Re: Adam Ant worth owning?

I've felt for a few years that I oughta own SOMETHING by Adam and/or the Ants. Any strong feelings on what's the one album to have?

And speaking of which, Marco Perroni has certainly not aged all that well, as evidenced by his appearance in the IFC Punk Attitude film. Yeesh....

Among Adam Ant's regular-issue LPs, *Kings of the Wild Frontier* has the best yield of enjoyable songs. But that album doesn't include "Stand and Deliver" or "Goody Two Shoes," and if you care enough about Adam to pick up anything at all by him, you really do need those two songs, IMO.

The compilation *Antics in the Forbidden Zone* will do the job quite nicely.

Dirk Wears White Socks is the most honest. It's often noted that what made them famous in the UK was their live show, after the development of their sound; the thunderous duel 'tribal' drums propped high in the live mix. Though the album has poor production in this regard as well as much filler, KOTWF is likely their quintessential LP. After this came the commercial 80s-sounding ne wave/pop period of which they are known for in the US. It is discardable except in that vein. The rhythm section did its best work as Bow Wow Wow on 'See Jungle!'which is at least as good as any Ants release. Answer?
Historically? No.
Kitcsh value? Increasing.

And now an anecdote.
In college I was once dispatched to an 'Indian' reservation in the west. Natives are known to be quiet/stoic, particularly amongst whites. I was giving two young men a silent ride and the end track of KOTWF came up on a mix tape. It's lyrics:: 'Blackfoot Pawnee Cheyenne Crow! Ap-a-che, Arapaho!'. I was seriously wondering if I should eject the tape (they were members of one of the mentioned tribes). The two tripping (they later explained) natives fell out of the car laughing themselves into hysterics.



Post Edited (11-14-05 19:45)

Heh, well I don't have any great stories like paganizer, but when I was a kid, "Dirk Wear White Sox" was my fave Ant album. Although it was an import, the legendary Rodney Bingenheimer played the whole thing on his "Rodney on the ROQ" show, which I taped. (Thanks, Rodney!)

"Sox" is pre-New Romantic, indian make-up/tribal drums Ants, when they were just a down-n-dirty New Wave rock band.

You can't go wrong with "Kings Of The Wild Frontier" for prime New-Ro Ants, and I used to love alot of "Prince Charming." Not much after that, tho.

there is something humor in adam ant singing 'stand and deliver!'

Sounds like if I can find that early best-of for a few bucks, that would probably suit my purposes. It probably really is only the handful of singles that I'd wanna hear anyway and it's not like I'd need to hear KOTWF in its full and original running order to appreciate the masterwork that it is. Thanks, folks.

"It's your money I'm after, Baby"

Title of a Wonder Stuff song.

The B-side to "Stand and Deliver" is "Beat My Guest," actually a pretty durn good song, covered to great effect by Superchunk.

For me, any Adam Ant greatest hits package would do, especially if it includes the song "Naked."

"I saw a lady and she was naked / I saw a lady she had no clooooooothes on." Dumb as hell, but so are most of Ant's best songs. I know it appears on the great British punk comp Burning Ambitions ...

I beg to differ with Paganizer, that *Dirk Wears White Sox* is "the most honest" Adam & the Ants LP. True, *Dirk* is less obviously commercial that the recordings that followed ... but that doesn't necessarily make it more honest.

On *Kings of the Wild Frontier*, in the song "Jolly Roger," the group sings, "It's your money that we want/And your money we shall have!"

From a "commercial '80s new wave/pop" group's point of view, what could be more honest than that?

Oh man, what a topic.

How to answer the question? Could I recommend that somebody go out and buy an Adam and The Ants record? Not really. But then again, neither would I feel comfortable instructing someone to buy The Carpenters Greatest Hits. However, upon reflection, I would probably enjoy myself somewhat listening to either of them.

Funny that you should mention the fact that Stand and Deliver is not included on Kings of The Wild Frontier. It was included under the shrink-wrap, lying on the cover, as a bonus 45 with the LP version I bought in late '81 or early '82. Remember when record companies used to do that once in a while? I considered it a major bonus and it probably induced me to plunk down my $7.50 for it over something like Split Enz's True Colours. I wonder what was on the B-side of that 45? I bet I still have it tucked into the LP sleeve.

So, are you someone who believes in Antmusic for Sexpeople or Sexmusic for Antpeople?



Post Edited (11-15-05 16:55)

Went back and listened to the 3 eras. Still prefer Dirk Wears White Socks to the two later eras. But the Stand and Deliver-era lyrics can't be beat for kitsch value::

I’m the dandy highwayman who you’re too scared to mention
I spend my cash on looking flash and grabbing your attention!
The devil take your stereo and your record collection
The way you look you’ll qualify for next year’s old age pension!
We’re the dandy highwaymen so tired of excuses
Of deep meaning philosophies where only showbiz loses
We’re the dandy highwaymen and here’s our invitation:
Throw your safety overboard and join our insect nation!
Da diddley quah quah da diddley quah quah
Da diddley quah quha da diddley quah quah

Those silly brits with their clothes and make-up. I really wish the trend would inform NASCAR.



Post Edited (11-15-05 17:59)

that's hilarious!
i remember around '81-'82 that a bunch of bands who were passing thru d.c. had similarly structured names including 'adam and the ants,' 'martha and the muffins,' and 'echo and the bunnymen.' and you could get in the adam ant show if you dressed-up like an 'antperson,' - if i had gone, i might have worn attenaes.

Oh that reminds me - you have to track down a video of Adam and crew on "American Bandstand." There were "Antpeople" in the audience, leading a straight-faced Dick Clark to intone in all seriousness, "It's a way of life to a lot of people."

Sparks always had great American Bandstand appearances, especially once when Dick Clark made the mistake of handing Ron Mael his microphone while he tried on Russell's jacket.

And of course, the PiL appearance was legendary - Lydon didn't even attempt to lip synch, and spent most of his time shoving horrified audience members onto the dance floor in attempt to force them to figure how the hell to dance to "Poptones."

I also liked when the pre-popularity "Come on Eileen" showed up on a Rate a Record and the doof rated it low because it "sounded too much like ELO."

When Madness did AB they were on the floor dancing to Foreigner before they did their lip synch bit. It was fucking hillarious. Dick Clark looked confused.

I remember reading in John Cale's autobiography that the band that he and Lou Reed were in prior to the Velvets were on AB to promote the Ostrich. I wish that Dick Clark will release this as well as the other moments in this thread on DVD

i remember dick clark on ab replaying a performance of kc and the sunshine band and saying he always wondered where the singer got all his energy from.

i have a copy of hullabaloo with doug sahm (my new hero) doing the Freddie at end of show with Freddie and the dreamers


UGH!!!



Post Edited (11-19-05 18:42)

No

Adam Ant's stuff is the reason they invented internet file downloading. I'd never waste $ on an Adam Ant compilation, when there are only about 4-5 songs you need. Wait for the Rhino Hi-Five collection.
Otherwise, Stand and Deliver is a bloody hilarious song, and Antmusic has a great hook. Goody Two Shoes has a memorable appearance by Caroline Munro in the video, and the film Nomads (about evil eskimos!!) has one of his best performances off stage.

i remember that ira robbins wrote the cd sleeve notes in an adam ant compilation.

I finally got "Antics in the Forbidden Zone" off Ebay for $4 delivered and it seems like it'll be all I need ( and then some).

Josefina is right: Mr. Robbins wrote the liner notes for it and one gets the distinct feeling that he was stifling a chuckle for much of it. I am mortified to learn that AA sang "Where Did Our Love Go?" on the Motown 25th anniversary TV special in 1983. That must've been a sight to behold....

I just located the cd reissue of the original version of DIRK WEARS WHITE SOCKS which has bonus tracks up the wazoo. Am pleasantly surprised by how much I like it now, considering how much I hated it the first time I heard it back in 1981 or whenever. But back then I was expecting Antmusic, and not minimalist post-punk. I'm not going to make an argument that it's a great lost classic or anything, but it ain't half bad, either.

Of course, age and nostalgia now make any sort of British post-punk sound wonderful. And how the hell did I go over 20 years without EVER actually hearing Killing Joke? Geez. But oh well, kind of happy about that, actually - the reissues are giving me a chance to discover them and even though some of the current post-punk revivalists are good, they still don't measure up to the originals. So it's great to have a few out there that I can still discover.

Think I'll focus on the Au Pairs next. Or maybe the Passage.

That's interesting, I was just having a look at the entry for The Passage. I liked the sound they got with usually just drums guitar and keyboards and I liked how a lot of the basslines were played on piano. That song 'Shave Your Head' (on For All And None?) is great.

After the Au Pairs and The Passage, maybe move on to Josef K and the Fire Engines. I can guarantee Franz Ferdinand wouldn't exist without those bands.

Funny you should mention the Au Pairs. I remembered semi-liking them when I bought the "Urgh - A Music War" album back in the early 80s (and weren't they also on the "Life in the European Theater" comp?), but then when I recently got the DVD of the movie, I thought they were pretty terrible.

Killing Joke is amazing, however. "What's THIS For?" is a really great album.

Yes, that and the first album. I used to listen to it a lot when I first started high school and it was about the same time I started getting NME every week and I couldn’t understand why that publication was so down on them. Even when What’s THIS For? came out, any wraps they gave it were extremely grudgingly. All these years later and they are seen as an extremely influential band and an important one. I saw them in the mid 80s and it’s one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen.

I seem to remember at the time that Killing Joke was usually dismissed as a heavy metal band, so that's probably why I generally never bothered checking them out.

Of course, I remember Joy Division was often referred to as a metal band at the time, also (I think Steven Grant called them one in TP, in fact), which caused me to not have a real sense of urgency in hearing them, either. (Egad - I still remember the day in 1981 - I was a senior in high and went into the used record store and they had used import copies of CLOSER and the first Spandau Ballet album and I opted for the Ballet. Ah, youth!)

Anyhow, when I finally heard JD (well, not finally - it was probably a month later), I strained to hear where the hell the heavy metal was in it. I realize that 70s metal was a different beast than what it became in the 80s, but still....the first Def Leppard album came out around that time, too - THAT was metal. But Joy Division????? And now finally hearing Killing Joke, I'm back to wondering WTF? about the metal categorization.

Josef K were indeed great. Orange Juice - I had one of their albums back in college and liked it but at some point someone else took a liking to it and it disappeared. But I haven't listened to them in years and should try to track down some of their stuff again.

Well, in an extreme instance of "WTF?", I distinctly remember Frankie Goes To Hollywood being referred to as a heavy metal band when they arrived on the scene! Maybe it was just that dumbass Holly Johnson who made that proclamation himself, but even at that time, I thought it was patently ridiculous.

I remember the NME referring to Killing Joke as "gothic punk" and lumping them in with Bauhaus. It was the first time I ever heard the "G" word in terms of music. Naturally I had no idea what was to come.