As many of you reading this might already know Bow Wow Wow’s “I Want Candy” (which was never much of a hit record anywhere despite its status as a New Wave classic) is a cover of a 1965 rocker by the Strangeloves. The Strangeloves were purported to be three musical brothers from Australia. In their fictional backstory Giles, Miles and Niles Strange got rich with the crossbreeding invention of the long-haired “Gottehrer” sheep. Wealthy beyond their wildest dreams, the brothers Strange now had the means to conquer the world of rock and roll. They are pictured on the cover of their debut (and only) album sporting zebra-skin vests behind exotic looking drum instruments.

In reality the trio was the hit songwriting team of Bob Feldman, Jerry Goldstein and Richard Gottehrer who had things like “My Boyfriend’s Back” by the Angels under their belt before they started to put out their own performances of their own songs under the Strangeloves moniker for Bert Berns’ BANG Records label (which also put out hit singles by Van Morrison and Neil Diamond).

Actually they were the Strange Loves for their debut single “Love, Love (That’s All I Want from You).” That name could be said like “I’m really strange, love” in a Ringo voice and sounds exactly like the name of a British Invasion group would sound, presumably inspired by the Stanley Kubrick film. The thing was, none of them could do a convincing English accent. So they became Aussies, an accent less familiar to American ears then. The point I suppose was for the group to be thought of as part of this whole “invasion” thing. The “mystique” of being from a foreign land. This was the swinging beat from down under, the Australian invasion and yada, yada, yada. The song was not a hit.

Their second attempt at climbing to the top of the pop charts was, peaking at #11 in the US singles chart. But now they had to go out and actually perform it. Eventually Feldman, Goldstein and Gottehrer sent another version of the Strangeloves out on the road on their behalf. They in turn were replaced by another formation.
 

Do these guys look anything at all like the Australian sheep-herding brothers at the top of this post? No. No they do not.
 
“I Want Candy” whether in its original incarnation or the Bow Wow Wow version is a catchy little number, utilizing the famous Bo Diddley beat to work its magic. If you’ve never heard the original before, Bow Wow Wow’s cover sticks very close to its arrangement, down to the distinctive drum beats.
 

 
But when I was listening to the Strangeloves’ album, it seemed like their version of “Hang on Sloopy” stuck very closely to the hit version of that song by the McCoys. It turns out that the McCoys’ version instead hews very closely to theirs. How close you ask? It’s the very same backing track.

I’ll explain: Feldman, Goldstein and Gottehrer had been touring with the Dave Clark Five when that group decided to nick their arrangement of “Hang on Sloopy” (originally “My Girl Sloopy” an R&B hit for the Vibrations in 1964) and informed them of this and that it was going to be their next single when the got back home. Not ready to put out another record with “I Want Candy” in the charts, but wanting to get there before the Dave Clark Five did, Feldman, Goldstein and Gottehrer enlisted the talents of one Rick Zehringer, the 17-year-old lead singer of Rick and the Raiders, an Ohio/Indiana-based group and had him sing the song over their already recorded backing track and the McCoys featuring Rick Derringer were born. The record of course became a #1 smash hit and a mainstay of oldies radio. (“Hang On Sloopy” is the official rock song of the state of Ohio, and played at many, even most Ohio sporting events to this very day. Its inspiration, in case you’ve ever wondered—and haven’t we all—is jazz pianist Dorothy Sloop.)

Later Derringer joined Johnny Winter’s backing band and he would then team up with Winter’s brother in Edgar Winter’s White Trash. He’s also responsible for the monster 1973 hit “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo” and has worked with Meatloaf, Cyndi Lauper, Bonnie Tyler, Air Supply, “Weird” Al Yankovic, Steely Dan and toured with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band.

These days Rick Derringer is a rightwing Christian and huge Trump supporter who has appeared on Alex Jones’ podcast with Roger Stone. He once recorded a rap version of “Rock and Roll Hoochie Koo” with new lyrics that reflect his Christian beliefs. In 2017 the aging rocker was arrested for carrying a loaded gun on a flight from Cancun to Atlanta.

Richard Gottehrer’s post-Strangeloves production career saw him work with bands like Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Blondie, Dr. Feelgood, and the Go-Gos. He also co-founded Sire Records with Seymour Stein in 1966 and in 1997 the massive distribution firm The Orchard. Jerry Goldstein would manage the Circle Jerks, among several other acts.

I Want Candy by the Strangeloves has recently been reissued on vinyl for the first time in 30 years in a candy apple red pressing limited to 1000 copies by Real Gone Music. Buy it here.
 

Bow Wow Wow’s 1982 cover version.
 

The Strangeloves performing “I Want Candy” onstage with Yo La Tengo in 2018 at Bowery Ballroom in New York. This was their first time performing together in over 50 years.