Bow Wow Wow took the stage at the Magic Mountain Showcase Theater on April 30, 1983. Their hit was 1982’s iconic “I Want Candy,” and I’m certain that Annabella Lwin sported the finest (and first) mohawk to grace the main stage at the park.
This night was such a party!
From Wikipedia:
English new wave group Bow Wow Wow released their version as the first and only single from their EP The Last of the Mohicans. For many in America, “I Want Candy” was their first introduction to young lead singer Annabella Lwin and the band. The song barely scraped the Top 50, but became an enduring new wave classic. The song gave its name to the band’s 1982 release, I Want Candy, which was mainly a compilation, but included a couple of new cuts produced by Kenny Laguna (Joan Jett & the Blackhearts).
The enduring popularity of Bow Wow Wow’s recording is partly due to the memorable video that got heavy play in the early days of MTV. This recording is highly associated with 80’s pop music.
The Bow Wow Wow recording appeared on two VH1 countdowns:
86 on VH1’s “100 Greatest Songs of the 80s”
8 on VH1’s “100 Greatest One Hit Wonders of the 80s”
The Greg Kihn Band played Magic Mountain on March 19, 1983, riding the new wave and their 1981 hit single, “The Breakup Song.” Their 1983 # 2 hit, “Jeopardy,” had not yet peaked on the charts; that would happen a few weeks later.
So, in 30 days, Magic Mountain had Sparks, The Flirts, Lene Lovich and Greg Kihn Band. There were more acts, too, but these were the only ones that I had time to take pictures of!
Back in the day, Six Flags Magic Mountain was booking acts that were rather, uh, non-traditional for theme parks. We booked 30+ contemporary music acts for our teen audience in 1983.
Which brings us to Lene Lovich. If you know anything about ’80s music, you know Lene Lovich has virtually nothing in common with The Flirts … who played on Saturday, with Lene Lovich following on Sunday, 4/17/83.
We went from Hollywood manufactured disco to English New Wave with a Punk twist.
Our security team had NO IDEA what to think.
It was wild, and I still had my job booking talent on Monday morning. It was the ’80s. The music fit the times.
In 1983, Sparks was HOT in Los Angeles. They were a great, theatrical pop act that was very popular with Magic Mountain’s teen audience. I think they played the park 4 times in 18 months, and were very successful at each appearance. Hot, hot, hot.
Sparks had some hits internationally, and certainly had regional hits on KROQ, but never had the breakthrough chart success in the whole country that they had in Southern California.
And just in case you don’t remember the ’80s – if you don’t remember MTV playing music – then watch the video below. These are UCLA graduates, making art. In the ’80s.
Russell and Ronald Mael (Ronald is on the keyboard).
I loved how he took his brand name Roland keyboard … and re-named it Ronald.
Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Gos had a hit with Russell Mael: “Cool Places.”
The Flirts appeared in concert at Six Flags Magic Mountain on 4/16/83, which is when these pictures were taken by yours truly. I was the talent booker at the time, so I had nothing better to do during concerts than take pictures.
The Flirts don’t really qualify as one hit wonders. From Wikipedia:
The Flirts, a trio created and masterminded by Hi-NRG mogul Bobby “O” Orlando, are composed of one blonde, one brunette, and one redhead. They are best known for Hi-NRG songs such as “Passion”, “Danger”, “Helpless” and “Jukebox (Don’t Put Another Dime)”.
Orlando conceived the idea for The Flirts, wrote the songs, played the instruments, and produced the tracks. He then auditioned girls to be the faces of the group. Orlando often called in the services of professional session singers to sing the vocals for the tracks because most of the performers were trained as dancers, models or actresses. The Flirts went through numerous lineup changes and with every album release and tour, some girls left while others stayed. The Flirts released six studio albums from 1982–1992 and numerous singles. They made several international tours, often in the club circuit, and usually lip-synced alongside the recordings.
Debut single “Jukebox” received significant airplay on MTV in the early 1980s. The song rose to number 28 on the Billboard US Dance Chart. The follow-up single “Passion” peaked the same year at number 21, and became a huge success in Europe, reaching number 22 in the Netherlands and number 4 in Germany..
