The story has to begin with Malcolm McLaren, the ex-Kings Road clothier who brought the Sex Pistols to the world. Having seen his punk rock masterstroke self-destruct in a blaze of folly, McLaren was looking for a new outrage.

The legend says that he discovered young Annabella Lwin, who was 14 at the time, in a dry cleaning shop where she was working. Annabella, who came to England with her mother as refugees from the perpetual civil strife of Burma, had dark exotic good looks that rang the cash registers in McLaren’s eyes. He asked her if she wanted to sing in a band. McLaren gathered the musicians, put together the group and gave them their identity.