Leigh Gorman
Leigh Gorman | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born | London | 11 December 1961
Origin | England |
Genres | Rock, new wave |
Years active | 1978–present |
Website | myspace |
Leigh Gorman (born 11 December 1961) is an English rock musician, record producer, and composer, best known for his work as the bass player for Bow Wow Wow.
Early life
Leigh grew up in the East End of London. He started playing classical guitar at the age of 12. Graduating to the bass guitar two years later, he developed a unique, classically-rooted, extremely fast and funky style. Leigh made the acquaintance of Marc Bolan's road manager who gave him free rein to use all of Marc's spare equipment. Leigh was able to play virtually anything he picked up, but he had an affinity for stringed instruments. Aside from mastering classical, flamenco, rock, and bass guitar, Leigh taught himself to play the sitar, bouzouki, mandolin, and keyboards. He started doing session work at 16 and went on to join a band called 57 Men, the first incarnation of which featured vocalist Glenn Gregory (who went on to form Heaven 17). The rest of the band later became Wang Chung.
Adam and the Ants
While gigging around town, Leigh was spotted by Knox of The Vibrators, who asked him to audition for Adam and the Ants. Leigh joined the Ants in November 1979 and Adam Ant, hoping to gain wider recognition, hired former Sex Pistols manager, Malcolm McLaren. But, McLaren had other ideas and persuaded Gorman, guitarist Matthew Ashman and drummer David Barbarossa to leave Adam behind and form a new group under McLaren's management.[1] Thirteen-year-old Annabella Lwin was recruited as vocalist, and the band became Bow Wow Wow.
Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow signed with
In November 1980, Bow Wow Wow released the cassette-only
Bow Wow Wow signed next with
In 1983, Bow Wow Wow released their second full-length album,
The group were due to embark on a world tour in support of When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going, but tensions within the group were rising, as the members suffered illness and exhaustion after intense US touring.[11] Following a brief hiatus, Gorman, Ashman and Barbarossa kicked Annabella out of the group, and formed Chiefs of Relief with Ashman as its lead singer.[12]
Production and recent work
Gorman and Barbarossa left Chiefs of Relief after only a few months. Leigh tried to form a new band with Barbarossa, did some work with Lwin, wrote new songs, did session work, then ultimately turned to producing. In 1989, Gorman's production of
In the early-90s, Gorman worked again with Malcolm McLaren, co-writing and producing the Paris album, featuring the voice of Catherine Deneuve.[14] This jazz-influenced album sold well throughout Europe, resulting in an album of Gorman's ambient dance mixes being released. The duo proceeded to collaborate on several high-profile TV commercials and two film scores. Gorman wrote and produced micro-operettas, soundscapes, and hip-hop & soul jams for the small screen for such clients as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, MCI, Nike, Inc. and Renault. In the summer of 1997, his remix of Mr. President's "I Give You My Heart" went Top 10 in the UK dance charts for 3 weeks.
Bow Wow Wow reunion
Also in 1997, Gorman and Lwin reformed Bow Wow Wow and embarked on the "Barking Mad" reunion tour with guitarist Dave Calhoun and drummer Eshan Khadaroo. The tour produced the live CD Wild in the U.S.A. which also included remixes of previous Bow Wow Wow tracks. The tour sparked off a spate of label interest. This demand also prompted Leigh to move to America. Missing the dance world and playing in the live arena, in March 2000, Leigh joined SoCal organic/electronic rave band Electric Skychurch for some live dates. The band achieved notoriety playing sunrise sets at the infamous Full Moon Gatherings deep in the Mojave Desert.
Gorman and Lwin recorded a new song, entitled "A Thousand Tears", for
In 2003 Gorman and Lwin reformed Bow Wow Wow again with Los Angeles guitarist
In June 2006 Bow Wow Wow recorded a cover of
With a new guitarist (Jimmy Magoon) and drummer (Dylan Thomas), Bow Wow Wow played shows in California and toured the UK during 2011-2012.[15] In December 2012, Gorman began performing under the name "Bow Wow Wow" new singer Chloe Demetria of the band Vigilant replacing Lwin on vocals.[16][17] In 2014, actor/musician Zachary Throne (Sin City Sinners) joined the band on guitar.[18] In a 2016 Washington Times interview, Gorman indicated that he was interested in creating new Bow Wow Wow music with this lineup.
References
- ^ Lyon, Joshua (6 September 2016). "Annabella Lwin & the History of Bow Wow Wow". V (American magazine).
- ^ "C·30 C·60 C·90 Go". Discogs.com. July 1980.
- ^ Johnson, Bobbie (19 October 2006). "CDs, downloads ... and now band launches the memory-stick single". The Guardian. London.
- ^ Jones, Rob (15 April 2013). "Bow Wow Wow Play "C30 C60 C90 Go"". The Delete Bin.
- ^ "Bow Wow Wow – Your Cassette Pet". Discogs. November 1980.
- ^ "Bow Wow Wow Official UK Singles Charts". The Official UK Charts Company.
- ^ "Bow Wow Wow - I Want Candy". Discogs. 12 October 2021.
- ^ Demalon, Tom. "I Want Candy Review". AllMusic.
- ^ "Netherlands Singles". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
- ^ "Bow Wow Wow – Do You Wanna Hold Me?". AllMusic.
- ^ Dahlin, Teddie. "Dave Barbarossa: The Sound of the Barbarossa Beat". Mudkiss.
- ^ McLean, Craig (19 April 2012). "Bow Wow Wow haven't lost their bite". The Guardian.
- ^ Valcourt, Keith (28 January 2016). "Leigh Gorman: 'Have bass will travel'". The Washington Times.
- ^ "Malcolm McLaren – Paris". Discogs. 1994.
- ^ "Bow Wow Wow Full Concert Listings on". Songkick. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
- ^ Whiteside, Johnny (12 April 2016). "The Great Rock & Roll Swindle: 8 Touring Bands With Barely Recognizable Lineups". LA Weekly.
- ^ "Interviews: Annabella Lwin (Bow Wow Wow)". Punknews.org. 8 April 2014.
- ^ "Bow Wow Wow". Facebook.
External links
- Official website - inactive
- Leigh Gorman at IMDb
- Bow Wow Wow's official website at the Library of Congress Web Archives (archived 2002-11-13)