Music

The Burmese-born singer, whose real name is Muant Muant Aye, was born in 1966 in Rangoon. Nothing really predestined her to become the UK’s very young icon of tribal rock

You only have to listen to the syncopated rhythm and percussion rolls of "Dirk Wears White Sox" in 1979, one of the first tracks of Adam & The Ants, to understand that the band did indeed invent tribal punk rock, which Bow Wow Wow would take up by highlighting the drum rolls (implicitly reminiscent of those of Burundi) in an even clearer way.

The companion of stylist Vivienne Westwood (at the time of her "Sex" shop on King's Road in London) and quixotic manager of the Sex Pistols, Malcolm McLaren immediately smelt an opportunity. Not content with poaching Adam Ant's musicians, he discovered in Annabella, a barely fifteen-year-old singer who didn’t need much encouragement to show off her pretty legs. Although burned by the saga of the Sex Pistols that it had initially signed, the English record company EMI was persuaded by McLaren that his new protégés Bow Wow Wow would be the new idols of youth - and probably a few more mature men too. In the end, the story was little more than a fireworks display of three short years spiced up by a few marketing stunts dear to McLaren’s heart.

Annabella Lwin: unlikely shooting star

From the outset, their first release "Your Cassette Pet" in 1980 was only available in audio cassette format, which has now fallen into oblivion. A few months later, the cover of their first classical album inspired by Edouard Manet's "Déjeuner sur l'herbe" (1862) caused a scandal because Annabella, still far from being of age, appeared naked. With "See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang yes, City All Over! Go Ape Crazy!", the record also has one of the longest titles in history. A year later, now alone on the cover of "I Want Candy" (1982), Annabella is sitting on her own and still without any clothes. Another idea from McLaren of course. Despite all this, and the vague feeling that the whole thing was fabricated by a perverted manager, Bow Wow Wow nevertheless strung together some pearls that have survived the decades without suffering too much, especially "I Want Candy" in fact. Plagued by infighting, the band’s third album "When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going" in 1983 did not leave an indelible mark and the breakup followed soon afterwards.

Since then, the singer based on the west coast of the United States and bassist Leigh Gorman in her native England have been fighting over the legacy of this unlikely shooting star of the 80s.

(AK/ML - Photo: Etienne Tordoir) Photo: Annabella Lwin with Bow Wow Wow on the stage of the Futurama festival at Bingley Hall in Stafford (England) on September 6, 1981 (© Etienne Tordoir)