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BowWowWow

Tuesday, 13 November 2007

When I put the Transvision Vamp LP back in it’s place, I noticed all the other seventies and eighties powerpop records that I keep there. Adam & The Ants, The Runaways, The Sweet, Gary Glitter, The Bay City Rollers, just to name a few.
And BowWowWow!
I think that I first bought their LP with the same name as the band, but in my memory this was after I heard c30-c60-c90 Go. That song is not on that LP, but on a later LP, Original recordings, that I must have bought later. I remember being disappointed about that. But I also have vague memories of having this song on a 45.
Both LP’s are written by the same team: McLaren, Ashman, Gorman & Barbarossa, and McLaren is Malcolm, of course. I loved the sound of BowWowWow from the first moment I heard it on the radio. But where and when precisely did I buy all these records? I cannot really remember. This were records that I could not share with any of my friends. I couldn’t hear why BowWowWow was considered uncool, and I still don’t. I think this was a super band! Strange lyrics, percussion overload, 12 songs per LP, sound effects, high energy, sexy singer, and most of all a great sound.
Apart from the LP’s already mentioned, there is also a third LP, When the going gets tough the tough get going, equally great, produced by Mike Chapman, with all songs written by Ashman, Gorman, Barbarossa & Luwin. I guess that these guys/girls are band members, and they didn’t need Malcolm McLaren anymore, because the songs are very good. And the sound is great too, as might be expected from Mike Chapman.
It is funny how my mind cannot keep things in chronological order. I have no idea how it really was. Did I really never have “C30-c60-c90 Go” on 45? And wasn’t there a fourth LP?! I just cannot remember. And I am not going to check it at Wikipedia.
I have never seen the band on stage, and I cannot remember ever having seen a video clip, because I didn’t watch television in those days. But even of that I am not sure. Next life I will pay more attention.

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