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Turning Japanese

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox song

| name = Turning Japanese

| cover = TurningJapanese.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Standard European artwork

| type = single

| artist = The Vapors

| album = New Clear Days

| B-side = "Talk Talk" (USA/Canada)
"Here Comes the Judge" (live) (international)

| released = 1980

| recorded =

| studio =

| venue =

| genre =

| length = 3:41

| label = United Artists Records

| writer = David Fenton

| producer = Vic Coppersmith-Heaven

| prev_title = Prisoners

| prev_year = 1979

| next_title = News at Ten

| next_year = 1980

| misc =

}}

"'Turning Japanese'" is a song by English band the Vapors, from their 1980 album 'New Clear Days'. It was an international hit, becoming the band's most well-known song. The song prominently features an Oriental riff played on guitar.

Overview



Songwriter David Fenton explained, "Turning Japanese is all the clichs about angst and youth and turning into something you didn't expect to."

The band suspected they would score a hit with "Turning Japanese", even delaying its release in order to make it their second single, hoping to avoid becoming "one-hit wonders". Nonetheless, they never matched the single's success. In Australia, it spent two weeks at No. 1 during June 1980, and, coincidentally, the song was also a minor hit in Japan.

The music video was directed by Russell Mulcahy.

The lyrics relate teen angst or alienation following a romantic breakup to feeling like being from a foreign culture.

Covers



Kirsten Dunst recorded a cover, with an accompanying video filmed directed by McG and produced by Takashi Murakami in Tokyo in August 2009.

The song was featured on the soundtrack of the 1997 movie 'Beverly Hills Ninja' covered by the band The Hazies.

On the Canadian sketch comedy series 'Second City Television', Rick Moranis performed a lounge-style version of the song as the character Tom Monroe.

Chart performance



Weekly charts



Year-end charts



Certifications and sales



See also



*List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1980s

References




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