John and Bruce said ‘Sorry, chaps, we haven’t got time to manage you’. The band's line-up stabilised with David Fenton (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), Howard Smith (drums), Edward Bazalgette(lead guitar) and Steve Smith (bass). Dave Fenton was born 66 years ago to a headmaster and a housewife. His main income came, instead, from sound engineering at Croydon’s Cartoon Club, until he eventually returned to law, becoming a successful music lawyer. Who can say that?”We realised that the best way that we could join the growing buzz in Worthing was to create a vehicle for bringing together all those people who are saying yes, who are doing and creating.So now there is this thing you’re holding in your hands: a monthly magazine for all the best events and experiences in and around Worthing, to help residents and visitors get the best from the town. He quit the law firm to work in a fruit shop, but a year later his band, The Vapors, were spotted by Bruce Foxton of The Jam, who saw them play at the Three Lions pub in Farncombe. Then there were so many great bands in the 60s – the Stones, the Kinks, the Small Faces, Captain Beefheart, The Doors. Left to right: Edward Bazalgette, David Fenton, Steve Smith, Howard Smith.
“EMI bought out United Artists,” Dave explains. He went to Nottingham University to study law, and became heavily involved in the social committee. Now the Time Machine materialises in his back garden to sweep him off. The second of three sons, he grew up in Reigate until the age of 12 when his family moved to Redhill, but it was before that, in late August 1963 at the Gaumont Cinema in Bournemouth, that his life changed forever.“The family was on holiday,” he recalls. It was a massive hit, in the UK and abroad.“It was an amazing time,” smiles Dave. They’ve recorded a new album with Steve Levine (producer of Culture Club’s biggest albums), are touring the States as part of Lost 80s Live, and this autumn will be supporting From The Jam, featuring their old mate Bruce Foxton.“My kids come to the gigs and my wife does merch,” says Dave.
People say ‘Do you mind being a One Hit Wonder?’ and I say, ‘It’s better than being a No Hit Wonder!’ I’m satisfied by the way things have gone. They had the 80s hit Turning Japanese. Other … It’s amazing people still want to listen and that I still have a fairly reasonable income from stuff I did 40 years ago.
But when I was 10 I saw a Beatles gig, and that’s probably what started me off. The band signed to United Artists, releasing their first single, "Prisoners", at the end of 1979, but it failed to chart.
Vapors Trial: The 2016 line-up (from left) – Michael Bowes, Dave Fenton, Ed Bazalgette, Steve Smith I’m guessing that if you’re reading this, you remember The Vapors. Their second single is the song for which they are best remembered: "After the Vapors broke up, David Fenton joined the legal profession in the early 1990s, concentrating on the legal aspects of the After 34 years of inactivity, David Fenton, Ed Bazelgette and Steve Smith appeared on stage at the Half Moon in Putney on 30 April 2016. They soon had a record deal with United Artists. Ultimately David Bowie probably had the biggest influence on me musically and inspired me to start my own band, The Vapors, in 1978. Answer Save.
He bought us a pint, said, ‘In 1982 Dave quit The Vapors, which finished the band. After that, I just wanted to write songs myself. Favourite answer.
Birthday: 30th May. “We had no friends in our own record company.“Following that we were in the charts at No.3 and The Jam were No.1 [with ‘Going Underground’]. Foxton then offered the band a few gig… “One of the things that’s stuck in my head forever was when I was woken up by the radio alarm playing my own record.”Unfortunately, although The Vapors didn’t know it, this short period was their commercial peak.