My Top 2000 Songs #1142: I Want Candy

Here's another one where I'm specifically referencing the cover version.

Which isn't to say the 1965 original didn't already have pretty much everything. The Strangeloves, a faux-Australian band, were actually the studio creation of three nice Jewish boys, Brill Building songwriters who, together or apart, were involved in writing classics like "Twist & Shout," "Hang On Sloopy," "My Boyfriend's Back," etc. Their original "I Want Candy" was distinguished by a wall of punchy reverb, twangy surf rock guitars, and tribal percussion set to a Bo Diddley beat.

But the version I first encountered was Bow Wow Wow's 1982 single. It was one of those omnipresent tracks I remember hearing at high school parties, 15-year-old singer Anabella Lwin flipping the genders and giving it a playful, energetic delivery, while the band's rhythm section--stolen from Adam & The Ants--were perfect for the song's tribal attack, rollicking tom-toms bouncing between the speakers. The song structure itself is left largely intact, so kudos to the original trio of songwriters who crafted it, but in my mind it's pure 80s nostalgia. (Though, to be fair, Bow Wow Wow weren't the first to give it a new wave-era spin, with the Count Bishops making it into a more punk-flavored track back in 1978.)

Bow Wow Wow:

The Strangeloves:

Bow Wow Wow, live and double-speed:

The Count Bishops' 1978 punked-up version:

Indie rock artist/producer Kramer, from his 2012 collection of Brill Building covers: