Annabella Lwin

Singer

Birthday October 31, 1966

Birth Sign Scorpio

Birthplace Rangoon, Burma

Age 57 years old

Nationality Myanmar

#19124 Most Popular

1965

The title track, a cover of the Strangeloves' 1965 hit originally on The Last of the Mohicans.

1966

Annabella Lwin (born Myant Myant Aye,, 31 October 1966) is an English-Burmese singer, songwriter and record producer best known as the lead vocalist of Bow Wow Wow.

Lwin was born on 31 October 1966 in Rangoon, Burma to a Burmese father and an English mother.

1979

After recording Dirk Wears White Sox (1979) as members of Adam and the Ants, Matthew Ashman and David Barbarossa plus new Ants bassist Leigh Gorman (who had replaced Andy Warren since the sessions) were persuaded by former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren to leave Adam Ant to form a new band under his management.

Liverpool session musician, music director and talent scout Dave Fishel heard thirteen year old Lwin singing along to the radio in a West Hampstead dry cleaners where she worked and convinced McLaren to audition her.

Following her successful audition, he had her transfer from a mixed comprehensive school in London to the Sylvia Young Theatre School.

1980

Bow Wow Wow signed a recording contract with EMI Records in July 1980, and released their first single, "C·30 C·60 C·90 Go!", shortly afterwards.

Originally only released on cassette, it was the world's first-ever cassette single.

EMI did not promote the cassingle due to lyrics ("Off the radio I get constant flow/Hit it, pause it, record and play/Turn it, rewind and rub it away") that promoted home taping during an era when music piracy was a hot button issue and the use of cassette recorders to record music from the radio was still a controversial practice.

The B-side, "Sun, Sea and Piracy", also promoted home taping, then lying on a beach and enjoying the fruits of this labour.

Both tracks were on side 1 of the tape, making the second side blank, apparently so that the listener could follow Lwin's lead.

When Bow Wow Wow moved to RCA Records, controversy followed them over to their new label.

1981

The album cover of their debut studio album, See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah, City All Over! Go Ape Crazy! (1981) depicted the band recreating Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe (1863), with a then fourteen-year-old Lwin posing nude.

Photographed by Andy Earl, the cover caused outrage that led to an investigation by Scotland Yard, instigated by Lwin's mother.

1982

Undeterred, the band used the same photo on the cover of their follow-up extended play (EP) The Last of the Mohicans (1982), and the sleeve of the "Go Wild in the Country" single.

This picture is now part of the National Portrait Gallery collection.

Another nude photo of Lwin was used for the cover of I Want Candy less than a year later.

The single reached No. 9 in the UK Singles Charts in June 1982.

At the behest of Ashman, Lwin began writing for Bow Wow Wow's follow up, When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going.

When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going contained the hit "Do You Wanna Hold Me?", which received heavy rotation on MTV.

1983

During a hiatus following an intense US tour, Lwin was suddenly fired from the band in September 1983.

She found out about her firing by reading it in NME.

1995

The original guitarist of Bow Wow Wow, Matthew Ashman, had died of complications from diabetes in 1995, and various guitarists filled in.

1997

Lwin and former Bow Wow Wow bassist Leigh Gorman reunited in 1997 for a US tour.

The reunion included appearances by a range of musicians from the young up and coming, such as Eshan Khadaroo of Beat Kitchen, (Blue Man Group), and the established, including Adrian Young of No Doubt, both playing drums in place of original member David Barbarossa.

The tour began in December 1997, and ended in March 1998.

1998

Two shows, the 10 January 1998 show at the Bluebird Theater in Denver, Colorado, and the 7 March 1998 show at the Drama Club in Santa Fe, New Mexico, were used for a live CD, Wild in the U.S.A. on Cleopatra Records.

In 1998, Bow Wow Wow collaborated with DJ Swedish Egil on the track "Eastern Promise", released as part of Egil's Groove Radio Presents: Alternative Mix CD on Priority Records.

1999

They contributed the song "A Thousand Tears" to the 1999 film Desperate but Not Serious (retitled Reckless + Wild in the US), starring Christine Taylor and Claudia Schiffer, and appeared in the film.

2006

In 2006, Bow Wow Wow recorded a cover version of the Smiths' "I Started Something I Couldn't Finish", which appeared on three 2007 releases: a new three-track I Want Candy EP (Cleopatra), compilation album Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before: A Tribute to the Smiths (Cleopatra) and the Blood & Chocolate: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Lakeshore Records).

Bow Wow Wow songs "Aphrodisiac", "I Want Candy" and "Fools Rush In" (the latter two remixed by Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine) were included on the soundtrack of the Sofia Coppola film Marie Antoinette (2006).

Lwin was also the inspiration for how Coppola had lead actress Kirsten Dunst portray the title character.

The band performed on 2 November 2006 at the Maritime Hotel's Hiro Lounge in New York City to promote the film.

Lwin has recorded original material as a solo artist, and is a featured vocalist on numerous transatlantic dance tracks with producers/DJs, such as Tony B of Groove Radio, Jason Nevins, and the Utah Saints.

Lwin's songwriting also brought her into partnerships with producers such as Guy Chambers and Michael Lattanzi.

2010

On 21 November 2010, the 15th anniversary of Ashman's death, Barbarossa joined Lwin and Gorman at the Scala in London in a tribute concert for Ashman.

The show was headlined by Adam Ant, and also featured Ashman's other bands, Chiefs of Relief and Agent Provocateur.

2011

With a new guitarist (Jimmy Magoon) and drummer (Dylan Thomas), Bow Wow Wow played shows in California, US and toured the UK during 2011–2012.

2012

In December 2012, Gorman began performing under the name "Bow Wow Wow" with Chloe Demetria of the band Vigilant on lead vocals, and launched a new Bow Wow Wow Facebook page, all of which was done without Lwin's consent.

Lwin has continued to perform billed as "Annabella Lwin of the original Bow Wow Wow".