With their Burundi-style rhythms, Bow Wow Wow were a memorable band in the ’80s, blending new wave and punk energy with poppy melodies on such memorable tunes as “Do You Wanna Hold Me?,” “Sexy Eiffel Tower” and the hit remake of The Strangeloves’ “I Want Candy.” But the most distinctive and charismatic part of the English group has always been Annabella Lwin, the precociously talented, ebullient lead vocalist who started singing with Bow Wow Wow when she was just 13 years old. In recent years, a dodgy, inauthentic version of the band led by a former bassist using the Bow Wow Wow name plays gigs with an inferior, impostor vocalist in place of Lwin. Undeterred, the real Ms. Lwin continues to perform under her own name. Ain’t nothing like the real thing.

New Wave Bar, 17847 Lakewood Blvd., Bellflower; Fri., Feb. 21, 10:30 p.m.; ages 21 & over. (562) 790-8274, www.annabellalwin.com/calendar.html.

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