Album · Bow Wow Wow
When the Going Gets Tough the Tough Get Going by Bow Wow Wow
When the Going Gets Tough the Tough Get Going is an album by Bow Wow Wow, released in 1983. 2 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 7 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Do You Wanna Hold Me?”, on 6 lists with a best position of #225.
When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going, Bow Wow Wow's second studio album, came out on RCA in 1983 with Mike Chapman producing, and it turned out to be the last record by all four original members. The band had been Malcolm McLaren's creation from the start: players lifted from Adam and the Ants, fronted by Annabella Lwin, who was just 13 when he put her at the microphone.
Dave Barbarossa's Burundi drumming is still the engine, tom-toms tumbling under Lwin's chants, and "Do You Wanna Hold Me?" and "Aphrodisiac" are where the dancefloor energy lives. David Bailey shot the sleeve photograph, and the credits blew "a kiss" to James Honeyman-Scott and John Belushi, both newly gone. A sweaty, restless goodbye from the lineup that had made See Jungle! See Jungle! Go Join Your Gang, Yeah. City All Over! Go Ape Crazy.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from When the Going Gets Tough the Tough Get Going on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Do You Wanna Hold Me? | 6 | #225 | – | 1988–2023 | |
| 2 | Aphrodisiac | 1 | #194 | – | 1988 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.