"C·30 C·60 C·90 Go" is the debut single by English new wave band
Bow Wow Wow
Bow Wow Wow are an English new wave band, created by manager Malcolm McLaren in 1980. McLaren recruited members of Adam and the Ants to form the band behind 13-year-old Annabella Lwin on vocals. They released their debut EP '' Your Cassette ...
. It was written by
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English impresario, visual artist, singer, songwriter, musician, clothes designer and boutique owner, notable for combining these activities in an inventive and provo ...
,
Matthew Ashman
Matthew James Ashman (3 November 1960 – 21 November 1995) – accessed June 2011 was an English guitarist with ,
Leigh Gorman
Leigh Gorman (born 11 December 1961) 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 playing classical guitar ...
and
Dave Barbarossa
David Barbarossa (born 1961, also known as Dave Barbe) is a drummer and an author of British and Mauritian descent. As part of both Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow, he was instrumental in creating the highly influential and innovative tribal ...
. Originally only released on cassette, it was the world's first-ever
cassette single
A cassette single (CS), also known by the trademark cassingle, or capitalised as the trademark Cassette Single, is a music single supplied in the form of a Compact Cassette. The cassette single was first introduced in 1980.
History
The debu ...
.
Background
After recording ''
Dirk Wears White Sox
''Dirk Wears White Sox'' is the debut studio album by English new wave band Adam and the Ants. It was released on 30 November 1979 by record label Do It. It was the first number one album on the UK Independent Albums Chart when the chart debut ...
'' as members of
Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. The group existed in two incarnations, both fronted by Adam Ant, over the period 1977 to 1982. The first, founded in May 1977 and known simply as The Ants until November of ...
, Ashman, Gorman and Barbarossa were convinced by former
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
manager McLaren to leave
Adam Ant
Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten ...
to form Bow Wow Wow under his management. Liverpool session musician, music director, and talent scout Dave Fishel heard
Annabella Lwin
Annabella Lwin (born Myant Myant Aye, , 31 October 1966) is an Anglo-Burmese singer, songwriter and record producer best known as the lead singer of Bow Wow Wow.
Early life, family and education
Lwin was born in Rangoon, Burma to a Burmese fat ...
singing along to the radio at the dry cleaners in
West Hampstead
West Hampstead is an area in the London Borough of Camden in north-west London. Mainly defined by the railway stations of the same name, it is situated between Childs Hill to the north, Frognal and Hampstead to the north-east, Swiss Cottag ...
she worked and convinced McLaren to audition her for the band. They signed with
EMI Records
EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...
in July 1980 and released "C·30 C·60 C·90 Go" shortly afterward.
Release
The single was originally released solely on cassette. EMI refused to promote the cassingle due to lyrics ("Off the radio I get constant flow/Hit it, pause it, record and play/Turn it, rewind and rub it away") that promoted home taping during an era when music piracy was a hot-button issue. The
B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...
, "Sun, Sea and Piracy", was also on side 1 of the tape, making the second side blank, presumably so the listener could follow Lwin's lead.
After several weeks, it was also issued as a vinyl 7" single, reaching No. 34 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
and staying on the chart for seven weeks. The song was ranked among the top 10 "Tracks of the Year" for 1980 by ''
NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'', as was their cassette-only debut
mini-album
A mini-LP or mini-album is a short vinyl record album or LP, usually retailing at a lower price than an album that would be considered full-length. It is distinct from an EP due to containing more tracks and a slightly longer running length. A ...
''
Your Cassette Pet
''Your Cassette Pet'' is the cassette-only debut mini-album by English new wave band Bow Wow Wow, released in November 1980 on EMI Records. It included a cover of the 1940 Johnny Mercer/Rube Bloom pop hit " Fools Rush In".
Release
''Your Casset ...
''. ''Your Cassette Pet'' contained only eight tracks, and was not available on vinyl, making it only eligible for the singles chart, and not the
UK Albums Chart
The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...
.
B-side
"Sun, Sea and Piracy" was also written by McLaren, Ashman, Gorman and Barbarossa. It too promoted home taping, then lying on a beach and enjoying the fruits of this labour. "C·30 C·60 C·90 Go" itself became a B-side when the Spanish version, "C·30 C·60 C·90 Anda", was used as the B-side to their follow-up single, "W.O.R.K (N.O. Nah No! No! My Daddy Don't)".