Barking Up an Old Tree

Back in 1980, Annabella Lwin wasn’t much older than LeAnn Rimes is now when punk impresario Malcolm McLaren put her in the spotlight, fronting a band called Bow Wow Wow.

The quartet was frequently dismissed as a flashy, ephemeral product of the marketing zeal of McLaren, who had earlier gained notoriety creating and managing the Sex Pistols. But history has been kind to the short-lived band (whose members ever so briefly included Boy George before he went on to Culture Club).

Bow Wow Wow’s sound is remembered as a savvy combination of scrappy punk rock, hummable pop and exotic rhythms borrowed from both African and Native American music cultures, perhaps best exemplified in the group’s rambunctious 1982 hit remake of the Strangeloves’ “I Want Candy.”

Now, 14 years after the 1983 breakup, Bow Wow Wow is back on stage, reunited for a U.S. tour that includes shows at the Galaxy Concert Theatre in Santa Ana on Friday, in West Hollywood on Saturday and in the city of Industry on Sunday.

“Bow Wow Wow is a unique band,” Lwin says. “And when we play, it’s like magic on stage. I really missed live work ‘cause I hadn’t done it for such a long time. Since I haven’t been out there prostituting myself in the music scene, I’ve realized that there just aren’t that many good live acts around. I can’t really speak for America, but in England it’s like, ‘Where’s the live bands?’

Bassist Leigh Gorman was the only other original Bow Wow Wow member available for the reunion.

Guitarist Matthew Ashman died two years ago of complications of diabetes; taking his place is guitarist Dave Calhoun, who played in the Vapours, contemporaries of Bow Wow Wow best known for their frenetic cult hit “Turning Japanese.”

Drummer Dave Barbarossa is playing with Republica, and his commitments to that group prevented him from joining his former comrades, although he did coach his replacement, Eshan Khadaroo, through rehearsals before Bow Wow Wow hit the road.

The reunion was triggered when Bow Wow Wow agreed to re-form earlier this year for a weeklong ‘80s retrospective package tour that also included Human League, Berlin, Howard Jones and the Fixx. When tour organizers chose to put the new wave fest on hold, Lwin and company decided to forge ahead on their own. Their tour, which kicked off with two sold-out shows in Seattle last month, continues through February.

For Gorman, this reunion has been an opportunity not only to rediscover Bow Wow Wow’s music but also to appreciate the inventiveness that went into it.

Gorman says it’s too soon to know whether this incarnation of Bow Wow Wow will pick up where the original lineup left off in the studio, but for now he’s content to relive the fun with fans turning out to see the band.

“We used to have a lot of great times, but there was a lot of pressure on us in those days,” he says. “It was kind of like a job, and there was a lot of stress. We were under pressure from the record company and Malcolm and everyone else. Now I’m playing [these songs] again, and I’m really enjoying it.”

BE THERE

Bow Wow Wow plays Friday at the Galaxy Concert Theatre, 3503 S. Harbor Blvd., Santa Ana, 8 p.m. $16.50-$18.50. (714) 957-0600.