Line-up

Headliner
Bow Wow Wow Last time in Los Angeles (LA): 3 weeks ago

Venue

Haven City Market

91730, Rancho Cucamonga, CA, US

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Additional details

Doors open: 19:00

Concert in your area for Rock and Pop.

Find out more about Rock and Pop.

Bow Wow Wow biography

Bow Wow Wow (formed in 1980) is an endlessly controversial English new wave band, created to promote the fashion lines of Malcolm McLaren and Vivian Westwood, hailing from London, England, UK.

After convincing the line-up of the Adam and the Ants, which included guitarist Matthew Ashman, bassist Leigh Gorman, and drummer David Barbarossa, to leave the lead singer Adam Ant behind, and form Bow Wow Wow, Malcolm McLaren was in search of a lead singer. Auditions were held, however after six months 14-year old Liverpudlian Annabella Lwin was chosen to fill the role. The band made their debut in 1980 with the single “C-40 C-60 C-90 Go”, however their label EMI failed to promote the single as it was alleged to promoted home taping as Side-B to the cassette was blank. The EP “Your Cassette Pet” was released later that year, featuring the singles “Your Cassette Pet” and “WORK” after which EMI dropped the band.

Bow Wow Wow signed with RCA in 1981 who issued the band's full-length “See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang, Yeah. City All Over! Go Ape Crazy”, which reached No. 26 in the UK charts and No. 192 on the Billboard 200. Featuring African rhythms with surf instrumentals and pop sensibilities, the band earned their first Top 10 hit with “Go Wild in the Country” in early 1982. Subsequent singles included “See Jungle! (Jungle Boy)”, the cover “I Want Candy”, “Louis Quatorze”, and “Fools Rush In”.

After 15-year old Lwin was photographed nude, in a modern day take on Manet’s “The Luncheon on the Grass” for the EP cover “The Last of the Mohicans” the band came under particular scrutiny. The result of which was McLaren promising not to promote Lwin as a ‘sex kitten’, however the picture was still used in Europe for the cover for the album “See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang, Yeah. City All Over! Go Ape Crazy”. Bow Wow Wow came under the spotlight again for the use of African Burundi rhythms; as to whether the group had been influenced or plagiarised the source.

In 1983 Bow Wow Wow ousted Lwin, and Matt Ashman became the lead singer under the moniker Chiefs of Relief. Ashman died following a fight with diabetes in 1995, and in 1998 Bow Wow Wow returned led by Lwin and Gorman, releasing “Wild in the U.S.A.” the same year. The album was a combination of remixes and concert recordings from their reunion tour of the U.S. In 2004 the band embarked on another worldwide tour until 2006 with No Doubt drummer Adrian Young and Common Sense guitarist Phil Gough. Bow Wow Wow’s first original recording in over 20 years arrived in 2007 with the cover of the famous Smiths song “I Started Something I Couldn’t Finish”.

Live reviews

Bow Wow Wow mixed the glimmer of pop music with the abrasive bark of punk rock as if this was the only way to hear these styles. Its fairly obvious that their music featured primal elements of punk, but what was less blatant was how they were able to get away with using these unrefined and base constituents alongside contradictory stylistic elaborations. They were able to maintain the edge and primitivism of rock, but dressed up their sound with jangling guitar leads, textural synths and canary-like vocals. At the heart of it they were masters of creating sophisticated pop songs.
In many respects this was a complete contradiction to the ethos of punk rock. Punk was a median in which the artists scraped off all the excess and sheen associated with pop and modern rock music. Although the music of Bow Wow Wow was so unique and pure, no one seemed to mind the dichotic structure of their sound. The punks accepted their style as did the mainstream.
The band seemed destined from the beginning to be a part of the punk rock scene. They initially formed under the supervision of Sex Pistol manager Malcolm McLaren; although the original purpose of the group was to push the New Romantic works of fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. The group far surpassed their roles as models and proved to be one of the most exciting bands to come out of London in the early 80s. Their shows were met with unanimous support and exuberance worldwide. Seeing them live was like witnessing a tribal ritual. David Barbarossa would bang rapidly on the toms of his drums creating a strong and deep percussive vibe. The chugging bass matched the intense and deep tones of the drumming ebbing and flowing ecstatically. Vocalist Annabella Lwin was sensational to watch. She jerked and jumped constantly around the stage screaming out the lyrics and instigating the audience into action. Matthew Ashman wrote genius guitar riffs. The opening melody for “I Want Candy” is utterly remarkable and will probably never lose its fresh sound. Its light staccato frameworks dances beautifully on top of the repetitive drums and pounding bass.
The group can also pull blissful covers out of their sleeves. A remarkable example is “Fools Rush In”. The pitter patter of the drums provide the endearing pace of the song while the bass and guitar seamlessly alternate melodies. The vocals are absolutely superb and fluctuates unpredictably throughout the tune. Bow Wow Wow were not only an artistically innovative and musically coordinated they were a band who’s unconventional image and risk taking nature spoke to millions of fan demographics and aspiring musicians.

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