Search - Bow Wow Wow :: See Jungle See Jungle

Not Deserving Of Thier Maligned Reputation

Gavin B. | St. Louis MO | 02/13/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Bow Wow Wow did not deserve it's much maligned reputation as over-hyped lightweights, dancing on the puppet strings of Svengali Malcom McLaren. True..McLauen was about the closest thing to a P.T. Barnum ringmaster that rock and roll has ever produced, but Bow Wow Wow was an accomplished and innovative performing band that rose above McLauren's provactive antics. The story goes like this...In 1980,after the meltdown of the Sex Pistols, McLauren "discovered" 14 year old Burmese beauty Myant Myant Aye, rechristened her Anabella Lwin and thrust her in front of a band consisting of Adam and the Ant's former bandmates. McLauren recast Anabella as sexaully precocious, half dressed Lolita-esque singer, cooing lyrics so sexually explicit in content, that you didn't have be Freud to figure this one out. McLauren then added the final flourishes; buccaneer-era period costumes and mohawk haircuts. There were stategically released vinyl singles beginning with "C-30,C-60,C-90 Go!", an anthem which advocated destroying the record industry through home taping music. In 1981, Bow Wow Wow released thier first album with the unwieldly title of "See Jungle!See Jungle!Go Join Your Gang,Yeah City All Over! Go Ape Crazy!", which delighted rock critics all over, because most of them were paid by the word for their articles. Joking aside, Bow Wow Wow espoused an rustic, anarchic society, where people "ran naked in the breeze." Provacatuer McLauren had a field day and the staid Brits were shocked.The cover of "See Jungle!" (I'm not paid by the word) is a parody of French Impressionist painter Manet's 1863 masterpiece "Dejeuner Sur L'Herbe" (Lunch on the Grass)and was controversial enough to be banned in the USA until 1992. Anabella's mother sued McLauren over Anabella's reclining nudity, an action McLauren certainly relished for it's hype value. The musical content of "See Jungle" with it's raw energy and masterful execution transcend the hype.The age range of the band was 15-20 years old at the time of this release and each musician had developed highly stylized approach to playing. The first thing you notice is the beat. Drummer Dave Barbarossa's tightly stretched snare and thundering tom-toms evoked ritual drumming of ancient Afican tribes. It was labelled the Brundi Beat, after a West African tribal clan. Matthew Ashman's guitar reverb and tensely knotted licks were straight out of the Duane Eddy school, with a bit of Dick Dale surf guitar lunacy, and spaghetti western noodling thrown in for good measure. Leigh Gorman's cascading bass lines appeared influenced by West Indian soca and West African ju-ju music. Anabella's limited vocal talents were offset by her wild child personna and her intuitive ability to connect with the listener. "Go Wild In the Country", "TV Savage" and "Sinner!Sinner!Sinner!" showcase Bow Wow Wow's volatile chemistry and are the most about the most compelling invitations to dance that you'll ever hear. This CD cries out for a remastering, however. I owned this album in vinyl and the sound is cleanly separated and unimpedied by lower and upper register distortion, unlike this CD.Finally, I saw Bow Wow Wow live at the Bradford Ballroom in Boston, during their first and only American tour in 1981 and they not only exceeded my expectations, but blew the roof off the joint. In spite, of impessario Malcom McLauern's attention to style and not content, Bow Wow Wow proved themselves as one of the more perfomance ready and road worthy touring bands of the early eighties."

This could have been a Classic....

J. Brady | PAWLEYS ISLAND, SC United States | 05/06/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Forget the story behind the band, it was for the time slightly sordid. ( Band members "stolen" from Adam and the Ants, underage singer posing semi - nude on album covers etc etc. ) Forget that the dubious and devious Malcolm McLaren was the mastermind behind this band during their early years. Bow Wow Wow were uniquely talented musicians, totally overlooked at the time because of the novelty of said underage lead singer, and the fact that their only US hit was a cover ( I Want Candy, which is not on this cd )Throw together rumbling, African and tribal inspired drumming, Duane Eddy - esque guitars, and perhaps one of the most talented bass players to come out of Britain, together with the untrained vocals ( more chants, sighs and screams, really ) of young Annabella Lwin, and you have the idea. It would seem that this sound wouldn't hold up over and entire album, but for me it does. There is much variety here. Standouts include King Kong, Hello Hello Daddy ( I'll Sacrifice You ) and T.V. Savage. I do however prefer the extended, remixed versions of both the title track and Go Wild in the Country, which were on the US-only compilation album I Want Candy, which as far as I know is sadly no longer available on compact disc. I dock this cd one point only because of the sound itself. I bought the album in the mid - eighties, as an import, and it had MUCH better suond than this cd does. As mentioned in an earlier review posted by another buyer, the sound is muddled, with nary a high or low to be found. It seems all mid-range to me, and there isn't good seperation of instruments. In other words, not exactly a fine job in remastering from the original tapes over to cd. Which is odd, because some of the sogs from this album are on various "best of" cd's that I already have. If this were preserved on cd as it was on vinyl, it would be a classic of the early eighties "New Wave" era. As it is, it a slightly flawed but still highly recommended disc."

Muddy sound mars otherwise great CD

crossfire905 | Temple City, CA United States | 08/29/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Bow Wow Wow are an acquired taste, no doubt about that. Aside from the possible exception of Adam And The Ants, no other band sounds remotely like them, but that's no coincidence - these guys WERE "The Ants" in 1980, until Malcolm McLaren stole them away from Adam Ant to team them with a young Burmese singer named Anabelle Lwin. The resulting sound is heavy with jungle rhythms, hyperactive vocals and, at times, some very infectious melodies.Anybody who is familiar with 1980's music will know the song "I Want Candy," which was their biggest [only?] hit, but there is far more depth to this band. In my opinion, the standout tracks here are Jungle Boy [from which the album takes its full unwieldy title, "See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah! City All Over, Go Ape Crazy!"], T.V. Savage, Golly! Golly! Go Buddy!, and Go Wild In The Country [the song which prompted me to buy the cassette and made me a fan of Bow Wow Wow about fifteen years ago]. Some of the songs are merely adequate, and there are a few I could do without [Elimination Dancing, for one], but when they are good, they are VERY good.If you ARE a fan, this is a great album, but if you're just discovering Bow Wow Wow, it may take some time to fully appreciate them. I do have some complaints about the production, though - I don't know where they got the master tape, but the whole thing sounds a bit muddy and muffled [a complaint that I could make about the cassette as well]. Reducing the bass and bringing up the treble will help, but this is obviously a recording from the old days of analog tape and little has been done to brighten things up.If you aren't familiar with this band, definitely check out the audio clips first - they're a good representation of the unique Bow Wow Wow sound."