7_Songs: Gary Numan

Back in the late 70s there were not many bands experimenting with electronic music and Gary Numan was one of the first artists to make a commercial success with the new technology driven sound. Kicking off at the height of punk rock, with his band the Tubeway Army, he already made prominence with the influential Are Friends Electric? clearing the path for the electro pioneer Gary Numan as solo artist.

In 1979, Numan released Cars, his most commercial song to date, purely synthesized and drum machine driven, which explained the European concept of New wave and anticipated the future at the same time. His image of an android like persona, cold and mysterious, which perfectly fit the music and the themes around J.R. Ballard and dystopian Sci-Fi. With the decline of synth pop, Numan adapted new music influences like jazz and funk, and his music became more sophisticated. Beyond the 90s, it became loud, adapting industrial and goth styles.

With more than 40 years in the music business, Numan has released more than 20 albums and more than 60 singles and 10 mill records in total. Replicas as well as the debut album The Pleasure Principle and Telekon all reached No1 in the UK. With all the upcoming releases, his popularity started to decline and after his fifth studio album, he left Beggars Banquet and launched his label Numa Records, on which his sixth album Berserker was released. This label continued to release his music as well as from other artist as well with little success.

Along OMD and the Human League, he is considered as the Pioneer of electronic music in the 80s, and his influence goes beyond the decade. At one point, his music was even seen as a love child between Kraftwerk and David Bowies Berlin trilogy albums. With the emergence of Nine Inch Nails and Marylyn Manson, his music was rediscovered and often cited as an influence. Below is a selection of favorite Gary Numan songs discovered throughout the years under different circumstances.

Are 'Friends' Electric?

Are 'Friends' Electric? was the first hit for Gary Numan and his band Tubeway Army which reached number one in the UK Singles Chart, staying there for four weeks. Sales in particular benefited from the record company's use of a picture disc. It was the first time a band reached No 1 in the UK charts where all band members played electronic instruments and synthesizers. This was also a totally unheard of sound in mainstream chart music in 1979 where technology and alienation was perfectly portrayed with great synth walls and robotic and cold lyrics. The Sugarbabes covered this song and achieved a number one UK hit in 2002.

Cars

After Numan dropped the name Tubeway Army and continued with the same band members as solo artist, he released his debut Cars, his most commercial and biggest hit to date. The song was featured on Numan's debut album 'The Pleasure Principle' and both the song and the album were released in 1979. Similar to Are Friends Electric, this song was avant-garde, futuristic and different from everything else what one could hear in the charts. It was an electronic odyssey with the rhythm section, bass guitar, gloomy and apocalyptic synths and a shot of tambourine. The song was covered twenty years later, emphasizing more the guitar sound on it.

We Are Glass

Released as a third single, We Are Glass reached the No 5 in the UK charts and it was also his first official release in the 80s. It was in the fashion of Numan's second album 'Telekon' although it was not originally included on it, only on the album reissue. The sound was enriched with more guitars and even piano and viola and the great effect of hand clapping, which was also visualized in the music video. Futuristic as the previous with the Numanoid factor, it was the closest he ever got to Cars with the success factor.

Music for Chameleons

Numan joined the Air Training Corps as a teenager, when he wanted to be either a pilot or a pop star. The sudden popularity in the music only delayed his first dream however delayed until late 1981 when he took a trip around the world in his airplane. Music for Chameleons was composed during the trip, and it was the first song that was taken from his third album 'I, Assassin' released in 1982. The song failed to cope with the popularity of the above-mentioned singles, but is still one of the favorite Numan tunes.

We Take Mystery To Bed

We are still on the 'I, Assassin' and We Take Mystery To Bed was the second single and the follow-up to the above which even charted better. On this track, fretless bass and drums play well with the dance groove and the general atmosphere is still dark and reminds of Gary's early work, still less synthetic. According to his biography, the song was written about Gary's girlfriend Deb whose letters are also visible in the video. This single was the last top 10 hit for Gary Numan.

Berserker

With the release of his fifth studio album 'Warriors', Gary Numan left Beggars Banquet and for his sixth album he decided to launch his own record label Numa Records, on which 'Berserker' was the first long player and also the first single. Numan had full control over the production process and on this album he geared up the synths growing more in the dance genre, with less gloomy bass and more female backing vocals, still keeping the guitars. Despite the solid production, neither the album nor the single managed to make an impact on the charts and Numan further wandered off from the mainstream.

My Name is Ruin

Taken from Gary Numan's 21st studio album, My Name is Ruin was the lead single released in 2017. The song is about a man living in a post-apocalyptic world, whose daughter gets taken away from him, and his whole life from then on becomes the need to get her back. In fact, Numan's 11-year-old daughter Persia contributes vocals to the track. The album was produced by his long time collaborator Ade Fenton.  The video was recorded in the desolate deserts of southern California.

Below is the link to YouTube playlist with almost all Gary Numan Releases from 1978-2021.

7_Songs: Holly Johnson / Frankie Goes to Hollywood

This year in February, Holly Johnson turned 60, and we thought it would be a nice occasion to pay tribute to him and his former band Frankie Goes to Hollywood with this 7_Songs feature. Johnson’s career start goes back to the late 70s Liverpool punk scene out of which the nucleus for Frankie Goes to Hollywood took shape. Inspired to take a name after the title from the news article in the New York Times, it seemed that Frankie Goes to Hollywood would be there for big things, and indeed, with the first single and the album release they found pop stardom. 

Photo courtesy of The Guardian

In 1984, FGTH released “Relax” which was not only a tune but also a motto and a symbol of the mid-80s and at the same time the band’s biggest hit. One could say that it had an impact on the general pop culture also hitting the street fashion and there was also a themed video game. “Relax” was also an introduction to the band's brilliant album Welcome to the Pleasuredome which gave birth to a string of hits, out of which three reached no.1 in the UK charts. The album was produced by Trevor Horn and released on his ZTT label. It was rich, provocative and decadent with excellent production and a festival of influences which could easily be referred to as progressive disco as an end product. With the release of the second album, Liverpool, fame faded and the tensions between the band members were growing. The band managed to release three more singles from it, to tour again, after which Johnson decided to leave the band. He also had to go into a legal battle with the record company, winning the dispute in the end. 

Photo courtesy of theartsdesk.com

In the late 80s Johnson started his solo career when he was signed to MCA, released his solo album Blast and managed to have a series of hits including “Americanos” and “Love Train”. In the early 90s, Johnson was diagnosed with HIV and thinking this was his end, he wrote his autobiography A Bone in My Flute. Eventually he turned more to art, but never really left the music business. He recorded songs and performed occasionally.

The band never reunited even though in 2003, the VH-1 program Bands Reunited brought Johnson, Rutherford, Gill, Nash, and Mark O'Toole together, in the hope of their agreeing to perform impromptu on the show. However, a reunion performance did not transpire. 

Holly Johnson never performed again with Frankie Goes to Hollywood. There is not a single thing in the world that sums up the 1980s as perfectly, FGTH and Welcome to the Pleasuredome does for the 80s. In particular, 1984 seems to be the year of the band, when they almost made 4 consecutive No.1 in the UK. Frankie was the mega sensation, the artistic concept and even a brand. They were hitting the Euro dance floors and beyond, and they were shocking the conservative adults to gain prominence. They had that perfect formula, if you are going to do pop, attack it.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax

"Relax" was the debut album by FGTH which also gave them the international breakthrough. It is one of the most controversial and most commercially successful records of the decade. It was banned by BBC because of its lyrics that we interpreted to be explicit. Despite all the scandals, the song sold 12 mill records around the world and won the Brit Award for the best song in 1985. It also went beyond music, hitting the street fashion with the T-shirts with the slogan Frankie Says Relax. 

Frankie Goes To Hollywood - The Power of Love 

This was the third single from their debut album and also the third consecutive No.1 which rounded up a successful year for FGTH. This song is often referenced as a Christmas single due to the music video that features Nativity, and also because it was released ahead of Xmas in 1984. In tone, it was also different from the previous, which were louder made for clubland. The song went platinum in Canada, Germany, New Zealand and triple Platinum in their native UK. 

Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Welcome To The Pleasuredome

This was the title track to the debut album and the only single release that did not reach the UK No. 1 despite having this potential. The spoken-word introductions to both 12-inch mixes are adapted from Walter Kaufmann's 1967 translation of Friedrich Nietzsche's The Birth of Tragedy. The video, by Bernard Rose, features the group stealing a car, going to a carnival and encountering all manner of deceptively "pleasurable" activities.

Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Rage Hard 

In 1986, Frankie Goes to Hollywood released their second album, Liverpool. This album saw more use of the band than the debut album and expressed a rockier sound than their debut, but it was still pretty much powerful in rhythm and form. It was FGTH's first single to be released on CD and even Cassette. It reached number one in the German official charts and No. 4 in the UK. 

Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Warriors of the Wasteland

Another single followed from Liverpool, which many think is one of the best tracks on the album. Some interesting inspirations were drawn from T. S. Eliot, but Johnson also cited the 1981 Mel Gibson film, Mad Max 2, and the 1979 film, The Warriors as inspirations. This song barely made it in the Top 20 in the UK and commercial success was starting to decline. FGTH would release one more single before disbanding.

Holly Johnson - Love Train

After the split of FGTH, Holly Johnson released his debut album Blast 1989 and "Love Train" was the first single to be taken from it. Even though it was clearly a dance track, it featured the guitar solo from Brain May from Queen. The song reached No.4 in the UK and also had success in Europe. The song was issued as both 7” and 12” including several versions of the song.

Holly Johnson  - Americanos

"Americanos" was another single from Blast that managed to make a big impact on the charts, reaching No. 4 in the UK and was a commercial success across Europe. Chris Heath of Smash Hits described the song as a "80s update of David Bowie's Young Americans in both its content and its spirit, where he acknowledges the superficiality of the American dream but isn't narrow-minded enough to simply condemn it.”

Singles cover photos courtesy of discogs.com

For the complete Frankie Goes To Hollywood / Holly Johnson discography, as documented in music videos, please check the following the link below.

7_Songs: Eurythmics

Born out of the ashes of their first band the Tourists, Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart soon went on to explore new grounds with music which laid the foundation for Eurythmics. With their creative rebirth however the success was not instant, moreover with the release of their debut album, In the Garden, Dave and Annie used the opportunities to transform their post break up emotions into sounds and experimented with new instruments and sound patterns.

With the release of the single “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” the international breakthrough was kicking in and Eurythmics were among the top selling artists in the world. Where their music was not striking enough, their visual image was pretty much eye-catching and the music video revolution and in particular Annie Lennox's sharp looks and transformations certainly contributed to the overall popularity of the duo. Certainly her most authentic role on display was the gender bending and androgyny image which made her iconic. But, this was only a start and throughout their career she continued to transform herself and that has certainly been a roller-coaster ride of roles, characters, dresses and a real wig parade. She was part drag king, part drag queen and definitely a unique artist. Not to underestimate Dave Stewart contribution, he jumped in and out of roles too, but he was the man behind the music and the Eurythmics' sound engineer.

With the years passing, Eurythmic's music also changed, adopting new instruments and music styles and also becoming more a band profile, most notably with the release of their albums Be Yourself Tonight and Revenge. By the end of the decade, it seemed that the duo was exhausted with ideas by having released 8 studio albums in the 80's and it seems as they needed some space and time apart.

In the early 90's, both felt like going for their own music projects; Annie Lennox pursued a successful solo career and released her debut album Diva in 1992 while Dave Stewart continued to work as an established producer, not only in the domain of music, but also Film and television. Eurythmics however never officially split and in 1999 they reunited for one final album called Peace and went on a tour to promote it.

        Image courtesy of zimbio.com

Overall Eurythmics released eight studio albums, 33 singles and 37 videos and it is estimated that the band sold around 75 Million records worldwide. The duo have won an MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist in 1984, the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1987, the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music in 1999, and in 2005 were inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame. 

Below is the selection of 7 tracks, by personal preference with the aim to encompass the whole artist career.

Never Gonna Cry Again

“Never Gonna Cry Again” comes from the highly experimental period when the duo was still under the influence of their former band, the Tourists. The song was released in May 1981 and it was taken from their debut album In the Garden. This album was produced by Conny Plank and this certainly had contributed to the overall atmosphere on the record. Unlike the commercial sound we would hear in the years to come, this was art pop, drenched in synths and garnished with dreamy, ethereal vocals. It even included rare moments where Lennox was playing flute.“Never Gonna Cry Again” did not reach a wider audience and the video for the song was never commercially available, but it remains as one of the finest Eurythmic's releases.

Love is a Stranger 

“Love is a Danger” was the fifth single release for Eurythmics and the first one that was taken from the second album Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These). The song was not a success upon the initial release, but after “Sweet Dreams..” became an international hit, the duo decided to re-release it. In this danger of obsession episode, Lennox androgynous image and brilliant theatrics came out for the first time in this video causing a slight controversy in the USA. The song itself was a dark synth enchantment, intense enough to capture the essence and coldness of the emotional heart break the duo was still going through after the early 80’s breakup.

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These) 

In 1983, Eurythmics released their most successful single to date which became an international hit everywhere in the world. Musically the song was very addictive with the booming synth lead and catchy tense chorus whose lyrics were also written after Dave and Annie’s breakup. As innovative as it was on the musical end, Eurythmics visual image and in particular that of Annie Lennox caused stir with her androgynous visual image, close-cropped, orange hair dressed in man’s suit. And this was not the only weird thing about the music video. “Sweet Dreams..” went three times Platinum and three times Gold and is still pretty much appreciated by the music community and it is certainly Eurythmics’ signature song.

Who’s That Girl 

After the success of “Sweet Dreams” Eurythmics were on a roll, and they continued to enjoy their momentum with the smoky, icy and synth single “Who’s That Girl” taken from their third album The Touch. This music video saw Lennox's appearing as nightclub singer with a whole variety of guest stars including Cheryl Baker and Jay Aston of Bucks Fizz, Kiki Dee, Hazel O'Connor, Kate Garner of Haysi Fantayzee, the gender-bending pop star Marilyn and all members of Bananarama including Dave Stewart’s future wife Siobhan Fahey. The song became a huge hit both in Europe and the USA. 

Thorn in My Side 
Towards the second half of the decade Eurythmics moved more towards band style and AOR pop/rock sound compared to earlier synthopop song arrangements. “Thorn in My Side” was just one example of this change in sound and the song was strongly affected by Annie Lennox divorce. It was released in 1986 and it was taken from their fifth studio album Revenge. “Thorn in My Side” reached several top 10 charts around Europe and the Top 10 in the UK and Ireland.

Beethoven (I Love to Listen to) 
After the commercial success of the previous two albums, the duo tried to return to their experimental roots releasing an album whose concept was based on synths and sample sounds combined with Lennox’ vocals. The music video is one of the best Eurythmics have recorded and it features a middle class housewife who displays characteristics of dissociative identity disorder or split personalities eventually turning into overly sexual vixen towards the end of the video. The video itself was recorded by Sophie Miller and all videos from the album Revenge will run this concept

I’ve Got a Life 

This is so far the last official release by Eurythmics which was recorded in 2000 for their second best of package Ultimate Collection. It is an electro dance track which did well on the US dance charts. Yet again we see Annie Lennox’s image in a man's suit which in a way is homage to the image that made them popular and their biggest hit “Sweet Dream (Are Made of this)”. Furthermore we see Lennox and Stewart performing the song in front of many television screens showing scenes from videos spanning throughout their Eurythmics career. 

                                                   Singles cover photos courtesy of discogs.com

For the complete Eurythmics discography, as documented in music videos, please check the following the link below.

7_Songs: Duran Duran

Duran Duran have been around for four decades now, with great music and a whole variety of styles and transformations. Formed in Birmingham in 1978, they were broadly speaking a New Wave band that rode the New Romantic trend to end up as the leading force in the Second British Invasion of the US in the early 80’s. If you didn’t hear them on the radio, you saw them on TV as they were the ultimate poster boys for a whole new generation. With their fancy good looks and sharp fashion styles, they mastered the medium of the music video and in a way became MTV’s best ambassadors. At the height of their career, they were even referred to as the new "Fab Five" who managed to blend glam, disco and punk, making rock music ready for dance floors. 

The group was formed by keyboardist Nick Rhodes and bassist John Taylor, with the later addition of drummer Roger Taylor, and after numerous personnel changes, guitarist Andy Taylor and lead singer Simon Le Bon joined, which eventually became the band’s classic line-up. The group never disbanded, but underwent several line-up changes throughout their career, which also resulted in several offshoot projects, both in the 80’s and 90’s, including The Power Station, Arcadia, The Devils and TV Mania.  

Duran Duran have released 14 studio albums and 39 singles in total. Their best-selling albums are Rio, released in 1982, and Seven and the Ragged Tiger from 1983. These two albums also contain Duran Duran’s most successful singles, “Hungry Like the Wolf” and “Rio” and “The Reflex”, and also mark the band’s classic era. The group have had 14 singles in the UK Singles Chart top 10 and 21 in the US Billboard Hot 100, selling over 100 million records worldwide. 

Even though their career peaked way back in the 80’s, the band has been around in the last decade, teaming up with a great line-up of producers and artists. Their album All You Need Is Now was even released to critical acclaim. We are positive that their musical story is not over yet and expect the 20’s to bring new, exciting prospects. 

The seven selected tracks which are featured below do not necessarily reflect our favorite Duran Duran tunes, although they have a slight tendency to this. Moreover these are milestone records with interesting stories behind the music, video production or something else. And of course the idea of this feature is to have the whole artist career and discography on display.  

>>>>> Duran Duran Videography >>>>>

Planet Earth (1981)

"Planet Earth" is Duran Duran’s futuristic debut single released in January 1981. It was fairly a hit in their native UK, but also did surprisingly well in Australia where the band was relatively unknown. Hailing from Birmingham which was also considered as one of the strongholds of the New Romantic movement, the band illustrated such visual image with flamboyant  and eccentric fashion style as well as by the sharp and atmospheric synth sound of which was typical for this genre.

 Girls on Film (1981)

The wild "Girls on Film" finally got the band a breakthrough in the UK top 10 and the controversial music video for the song, which beside others, featured a naked female models in a pillow fight, certainly helped in gaining prominence. It was too hot and spicy for early MTV's and also got banned on BBC, but an edited version was adjusted to keep the high up in the daily airplay. Over the years, "Girls on Film" has become a staple of the encores for Duran Duran's live performances.

Save A Prayer (1982)
The release of Duran Duran’s second album Rio and its success meant slowly parting from the New Romantic, more towards a jet set image style. With more investment in their visual image the group went to travel around the world, in between touring, and delivered vivid travelogues with their music videos. The video for “Save a Prayer” was recorded in Sri Lanka illustrating the island's monuments and beauties on a bed of dreamy synths and flirty guitars.

Rio (1982) 
Next stop for Duran Duran was the Caribbean sea and the beauties of Antigua where the band recorded their video for the song “Rio”. It looked like a luxurious yacht ride with the group members wearing Antony Price suits while some of them even got seasick. The song was driven on a carbonated synthesizer and bass was breaking on the tenor sax waves. The b-side song “Chauffeur” also received the video interpretation and it was the completely opposite if “Rio”, dark and intriguing more akin to the Depeche Mode catalogue of late 80’s.

New Moon on Monday (1983)
Band’s commercial success followed with the release of their third album Seven and the Ragged Tiger when Duran Duran grew into a full-on teen heart-throb status. Their single “New Moon on Monday” was not the most successful single to be taken from this album, yet it remains as one of Duran Duran’s all-time favorites. In the music video, the band appear as members of an underground resistance movement in France.

Ordinary World (1992)
After some boisterous years in the first half of the 80’s a more quiet period followed for Duran Duran in which the band member worked on different projects. When the band reunited – now under a different line up – they could not really regain the old popularity until the release of “Ordinary World” in 1992. The song was a surprise hit when no one really expected it could make such an impact when Grunge and Brit pop artists were ruling the charts. By the release of “Ordinary World”, Warren Cuccurullo was already a standard member of the band and he arranged the remarkable guitar solo in the song. He remained in the band until the end of the 90’s.

Girl Panic (2011)
Duran Duran were having another career peak in 2011 with the release of their 13th studio album All You Need is Now which seemed like a return to the old charm. "Girl Panic" was the second single to be released from the album and it was released on Record Store Day. The music video was directed by Jonas Åkerlund featured appearances of 90's top models Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova, Cindy Crawford, Helena Christensen, and Yasmin Le Bon who were portraying Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor, Roger Taylor, and Dominic Brown, respectively.

Singles cover photos courtesy of discogs.com

For the complete Duran Duran discography, as documented in music videos, please check the following playlist below.

7_Songs: Jimmy Somerville

In 1984 the documentary Framed Youth: The Revenge of the Teenage Perverts was awarded with the Grierson Award for Best Documentary. The aim of this documentary was to raise awareness about homosexuality to a wider audience. Jimmy Somerville was part of this project, and his very emotional performance of "Screaming" in the documentary sure helped Somerville in further propelling his career in music. Richard Coles with whom he would form The Communards in the second half of the 80s was also part of this project and at this time, Jimmy already knew and used to hang out with Steve Bronski and Larry Steinbachek which will eventually turn into a Bronski Beat formation. A base and frame for Somerville's music career in the 80s was set. 

His body of work, counting in his international success with both Bronski Beat and the Communards, makes 9 studio albums and almost 30 singles. This includes some of the most selling singles of 1984, "Small Town Boy" and "Don't Leave Me This Way" from 1986.
On top of this, Jimmy Somerville remains as one of the early advocates for LGBT rights and freedoms of the 80s who proved that pop music is more than just for commercial selling and that it can be used as a vehicle to revolutionize certain ideas.

Small Town Boy (Bronski Beat) 

"Smalltown Boy" is Bronski Beat's signature song, which gained huge success all over the world in 1984. Different from the usual trend with pop songs, this one had a profound meaning that meant an empowerment of gay liberation driven on the wings of seminal synth-pop instrumentation. In fact, the synth riff became a classic and has ever since the original release been borrowed and remixed in each decade, most notably by Groove Armada "History" in 2010 and Brandon Flowers "I Can Change" in 2015.

Why (Bronski Beat) 

"Why" was released as the second single and even though it could not follow the steps of its predecessor, it still managed to enter the charts in most of the countries in the world. Yet again, a song was dealing with anti-gay sentiment, feed even more by the growing anti AIDS hysteria and stigmatization. The music video was sort of a multi-stage drama in a supermarket and portrays heroism against sentence and sin. Musically, on the opposite, "Why" was even more energetic and among the dance floor killers in clubs across Europe.

Ain't Necessarily So (Bronski Beat) 

With the third single "Ain't Necessarily So", Bronski Beat took a different turn by covering a song that was originally written for George Gershwin's opera in 1935. Since its original release, the song has received many different treatments, mostly jazz or rock, but Bronski Beat’s was the first band to deliver a pop interpretation. The cover sleeve art was a parody of The Wizard of Oz with Dorothy having the head of the devil.

Don't Leave Me This Way (The Communards) 

Jimmy Somerville, now under the Communards flag with Richard Coles, has had his second career peak in the 80s with yet another cover version and their take of “Don’t Leave Me This Way”. Joined by the jazz singer Sarah Jane Morris, the band delivered a version that was more tuned to hiNrg dance pop. The song was again a huge success in Europe and, even 30 years after its original release, it was voted by the British public as one of the favorite 80s Number ones in UK history.

For A Friend (The Communards) 

The Communards' opus is mostly remembered by wider audiences for their hiNrg and synth pop hits. In 1987 however, the duo released “For a Friend” which was a real standout in tempo and form. The song was written in the memory of the gay activist Mark Ashton, a friend of Jimmy Somerville and Richard Coles, who died of AIDS aged 26. A following dedication appears on the album:

"Mark Ashton, 1961-1987...it is better to die on your feet than to live on your knees."

Read My Lips (solo)

After Somerville and Cole parted their ways, Jimmy went on to pursue his solo career and released his debut solo album Read My Lips in 1989 and the single of the same name followed in 1990. It was not such a big chart success like the previous singles with the Communards, but again it was  a call for action as the song discussed the need for increased funding to fight HIV/AIDS.

Some Wonder (solo)
In 2015, Jimmy Somerville returned with his sixth solo album titled Homage. It's probably Jimmy's best solo album in terms of musical production, which pays tribute and goes back to the roots of disco music and celebrates the diversity of styles the genre had to offer. There was not an official single release, but Emanuel Franzel directed the official video for the song "Some Wonder".

For the complete Jimmy Somerville discography, as documented in music videos, please check the following the playlist below.

Jimmy Somerville / Bronski Beat / The Communrds Playlist

7_Songs: Bow Wow Wow

Bow Wow Wow, an English New Wave band, was formed in 1980 by Malcolm McLaren, who recruited members from Adam and the Ants to support 13-year-old Annabella Lwin as the lead vocalist. The original lineup featured Leigh Gorman on bass, Matthew Ashman on guitar, and Dave Barbarossa on drums. Their debut single "C’30, C’60, C’90 Go" and the EP 'Your Cassette Pet' were released in 1980, but the band achieved international success with "I Want Candy" in 1982.

Despite their early successes, Bow Wow Wow faced internal tensions, leading to the departure of Annabella Lwin in 1983. This decision was abrupt, and Lwin discovered her dismissal through an article in NME. The band had planned a world tour after the release of their last single, "Do You Wanna Hold Me?"

The band reformed in 1997 for a 'Barking Mad' Tour. Their songs "Aphrodisiac", "I Want Candy" and "Fools Rush In" were included on the soundtrack of the 2006 Sofia Coppola film Marie Antoinette.

In December 2012, Gorman began performing under the name "Bow Wow Wow" without original lead singer Lwin's consent, hiring a new singer, whereas Annabella performs billed as "Annabella Lwin of the original Bow Wow Wow". On 25 May 2018, Cherry Red Records released the three-disc set Your Box Set Pet (The Complete Recordings 1980–1984)

C’30, C’60, C’90 Go

Bow Wow Wow released their debut single “C’30, C’60, C’90 Go" in 1980, and in fact, it was the first single ever to be released on a cassette, paying a little tribute to the format itself at the same time. It was dealing with piracy and home taping. The latter was popular in the 80's and that everyone sure did at a certain age and time.

Chihuahua

As you may remember when the lead singer Annabella Lwin started with Bow Wow Wow she was 13 years old and their marvelous song "Chihuahua" could have been a bit biographical and telling her story in music. It was also the first single to be taken from their debut album See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah, City All Over! Go Ape Crazy!.

Baby, Oh No

In 1982 Bow Wow Wow released “Baby, Oh No” in Australia and the USA. This song was not under such strong influence of the Burundi beat and tribal rhythms which was the band’s trademark, but more sort of could have been a New Wave classic in a Blondie manner.

Go Wild in The Country

In 1982, the band also released their most successful hits to date. One of them was “Go Wild in The Country” which was written by Malcolm McLaren in collaboration with the band. The single sleeve was the same as for their debut album and caused controversy as Lwin was posing nude on it and she was just 14 years old at the time. The single was a success in the UK and went silver.

I Want Candy

“I Want Candy” followed during the same year and Bow Wow Wow gave new life to a song that was originally performed by the Strangeloves and released in 1965. Although this song did not have a huge impact on the charts outside the UK, it remains as one of the true New Wave classics. To this date, this is the band’s biggest success where the cover version certainly has outlived the original.

Mario
In 1983, Bow Wow Wow released their second album When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going which in a way also changed the band's musical direction more into surf rock but still remaining New Wave. "Mario" one of the songs from the album had great bass, cool guitars but remained as one of BWW obscurities in every sense and it was only released in the Netherlands.

Do You Want to Hold Me?
In 1983 Bow Wow Wow released two more singles before disbanding. Their last single was "Do You Want To Hold Me" proved to be a mad catchy farewell that could have been a bigger hit, but New Wave itself was already in the fade out. Besides "I Want Candy", this one certainly remains as band's biggest hit to date.

Below is the YouTube playlist with the above mentioned singles, plus the complete discography of single releases, in chronological order, as documented by their music videos and live performances.