"C·30 C·60 C·90 Go" is the debut single by English new wave band
Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow are an English New wave music, new wave band, created by manager Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren recruited members of Adam and the Ants to form the band with then 13-year-old Annabella Lwin on lead vocals. They released their deb ...
. It was written by
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English fashion designer and music manager. He was a promoter and a manager for punk rock and new wave bands such as New York Dolls, Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, and ...
,
Matthew Ashman
Matthew James Ashman (3 November 1960 – 21 November 1995) – accessed June 2011 was an English guitarist with ,
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 guitar ...
cassette single
A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single (music), single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was introduced in 1980 in music, 1 ...
.
Background
After recording ''
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 ...
'' as members of
Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were an English Rock music, rock band that formed in London in 1977. The band existed in two versions, both fronted by Adam Ant, between 1977 and 1982. The first phase began when the band were founded in May 1977 and were call ...
, Ashman, Gorman and Barbarossa were convinced by former
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...
manager McLaren to leave
Adam Ant
Stuart Leslie Goddard (born 3 November 1954), known professionally as Adam Ant, 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 ...
to form Bow Wow Wow under his management. Liverpool session musician, music director, and talent scout Dave Fishel heard
Annabella Lwin
Annabella Lwin (born Myant Myant Aye, , 31 October 1966) is an English-Burmese singer, songwriter and record producer best known as the lead vocalist of Bow Wow Wow.
Early life, family and education
Lwin was born on 31 October 1966 in Rangoon, ...
singing along to the radio at the dry cleaners in
West Hampstead
West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden. Neighbouring areas includes Childs Hill to the north, Frognal to the east, Swiss Cottage to the south-east, South Hampstead to the south and Kilburn to the south-west.
The neighbourh ...
where she worked and convinced McLaren to audition her for the band. They signed with
EMI Records
EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...
in July 1980 and released "C·30 C·60 C·90 Go" shortly afterward.
Release
The single was originally released solely on cassette. EMI refused to promote the cassingle due to lyrics ("Off the radio I get constant flow/Hit it, pause it, record and play/Turn it, rewind and rub it away") that promoted
home taping
"Home Taping Is Killing Music" was the slogan of a 1980s anti-copyright infringement propaganda campaign by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), a British music industry trade group. With the rise in cassette recorder popularity, the BPI fe ...
during an era when music piracy was a hot-button issue. The
B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
, "Sun, Sea and Piracy", was also on side 1 of the tape, making the second side blank, presumably so the listener could follow Lwin's lead.
After several weeks, it was also issued as a vinyl 7" single, reaching No. 34 on the UK Singles Chart and staying on the chart for seven weeks. The song was ranked among the top 10 "Tracks of the Year" for 1980 by ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...
'', as was their cassette-only debut
mini-album
A mini-LP or mini-album is a short record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A mini- ...
'' Your Cassette Pet''. ''Your Cassette Pet'' contained only eight tracks, and was not available on vinyl, making it only eligible for the singles chart, and not the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
.
B-side
"Sun, Sea and Piracy" was also written by McLaren, Ashman, Gorman and Barbarossa. It too promoted home taping, then lying on a beach and enjoying the fruits of this labour. "C·30 C·60 C·90 Go" itself became a B-side when the Spanish version, "C·30 C·60 C·90 Anda", was used as the B-side to their follow-up single, "W.O.R.K (N.O. Nah No! No! My Daddy Don't)".