Season 2 — Episode 4 — May 11, 2022
Steve Smith of The Vapors
Podcasting
The Vapors — Magnets — (1981)
I remember being over at my friend Chris Keller’s house and catching the video for The Vapor’s “Turning Japanese.” I thought it was kind of a silly song. and mildly racist. But since it was the beginning of the decade that would see American automotive dominance usurped by the Japanese, I attributed its meaning to that.
Oh boy was I wrong.
It would be a couple of years before I would understand the true meaning of “Turning Japanese”— and I nodded in agreement: “Yea, that tracks.”
That song, and its album New Clear Days, would put The Vapors on the international music map. The band’s follow-up Magnets, should have launched The Vapors into the stratosphere — Duran Duran style.
But the cannibalization of record labels meant that their label, United Artists Records would get swallowed by EMI Records in between the success of New Clear Days and the release of Magnets.
Even though The Vapors survived the merger, their sophomore effort did not.
I sat down with The Vapors original bass player Steve Smith (Rob Janicke was on assignment in Staten Island) and Steve told me about how The Vapors came to be and the recording of Magnets.
Let’s talk first about the album cover for Magnets.
It was designed by Martin Handford, who would rise to fame in the later half of the 80s with his Where’s Wally? series of books — in America, the books would become Where’s Waldo? (for the literary nerds out there, the name was localized for particular regions… apparently, Waldo is a more North American name that Wally).
Stylistically, you can see the future Waldo imagery here on Magnets; however, if you’re looking for some knob in a stripped shirt and bobble hat on this cover you will be disappointed. Very disappointed because like the songs on the album, the image is dark, very dark (it depicts an assassination.)
And that’s on brand for the songs that The Vapors recorded for Magnets.
Principle songwriter David Fenton was exorcising some demons on this album. The first single, “Jimmie Jones,” is a poppy song that I thought might serve as a companion piece to The Clash’s “Janie Jones.”
I was wrong, very, very wrong . “Jimmie Jones” is about the Reverend Jim Jones, the asshole cult leader of The Peoples Temple, who was responsible for the murder and suicide of 909 people in 1978 in Guyana. That would be the greatest single loss of American civilian life in a deliberate act until September 11, 2001.
But it’s not all murder and mass suicide, Magnets tackles other light subjects like:
State oppression and disillusionment with politics — “Isolated Case.”
The assassinations of JFK & RFK — “Magnets.”
The assault Dave Fenton suffered at the hands of overzealous Metropolitan policemen — “Civic Hall.”
And of course, the almost always cheery subject of mental health — “Spiders” and “Can’t Talk Anymore.”
But The Vapors do the seemingly impossible, they make these songs with such strong subject matter easy to listen to. It would be misleading to call the album a “fun listen” — the songs are a little dark for that. But it’s that conflict of the band’s pop sensibility and the dark lyrical content that make Magnets such a great listen… and an album that has withstood the test of time.
Unfortunately, record label chicanery and ignorance meant Magnets was largely ignored when it was initially released in 1981. The Vapors were so disappointed that they folded up shop and wouldn’t record another album until 2020’s Together.
Over the years the public and critical attitude around Magnets has shifted — and rightly so. It’s truly a great fucking album.
Steve was a lot of fun to talk to and shared some great stories about The Vapors then, and The Vapors now.
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