TURNING Japanese was a worldwide hit in 1980, catapulting Guildford-based new wave band The Vapors to international stardom.

They played the song thousands of times as they toured the world, and bass player Steve Smith insists they’re still not fed up with it – even after 42 years.

“When you see people really enjoying it, that means everything really,” he says.

The song was easily The Vapors’ biggest hit, saw them perform on Top of the Pops and is still amassing views on YouTube today.

There is still a hot debate over the meaning of “turning Japanese”, although the songwriter, David Fenton, insists it’s innocently about “all the clichés about angst and youth and turning into something you didn't expect to”.

“I never saw the song as a millstone,” says Steve. “It’s given us a lot, taken us all over the world. What’s not to like?

“It went to number one in Australia, so we went out there to tour in 1980, and then the record company arranged for us to play in America for two weeks on the way back. It would never have happened without that song.

“The song has been good to us so we’ll always play it. People love it.”

That huge success came after the band were “discovered” by Bruce Foxton, bass player with Woking legends The Jam, as they were playing in the Three Lions pub at Farncombe.

“He just came up and offered us the chance to support The Jam and that set us on our way,” explains Steve. “Within a couple of weeks we were playing Portsmouth Guildhall and Bristol Colston Hall. It was incredible.

“They were great to us and Paul Weller’s dad, John, managed us for a while along with Bruce.”

The Vapors released two albums, New Clear Days and Magnets, before splitting up in 1982. The band was revived in 2016, after 34 years, when Dave contacted the others out of the blue.

“Initially we were just going to do four gigs,” says Steve. “I thought ‘will anybody be interested? Will anyone come?’ But it went really well and we got offered more gigs and it kept getting bigger and bigger. In 2019 we did about 75 gigs.

“Initially it was just about the old stuff, but Dave kept coming up with new songs. He wrote about 20 in the first couple of years, which we cut down to 12 for a new album.”

Together was released in 2020. “It was important to keep it fresh somehow and we wanted the third album to be as good as the first two and I think it is.”

The Vapors are now on tour once more and return for a hometown gig at the Holroyd Arms in Guildford on Saturday next week, 2 September

Steve, who now lives near Brighton, said: “I lived in Guildford for the first 28 years of my life and grew up around 50 yards from the Holroyd Arms at 73 Aldershot Road. It was the first pub I ever went into.”

The band has already lined up another Holroyd Arms show on 4 March 2023, to celebrate Dave’s 70th birthday.