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.

Much more after the jump…

 
Phil Strongman’s new documentary Anarchy! McLaren Westwood Gang is a politically-fueled, fashion-conscious deeper look at how the English punk explosion was ignited—how the bomb was built and under what circumstances, in other words.

Coming in at almost two and a half hours with an incredible cast of characters, Anarchy! McLaren Westwood Gang traces Malcolm McClaren back to his birth with loads of never before seen films and photos, personal information and interviews with family members, friends and others, taking us into the all important mid-sixties where the real nucleus of the Sex Pistols concept begins to form within the Situationist movement, King Mob (the UK equivilent), art school and observing the tribal customs and costumes of rock ‘n roll fanaticism.

The 1968 the French student riots had a huge influence on McLaren, who travelled to Paris at the time, and there were key players from that era who played recurring roles in his life. Much of the concepts and ideas—art, slogans, everything really—originated there and then. The interviews with the people from this period were what I wanted to see most and there was no disappointment. The interviews with Malcolm himself indicate that he still was speaking in slogans right up to the very end.
 

 
If you’re looking for yet another love letter to punk rock (yawn) with the same old crap stories, then keep on pogoing as this is a very interesting (for the most part) tale of politics, sex, drugs, bombs, rock ‘n roll, and the all important fashion accessories to wear whilst bombing and rocking and rolling and fucking on drugs. If punk never really happened and this was just a wild tale of a bunch of crazed young people that tried to accomplish what punk wrought and failed, it would still be just as interesting. The fact that first an entire country and then the entire world sat up, noticed, listened and actually feared this tiny group of absurd-looking lunatics (some leading, most following) on their search and destroy mission is incredible to contemplate. Today they’d just be given their own reality TV show.

It’s a bit of a revelation for those who think a few drunk idiots formed a band and yelled and jumped around a lot while desperately trying to learn how to play their instruments. (Even at this late date it is still being said that these guys could not play or sing, which is ridiculous as is easily proven by any Sex Pistols live performance video from any period.) However, someone could have done enough homework to know to leave out Ben Westwood’s totally wrong assumption (stated as fact, of course) that Sid’s mom and girlfriend gave him heroin that he overdosed on (I personally was there that night and I and enough other people have done countless interviews stating what really happened). He even calls Methadone, Methadrone (good name for a band actually). Other than these two minor problems, and the rather large objection that for a film titled Anarchy! McLaren Westwood Gang it’s quite light on the Westwood side of things, this very long film goes by very quickly, and is really well made. Director Strongman was good friends with McLaren, having worked in the Glitterbest offices (the Sex Pistols management company) and was an actual eyewitness to much of what he is discussing here.
 

 
There lots of great interviews with everyone from Adam Ant to Don Letts to Tracey Emin to Boy George (who tells a great story about when he sang for Bow Wow Wow) to Sex Pistol Paul Cook (with amazing black and white footage of the Pistols hanging around at the Berlin wall). The music is honestly the least of the subjects focused on. In fact much of the film is framed with scenes of girls modeling Dame Westwood’s fashions (partially topless) to a modern soundtrack with an operatic vocal sung onscreen. (And thank god for that. I’m sick of these formulaic punk rock docs, aren’t you?)

There’s a lot to get out of this film, historically speaking. It’s intelligent and everything a documentary should be. It just may not be about what you thought it was going to be about. This is the history of European Anarchism as it helps beget the birth of the Sex Pistols. It’s also the story of a man who broke all the rules before that was fashionable, who ran blindly into the fire more than once and always came out the other side… many times with the prize. Or at least some money. I’ve already watched Anarchy! McLaren Westwood Gang three times and I’m not the type to really ever watch anything even twice, certainly not in the same day.

All Malcolm McLaren ever wanted was to be something akin to the “next Andy Warhol.” It’s an idiosyncratic aspiration to be sure, but one category that he (and perhaps he alone) truly belonged in.
 
More after the jump…

 
A horse-drawn carriage led the coffin of Malcolm McLaren through the streets of London today.  The coffin was black and spray-painted, “Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die,” the name, at one point, of the former Sex Pistols manager’s King’s Road clothing shop.

In celebration of the impresario’s life, McLaren’s son (and Agent Provocateur founder), Joseph Corré, urged people to enjoy a midday moment of mayhem: “Put on your favourite records and let it RIP!”  I’ll be playing this.