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{{short description|1980 single by The Vapors}} {{short description|1980 single by the Vapors}}
{{about|the song|the "Married... with Children" episode|List of Married... with Children episodes#Season 10 (1995–96)}} {{about|the song|the "Married... with Children" episode|List of Married... with Children episodes#Season 10 (1995–96)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox song {{Infobox song
| name = Turning Japanese | name = Turning Japanese
| cover = TurningJapanese.jpg | cover = TurningJapanese.jpg
| alt = | alt =
| caption = Standard European artwork | caption = Standard European picture sleeve
| type = single | type = single
| artist = ] | artist = ]
| album = ] | album = ]
| B-side = Talk Talk | B-side = "Talk Talk" (USA/Canada)<br/>"Here Comes the Judge" (live) (international)
| released = 1980 | released = January 1980
| recorded = | recorded =
| studio = | studio =
| venue = | venue =
| genre = {{hlist|]<ref name="review">{{cite web|first= Stewart |last= Mason |title= Turning Japanese – Song Review |website= ] |accessdate= 28 June 2013 |url= http://www.allmusic.com/song/turning-japanese-mt0011406870}}</ref>|]<ref name="review"/>}} | genre = {{hlist|]<ref name="review">{{cite web|first= Stewart |last= Mason |title= Turning Japanese – Song Review |website= ] |accessdate= 28 June 2013 |url= http://www.allmusic.com/song/turning-japanese-mt0011406870}}</ref><ref name="Wide 2020">{{cite book|title= A Field Guide to Post-Punk and New Wave|first=Steve|last=Wide|date= 22 September 2020|chapter= Honourable Mentions: New Wave 'One-Hit Wonders'|page= 72|publisher=Smith Street Books|isbn=978-1-925811-76-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KEcMzAEACAAJ}}</ref>|]<ref name="review"/>}}
| length = 3:41<ref name="NZ"/> | length = *{{Duration|m=3|s=40}} (Album version)
*{{Duration|m=3|s=19}} (7" edit)
| label = ]
| writer = David Fenton | label = ]
| writer = David Fenton
| producer = ] | producer = ]
| prev_title = Prisoners
| prev_year = 1979 | prev_title = Prisoners
| prev_year = 1979
| next_title = News at Ten
| next_year = 1980 | next_title = News at Ten
| misc = {{Audio sample | next_year = 1980
| misc = {{Audio sample
| type = single | type = single
| file = Turning Japanese.ogg}} | file = Turning Japanese.ogg}}
}} }}


"'''Turning Japanese'''" is a song by English band ], from their 1980 album '']''. It was an international hit, becoming the band's most well-known song. "'''Turning Japanese'''" is a song by English band ], from their 1980 album '']''. It was an international hit, becoming the band's most well-known song. The song prominently features the ] played on guitar.


==Composition and recording==
The lyrics are about masturbation. The song prominently features an ] played on guitar.
According to songwriter David Fenton, "Turning Japanese is all the clichés about angst and youth and turning into something you didn't expect."<ref name="Songfacts">{{cite web|title= Turning Japanese by the Vapors |accessdate= 4 April 2009 |website= Songfacts |url= http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=689 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Fenton intended the song to be a love song, with the character of the song "pining over a photograph of his ex-girlfriend" in his bedroom, drawing from Fenton's own experience of being rejected. Fenton wrote the song in his flat, but had problems writing the chorus. He said that the chorus then came to him suddenly when he woke up at 4am with the line "Turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese" in his head, and he used it even though the words and the song title did not "really mean much".<ref name=guardian>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/feb/13/how-we-made-turning-japanese-by-the-vapors |title='I'd rather be a one-hit wonder than a no-hit wonder' – the Vapors on Turning Japanese|first= Dave|last= Simpson|date= 13 February 2023|work=The Guardian }}</ref>


The song was produced by ], who had previously rejected a request to produce for the band after listening to demos sent to him by the band's managers John Weller (father of ]) and ]. The band's unsuccessful first single "Prisoners" was therefore produced by someone else. He later had another listen to the demos and agreed to produce "Turning Japanese" for them. Coppersmith-Heaven proposed several changes to the arrangement of the song, so the finished recording has a different arrangement from the demo. He recorded the Vapors live to capture the energy of the band, before stripping it down to just the drums, and then overdubbed the song. According to Fenton, the drummer did not like the song, and "just went "Boom! Splat!"" in the recording, but the band thought it sounded good and kept it.<ref name=guardian />
==Overview==
Songwriter David Fenton explained, "Turning Japanese is all the clichés about angst and youth and turning into something you didn't expect to."<ref name="Songfacts">{{cite web|title= Turning Japanese by the Vapors |accessdate= 4 April 2009 |website= Songfacts |url= http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=689}}</ref>


The band suspected they would score a hit with "Turning Japanese", even delaying its release in order to make it their second single, hoping to avoid becoming "]s". Nonetheless, they never matched the single's success.<ref>{{cite web|first= Andy |last= Davis |title= On the Vapor-trail |website= Parengstrom.com |accessdate= 23 June 2008 |url= http://www.parengstrom.com/story.htm}}</ref> In ], it spent two weeks at No. 1 during June 1980,<ref name="aus"/> and, coincidentally, the song was also a minor hit in Japan.<ref name="Songfacts"/> The band suspected they would score a hit with "Turning Japanese", even delaying its release in order to make it their second single, hoping to avoid becoming "]s". Nonetheless, they never matched the single's success.<ref>{{cite web|first= Andy |last= Davis |title= On the Vapor-trail |website= Parengstrom.com |accessdate= 23 June 2008 |url= http://www.parengstrom.com/story.htm}}</ref> In Australia, it spent two weeks at No. 1 during June 1980,<ref name="aus"/> and the song was also ].<ref name="Songfacts"/>


The music video was directed by ].<ref>{{cite book|first= first |last= Dendle |year= 2012 |title= The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000-2010 |page= 168 |publisher= ] |isbn= 9780786492886 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DG6rK0PE2vIC&pg=PA168}}</ref> The music video was directed by ].<ref>{{cite book|first= first |last= Dendle |year= 2012 |title= The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000-2010 |page= 168 |publisher= ] |isbn= 9780786492886 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=DG6rK0PE2vIC&pg=PA168}}</ref>

The lyrics relate teen angst or alienation following a romantic breakup to feeling like being from a ].<ref name="Songfacts"/>


==Covers== ==Covers==

⚫ ] recorded a cover, with an accompanying video filmed in Tokyo in August 2009.<ref>{{cite news|first= Lauren A. E. |last= Schuker |title= The Artist and the Director |newspaper= ] |date= 2 October 2009 |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704471504574445603670923492 |archivedate= 19 December 2014 |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20141219133822/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704471504574445603670923492}}</ref>
The American ska punk band, ], covered the song on their 1994 album ].{{cn|date=April 2024}}

A cover of the song was also featured on America singer-songwriter ] 1995 EP ].{{cn|date=April 2024}}


The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 1997 movie '']'' covered by the band The Hazies.<ref>{{cite magazine|title= Where There's Smoke |magazine= ] |date= 25 January 1997 |volume= 109 |issue= 4 |page= 27 |issn= 0006-2510 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=4Q4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA27}}</ref> The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 1997 movie '']'' covered by the band The Hazies.<ref>{{cite magazine|title= Where There's Smoke |magazine= ] |date= 25 January 1997 |volume= 109 |issue= 4 |page= 27 |issn= 0006-2510 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=4Q4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA27}}</ref>

⚫ ] recorded a cover, with an accompanying video filmed and directed by ] and produced by ] in Tokyo in August 2009.<ref>{{cite news|first= Lauren A. E. |last= Schuker |title= The Artist and the Director |newspaper= ] |date= 2 October 2009 |url= https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704471504574445603670923492 |archivedate= 19 December 2014 |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20141219133822/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704471504574445603670923492}}</ref>


On the Canadian sketch comedy series '']'', ] performed a lounge-style version of the song as the character Tom Monroe.<ref>{{cite web|title= Rick Moranis' Classic Cover of 'Turning Japanese' on SCTV (VIDEO) |work= ] |date= 17 July 2011 |accessdate= 28 August 2020 |url= https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rick-moranis-sctv-turning-japanese_n_901034}}</ref> On the Canadian sketch comedy series '']'', ] performed a lounge-style version of the song as the character Tom Monroe.<ref>{{cite web|title= Rick Moranis' Classic Cover of 'Turning Japanese' on SCTV (VIDEO) |work= ] |date= 17 July 2011 |accessdate= 28 August 2020 |url= https://www.huffpost.com/entry/rick-moranis-sctv-turning-japanese_n_901034}}</ref>


==Charts==
==Chart performance==
{{col-begin|width=67%}} {{col-begin}}
{{col-2}} {{col-2}}


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!Rank !Rank
|- |-
|Australia (])<ref>{{cite web|title= Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s |publisher= Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien |accessdate= 17 October 2016 |url= http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=40275}}</ref> |Australia (])<ref name="aus80">{{cite web|url=https://imgur.com/a/kTGdGUZ|title= National Top 100 Singles for 1980|publisher= ] |issue= 341 |via= ] |date= 5 January 1981 |access-date= 17 January 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title= Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s |publisher= Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien |accessdate= 17 October 2016 |url= http://australian-charts.com/forum.asp?todo=viewthread&id=40275}}</ref>
|align="center"|2 |align="center"|2
|- |-
Line 94: Line 98:
|align="center"|93 |align="center"|93
|- |-
|UK Singles (])<ref>{{cite magazine|title= UK Singles of the Year |magazine= ] |location= London |page= 30 |date= 27 December 1980 |accessdate= 17 October 2016 |url= https://www.americanradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/80s/80/Record-Mirror-1980-12-27.pdf}}</ref> |] (])<ref>{{cite magazine|title= UK Singles of the Year |magazine= ] |location= London |page= 30 |date= 27 December 1980 |accessdate= 17 October 2016 |url= https://www.americanradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/80s/80/Record-Mirror-1980-12-27.pdf}}</ref>
|align="center"|39 |align="center"|39
|-
|US (]'s ''Pop Annual'')<ref>{{cite book|first= Joel |last= Whitburn |year= 1999 |title= Pop Annual |location= Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin |publisher= Record Research Inc. |isbn= 0-89820-142-X}}</ref>
|align="center"|207
|} |}
{|class="wikitable" {|class="wikitable"
Line 108: Line 109:
|} |}
{{col-end}} {{col-end}}

==Certifications and sales==
{{Certification Table Top}}
{{Certification Table Entry|title=Turning Japanese|artist=The Vapors|type=single|region=Australia|award=Platinum|relyear=1980|certyear=1980|certref=<ref>{{cite magazine|title= International Certifications |magazine= ] |via= World Radio History |volume= XLII |issue= 24 |page= 43 |date= 25 October 1980 |access-date= 3 December 2021 |url= https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/80s/1980/CB-1980-10-25.pdf}}</ref>}}
{{Certification Table Entry|title=Turning Japanese|artist=Vapors|type=single|region=United Kingdom|award=Silver|relyear=1980|certyear=1980|id=7807-413-1|access-date=17 April 2024}}
{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=true}}


==See also== ==See also==
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==External links== ==External links==
*{{MetroLyrics song|vapors|turning-japanese}}<!-- Licensed lyrics provider -->
*{{YouTube|nhD9gyRSz0g|"Turning Japanese"}} *{{YouTube|nhD9gyRSz0g|"Turning Japanese"}}


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] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]

Latest revision as of 05:35, 24 December 2024

1980 single by the Vapors This article is about the song. For the "Married... with Children" episode, see List of Married... with Children episodes § Season 10 (1995–96).

"Turning Japanese"
Standard European picture sleeve
Single by the Vapors
from the album New Clear Days
B-side"Talk Talk" (USA/Canada)
"Here Comes the Judge" (live) (international)
ReleasedJanuary 1980
Genre
Length
  • 3:40 (Album version)
  • 3:19 (7" edit)
LabelUnited Artists Records
Songwriter(s)David Fenton
Producer(s)Vic Coppersmith-Heaven
The Vapors singles chronology
"Prisoners"
(1979) 		"Turning Japanese"
(1980) 		"News at Ten"
(1980)
Audio sample

"Turning Japanese" is a song by English band the Vapors, from their 1980 album New Clear Days. It was an international hit, becoming the band's most well-known song. The song prominently features the Oriental riff played on guitar.

Composition and recording

According to songwriter David Fenton, "Turning Japanese is all the clichés about angst and youth and turning into something you didn't expect." Fenton intended the song to be a love song, with the character of the song "pining over a photograph of his ex-girlfriend" in his bedroom, drawing from Fenton's own experience of being rejected. Fenton wrote the song in his flat, but had problems writing the chorus. He said that the chorus then came to him suddenly when he woke up at 4am with the line "Turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese" in his head, and he used it even though the words and the song title did not "really mean much".

The song was produced by Vic Coppersmith-Heaven, who had previously rejected a request to produce for the band after listening to demos sent to him by the band's managers John Weller (father of Paul Weller) and Bruce Foxton. The band's unsuccessful first single "Prisoners" was therefore produced by someone else. He later had another listen to the demos and agreed to produce "Turning Japanese" for them. Coppersmith-Heaven proposed several changes to the arrangement of the song, so the finished recording has a different arrangement from the demo. He recorded the Vapors live to capture the energy of the band, before stripping it down to just the drums, and then overdubbed the song. According to Fenton, the drummer did not like the song, and "just went "Boom! Splat!"" in the recording, but the band thought it sounded good and kept it.

The band suspected they would score a hit with "Turning Japanese", even delaying its release in order to make it their second single, hoping to avoid becoming "one-hit wonders". Nonetheless, they never matched the single's success. In Australia, it spent two weeks at No. 1 during June 1980, and the song was also a minor hit in Japan.

The music video was directed by Russell Mulcahy.

Covers

The American ska punk band, Skankin' Pickle, covered the song on their 1994 album Sing Along With Skankin' Pickle.

A cover of the song was also featured on America singer-songwriter Liz Phair's 1995 EP Juvenilia.

The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 1997 movie Beverly Hills Ninja covered by the band The Hazies.

Kirsten Dunst recorded a cover, with an accompanying video filmed and directed by McG and produced by Takashi Murakami in Tokyo in August 2009.

On the Canadian sketch comedy series Second City Television, Rick Moranis performed a lounge-style version of the song as the character Tom Monroe.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1980–1981) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) 1
Canada Top Singles (RPM) 6
Ireland (IRMA) 4
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) 9
UK Singles (OCC) 3
US Billboard Hot 100 36
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play 34
US Cash Box 31
US Record World 40

Year-end charts

Chart (1980) Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report) 2
Canada Top Singles (RPM) 93
UK Singles (OCC) 39
Chart (1981) Rank
Canada Top Singles (RPM) 94

Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) Platinum 100,000
United Kingdom (BPI) Silver 250,000

Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References

  1. ^ Mason, Stewart. "Turning Japanese – Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 June 2013.
  2. Wide, Steve (22 September 2020). "Honourable Mentions: New Wave 'One-Hit Wonders'". A Field Guide to Post-Punk and New Wave. Smith Street Books. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-925811-76-6.
  3. ^ "Turning Japanese by the Vapors". Songfacts. Retrieved 4 April 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  4. ^ Simpson, Dave (13 February 2023). "'I'd rather be a one-hit wonder than a no-hit wonder' – the Vapors on Turning Japanese". The Guardian.
  5. Davis, Andy. "On the Vapor-trail". Parengstrom.com. Retrieved 23 June 2008.
  6. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 320. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  7. Dendle, first (2012). The Zombie Movie Encyclopedia, Volume 2: 2000-2010. McFarland & Company. p. 168. ISBN 9780786492886.
  8. "Where There's Smoke". Billboard. Vol. 109, no. 4. 25 January 1997. p. 27. ISSN 0006-2510.
  9. Schuker, Lauren A. E. (2 October 2009). "The Artist and the Director". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 19 December 2014.
  10. "Rick Moranis' Classic Cover of 'Turning Japanese' on SCTV (VIDEO)". HuffPost. 17 July 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  11. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 0274." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
  12. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Vapors". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  13. "The Vapors – Turning Japanese". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  14. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  15. ^ "The Vapors – Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013.
  16. "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending NOVEMBER 29, 1980". Cash Box. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012.
  17. "Songs from the Year 1980". TsorT. Retrieved 27 April 2014.
  18. "National Top 100 Singles for 1980". Kent Music Report. 5 January 1981. Retrieved 17 January 2022 – via Imgur.
  19. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  20. "Top 100 Singles". RPM. Vol. 34, no. 6. 20 December 1980. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  21. "UK Singles of the Year" (PDF). Record Mirror. London. 27 December 1980. p. 30. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  22. "Top 100 Singles of 1981". RPM. Vol. 35, no. 22. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
  23. "International Certifications" (PDF). Cash Box. Vol. XLII, no. 24. 25 October 1980. p. 43. Retrieved 3 December 2021 – via World Radio History.
  24. "British single certifications – Vapors – Turning Japanese". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 17 April 2024.

External links

The Vapors
  • David Fenton
  • Edward Bazalgette
  • Steve Smith
  • Michael Bowes
  • Howard Smith
  • Michael Hedges
  • Michael Jordan
  • Robert Kemp
  • Bob Heard
  • Steve Hampton
Studio albums
Singles
Categories: