Retrovision: The Adventures of Stevie V - Dirty Cash (Money Talks)

Thirty years ago, in early May 1990, the producer Steve Vincent and his team had their biggest hit with "Dirty Cash (Money Talks)". Martha Washington provided a very soulful vocal against the euro dance style house track to a great result. The song reached No.2 in the UK and No.1 on the US Dance floor charts.


April Singles Roundup

April seems to be the first month this year that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic as there has been far less releases than this time this time in the previous years. However there are still some fine tunes here and there. We already wrote about the Gorillaz Song Machine series and SOKO  in addition to these releases the Strokes adopt even more synth for a very playful "Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus". The Dears and Porcelain Raft announce new albums with first single outputs. What else was on our radar, check below.



The Strokes - Brooklyn Bridge to Chorus

Porcelain Raft - Come Rain

The Dears - The Worst in Us

Angelo De Augustine - Santa Barbara

Car Seat Headrest - Hollywood

Declan McKenna - The Key to Life on Earth

The Magnetic Fields - (I Want to Join A) Biker Gang

Washed Out - Too Late

Desire - Black Latex

Perfume Genius - On The Floor

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 80s 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 the 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.

The Dears to Release their Eight Studio Album in May

The Canadian indie rock outfit The Dears have returned this year with a new single and also announced the release of their eight studio album Lovers Rock. The album will be released in Mid May and is currently promoted with the single "The Worst in Us".



Gorillaz Release Series of EPs / Episode 3 with Peter Hook

Gorillaz have returned this year with a series of EPs entitled 'Song Machine'. Structure wise, each EP consists of a lead track and "Machine Bitez". EP 3 in particular caught our attention as the lead track "Aries" has been done in collaboration with Peter Hook and Georgia. The New Order bass line is very evident here and if this was not a Gorillaz track, one could guess that Damon Albarn has provided guest vocals on a New Order track.

WAW: SOKO - Are You a Magician?

The Los Angeles based SOKO returns this month with a brand new album, her third, entitled 'Feel Feelings'. Two singles have already been released as singles including "Are You A Magician" for which the video was directed by Gia Coppola. 

March Singles Roundup

We are going through a difficult piece of history at the moment that affects us all. In this tough times music remains our best companion. Beside the already featured releases in single posts, here are some interesting tune that will hopefully make stay at home easier. This month we see the return of The Killers, Bright Eyes and Lebanon Hanover.
The Killers - Caution


Chromatics - Famous Monsters


Vundabar - Out of It


Black Lips - Get it on Time


Bright Eyes - Persona Non Grata


Lebanon Hanover - The Last Thing


The Orb - Daze (Missing & Messed Up Mix)


Oh Wonder - How it Goes
 

The Radio Dept. - You Fear the Wrong Thing Baby


Next Wave: MOTHERMARY

Mothermary were already around for three years now and it is in this catastrophic times that the duo caught our attention. They are twins, Elyse and Larena and as they say on their website, they left religion (Mormon upbringing) and decided to do music together. Their base in the last few years seems to have been NYC and this is also where they create their specific art form of electropop. So far they have released the debut EP 'Not a Virgin' and their brand new single/video for the song "Catch Fire" is out now on Italians Do It Better.



Retrovision: Inspiral Carpets - This is how it Feels

Thirty years ago Inspiral Carpets released one of their biggest hits and signature songs "This is how it feels" that was also their first Top 40 hit in their native UK. The song was featured on band's second album 'Life' released during the same year.

WAW: The Irrepressibles - Let Go

Jamie McDermott is back with his outfit The Irrepressibles for the third album 'Superheros' which is announced for May this year. The first single "Let Go" was premiered this week on YouTube and the video was directed by Savvas Stavrou.

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