The Vapors

Born in the late 70s in England, the Vapors were qualified under both the new wave and power pop labels. The band was based in Guildford (Surrey) and their members were: David Fenton (songwriter, guitar and vocals), Howard Smith (drums), Edward Bazalgette (lead guitar) and Steve Smith (bass guitar and vocals). The Vapors existed between the years of 1979 and 1981. The band was one of the many cases of one hit wonders to shake the musical world with the strength of a whirlwind only to disappear not to long after like a mere breeze. Their particular moment of glory came with the hit song Turning Japanese released during 1980; the song reached the #3 spot in the UK Singles Chart and came to be #36 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart. While The Vapors never sold anything on par with Robbie Williams O2 Tickets, Turning Japanese has received a lot of love and a fair number of covers during the years after the band's demise.

Kirsten Dunst is Turning Japanese!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeJ6jY30Az0&hl=es_ES&fs=1&]

Japanese pop artist, Takashi Murakami, has grabbed the famous hit by The Vapors Turning Japanese and produced a truly spectacular video-clip that features spider-web friendly Kirsten Dunst as singer and lead actress. Dressed in a colourful anime-inspired outfit (complete with an deep blue wig and sparkling star sceptre) that oozes with fan service, the actress jumps, spins and dances through the streets of the Akihabara district of Tokyo while surrounded by curious and surprised (well, not that surprised, which is after all the whole point of the video) Japanese locals. We don't think they would have made a lot of money if they decided to be selling tickets but the locals apparently appreciated the craziness and over the top performances of the video.

Akihabara Majokko Princess (the name of the video) was directed by McG, a North American film-maker and renowned music video director. McG previously worked in features such as the two Charlie's Angels movies and the latest Terminator: Salvation movie. While not on the same league as Murakami, the director was certainly on a medium he handles comfortably and produced a video that seems surreal at first but is simply an hyperbole representing a certain niche within Japanese culture. The video was shown last year at Tate Modern during the Pop Life: Art in a Material World exhibit.