"Robbed hit of the Week" 6/18/12 - Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy"...

Bow Wow Wow - "I Want Candy"

from the EP The Last Of The Mohicans (1982)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #62

This week's "robbed hit" is the creation of Sex Pistols/New York Dolls guru Malcolm McLaren. Put together to promote McLaren collegue Vivienne Westwood's clothing line, he stole away three members of Adam Ant's backing band, and hired 14-year-old Burmese-born Annabella Lwin. A younger Boy George had once sought a place in the group, but it was the fierce yet immature Lwin and the three ringer musicians that would end up being Bow Wow Wow.

As with most things McLaren touches, their first British top-40 hit brought the shock and controversy, as "C30 C60 C90 Go" was accused of glorifying home taping (ah, naive souls, what have you brought forth?). After switching from EMI to RCA Records, the band scored their biggest UK success with the top-10 "Go Wild In The Country", from the album See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang, Yeah City All Over! Go Ape Crazy, which was scandalized even more from its recreation of a Manet painting with an unclothed (and still minor) Lwin at a picnic.

But it was a cover of a 60s garage-rock classic that brought the band to the States. "I Want Candy" was originally released in 1965 by another group that tweaked the music business PR scene, the Strangeloves. Pretending to be Australian but actually New Yorkers, a trio of songwriters responsible for penning the Angels' classic "My Boyfriend's Back". Coming up with alternate fantasy identities as sheep farming magnates the Strange brothers that nightshifted as a rock band, the Strangeloves had a #11 hit with their original song.

Now what Bow Wow Wow did it take the primal underlying drum beat and built from that, taking all their notes from their Adam and the Ants days.

While "I Want Candy" and it's instantly-recognizable guitar-riffs gave the band another British top-10 hit, the song unbelievably stalled in the lower half of the US charts, though it did make the top-40 of the US rock and dance charts. Since then, the song has proven to be one of the more enduring "robbed hits" of the decade, more liked and played then many of the top-10 hits of that year.

After breaking with McLaren, Bow Wow Wow would only go on to one more minor hit (1983's "Do You Wanna Hold Me"), but would be an inspiration for later punk bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers in their use of African rhythms in their music.


In 1996, UK novelty dance act Candy Girls scored a top-40 hit in Britain with their take on the track...

..and if you think that couldn't get any cheesier, the 90's Justin Bieber, Aaron Carter, recorded a version that went top-40 in England and even top-10 in Sweden (they love their sugar). Here he is with Hilary Duff swayin'...

In 2007, Melanie C, or "Sporty Spice" if you will, resurrected the song for another top-40 UK hit...

And finally in 2009 will.i.am cribbed the record for the Black Eyed Peas track "Electric City"...

But nothing beats the record by the girl only born a year after the original came out and the former Ants' backing.