McLaren recruited members of Adam and the Ants to form the band with then 13-year-old Annabella Lwin on lead vocals.
The band's music was characterized by a danceable new wave sound that drew on a Burundi beat provided by Dave Barbarossa on drums, as well as the subversive, suggestive, and sometimes exuberant lyrics sung and chanted by their teenage lead vocalist.
His stay was short-lived, however; O'Dowd soon formed a new band called Culture Club and went on to stardom under the name "Boy George".
[8] The B-side, "Sun, Sea and Piracy", also promoted home taping, then lying on a beach and enjoying the fruits of this labour.
It was credited to Ashman, Barbarossa, Gorman, and McLaren and included suggestive moaning and heavy breathing performed by then-14-year-old Lwin.
Other controversial tracks included "Louis Quatorze" (which called attention to Lwin's young age), "Uomo Sex Al Apache", and "Radio G-String".
McLaren was already renowned for his creative use of provocation to raise public awareness of his projects (and for occasionally taking things too far).
The cover photograph (by Andy Earl) depicted the band recreating Édouard Manet's Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe with a then 14-year-old Lwin posing nude, with her side turned toward the camera and arm and leg positioned to hide explicit content.
Lwin's mother alleged exploitation of a minor for immoral purposes and instigated a Scotland Yard investigation.
As a result, the band was forbidden to leave the UK until McLaren promised not to promote Annabella as a "sex kitten".
The single featured a third appearance of the band's take on Manet's Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe on the sleeve.
In May 1982, RCA Records released the four-track The Last of the Mohicans, produced by Kenny Laguna and containing their biggest hit single, "I Want Candy".
[21] The cover photography was by David Bailey, and the album credits gave "a kiss" to "Jim" (James Honeyman-Scott) and John Belushi, who had both recently died.
[24] Shortly after their breakup, they appeared in the 1984 Rob Cohen British-American comedy film Scandalous, performing "Where's My Snake?"
Barbarossa/Barbe went on to work with other artists, including Beats International, Republica, Chicane, Adamski and Roland Gift of Fine Young Cannibals.
Gorman himself wrote and produced music for television spots for clients such as Coca-Cola, MCI, Nike, Inc., Pepsi, and Renault.
In the summer of 1997, his remix of Mr. President's "I Give You My Heart" spent three weeks in the Top 10 of the UK Dance Chart.
[25] Known simply as "Annabella", Lwin remained with RCA Records, and her first solo release was the 1985 single "Don't Dance With Strangers", produced by the System.
The title track, a cover of the Peggy Lee classic, was recorded with and produced by multi-instrumentalist Jim Lea of Slade.
Another single from the album, "War Boys", produced by John Robie, spent six weeks on the US Billboard Hot Dance/Disco, chart, peaking at No.
She formed a new band, Naked Experience, and collaborated with seasoned musicians and songwriters such as Billy Steinberg and Ellen Shipley.
The band performed on 2 November 2006 at the Maritime Hotel's Hiro Lounge in New York City to promote the film.
In 2006, Bow Wow Wow recorded a cover of the Smiths' song "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish", which appeared on three 2007 releases: a new three-track I Want Candy EP (Cleopatra), compilation album Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before: A Tribute to the Smiths (Cleopatra) and the soundtrack to the film Blood & Chocolate: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Lakeshore Records).
Adam Ant headlined the show and also featured members of Ashman's other bands, Chiefs of Relief and Agent Provocateur.
[30] Crewdson would later again serve as a replacement for Ashman alongside Gorman and Barbarossa, backing Ant on the above-mentioned 2014 Dirk Wears White Sox concerts.
[1] The group's sound was a mix of Lwin's "girlish squeal", chants, surf instrumentals, pop melodies, funk bass, and Barbarossa's Burundi ritual music-influenced tom-tom drum beats.
It is impressively kinetic, but the rhythm patterns are not as complex as most African drumming; they are a relatively easy mark for pop pirates in search of plunder.
And the Bow Wows have absorbed other rhythmic usages, including West African high life, Brazilian pop, and conventional rock and roll.
[42]In an RCA radio promo vinyl recording, guitarist Ashman responded: Well, they do a lot of that sort of chanting in Africa, but it's not a direct rip-off.
They drew parallels from the fact that they were both young girls who found fame and fortune at a ridiculously early age.