"Go Wild in the Country" is a single by English new wave band Bow Wow Wow from their album See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah, City All Over! Go Ape Crazy!. Released in January 1982 by RCA Records, it was their first top 10 hit on the UK Singles Chart.
| "Go Wild in the Country" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Bow Wow Wow | ||||
| from the album See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah, City All Over! Go Ape Crazy! | ||||
| B-side | "El Boss Dicho!" | |||
| Released | January 1982 | |||
| Genre | New wave | |||
| Length | 2:53 | |||
| Label | RCA Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | Brian Tench | |||
| Bow Wow Wow singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Official audio | ||||
| "Go Wild in the Country" on YouTube | ||||
Composition
edit"Go Wild in the Country" was written by Malcolm McLaren with band members Matthew Ashman, Dave Barbarossa and Leigh Gorman.[citation needed] Produced by Brian Tench, it was Bow Wow Wow's first single not be produced by McLaren.[1]
Release
editThe January 1982 release of "Go Wild in the Country" coincided with McLaren's "Nostalgia of Mud" phase, in which he intended "to show in clothes and music that, in the post-industrial age, the roots of our culture lie in primitive societies".[2] Its lyrics convey many of the themes of this ideology, with references to disdain for town life, lonely streets and takeaway food, and a desire to go "wild in the country/where snakes in the grass are absolutely free".
Bow Wow Wow made their first appearance on Top of the Pops on 11 February 1982, performing "Go Wild in the Country", with lead singer Annabella Lwin debuting her trademark Mohican hairstyle. The song remained on the UK Singles Chart for 13 weeks, peaking at No. 7.[3] The B-side was the instrumental "El Boss Dicho!"
Chart performance
edit| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Ireland (IRMA)[4] | 11 |
| UK Singles (The Official Charts Company | 7 |
Cover
editThe single sleeve featured the band's recreation of Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe. The photograph, taken by Andy Earl, caused controversy when it was originally used for the cover of See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang Yeah, City All Over! Go Ape Crazy!, as Lwin was just 14 years old at the time of the album's release.[5] The image was re-used for their follow-up EP The Last of the Mohicans,[6] and in 2003 for the Castle Music two-disc anthology, I Want Candy.
References
edit- ^ "Bow Wow Wow". www.theagencygroup.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 28 December 2012.
- ^ "Nostalgia Of Mud". Gloverall PLC.
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 133. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Go Wild in the Country". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
- ^ McLean, Craig (19 April 2012). "Bow Wow Wow haven't lost their bite | Music". The Guardian.
- ^ Lyon, Joshua (September 6, 2016). "Annabella Lwin & the History of Bow Wow Wow". V (American magazine). Archived from the original on June 18, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2018.
External links
edit- Bow Wow Wow performing "Go Wild in the Country" on Top of the Pops on YouTube
- "Go Wild in the Country" at Discogs (list of releases)