Bow Wow Wow were an English 1980s New Wave

New Wave music

New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...

 band created by Malcolm McLaren

Malcolm McLaren

Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...

 to promote his and business partner Vivienne Westwood

Vivienne Westwood

Dame Vivienne Westwood, DBE, RDI is a British fashion designer and businesswoman, largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.-Early life:...

's New Romantic

New Romantic

New Romanticism , was a pop culture movement in the United Kingdom that began around 1979 and peaked around 1981. Developing in London nightclubs such as Billy's and The Blitz and spreading to other major cities in the UK, it was based around flamboyant, eccentric fashion and new wave music...

 fashion lines.
The group's music is described as having an "African-derived drum sound".
McLaren persuaded guitarist Matthew Ashman

Matthew Ashman

Matthew James Ashman was an English guitarist with Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow. He died of diabetes-related complications in 1995, aged 35.-Career:...

, bassist Leigh Gorman

Leigh Gorman

Leigh Gorman is an English rock musician, record producer, and composer best known for his work as the bass player for Bow Wow Wow.-Early life:...

 and drummer David Barbarossa

David Barbarossa

David Barbarossa is a British drummer.As part of both Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow, Barbarossa was instrumental in creating the "Tribal" drumming trend that was popular among British and some American bands, circa 1979–1983...

 (also known as Dave Barbe), of the then line-up of Adam and the Ants

Adam and the Ants

Adam and the Ants were a British rock band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The original group, which existed from 1977 to 1980, became notable as a cult band marking the transition from the late-1970s punk rock era to the post-punk and New Wave era...

 to leave founder of the band Adam Ant

Adam Ant

Adam Ant is an English musician who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1980 and 1983, including three No.1s...

 and form a new group.

After a six-month long audition process for a lead singer, the band hired Annabella Lwin

Annabella Lwin

Annabella Lwin is an Anglo-Burmese singer, songwriter and record producer best known as the lead singer of Bow Wow Wow.-Biography:Lwin was born to a Burmese father and an English mother in Rangoon, Burma .Medina, Maximillian Mark; ChopBlock.com Her birth name in Burmese translates to "High,...

.