Magnets was The Vapors

The Vapors

The Vapors were a New Wave and power pop band from England, that existed between 1979 and 1981. They had a hit with the song "Turning Japanese" in 1980, which reached #3 in the UK Singles Chart, and #36 in the U.S...

' second album, released in 1981.

The album continued The Vapors' dark themes, taking them to a slightly darker level, with "Jimmie Jones" being about Jim Jones

Jim Jones

James Warren "Jim" Jones was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, which is best known for the November 18, 1978 mass suicide of 909 Temple members in Jonestown, Guyana along with the killings of five other people at a nearby airstrip.Jones was born in Indiana and started the Temple in...

, "Isolated Case" about state oppression and disillusionment with politics, "Civic Hall" about the assault Dave suffered at the hands of overzealous Metropolitan Policemen, "Spiders" and "Can't Talk Anymore" about mental illness, and the title track being about the assassination

Assassination

To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...

s of John Kennedy and Robert Kennedy. Even those songs about relations - "Daylight Titans", "Johnny's In Love (Again)" and "Lenina" are tinged with an edge of being in a suffocating society and a malevolent State apparatus.

The cover was designed by Martin Handford

Martin Handford

Martin Handford is an English children's author and illustrator who gained worldwide fame in the mid-1980s with his Where's Wally? creation ....

, later famous for his Where's Waldo books, depicting an assassination scene close up, but from a distance, looks like a man's eye

Human eye

The human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...

. If you look on the roof at the top right of the album cover, the assassin can be seen putting away his sniper rifle.

Despite positive reviews (particularly for the second single "Jimmie Jones" and the epic final track "Magnets"), the album spent far fewer weeks in the UK chart than the previous "New Clear Days", possibly as a result of the lack of promotion on the part of their record label. The United Artists record company had been bought out by EMI in 1980 and later renamed Liberty; many of the bands who came across as part of the deal complained of poor treatment by their uninterested new owner.

Shortly after this album, the failure of Liberty to commit to a seventh single resulted in The Vapors disbanding. The only other Vapors-related release, aside from many greatest hits

Greatest hits

A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...

 albums, was a solo single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 by David Fenton.

Track listing

All songs written by David Fenton, except where noted.

1. "Jimmie Jones" - 3:25
2. "Spiders" - 5:00
3. "Isolated Case" (Edward Bazalgette, Steve Smith) - 3:31
4. "Civic Hall" - 3:40
5. "Live At The Marquee" - 4:06
6. "Daylight Titans" - 3:24
7. "Johnny's In Love Again" - 3:47
8. "Can't Talk Anymore" - 3:20
9. "Lenina" - 2:47
10. "Silver Machines" - 3:52
11. "Magnets" - 6:15

Track listing (2000 CD Re-Release)

1. "Jimmie Jones"
2. "Spiders" (US Single Edit)
3. "Isolated Case"
4. "Civic Hall"
5. "Live At The Marquee"
6. "Daylight Titans"
7. "Johnny's In Love Again"
8. "Can't Talk Anymore"
9. "Lenina"
10. "Silver Machines"
11. "Magnets"
12. "Galleries For Guns" (B-Side of "Spiders")
13. "Jimmie Jones" (Single Version)
14. "Daylight Titans" (Single Version - B-Side of "Jimmie Jones")

Personnel

• David Fenton: rhythm guitar, lead vocal
• Edward Bazalgette: lead guitar
• Steve Smith: bass, backing vocals
• Howard Smith: drums, percussion