Leigh Gorman

Leigh grew up in the East End of London. He started playing classical guitar at the age of 12. Graduating to the bass guitar two years later, he developed a unique, classically rooted, extremely fast and funky style. Leigh made the acquaintance of Marc Bolan's road manager who gave him free rein to use all of Marc's spare equipment. Leigh was able to play virtually anything he picked up, but he had an affinity for stringed instruments. Aside from mastering classical, flamenco, rock, and bass guitar, Leigh taught himself to play the sitar, bouzouki, mandolin, and keyboards. He started doing session work at 16 and went on to join a band called 57 Men, the first incarnation of which featured vocalist Glenn Gregory (who went on to form Heaven 17). The rest of the band later became Wang Chung.

While gigging around town, Leigh was spotted by Knox of the Vibrators, who asked him to audition for Adam and the Ants. Leigh joined the Ants in November 1979 and Adam Ant, hoping to gain wider recognition, hired former Sex Pistols manager, Malcolm McLaren. But, McLaren had other ideas and persuaded Gorman, guitarist Matthew Ashman and drummer David Barbarossa to leave Adam behind and form a new group under McLaren's management.^[1] Thirteen-year-old Annabella Lwin was recruited as vocalist, and the band became Bow Wow Wow.

Bow Wow Wow signed with EMI Records in July 1980. Their first single, "C·30 C·60 C·90 Go!", for which Gorman shared songwriting credit with McLaren, Ashman and Barbarossa,^[2] holds the distinction of being the world's first-ever cassette single.^[3] It reached No. 34 on the UK Singles Chart and stayed on the chart for seven weeks, despite its lack of promotion due to lyrics that encouraged music piracy.^[4]

In November 1980, Bow Wow Wow released the cassette-only mini-album, Your Cassette Pet. Gorman again shared songwriting credit with McLaren, Ashman and Barbarossa on seven of its eight tracks. As it was not released on vinyl,^[5] it was eligible only for the UK Singles Chart, where it peaked at No. 58.^[6] When their second single, "W.O.R.K. (N.O. Nah, No No My Daddy Don't)", failed to chart, EMI dropped the group.

Bow Wow Wow signed next with RCA Records and in October 1981 they released their first full-length album, See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang, Yeah. City All Over! Go Ape Crazy. It earned them their first UK top ten hit, "Go Wild in the Country". In May 1982, Bow Wow Wow released a four-track EP, The Last of the Mohicans,^[7] which contained a remake of the Strangeloves' 1965 hit, "I Want Candy". "I Want Candy" was Bow Wow Wow's biggest international hit, and has lived on as an eighties classic, thanks in part to an iconic music video in heavy rotation on MTV.^[8]

In 1983, Bow Wow Wow released their second full-length album, When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going. Its 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.^[9] The song reached No. 77 in the U.S.^[10]

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 suffered illness and exhaustion after intense US touring.^[11] Following a brief hiatus, Gorman, Ashman and Barbarossa kicked Annabella out of the group, and formed Chiefs of Relief with Ashman as its lead singer.^[12]

Gorman and Barbarossa left Chiefs of Relief after only a few months. Leigh tried to form a new band with Barbarossa, did some work with Lwin, wrote new songs, did session work, then ultimately turned to producing. In 1989, Gorman's production of Silver Bullet's "Twenty Seconds To Comply" rose to No. 11 in the UK singles chart. The Soho single "Hippychick", which he also produced, went top 10 and topped the dance charts on both sides of the Atlantic. Gorman earned a gold record for his work on the track. He subsequently joined Soho for a US tour and appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show.^[13]

In the early-90s, Gorman worked again with Malcolm McLaren, co-writing and producing the Paris album, featuring the voice of Catherine Deneuve.^[14] This jazz-influenced album sold well throughout Europe, resulting in an album of Gorman's ambient dance mixes being released. The duo proceeded to collaborate on several high-profile TV commercials and two film scores. Gorman wrote and produced micro-operettas, soundscapes, and hip-hop & soul jams for the small screen for such clients as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, MCI, Nike, Inc. and Renault. In the summer of 1997, his remix of Mr. President's "I Give You My Heart" went Top 10 in the UK dance charts for 3 weeks.