London, UK · new wave · post-punk

Bow Wow Wow

1 upcoming festival

Malcolm McLaren's Burundi-beat pop project, all tribal drums and teenage swagger — 'I Want Candy' and a sound nobody has quite replicated since.

Bow Wow Wow were assembled in London in 1980 by Malcolm McLaren, who recruited three former members of Adam and the Ants — guitarist Matthew Ashman, bassist Leigh Gorman and drummer Dave Barbarossa — and paired them with teenage singer Annabella Lwin. The group's sound combined Burundi-influenced drumming, surf-inflected guitar and pop hooks, and their records were surrounded by McLaren's deliberate provocations, including a cassette-only early release promoting home taping. They are best remembered for their version of "I Want Candy" and for "Go Wild in the Country", and versions of the band have continued to perform since the original line-up split.

new wavepost-punk