The Big Bang Bang Theory

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To say that the Bang Bang's first and only album is the stuff of mythology is is an understatement at best. They recorded just one album, with only nine tracks, and even that was never released. Yet, the tragic tale of conjoined twins Tom and Barry Howe, played out all too briefly in 1975, remains a major canon in the origins of British punk.

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When controversial promoter Zak Beberwick signed the twins to a one-year renewable contract, he envisioned a band in the Bay City Rollers mode, but with the twist of the heartthrob frontmen being siamese twins. What he got instead was a band that defined the frustrations and anger of disenfranchised youth. The Howes knew full well that they were to be marketed as a sort of bubble gum freak show, but they had other ideas.

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From the outset, the Bang Bang were known for their live performances. They were loud, they were raw, they were outrageous, and mostly, they were rock unleashed. That first gig, at the notorious Shangri-La in January 1975, in front of an initially hostile audience of about forty or so, set the tone for their brief career. As the story goes, the small crowd, thinking the twins were another glam band, heckled them mercillessly until Barry ripped open his shirt to expose the fleshy pin that connected him to Tom. Thus are legends born.

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The following months propelled the Bang Bang to the top of the London scene in 1975. Their meteoric rise as a live band made them the darlings of rock journalists, and the public eagerly awaited their debut album. The Bang Bang were poised to become the Next Big Thing. But with the twins' untimely death (rumors have it as a suicide), the album was never released. Inexplicably, Bedderwick pulled the plug on the entire project.

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The story might have ended there, had it not been for Brian Aldiss's 1977 novella "Brothers of the Head," a fictionalized account of the Bang Bang' story. That work refueled interest in the Howe Brothers, culminating in the 2006 "faux documentary" Brothers of the Head," by Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe. The legend of the Bang Bang was reborn and repackaged for a new generation.

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Marketed as Brothers of the Head: Music From the Motion Picture, the nine songs that were never released have finally, thirty years later, seen the light of day. What is most astounding about it is it sounds so fresh, you're tempted to believe it was recorded this year. But when you begin to listen to the album, and pay attention to its references, it soon becomes apparent that that what was originally to have been titled The Bang Bang is a product of its time.

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Consciously or otherwise, much of the album draws its vibe from some of the fringe stars of the time. The influence of David Bowie, in his Man Who Sold the World phase, is there, as is that of Marc Bolan's T. Rex. There are even traces of Iggy and the Stooges and Slade. Admittedly, the Howes didn't write a lot of their material--in fact, Barry's "Sink Or Swim" is the only tune credited to the twins on the album. Most of the material was written for them, in keeping with Bederick's original bubble gum vision.

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The Bang Bang, however, took those songs, turned them inside out and transformed them into something restless, something dangerous--in short, something that was the essence of punk. "Two-Way Romeo" was originally envisioned to be a sort of theme song for the Bang Bang, along the lines of the Monkees. The band's delivery was something decidedly different--it's uptempo theme was infused with a mockery of the period's sexual mores. Similarly, "Sitting in a Car" was intended as a musical sightseeing tour of London. The Howes saw the tour through jaded eyes, and the resultant cut was awash in the blase attitude that would become the benchmark of BritPop in the eighties. But it was their blistering "Doola and Daula" that was destined to become their trademark tune, and is widely regarded as the single tune to chart the course for bands like the Sex Pistols and the Buzzcocks.

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Obviously, the Bang Bang did not lay the foundation for punk--underground bands in New York and Detroit had already set those wheels in motion. What they did accomplish was formidable nonetheless, particularly considering their career spanned a mere ten months in 1975. We can only speculate what they might have done had the Howe brothers lives not been cut so short.

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Brothers of the Head: Music from the Motion Picture offers at least a glimpse of what might have been. Besides the nine tracks from the proposed LP, the disc includes nine bonus tracks. Mostly alternative versions and demo outtakes, the bonus cuts provide insights into the twins' creative process. Taken together, the eighteen tracks on this disc represent the complete known body of the Bang Bang recordings.

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The alternate reality of the Bang Bang, and the music scene that might have been, will be discussed and debated in critical circles for years to come. With this album, we can finally draw our own conclusions. Coupled with the documentary film Brothers of the Head, the long-lost Bang Bang album is an essential piece of rock history. One thing is certain. The Howe Brothers and their band will no longer be a footnote.

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