Bow Wow Wow
Formed in London in 1980 by former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, Bow Wow Wow consisted of three former members of Adam And The Ants: David Barbe (b. David Barbarossa, 1961, Mauritius; drums), Matthew Ashman (b. 1962, London, England) and Leigh Gorman (b. 1961; bass). This trio was called upon to back McLaren's latest protegee, a 14-year-old Burmese girl whom he had discovered singing in a dry cleaners in Kilburn, London. Annabella Lu Win (b. Myant Myant Aye, 1966, Rangoon, Burma) was McLaren's female equivalent of Frankie Lymon, a teenager with no previous musical experience who could be moulded to perfection. Bow Wow Wow debuted with C30, C60, C90, Go a driving, Burundi Black-influenced paean to home taping composed by McLaren. Its follow-up the cassette-only YOUR CASSETTE PET featured eight tracks in an EP format (including the bizarre Sexy Eiffel Towers). In addition to the African Burundi-influence, the group combined a '50s sounding Gretsch guitar complete with echo and tremelo. Although innovative and exciting, the group received only limited chart rewards during their stay with EMI Recordsand like the Pistols before them soon sought a new record company. After signing with RCA, McLaren enlivened his promotion of the group with a series of publicity stunts, amid outrageous talk of paedophiliac pop. The jailbait Annabella had her head shaven into a Mohican style and began appearing in tribal clothes. Further controversy ensued when she was photographed semi-nude on an album sleeve pastiche of Manet's Déjeuner sur l'Herbe. A deserved UK Top 10 hit followed with Go Wild In The Country, a frenzied, almost animalistic display of sensuous exuberance. An average cover of the Strangeloves/ Brian Poole And The Tremeloes' hit I Want Candy also clipped the Top 10, but by then McLaren was losing control of his concept. A second lead singer was briefly recruited in the form of Lieutenant Lush, who threatened to steal the limelight from McLaren's ingenue and was subsequently ousted, only to reappear in Culture Club as Boy George. By 1983, amid uncertainty and disillusionment Bow Wow Wow folded. The backing group briefly soldiered on as the Chiefs Of Relief, while Annabella took a sabbatical, reappearing in 1985 for an unsuccessful solo career.