in the spirit of valentine's day, and for anyone that needs a pick-me-up any old time, i present ms. annabella lwin, and the fellas from bow wow wow.
bow wow wow was as blatant a marketing enterprise as any, but as a teenager, what did i care? annabella lwin was IT. she was a riot of color and cool. even though they were from england, they screamed california (where this jersey girl wanted to be).
"i want candy" is the hit, but "do you wanna hold me?" is the track i will never tire of. matthew ashman's guitar and her whoa whoa whoaaas kill me.
i used to read billboard magazine religiously and was vigilant about monitoring the mtv "maximum rotation" listings. i could pretty well predict when my favorite videos would be on, but i don't think this ever made the list--it was a real thrill to catch it.
it's practically new to me, seeing it now. what a goofy little statement on our consumption culture. i didn't remember all the food and the eating. and the random surfboard, rockets, and car "drive-bys."
back then i didn't recognize annabella as "carmen miranda."
i vaguely recall ashman in the reagan mask (love it).
my only true memory of the video had been the white background, and annabella dancing in the cowboy outfit, but it seems i've blatantly pilfered that little side-to-side head bob of hers (here at around 2:20).
i also wonder if my interest food images started here? that last shot reminds me of a favorite jan albers chocolate painting.
sorry for the quality of the video, but i wasn't lying when i said the video was a rarity back then. i'm happy enough to have this.
enjoy.
oh, and here is a link to their famously controversial see jungle! ep cover, an homage to manet's the luncheon on the grass (le déjeuner sur l'herbe).
