- Turning Japanese
Infobox Single
Name = Turning Japanese
Artist =The Vapors
from Album =New Clear Days
Released =1980
Genre =Post-Punk
Format =7" , CD
Length =
Label =United Artists
Writer =
Producer = Vic Coppersmith-Heaven
Last single = "News at Ten" (1980)
This single = "Turning Japanese" (1980)
Next single = "Jimmie Jones" (1981)"Turning Japanese" is the most popular song released by
The Vapors from their album "New Clear Days ", and the song for which they are best known. The song's lyrics mainly consist of the singer talking about the picture of his love.Overview
In the US, the song was believed to euphemistically refer to
masturbation , specifically referencing certain facial distortions that may resemble the stereotypical image of a Japanese person. In fact, some US media outlets claimed that the phrase "turning Japanese" was a popular euphemism in the UK for masturbation; in reality, however, it has only become such a euphemism subsequent to the release of the song. Dave Fenton would alternately confirm and deny this suggestion in interviews, but admitted the phrase "turning Japanese" just popped into his head one morning when he woke up, and he viewed it as a love song when writing it. The song can be viewed as a love song or the ramblings of a man in a one sided relationship ostracized by society.The band knew they had a hit with "Turning Japanese", so much so that they waited until their second single before releasing it, fearing that if they released it as their first they would become one-hit wonders. In fact, the delay didn't help much, and they never managed to match its success before or since. [cite web|url=http://www.parengstrom.com/story.htm|title=On the Vapor-trail|last=Davis|first=Andy|date=undated|publisher=(unidentified publisher)|accessdate=2008-06-23]
Persons of Asian descent have been known to take exception to the song, with one Asian-American group named Orient Express creating a parody entitled "Turning
Hakujin " (Japanese for a white person).Fact|date=May 2008Covers
*"Turning Japanese" was covered by
No Use for a Name and released in 1997 on "Before You Were Punk ", a collection of 1980s new wave tracks covered by modern daypunk rock bands.
*Aska punk version of the song was done by the bandSkankin' Pickle , on their 1994 release "Sing Along With Skankin' Pickle".
* This song was covered by theglam rock band,Peppermint Creeps .
*Liz Phair covered the song on "Juvenilia" in 1995.
* The song was featured in an advertisement forKFC , in which a man at akaraoke bar gets up and drunkenly sings the chorus.
*A cover of the song is a playable track in thePlayStation 2 music game ""
*Jawbreaker plays it as part of their song "With Or Without U2", a medley of "With Or Without You " byU2 , "Skulls" byThe Misfits , and "Turning Japanese".
* Now defunct Irish bandThe Revs did a cover in 2002
* In an episode of the song was parodied with lyrics regarding static electricity replacing the original lyrics.Pop culture references of "Turning Japanese"
"Turning Japanese" has been used in many forms of media including the following:
*The song was used on thesoundtrack of the2000 film "Charlie's Angels", as well as being featured in the 2002 film, "", in the Night Panda skit, "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion " and "Showdown In Little Tokyo". A cover version was used in "Beverly Hills Ninja ".
*The song also appears in the original cut of "Sixteen Candles ", but was changed for thevideo release. It is playing in the scene where Dong drops off Samantha at home after a party.
*In an episode of "Malcolm in the Middle ", Hal sings the song while drunk.
*The track appears on the commercial forDr Pepper , the word Japanese being replaced by the number 23 (a reference to the carbonatedsoft drink being a "blend of 23 flavors").
*AMasterCard television commercial used the song'sriff , showingJohn Eales , ex-Wallaby captain, on aJapan ese subway platform organising a rugby scrum so that he and others could squeeze into a subway car.
*Rick Moranis did a version on SCTV as part of a Gerry Todd Show sketch, where Moranis (in a parody ofMatt Monro ) performed amusic video in cheesylounge lizard style.
* The track was also used in a "Trigger Happy TV " sketch.
* Clips from the song, as well as the name, were used in the UKITV2 show, "".
* An industrial remix of the song was created by the band16 Volt , in 1997, as the first track of aremix album titled "Newer Wave ", which consisted of various artists covering popular New Wave tracks from the 1980s.
*The song was also featured in the trailer for "Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D. "
* The song has also been used in UK adverts for the TV show, "Takeshi's Castle ".
* In the film "The Breakfast Club ", John Bender bellows a section of this song whilst running through the schools hallways.
* In the Webcomic, "Order of the Stick ", the title for strip 516 is a reference to the song. The strip is named "Turning Azurite, I think I'm turning Azurite I really Think So"
* A few promos for the reality show "I Survived a Japanese Game Show " play the chorus of this song.
* The popular video game features the song.
* Incubus also did a cover of this song.Charts
References
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