
• Sat 27 Mar O2 Academy Liverpool Wendy James
• Fri 26 Mar Nuneaton, Queens Hall Wendy James

September 2020

• Sat 26 Sep Glasgow, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut Wendy James
• Wed 23 Sep London, O2 Academy Islington Wendy James
• Mon 21 Sep Guildford, The Boileroom Wendy James
• Sat 19 Sep Newcastle upon Tyne, The Cluny Wendy James
• Fri 18 Sep Blackpool, The Waterloo Music Bar Wendy James
• Thu 17 Sep Leeds, Hyde Park Book Club Wendy James
• Tue 15 Sep Bodega Nottingham Wendy James
• Sat 12 Sep Portsmouth, The Wedgewood Rooms Wendy James
• Fri 11 Sep Stoke-on-Trent, The Sugarmill Wendy James
• Thu 10 Sep Birmingham, O2 Institute Wendy James
• Wed 9 Sep Cambridge Junction Wendy James
• Tue 8 Sep Brighton, Concorde 2 Wendy James
• Sat 5 Sep Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach Wendy James
• Sun 24 May Blackpool, The Waterloo Music Bar Wendy James
• Sat 23 May Cambridge Junction Wendy James
• Fri 22 May Birmingham, O2 Institute Wendy James
• Thu 21 May Glasgow, King Tut's Wah Wah Hut Wendy James
• Wed 20 May Newcastle upon Tyne, The Cluny Wendy James
• Tue 19 May Leeds, Brudenell Social Club Wendy James
• Sun 17 May Guildford, The Boileroom Wendy James
• Sat 16 May Portsmouth, The Wedgewood Rooms Wendy James
• Fri 15 May Cardiff, Clwb Ifor Bach Wendy James
• Thu 14 May London, O2 Academy Islington Wendy James
• Wed 13 May Brighton, Concorde 2 Wendy James
• Tue 12 May Manchester, The Deaf Institute Wendy James
• Mon 11 May Nottingham, The Rescue Rooms Wendy James
• Sat 9 May Stoke-on-Trent, The Sugarmill Wendy James
• Thu 7 May Bristol, The Fleece Wendy James

October 2019

• Sat 12 Oct London, The Roundhouse The Psychedelic Furs, Wendy James
• Fri 11 Oct Nottingham, Rock City The Psychedelic Furs, Wendy James
• Wed 9 Oct Newcastle upon Tyne, NX Newcastle The Psychedelic Furs, Wendy James
• Tue 8 Oct O2 Academy Glasgow The Psychedelic Furs, Wendy James
• Mon 7 Oct Leeds University Union The Psychedelic Furs, Wendy James
• Sat 5 Oct Birmingham, O2 Institute The Psychedelic Furs, Wendy James
• Fri 4 Oct Brighton Dome The Psychedelic Furs, Wendy James
• Thu 3 Oct Portsmouth, Pyramid Centre The Psychedelic Furs, Wendy James
• Wed 2 Oct Blackburn, King George's Hall Wendy James
• Tue 1 Oct Manchester, O2 Ritz The Psychedelic Furs, Wendy James

August 2018

• Fri 3 Aug ➙ Sun 5 Aug Macclesfield, Capesthorne Hall Rewind Festival North 2018 Andrew Roachford, The Jacksons, Marc Almond, Leo Sayer, Kim Appleby…
• Sat 28 Jul London, Clapham Common Let's Rock! London UB40 (1), Boomtown Rats, Kim Wilde, Big Country, Go West!…
• Fri 20 Jul ➙ Sun 22 Jul Perth, Scone Palace Rewind Festival Hipsway, OMD, Gipsy Kings, Martha Wash, Odyssey…
• Sat 30 Jun Exeter, Powderham Castle Let's Rock! Exeter OMD, Sister Sledge, Marc Almond, ABC, Sara Cox…
• Sat 16 Jun Leeds, Temple Newsam House & Gardens Let's Rock! Leeds Adam Ant, Boomtown Rats, Marc Almond, ABC, Nik Kershaw…
• Sat 2 Jun Bristol, The Downs Let's Rock! Bristol The Human League, Marc Almond, Billy Ocean, OMD, Tony Hadley…
• Sat 19 May Cookham, Marsh Meadow Let's Rock The Moor! Adam Ant, Billy Ocean, Thompson Twins' Tom Bailey, Tony Hadley, Nick Heyward…
• Sat 4 Jun Bedford, Esquires Wendy James
• Wed 1 Jun Derby, The Venue Wendy James
• Sat 28 May Coventry, Kasbah Wendy James
• Thu 26 May Bristol, The Fleece Wendy James
• Thu 19 May Brooklyn Bowl London Wendy James

February 2016

• Fri 19 Feb Tunbridge Wells Forum Wendy James
• Thu 18 Feb Brooklyn Bowl London Wendy James
• Wed 17 Feb Ramsgate Music Hall Wendy James
• Fri 12 Feb Glasgow, The ABC Wendy James
• Sat 6 Feb Leeds, Brudenell Social Club Wendy James
• Fri 5 Feb O2 Academy Leicester Wendy James

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XS Noize | Latest Music News

• Interview Wendy James If Im Going To Write Good Songs Then I Want Them For Myself

INTERVIEW: Wendy James – ‘If I’m going to write good songs, then I want them for myself.’

WENDY JAMES returns with her new album QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT. Released on 1st May 2020, it is her 5th solo album. English singer-songwriter Wendy, who was born in London, exploded onto the British music scene in 1988 as the fearless frontwoman of chart-topping alt-rockers Transvision Vamp. Mark Millar caught up with Wendy to talk about the new album, Transvison Vamp, Ukrainian lorry drivers and how she is coping in lockdown.

Hi Wendy, how have you been spending lockdown where are you staying and what have you been doing?

WJ: I have been having a perfect time. (Laughs) Because I like the mandatory environment of not having to see anyone. I have spoken to a lot of my musician friends, and we live in isolation anyway. You know when you are writing an album or working eighteen-hour days or anyone artistic like a writer, novelist or painter know these are solitary pursuits nevertheless. They are very social as well obviously in the studio and on the road, but at the genesis of coming up with the idea and the amount of time, it takes you to have tons of alone time to keep focus.

The manufacturing of Queen High Straight was done at a plant in Poland in the pandemic. As you know from my online store all my products are pre-signed with my signature, so the way we set it up was the album was manufactured in Poland. Then they shipped me thousands of covers of the standard CD, deluxe CD and the vinyl. There were crate loads of covers sent in the pandemic from Poland to France (which is where I currently am) with a poor little guy from the Ukraine who was sleeping in the cab of his lorry. He only had boxes of cereal to eat, so we gave him something to eat.

The person I live with and I had to help him unload the crates into the house with a forklift truck with masks and gloves on. Then I had to sign the covers while the Ukrainian guy slept in his cab parked up in the layby of where I live. Once I had signed all the thousands of covers we had to re-box them and put them all back into the crates. Then he had to drive them back through the pandemic across borders back to Poland for everything to be packaged and shrink wrapped to be sent to America and the UK. I managed to do all that in lockdown and the album came out on May 1st. I have been swamped since the record came out. The more successful an album is, the more demands are made on my time. It’s just been the same as usual, really, but a bit busier. (Laughs)

We last spoke when you released The Price Of The Ticket , which charted in the UK at No. 14 – were you pleased? WJ: I was very surprised! That was back in the Pledge days, wasn’t it? There had been a lot of pre-order action on that album through the Pledge campaign, and I think the way it worked was that all the pre-orders counted toward a chart position. Yeah it was very pleasing it was a pleasant surprise, and I think it set me off on the right foot for this album because The Price Of The Ticket gave me quite a lot of momentum with a new bunch of fans. Every little stage of my solo career has been slow but incrementally growing.

Your new record Queen High Straight is very ambitious with 20 tracks. You also wrote, produced and mixed the album – You have been very busy.

WJ: Yeah, it took me more than three years until the actual final day we had our masters done, and it took me a year and two months to write the twenty songs. The album was always going to have twenty songs – that was the aim, that was the goal and what I had to do for myself. If you follow the trajectory of my solo work you will see that Racine Number One was a download and a CD, Racine 2 made it on to vinyl, and I Came Here To Blow Minds was on vinyl, CD and download, and The Price of the Ticket was on all of those formats plus a picture disc. Each stage of my solo career had become a little bit more successful and expansive, and my fans really enjoy the different formats as I do as a fan.

I come from an age where you would have all sorts of wonderful things that the record companies in different countries would generate – real collector items. I always loved picture discs, I had Debbie Harry, and Brigitte Bardot picture discs and The Price of the Ticket picture disc was very successful for me. I wondered what on earth I could do to top that so I thought back to my musical fan history. I remembered as a kid I had Meaty Beaty Big and Bouncy by The Who on gatefold double vinyl – I loved being able to open it up because if you do a gatefold, you have got much more real estate to do artwork on and give the fans some exciting information.

Of course, Exile on Main Street by the Rolling Stones is to my mind the royale of all gatefold double vinyl. So I decided to go record a double vinyl album myself. I knew that if you go above 20-22 minutes on a cut of vinyl, you are going to start losing audio quality so in my mind very simplistically I figured I would do five cuts a side which will be twenty songs. I never purposely alter the order in which the songs are written. So it just, of course, worked out serendipitously for me as five songs just about grace the twenty-two-minute mark – it worked out perfectly.

Did you go into the recording with any preconceived ideas how it should sound and the kind of songs you wanted to write?

WJ: Yeah, because when I’m writing a song it’s just me and the guitar and the song will suggest obviously from my lyrical content and then the chords that I find. The song itself suggests what direction I will be going in once I get to production. On a song like ‘Little Melvin’ even if you hear my demo (Which I might make available at some stage), it has got that Motown feel to it. On my lyric sheets and my chord sheets that I give out to the musicians, there are references at the bottom like The Shangri Las, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas’ Dancing in the Street’ and ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ – just a ballpark idea of where we are going to be headed for the musicians.

The demo itself sets the mood. For instance, the song ‘Queen High Straight’ I’ve written notes that say Bacharach and David and Sergio Mendes & Brazil 66. That immediately tells my musicians where we will be going – that’s the only suggestion I give then the song has to become its own thing.

Some bands want to become authentic and use the same analogue gear and maybe find the same session guys that played on the old sessions. Some musicians want to pay homage and copy what’s gone before. I am not one of those – the song has to be modern but ‘Little Melvin’ and ‘Here Comes the Beautiful One’ sound like they have got that Motown beat. I was very persistent they had that James Jamerson bassline. A perfect example is on track 17 ‘ I’ll Be Here When The Morning Comes.’ I started writing this beautiful little ditty, and I couldn’t place it in a genre of music except to say it reminded me of the Bernadette Peters and Steve Martin song ‘Tonight You Belong to Me’ from the movie The Jerk . It’s a beautiful song and it’s so sweet. The song will tell me what it wants to do and then I’ll tell the musicians where I think we are going and then the songs will once again take the driving seat and become its own thing.

Were you listening to anything during your time writing that might have influenced the album?

WJ: Even if I listen to new stuff, it does tend to be similar to the old stuff. (Laughs) I listened to the Black Lips, and I listened to Fat White Family and Parquet Courts, but they are all pulling on the Velvet Underground at some point or other anyway. But conversely what doesn’t seep into my music is the fact that I will listen to the Wu-Tang Clan and Dr Dre – all hip hop and that’s from Public Enemy onwards back in the day when it happened. I’m a massive hip hop fan, but of course, there’s no point in me trying to osmosis hip hop because I’m a white and English girl. (Laughs) You can go the Grime route if you are a Londoner, I guess, but there’s no way I could try my hand at East Coast hip hop nor would I want to.

You recorded a lot of your last record in New York where did you record Queen High Straight ? WJ: Primarily London, the location depends on who is in the band really because you just have to do the simple maths on how much it’s going to cost to get everyone together. On The Price of the Ticket , it was James Williamson – he was in northern California, Lenny Kaye was around the corner in the East Village. Glen Matlock was thankfully coming over anyway and the same thing with James Sclavunos – he is American as I’m sure you know, but he lives in West London, and once again he’s one of those musicians who is always in New York, and I was in New York whereas on this album everyone was from London. We did the first session residentially up in Lincolnshire at a place called The Chapel and all the overdub sessions where done in different little studios around London.

One of my favourite songs on the album is ‘Perilous Beauty’ what can you tell me about that track?

WJ: My go-to references on that song where ‘Touch the Leather’ by Fat White Family and ‘Nightclubbing’ by Iggy Pop. I was listening to their filthy sounds. I was listening to the dirge, and I mean that in a good way. The dirge of Bowie and Iggy’s ‘Nightclubbing’ and the kind of underbelly filth of that and the same thing informed Fat White Family. It started with the lyrics, “Sometimes I sound like gravel, sometimes I sound like coffee and cream.” Then it immediately took me to that underbelly then I thought of Iggy and ‘Nightclubbing’ You know Berlin, filthy a bit wasted, sexy you know? All my comfort zones. (Laughs)

You were supposed to be on tour now, but because of the lockdown, the shows have been put back to September. Are you looking forward to eventually getting out on the road?

WJ: I hope that that’s possible and obviously the larger shows have all been put back until next year now, so I’m watching the rules and regulations. I’m going to take a very sensible approach. I don’t want to die, and I don’t want all my fans to die either. (Laughs) The bottom line is either we will be allowed to or we won’t.

You shot to fame in the eighties with Transvision Vamp after the band performed ‘I Want Your Love’ on TOTP. How did life change for you after that?

WJ: It’s a strange thing because its not like anything changes overnight even though relatively Transvision Vamp’s rise to fame was quicker than most bands. We did one tour and then by the end of that tour we were at number five in the charts, and we had hits, and therefore we were on Top of the Pops. It was very exciting, I guess, but your life doesn’t change; it’s not like you are rich immediately and all of a sudden you are in Hollywood – that takes another couple of years. (Laughs)

It’s strange I always wanted for this to happen in my life. Nowadays I want to have successful music around the planet, but in those days I was more keyed in to being famous and being a pop star – I was seventeen years old, after all. Most people want to be a footballer a boxer or a pop star, right? So when it started happening in my mind, it was quite normal that it should happen because this is what I was going to do.

I can’t remember being surprised, I just remember diving straight in and being in my element. People’s attitude towards me or tabloid coverage is not something you particularly notice because it’s insidious. It takes a little while until you realise that you’ve got accountants and lawyers, hairdressers and fucking this and that on the road with you and you’ve got loads of backline and people meeting and greeting you in every country that you go to. But again, it seemed quite normal. It’s so strange.

Are you still in touch with any of the band?

WJ: Yeah certainly, Nick Sayer the guitarist is a great aficionado of alternative medicine. Hence, if I’m coming down with the cold, I ask him what supplements I should take. Tex lives in Indonesia, but he had rented an apartment in Barcelona for a year. Still, I only found out just before he was leaving and I was going to go to Barcelona and see him at Christmas, but I didn’t – but we WhatsApp each other regularly. I think Dave Parsons lives near Bristol because when we played Bristol on the last tour, he hadn’t told me he was coming he just showed up in the dressing room, and I was like, “Dave!” just like it was yesterday. They are friendships that just go for a lifetime. Too much had been shared together for it ever to be forgotten.

It’s nice that you are all still friends after all these years. WJ: We never got angry with each other. I think its good that Transvision Vamp did split up because the times they were changing, we were segueing into rave music, and hip hop was taking over. Transvision Vamp would have had to evolve for sure to carry on – If you are going to become fucking U2, you have to keep changing. We didn’t have particularly great guidance on these matters and the fundamental truth why Transvision Vamp split up was because we were exhausted. I’ve often said if we had a manager who said, “Listen, you guys are burnt out. Take a year off and don’t even think about music and then in a year we will see if there are the seeds of new music.”

If somebody had said that, perhaps we would have kept going, but I think in the story of my life I was outgrowing singing those songs. I needed more, and I know that Nick Sayer needed more because he was listening to Public Enemy non-stop. It was his great concept to mix Blondie with T Rex and come up with Transvision Vamp. In my life story, it’s perfect: from that, I jettisoned into working with Elvis Costello for better or worse. That was my bridge from Transvision Vamp into whatever the future was going to be.

I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the experience or the outcome of the Elvis Costello record as much as some people love it. That was when I had my lightbulb moment where I thought from now on I will be the master of my domain. I shall sing and write my own songs and that’s when I started taking this job seriously.

I read that Gwen Stefani and Nancy Sinatra asked you to write songs for them, but you turned them down. Do you regret that? WJ: I have never actually sat down and tried to write a hit song for another person, but obviously, financially, that would have been a wise choice. (Laughs) At that time, I kind of indignantly said, “If I’m going to write good songs, then I want them for myself.” And so consequently I have `got some good songs and not much money. (Laughs)

TRACKLISTING

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.

TOUR DATES 3 RD  SEPT – BRISTOL FLEECE 4 TH  SEPT – SWANSEA CINEMA & CO 5 TH  SEPT – CARDIFF CLWB IFOR BACH 8 TH  SEPT – BRIGHTON CONCORDE 2 9 TH  SEPT – CAMBRIDGE JUNCTION 10 TH  SEPT – BIRMINGHAM INSTITUTE 3 11 TH  SEPT – STOKE SUGARMILL 12 TH  SEPT – PORTSMOUTH WEDGEWOOD ROOMS 15 TH  SEPT – NOTTINGHAM BODEGA 16 TH  SEPT – MANCHESTER DEAF INSTITUTE 17 TH  SEPT – LEEDS BRUDENELL 18 TH  SEPT – BLACKPOOL WATERLOO MUSIC BAR 19 TH  SEPT – NEWCASTLE CLUNY 21 ST  SEPT – GUILDFORD BOILEROOM 22 ND  SEPT – TUNBRIDGE WELLS FORUM 23 RD  SEPT – LONDON ISLINGTON 02 26 TH  SEPT – GLASGOW KING TUTS 27 TH  SEPT – EDINBURGH BANNERMANS 29 TH  SEPT – NORWICH ARTS CENTRE

Tickets available via:  https://thewendyjames.com/live/

• QUEEN HIGH STRAIGHT
• Transvision Vamp
• Wendy James

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Female rock icon Wendy James of Transvision Vamp fame on returning to Cornwall and still being a feisty idol

The 80s and 90s star is returning to the county for the first time in 32 years

• 06:00, 8 AUG 2021
• Updated 10:50, 8 AUG 2021

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The 17-year-old me would have been very jealous of the middle-aged me for interviewing the iconic Wendy James, of Transvision Vamp fame.

In fact, teenage me would have probably bottled it because not only was La James his idea of the perfect woman, she was also notoriously feisty; in many ways the female Iggy Pop fronting a pop sheened Stooges.

She didn’t take any prisoners then and judging from our chat as she sped around the French countryside she now calls home, Wendy is even more no shits given now. In her cut glass rock’n’roll voice (like a Portobello Road Marianne Faithfull), she calls Trump an “orange c***” and attacks the British government for not giving more help to impoverished areas such as Cornwall.

Read more: The Cornwall Coliseum concerts that blew our minds

It will be almost 32 years to the day since Wendy last played here – Transvision Vamp packed out the legendary Cornwall Coliseum on August 22, 1989 and she returns with her own band on Tuesday, August 31 to play Truro’s Old Bakery Studios.

It’s easy to forget now but Transvision Vamp were huge for a while there - they scored ten UK hit singles in the late '80s and early '90s including the snarling evergreens, Baby I Don't Care and I Want Your Love.

When the band broke up Wendy went on to collaborate on solo albums with Elvis Costello, James Williamson (Iggy and the Stooges), Lenny Kaye (The Patti Smith Group) and James Sclavunos (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds), who joins her on drums and percussion for Queen High Straight, her latest, critically acclaimed album of self-penned songs which reached the Top 20.

When Wendy released what is her fifth solo album in May 2020, she was supposed to be heading out on a UK tour. But as Covid hit and the world went into lockdown, Wendy had to reschedule her tour three times.

She said: “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."

She is embarking on a massive 28-date tour of the UK, like bands used to before they only chose to play five major cities.

"So many of my fans on social media so often say bands don't make it down to Cornwall - the nearest anyone gets is Bristol which is miles away," Wendy told me.

Does she remember the last time she played down here?

"Definitely! I recently made a hoodie commemorating the world tour of 1989 and the Cornwall Coliseum is on there. I've been to Cornwall as a child, performed there as a musician and have friends down there. And the Old Bakery looks fantastic. This tour of every corner of the country is a one-off."

Wendy's encouraging the hardcore fans to attend more than one gig on the tour.

"I'm going to do a different setlist every night. I want to end up being like Chuck Berry or Bob Dylan where people can shout out any numbers from any album and my band know how to play them. We're rehearsing three hours' worth.

"That's why I'm saying to the fans try and come to more than one because you don't know which one you'll get."

Wendy is now that rare thing in the music business - an artist who controls every aspect of her career, from touring to merchandise, recording and business.

"Post Elvis Costello, I took a look at everything - there wasn't much incentive to carry on unless I was going to produce the music which reflects my taste and personality. I didn't want to be put on a shelf in terms of a record label and wait 18 months for it to be released, by which time the album's really old. Or even worse case scenario where they just refuse to put it out which is what happened with the UK release of Transvision Vamp's final album.

"It's been a financial challenge on occasions - we have to play gigs to pay for the studio time. Studios are really expensive, even small ones. If you run out of money, you can't afford them. You're looking at above a grand a day plus musicians."

You're obviously still passionate about it

"Well yes, It's my life. My music hasn't mellowed into middle age crap. I just think I'm better now and I'm not saying that in a cliched way. Loads of people think they're better when they're older but in actual fact their music is quite lame.

"You have more experiences as you get older and become a more rounded person, and if you've got the energy and the drive that will lead to better songs. I started off like Debbie Harry and now I'm like Marianne Faithfull according to some people. My music I wouldn't compare to Marianne - there's a new song which is a pure speed metal punk thrash."

How does she view the Transvision Vamp years now?

"Last year in lockdown when Tim Burgess started doing his listening parties, he featured Velveteen - I got to listen to it in its entirety in real time with the band, and I was shocked. It's so edgy. We were edgy and cool - in England we were seen as being more of a pop band because we were in things like Smash Hits."

Wendy, who now lives in France, has spent the majority of the past two decades in New York.

She said: "I'd always wanted to live in New York - I'd had enough of walking up and down Portobello Road and I had enough money in the bank and was independent, so f*** it, I'll move to New York. I did it all in one month.

"I never had a bad day in New York - it filled me with creativity and the joy of living. I got into a crowd featuring some of my favourite bands from when I was a teenager - Chris and Tina from Talking Heads, all that Lower East Side scene. Lenny Kaye from Patti Smith's band lived around the corner from me."

It's good to see that Wendy is still the outspoken rocker of old.

"It's very noticeable how wealthy London is since I left and come back ... all the oligarchs' expensive cars. As for the rest of the country, it's not doing so well, eh?"

Wendy was interested to know more about Cornwall, so I explained there's poverty and deprivation that the tourists don't see.

"At some point, with all the taxes everyone's f***ing paying, isn't the Government supposed to help you become inclusive in society or give young people opportunities? It's great that good-hearted people give their support to food banks but the Government should be ensuring that people are fed.

"From every point in the history of the civilised world we all have to accept that some industries will become defunct but you don't just have a whole generation unemployed."

I asked Wendy, as someone who was very much treated as a sex symbol by the media, if she had faced sexism or even a #MeToo moment?

"It wasn't as bad for me as it would have been for a woman in an office with a boss touching her up. You have to make a really difficult decision if you're that woman, am I going to leave my job out of disgust or do I just take the sexist garbage on the chin and get paid?

"Women have been raised since the beginning of f***ing time that we are there to ease man's life along and be his arm candy. Why is it always 'man and wife'? Why isn't it 'woman and husband'?

"I had one grim encounter with a record company boss and the press were very sexist to me. I had it better than most young women as I was making money and I was a source of power so the record labels couldn't treat me in a bad way as I was earning them their money."

You had a sexy image, was it you controlling that?

"It was entirely my idea - I would have dressed that way whether I was on TV or not. I was a girl in a band of males. There's a very feminine side to me but there's a tomboy side. It incenses me in any environment if a woman isn't regarded in her own right."

What do you still want to achieve?

"To play Madison Square Garden and be Number 1 all around the world! For real, if that happens to me next year you won't meet a happier person. My music's getting better and better, my sales are up and word is spreading that I've got something going on."

For tickets to see Wendy James and her band at the Old Bakery Studios, Truro, on Tuesday, August 31, with support from Cornish band The Eyelids, head here .

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Over 100 Jewish Creatives Sign Open Letter Accusing BBC of Double Standards

By K.J. Yossman

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Over 100 Jewish creatives have signed an open letter accusing the BBC of double standards over the corporation’s response to a cricket commentator’s controversial comments.

The letter, which was signed by 119 industry creatives, 55 of whom requested anonymity out of fear of reprisal, opens: “As BBC staff, contractors, suppliers and contributors who are Jewish, from across the television and film industry, we write to you today in disbelief.”

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In a statement to BBC News, published on June 4, Sheikh said: “If my messages have caused people to think I am supporting the attacks of 7 October, then that would not sit well with me, and I apologise for any offence this has caused. I would never seek to support any loss of innocent lives. That was not my intention.” On the same day the sports broadcaster appeared as part of the commentating team during a cricket match between Scotland and England.

The BBC declined to comment but provided an updated statement from Sheikh, saying:

“I have been sent the recent letter, and as a result want to reiterate my apology for any offence my past messages caused. I reiterate what happened on October the 7th was morally reprehensible. I have removed the social media posts and want to reiterate that my intention was and is to raise the plight of the death of all innocent civilians. My position is clearly outlined in my statement of yesterday. I am against all forms of racism and discrimination and I believe in the need for peace in Gaza.”

Read the full letter below:

An open letter to Director-General, Tim Davie , and Chief Content Officer, Charlotte Moore, at the BBC:

Qasim Sheikh was a key part of the Test Match Special team on Tuesday 4th June for the Scotland v England T20 game, despite the fact the BBC knew he has in the past few months on social media posted (and re-posted) rhetoric that is both racist and wholly undermines civility in public discourse. One tweet on “X” likens our Prime Minister alongside other prominent Western leaders including Netanyahu to Hitler, denouncing them collectively as the “Kids Killer Union”. Significantly, following the brutal massacre of infants, children, men, women and the elderly on October 7th in Israel by Hamas terrorists, another tweet by Mr Sheikh claims that the terrorists were justified in their indiscriminate mass rape and slaughter in order “to defend themselves”.

By stark contrast, we wish to point out a monumental double-standard in relation to the BBC’s actions and the Test Match Special’s own commentary box. When in 2021 Michael Vaughan was accused of racist comments (made in 2009, which he categorically denied) he was promptly dropped from the BBC commentary team. A mere accusation was enough for him to be suspended from all cricket commentary with the BBC statement: “While he is involved in a significant story in cricket, for editorial reasons we do not believe that it would be appropriate for Michael Vaughan to have a role in our Ashes team or wider coverage of the sport at the moment..” The BBC also did not hesitate to drop the radio show Vaughan co-presented with Phil Tufnell. Indeed, Vaughan was axed from the BBC’s sporting commentary for the best part of two years until the ECB’s Cricket Disciplinary Committee cleared his name.

It is in this same vein we write to you today: What of the Jewish members of staff deeply affected by the indisputable rise in anti-Jewish racism since October 7th? What trust can any of our community have in the BBC when these double standards are so explicitly demonstrated? Yet again, the BBC appears entirely deaf to news of its contributors’ racism against Jews. Invoking images of Hitler (specifically) to portray Israel, the world’s only Jewish state, and its allies is Holocaust inversion and antisemitic by every definition. Qasim Sheikh’s justification and legitimization of the mass murder of (principally) Jews in Israel is ostensibly not a sufficiently “significant story in cricket” to merit any repercussions. So please explain to us why Qasim Sheikh was in the box today? If your answer is that the BBC’s social media guidelines do permit his posts they are clearly unfit for purpose. If it is that his tweets predate his hiring, why did you hire him?

The authors of the BBC Sport BAME Advisory Group and 5 Live Diversity Group were despondent at the perceived “lack of empathy [and] leadership” from the BBC in 2021 in relation to the Michael Vaughn incident. We too are despairing, despairing at the total absence of courage, morality and understanding that BBC leadership repeatedly demonstrate in relation to Jews time and again. We can now add the case of Qasim Sheikh to the ever growing canon that the BBC must answer for.

Anonymous (55) Adam Hirschovits Aimee Nathan Anita Land Archie Baron Ben Rosenberg Carly Shear Caro Levy Claudia Rosencrantz Damian Samuels Danny Cohen David Alter David Herman David Kester David Salter Debby Lee Eliana Ostro Emma Engers Estee Stimler Gary Cohen Gina Powell Gloria Abramoff Hayley Katz Jamie Zwaig Jane Lush Jeremy Drysdale Joe Pearlman John Ware Jonathan Levi Jonathan Shalit OBE Karen Wagner Laura Frances Lee Petar Lee Stone Leo Pearlman Malcolm Green Marc Simonsson Michele Woods Michelle Kirschner-Grant Mike Leigh Mira Aroyo Miriam Kendler Natalie Goldberg Neil Blair Neil Grant Nick Cosgrove Nick Kenton Nick Miller Nicole Lampert Olly Grant Paul Cohen Phil Craig Richelle Wilder Rob Kaplan Russell Balkind Samantha Bloch Sarah Camlett Sheldon Lazarus Simon Chinn Simon Halfon Steve Lappin Sue Davidson Teddy Leifer Wendy Robbins Will Daws Zoe Korsner

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