New Musical Express, March 1993

Bibliography   74 75 76 1977 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 UK & Ireland weeklies UK & Ireland magazines UK & Ireland newspapers US rock magazines US music magazines US magazines US newspapers US alternative weeklies European magazines European newspapers Canadian publications Australia  •  New Zealand Asia  •  Africa, South America NME   1977 March 26 1977 July 23 1977 July 30 1977 August 6 1977 August 13 1977 August 20 1977 August 27 1977 September 3 1977 September 10 1977 September 17 1977 October 1 1977 October 8 1977 October 15 1977 October 22 1977 October 29 1977 November 5 1977 December 17 1977 December 24 1978 January 7 1978 January 21 1978 January 28 1978 February 11 1978 February 18 1978 March 4 1978 March 11 1978 March 18 1978 March 25 1978 April 8 1978 April 15 1978 April 22 1978 September 16 1978 September 30 1978 October 21 1978 October 28 1978 November 11 1978 November 25 1978 December 2 1978 December 9 1978 December 23 1979 January 6 1979 January 13 1979 January 27 1979 February 3 1979 February 10 1979 March 31 1979 April 7 1979 April 14 1979 May 12 1979 June 2 1979 June 9 1979 November 24 1979 December 1 1980 January 5 1980 January 12 1980 January 19 1980 January 26 1980 February 9 1980 February 16 1980 March 8 1980 April 5 1980 April 12 1980 June 14 1980 June 28 1980 August 16 1980 August 23 1980 September 6 1980 September 27 1980 October 4 1980 October 11 1980 November 22 1980 December 6 1980 December 20 1981 January 3 1981 January 10 1981 January 17 1981 January 24 1981 February 14 1981 February 28 1981 April 4 1981 April 18 1981 May 2 1981 May 16 1981 June 6 1981 July 4 1981 August 8 1981 August 29 1981 September 5 1981 October 3 1981 October 17 1981 October 24 1981 November 7 1981 November 14 1981 November 28 1981 December 19 1982 January 9 1982 January 16 1982 May 15 1982 May 22 1982 June 26 1982 July 3 1982 August 21 1982 September 18 1982 October 30 1982 December 25 1983 January 8 1983 January 15 1983 May 28 1983 July 2 1983 July 9 1983 July 30 1983 August 6 1983 August 20 1983 September 3 1983 October 1 1983 October 8 1983 October 15 1983 November 19 1983 December 10 1983 December 17 1984 January 7 1984 February 4 1984 April 21 1984 August 4 1984 September 29 1984 October 13 1984 October 20 1984 December 15 1985 March 30 1985 May 11 1985 May 18 1985 November 30 1986 February 22 1986 March 1 1986 May 31 1986 July 26 1986 August 2 1986 August 9 1986 August 16 1986 September 13 1986 September 20 1986 November 29 1986 December 20 1987 January 31 1987 February 7 1987 June 6 1987 June 27 1987 September 19 1987 December 5 1988 January 2 1988 May 14 1988 November 19 1989 February 4 1989 February 11 1989 February 18 1989 February 25 1989 April 22 1989 May 13 1989 June 24 1989 July 1 1989 September 16 1989 October 28 1991 May 18 1991 June 8 1991 July 13 1991 July 27 1991 August 3 1991 August 17 1992 September 26 1993 January 23 1993 March 1993 March 13 1993 October 30 1993 December 11 1993 December 25 1994 February 26 1994 March 5 1994 May 28 1994 July 2 1994 July 16 1994 November 12 1994 November 19 1994 December 24 1995 April 8 1995 May 13 1995 May 20 1995 May 27 1995 June 17 1995 August 19 1996 May 11 1996 June 29 1996 July 20 1998 May 2 1998 October 3 1998 October 10 1998 November 14 1999 May 1 2000 May 3 2000 July 24 2000 November 3 2001 March 8 2001 March 23 2001 March 28 2002 April 20 2005 February 5 2013 September 14 2015 October 23 2015 Special Edition 2018 July 27  —

Imperial boredom Wendy James / Now Ain't The Time For Your Tears ... It was easy to hate Wendy James, champion of Barbie Feminism, when she fronted corporate terrorists Transvision Vamp. It was easy to dismiss her as the gherkin in the great hamburger of Art. She didn't like clothes but she liked screaming about the "revolution." She was a complete prat. But Wendy wrote to Santa, aka Elvis Costello, in the summer of 1991 ("about my general dissatisfaction... I was asking for help, but nothing specific") and he wrote her an LP. Simple, eh? And now everyone will realise there's far more to her than meets the eye. That she has things to "say." Wendy has had her stocking filled, if you'll excuse the expression. Track one is a guitar-based, well-structured song, and Wendy sounds a little peeved. "It looks like you're the failure," she scowls. Next is "London's Brilliant," which is... a guitar-based, well-structured song. It's about London being quite good. It mentions Ladbroke Grove and Piccadilly, is strangely reminiscent of '77 vintage Clash while evoking as much of the atmosphere of the capital city as a tea-towel unknown amount of text missing. "Next year she’ll serve her function in her Audrey Hepburn hat / It still won’t suit her much but she’ll get over that." Mmm, bet she personally thanked Elvis for that one. Then it's "Puppet Girl." Guess what that's about. Yes, correct. "Earthbound" is crap. Elv has penned the line "If you think this is only a dream / Jesus probably wants you for a sunbeam," which not only doesn't scan but doesn't mean anything either. Then it's along to "Do You Know What I'm Saying?," "We Despise You" (Beatlesque in places), "Fill In The Blanks" (rocky, yet light) which have Wendy venting her slight annoyance at... well, generally people who think she's a bit useless. Queue surprise. She concludes her first solo album with "Stand Forever" which she describes as "a pastiche of an Andrew Lloyd Webber finale." It is actually rather great. It has strings and she doesn't pretend to be in a huff on this one. Phew. Ultimately, Wendy James has made an LP which is fairly proficient, but, more importantly, an LP which is dull. It's all about Wendy and her World, which is not enough for ten songs. Wendy has only two emotions: "irritated" and "angry." Unfortunately, she only has one singing style, which seems to be "trying to resist the urge to shout." Now Ain't unknown amount of text missing.

<< >> New Musical Express, March 1993 — exact date unknown Includes a review of Now Ain't The Time For Your Tears. Images Partial clipping. Illustration by Jon Langford.

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External links

• NME.com
• Wikipedia: NME
• Wikipedia: Jon Langford