The Vapors - Turning Japanese

From New Clear Days (1980)

Don’t you just hate when everyone avoids you like a cyclone ranger?

The band did their best to to ruin this song. Non-sensical lyrics, vaguely racist lyrics, repeatedly inserting the oriental riff, general creepiness. But the brilliant, propulsive energy of the song could not be contained, and it became a huge success.

The song has 24 million listens on Spotify, and their second most listened song has ~100.000. Which brings me to one thing they did right - The Vapors is a great band name for a one-hit wonder.

Another thing they did right is the musical part of the song. It hooks you right away with the guitar riff. (Ok, not right away, we have to listen to the oriental riff first.) Then we get into the excellent chorus phrase + guitar phrase segment, which repeats many times, but still never enough.

Bonus 1: As we head into winter covid lockdowns, these lyrics are quite fitting

No sex, no drugs, no wine, no women
No fun, no sin, no you, no wonder it's dark
Everyone around me is a total stranger
Everyone avoids me like a cyclone ranger

Bonus 2: An amusing Youtube cover