Leigh Gorman


Leigh Gorman 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 out 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-range to use all of Marc's spare equipment, Leigh was able to play virtually anything he picked up, but quickly found an affinity with stringed instruments. Aside from mastering classical, flamenco, rock and bass guitar, Leigh taught himself to play the sitar, bouzouki, mandolin, and keyboards. Leigh started doing session work at 16 and went on to join a band called 57 Men, the first incarnation of which featured Glenn Gregory on vocals. The rest of the band later became Wang Chung.

Adam and the Ants

While gigging around town, Leigh was spotted by Knox of The Vibrators and asked to audition for Adam and the Ants. He joined the band in November 1979. Shortly afterwards, Adam Ant hired former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, in the hope of gaining more widespread recognition. Instead, McLaren persuaded Gorman, guitarist Matthew Ashman and drummer David Barbarossa to leave Adam behind, and form a new group under McLaren's management. Thirteen year old Annabella Lwin joined the group as its vocalist, and the band became Bow Wow Wow.

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, holds the distinction of being the world's first-ever cassette single. 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.
In November 1980, Bow Wow Wow released the cassette-only mini-album Your Cassette Pet. Likewise, Gorman shared songwriting credit with McLaren, Ashman and Barbarossa 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. " failed to chart.
After splitting with EMI, Bow Wow Wow signed with RCA Records, and released their first full-length album, See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang, Yeah. City All Over! Go Ape Crazy in October 1981. It produced their first UK top ten hit, "Go Wild in the Country", in early 1982. In May 1982, Bow Wow Wow released a four-track EP,The Last of the Mohicans, 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.
In 1983, Bow Wow Wow released their second full-length album, When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going. 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 US touring. After a brief hiatus, Gorman, Ashman and Barbarossa kicked Annabella out of the group, and formed Chiefs of Relief with Ashman as its lead singer.

Production and recent work

After a few months, Gorman and Barbarossa left Chiefs of Relief. After initially trying to form a new band with Barbarossa, doing some work with Lwin, writing new songs, and doing session work, Gorman turned to record production. 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 Gorman produced, went Top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic, and topped both the US and UK dance charts. Gorman received a gold record for his work on the track. He joined Soho and toured the US, appearing on The Arsenio Hall Show.
In the early-90s, Gorman worked with Malcolm McLaren again, for whom he co-wrote and produced the Paris album, featuring the voice of Catherine Deneuve. 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.

Bow Wow Wow reunion

Also in 1997, Gorman and Lwin reformed Bow Wow Wow and embarked on the "Barking Mad" reunion tour with guitarist Dave Calhoun and drummer Eshan Khadaroo. The tour produced the live CD Wild in the U.S.A. which also included remixes of previous Bow Wow Wow tracks. The tour sparked off a spate of label interest. This demand also prompted Leigh to move to America. Missing the dance world and playing in the live arena, in March 2000, Leigh joined SoCal organic/electronic rave band Electric Skychurch for some live dates. The band achieved notoriety playing sunrise sets at the infamous Full Moon Gatherings deep in the Mojave Desert.
Gorman and Lwin recorded a new song, entitled "A Thousand Tears", for Bill Fishman's 1999 film, Desperate But Not Serious. Gorman and Lwin also made cameos in this film that starred Christine Taylor and Claudia Schiffer.
In 2003 Gorman and Lwin reformed Bow Wow Wow again with Los Angeles guitarist Phil Gough and Adrian Young of No Doubt on drums to play the Inland Invasion show as part of KROQ-FM's 25th Anniversary celebrations. The band has maintained a frequent small-venue concert schedule through November 2006.
In June 2006 Bow Wow Wow recorded a cover of The Smiths' "I Started Something" for a proposed Smiths tribute record. The recording can be found on iTunes, and it also appears on the soundtrack of the film Blood and Chocolate, and a promo edit of the recording can be heard on Gorman's MySpace page. When he's not on the road with Bow Wow Wow, Gorman lives and works in Los Angeles producing bands, doing remixes and composing music for TV and film.
With a new guitarist and drummer, Bow Wow Wow played shows in California and toured the UK during 2011-2012. In December 2012, Gorman began performing under the name "Bow Wow Wow" new singer Chloe Demetria of the band Vigilant replacing Lwin on vocals. In 2014, actor/musician Zachary Throne joined the band on guitar. In a 2016 Washington Times interview, Gorman indicated that he was interested in creating new Bow Wow Wow music with this lineup.