David Barbarossa (born 1961, also known as Dave Barbe) is a drummer and an author of British and Mauritian descent. As part of both
Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. The group existed in two incarnations, both fronted by Adam Ant, over the period 1977 to 1982. The first, founded in May 1977 and known simply as The Ants until November of t ...
and
Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow are an English new wave band, created by manager Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren recruited members of Adam and the Ants to form the band behind 13-year-old Annabella Lwin on vocals. They released their debut EP '' Your Cassette ...
, he was instrumental in creating the highly influential and innovative tribal drumming style that was popular among British and some American bands from 1979 to 1983.
Adam and the Ants
Barbarossa joined
Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. The group existed in two incarnations, both fronted by Adam Ant, over the period 1977 to 1982. The first, founded in May 1977 and known simply as The Ants until November of t ...
in 1977 and was the drummer for their debut album ''
Dirk Wears White Sox
''Dirk Wears White Sox'' is the debut studio album by English new wave band Adam and the Ants. It was released on 30 November 1979 by record label Do It. It was the first number one album on the UK Independent Albums Chart when the chart debut ...
''. It was released on 30 October 1979 by Do It Records and was the first number one album on the
UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rel ...
when the chart debuted in ''Record Week'' in 1980.
Shortly afterward,
Adam Ant
Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten ...
hired former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren in the hope of gaining more widespread recognition. Instead, McLaren persuaded Barbarossa, guitarist
Matthew Ashman
Matthew James Ashman (3 November 1960 – 21 November 1995) – accessed June 2011 was an English guitarist with and bassist
Leigh Gorman
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 guita ...
to leave Adam behind, and form a group under McLaren's management. Thirteen-year-old
Annabella Lwin
Annabella Lwin (born Myant Myant Aye, , 31 October 1966) is an Anglo-Burmese singer, songwriter and record producer best known as the lead singer of Bow Wow Wow.
Early life, family and education
Lwin was born in Rangoon, Burma to a Burmese fat ...
joined the group as its vocalist, and the band became
Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow are an English new wave band, created by manager Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren recruited members of Adam and the Ants to form the band behind 13-year-old Annabella Lwin on vocals. They released their debut EP '' Your Cassette ...
.
Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow signed with EMI Records in July 1980. Their first single, "
C·30 C·60 C·90 Go
"C·30 C·60 C·90 Go" is the debut single by English new wave band Bow Wow Wow. It was written by Malcolm McLaren, Matthew Ashman, Leigh Gorman and Dave Barbarossa. Originally only released on cassette, it was the world's first-ever cassett ...
!", for which Barbarossa shared songwriting credit with McLaren, Ashman and Gorman, holds the distinction of being the world's first-ever
cassette single
A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was first introduced in 1980.
History
The debut ...
. It reached No. 34 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
and stayed on the chart for seven weeks, despite its lack of promotion due to lyrics that encouraged music piracy.
In November 1980, Bow Wow Wow released the cassette-only ''
Your Cassette Pet
''Your Cassette Pet'' is the cassette-only debut mini-album by English new wave band Bow Wow Wow, released in November 1980 on EMI Records. It included a cover of the 1940 Johnny Mercer/Rube Bloom pop hit " Fools Rush In".
Release
''Your Casset ...
''. Likewise, Barbarossa shared songwriting credit with McLaren, Ashman and Gorman on seven of ''Your Cassette Pet''s eight tracks. As it was not available on vinyl, it was eligible only for the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at No. 58. EMI dropped the group after their second single "W.O.R.K. (N.O. Nah, No No My Daddy Don't)" failed to chart.
After splitting with EMI, Bow Wow Wow signed with
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...
Go Wild in the Country
"Go Wild in the Country" is a single by English new wave band Bow Wow Wow from their album '' See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah, City All Over! Go Ape Crazy!''. Released in January 1982 by RCA Records, it was their first top 10 hit on ...
" in early 1982. In May 1982, Bow Wow Wow released the four-track EP ''
The Last of the Mohicans
''The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757'' is a historical romance written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826.
It is the second book of the ''Leatherstocking Tales'' pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. '' The Pathfinder ...
'', which contained a remake of
the Strangeloves
The Strangeloves were a band created in 1964 by the New York-based American songwriting and production team of Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein, and Richard Gottehrer. They initially pretended to be from Australia. The Strangeloves' most suc ...
' 1965 hit "
I Want Candy
"I Want Candy" is a song written and originally recorded by the Strangeloves in 1965 that reached No. 11 in the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. It is a famous example of a song that uses the Bo Diddley beat.
Original version
"I Want Candy" ...
'. "I Want Candy" was Bow Wow Wow's biggest international hit, due in part to an iconic music video that played in heavy rotation on MTV.
In 1983, Bow Wow Wow released their second full-length album ''
When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going
"When the going gets tough, the tough get going" is a popular witticism in American English.
The phrase is an example of antimetabole.
The origin of the phrase has been attributed to various sources. It appears to come from American football par ...
''. The lead single "Do You Wanna Hold Me?" reached No. 47 in the UK, but fared best on the Dutch charts, where it peaked at No. 3. The song reached No. 77 in the U.S.
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 were suffering from illness and exhaustion after intense touring. After a brief hiatus, Barbarossa, Ashman and Gorman kicked Annabella out of the group, and formed
Chiefs of Relief
Chiefs of Relief were a British rock group with a unique electro-punk style, punctuated by the guitar work of vocalist Matthew Ashman, and also featuring drummer Paul Cook. The Chiefs fused rock with hip hop and electronic elements from the e ...
with Ashman as its lead singer.
Post Bow Wow Wow
Barbarossa's stay with
Chiefs of Relief
Chiefs of Relief were a British rock group with a unique electro-punk style, punctuated by the guitar work of vocalist Matthew Ashman, and also featuring drummer Paul Cook. The Chiefs fused rock with hip hop and electronic elements from the e ...
proved short lived, and he was soon replaced by former Sex Pistols drummer
Paul Cook
Paul Thomas Cook (born 20 July 1956) is an English drummer and member of the punk rock band the Sex Pistols. He was also called "Cookie" by his friends on the punk music scene.
Early life and career
Cook was raised in Hammersmith and atte ...
. After which, Barbarossa went into session drumming, and was part of
Beats International
Beats International were a British dance music band and hip-hop collective, formed in the late 1980s by Norman Cook (later in his career known as Fatboy Slim) based in Brighton, East Sussex, England, after his departure from the Housemartins.
...
's ever changing line-up. It was while doing session work that he teamed up with former Flowered Up keyboardist Tim Dorney, Andy Todd, guitarist Johnny Male and Nigerian-born lead singer
Saffron
Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent in ...
to form
Republica
Republica are an English alternative rock band formed in 1994. The height of their popularity spanned from 1996 to 1999. The current line-up consists of Saffron (vocals), Tim Dorney (keyboards), Johnny Male (guitar), Conor Lawrence (drums).
T ...
. Their debut album ''
Republica
Republica are an English alternative rock band formed in 1994. The height of their popularity spanned from 1996 to 1999. The current line-up consists of Saffron (vocals), Tim Dorney (keyboards), Johnny Male (guitar), Conor Lawrence (drums).
T ...
'' was released in July 1996 and reached No. 4 in the UK charts. The single " Ready to Go" peaked at No. 13 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, and "Drop Dead Gorgeous" peaked at No. 7.
He has played for
Chicane
A chicane () is a serpentine curve in a road, added by design rather than dictated by geography. Chicanes add extra turns and are used both in motor racing and on roads and streets to slow traffic for safety. For example, one form of chicane is ...
,
Adamski
Adam Paul Tinley (born 4 December 1967), known professionally as Adamski, as well as Sonny Eriksson, is an English DJ, musician, singer and record producer, prominent at the time of acid house for his tracks " N-R-G" and " Killer", a collabora ...
,
Gina Birch
Gina Birch is an English musician and filmmaker, best known as a founding member of post-punk rock band, the Raincoats.
Born in Nottingham, Birch attended Nottingham High School for Girls, and later the Hornsey School of Art, where she form ...
, Cactus Rain, Driza Bone and is a core member o CHANT an open source band whose members include
Youth
Youth is the time of life when one is young. The word, youth, can also mean the time between childhood and adulthood ( maturity), but it can also refer to one's peak, in terms of health or the period of life known as being a young adult. Yo ...
Adam Ant
Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten ...
on his
Dirk Wears White Sox
''Dirk Wears White Sox'' is the debut studio album by English new wave band Adam and the Ants. It was released on 30 November 1979 by record label Do It. It was the first number one album on the UK Independent Albums Chart when the chart debut ...
Tour of 2014. He also plays drums for Roland Gift of
Fine Young Cannibals
Fine Young Cannibals (FYC) was a British pop rock band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1984, by bassist David Steele, guitarist Andy Cox (both formerly of The Beat), and singer Roland Gift (formerly of the Akrylykz). Their self-titled 1985 ...
.
''Mud Sharks''
In 2012, Barbarossa released ''Mud Sharks'', a semi-autobiographical novel of a teenager growing up in London's punk scene in the late 1970s.
Musical style
Barbarossa is a self-taught musician. While he was still with the Ants, Malcolm McLaren gave him music tapes from different parts of the world, and he became fascinated by Burundi tribal drumming. Having emerged from the underground London punk rock scene, he created a highly unique tribal drumming style. Coupled with the suggestive lyrics squealed into the mic by their teenage lead vocalist, it became the signature of Bow Wow Wow's danceable new wave sound. Gorman & Lwin reunited for the "Barking Mad" tour in 1997-1998. Two shows from this tour were included on the CD ''
Wild in the U.S.A.
''Wild in the U.S.A.'' is a compilation album by English New wave music, new wave band Bow Wow Wow, released solely on compact disc in 1998 by Cleopatra Records.
''Wild in the U.S.A.'' is a 20-track compilation. The first six tracks are remixes o ...
'' on
Cleopatra Records
Cleopatra Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1992 by Brian Perera. The record label has since grown into a family of labels, including Hypnotic Records, Purple Pyramid Records, D ...
. In the liner notes, they thank Barbarossa for giving them "the original grooves."
Personal life
Barbarossa lives in London, and his desire not to leave London plays a large part in his desire not to participate in reunions for Bow Wow Wow. He has four children and has been married twice.
His brother is Gene Barbe, a painter based in Southern France.