Adam and the Ants were a British rock band band during the late 1970s and early 1980s. They were one of the bands at the time that marked the transition from the 70s
punk rockPunk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed the perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
era to the
New WaveNew Wave is a genre of rock and pop music that emerged in in the middle to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, and...
/
post-punkPost-punk is a popular musical movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
era.
Immensely popular in their time, they scored 11 UK hit singles between 1979 and 1982, including six top four singles (two of which were UK Number 1 hits). Their style was quite original and especially notable for their double-drum sound. At the height of their popularity, their success was boosted by imaginative and flamboyant music videos, which included 18th century styles and pantomime pastiche. This is particularly evident in the videos made for their biggest two hits during 1981 ("Stand and Deliver" and "Prince Charming"). The band's fashion sense and lyrics often exemplified this fun historical angle.
Formation
Prior to the Ants,
Adam AntAdam Ant is an English musician, who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1979 and 1983, including three No.1s...
(born Stuart Leslie Goddard) played bass in
pub rockPub rock was a mid- to late-1970s musical movement, largely centred around North London and South East Essex, particularly Canvey Island and Southend on Sea. Pub rock was largely a reaction to much of the popular music of the era, which tended to be dominated by progressive rock and highly...
group
Bazooka JoeBazooka Joe or Bazooka Joe and the Lillets was a British pub rock band formed by John Ellis and Danny Kleinman in 1970. It featured Stuart Goddard, who would later change his name to "Adam Ant". Both Ellis and Goddard would go on to find success with The Vibrators and Adam and the Ants, respectively...
, now primarily known as the band that headlined when the
Sex PistolsThe Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They are responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
played their first concert on 6 November 1975 at
Central Saint Martins College of Art and DesignCentral Saint Martins College of Art and Design is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, and is widely regarded as a leading British art and design school.Best Design Schools in the World-Profile:Central Saint Martins College of Art and...
. After witnessing this, Adam immediately quit the band with the intention of forming his own, inspired by the Sex Pistols.
Tentatively called the B-sides, they practiced regularly over the following months, but, lacking a drummer, never managed to play a gig. Meanwhile, Adam Ant had befriended some influential figures in the burgeoning London punk scene, most notably
JordanJordan in Seaford, East Sussex, is a model and actress noted for her work with Vivienne Westwood and the SEX boutique in the Kings Road area of London in the mid-1970s....
, who worked in
Malcolm McLarenMalcolm McLaren is a performer, impresario, self-publicist and most famously, former manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls.-Early years:...
and
Vivienne WestwoodDame Vivienne Westwood, DBE, RDI is a British fashion designer largely responsible for bringing modern punk and new wave fashions into the mainstream.-Early life:...
's
SEX boutiqueSEX was a boutique run by Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood at 430 King's Road, London in the 1970’s, whose fashion clothes heavily influenced the punk movement aesthetics.-Early history:...
shop. The Ants eventually formed in early 1977 consisting of
Lester SquareLester Square was the lead guitarist for The Monochrome Set. He also played keyboards, sang backing vocals, designed some of the band's record sleeves, and wrote much of their music. He had previously been in the original incarnation of Adam and the Ants, known as The B-Sides, which he left in...
(
guitarThe guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that adapts readily to a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four-, seven-, eight-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars also exist. The size and shape of the neck and the base of the guitar...
), Andy Warren (
bass guitarThe electric bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a plectrum....
) and Paul Flannagan (Drums).
Lester SquareLester Square was the lead guitarist for The Monochrome Set. He also played keyboards, sang backing vocals, designed some of the band's record sleeves, and wrote much of their music. He had previously been in the original incarnation of Adam and the Ants, known as The B-Sides, which he left in...
left to finish Art school and to later form
The Monochrome SetThe Monochrome Set were an English post-punk band originally formed in 1978 from the remnants of a college group called The B-Sides...
just before the Ants played their first gig on 5 May 1977, at a bedroom in Muswell Hill..
Mark RyanMark Ryan is an English guitarist who played in different punk bands during the late 1970s.In 1977, he joined Adam and the Ants, replacing Lester Square , to complete the line-up who debuted live at the ICA restaurant in May, recording Plastic Surgery and a number of demos with the band...
replaced him on guitar and played the first formal gigs and recorded 'Plastic Surgery' (along with a few other unreleased demos) until he was replaced by Johnny Bivouac in October 1977.
Early recordings
The band made their radio debut on the
John PeelJohn Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004. He was known for his eclectic taste in music and...
show on 23 January 1978. The following day they re-recorded
Deutscher Girls (and overdubbed a guitar solo onto the above mentioned version of
Plastic Surgery) for the
JubileeJubilee is a 1977 cult film directed by Derek Jarman. It stars Jenny Runacre, Ian Charleson, and a host of punk rockers. The title refers to the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 1977.-Plot:...
soundtrack. Touring extensively around the UK, often with
Siouxsie & the BansheesSiouxsie & the Banshees were a British rock band formed in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bassist Steven Severin, the only constant members....
, they proved to be unpopular with much of the British music press who disliked their fetishistic lyrics and imagery. The band struggled to find success or even a record deal until 1978 when they were signed to
DeccaDecca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; later the link with the British company was broken for several decades...
and released their first single
Young ParisiansYoung Parisians is the debut single of Adam and the Ants, released on Decca Records, on 20 October 1978, being produced by the band's singer Adam Ant and future Berlin Jo Julian...
to confused reviews and little success. Apparently unable to satisfactorily market the band, the label soon let them go. Many of their early recordings and demos would eventually surface on
bootlegA bootleg recording is an audio and/or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist, or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
records. The Ants went through several lineup changes before eventually settling on the semi-stable lineup of
Adam AntAdam Ant is an English musician, who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1979 and 1983, including three No.1s...
(vocals and
guitarThe guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that adapts readily to a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four-, seven-, eight-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars also exist. The size and shape of the neck and the base of the guitar...
),
Matthew AshmanMatthew James Ashman was a guitarist with Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow. He died of diabetes-related complications in 1995, aged 35....
(
guitarThe guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that adapts readily to a wide variety of musical styles. It typically has six strings, but four-, seven-, eight-, ten-, eleven-, twelve-, thirteen- and eighteen-string guitars also exist. The size and shape of the neck and the base of the guitar...
), Andy Warren (bass guitar) and Dave Barbarossa (
DrumsA drum set is a collection of drums, cymbals and sometimes other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person . The term "drum kit" first became used in the 1700s in Britain...
), before Warren also left to join Square in
The Monochrome SetThe Monochrome Set were an English post-punk band originally formed in 1978 from the remnants of a college group called The B-Sides...
. It would be this lineup that recorded their debut album
Dirk Wears White SoxDirk Wears White Sox is Adam and the Ants' first album, released on Do It Records in 1979, before Adam went on to fame with "Kings of the Wild Frontier". Dirk Wears White Sox features a much more eclectic, sometimes brooding sound than Ant's later work...
. They also recorded three John Peel Sessions between 1978 and 1979 which were released in 2001 on
The Complete Radio 1 Sessions.
Dirk Wears White Sox
Late 1979 saw the release of their debut album
Dirk Wears White SoxDirk Wears White Sox is Adam and the Ants' first album, released on Do It Records in 1979, before Adam went on to fame with "Kings of the Wild Frontier". Dirk Wears White Sox features a much more eclectic, sometimes brooding sound than Ant's later work...
(1979,
Do It RecordsDo It Records was an independent record label in London started in 1978 by Robin Scott, Max Tregoning and Ian Tregoning. Over the next six years, they released several recordings by M, Adam and the Ants, Anthony Moore and Yello....
). The title references
Dirk BogardeSir Dirk Bogarde was a British actor and novelist. Initially a matinee star in such films as Doctor in the House and other Rank Organisation pictures, Bogarde later acted in art house films like Death in Venice...
. The album was somewhat dark, with
post-punkPost-punk is a popular musical movement with its roots in the late 1970s, following on the heels of the initial punk rock explosion of the mid-1970s. The genre retains its roots in the punk movement but is more introverted, complex and experimental...
riffs and some vestiges of
glam rockGlam rock is a style that developed in the UK in the post-hippie early 1970s that was "performed by singers and musicians wearing outrageous clothes, makeup, hairstyles, and platform-soled boots." The flamboyant costumes, and visual styles of glam performers were a campy, theatrical blend of...
, as well as attempts to fuse this sound with
funkFunk is an American music genre that originated in the late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, soul jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
and
soulSoul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
. Lyrically it attempted to address subjects such as fetishism, historical figures like
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , popularly known as the Nazi Party...
,
John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
and Cleopatra as well as art history, particularly the
FuturismFuturism or Futurist may refer to:*Futurology* Futurists * Futurist architecture* Futurist meals, a gastronomic movement based on Futurism* Futurism , a movement in literature, art, and architecture* Futurism...
movement. It gained a
cult followingA cult following is used to refer to a small or large group of fans that are either somewhat or highly dedicated to a specific area of pop culture.-Cult media:...
rather than commercial success, leading a frustrated Adam to hire
Malcolm McLarenMalcolm McLaren is a performer, impresario, self-publicist and most famously, former manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls.-Early years:...
(manager of the
Sex PistolsThe Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They are responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...
) in the hope of more widespread recognition.
In January 1980, McLaren convinced the rest of the band, then comprising guitarist
Matthew AshmanMatthew James Ashman was a guitarist with Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow. He died of diabetes-related complications in 1995, aged 35....
, bassist
Leigh GormanLeigh Gorman is an English rock musician, record producer, and composer best known for his work as the bass player for Bow Wow Wow.-Early life:...
and drummer Dave Barbarossa to leave the Ants and form
Bow Wow WowBow Wow Wow was a 1980s New Wave band created by Malcolm McLaren to promote his and business partner Vivienne Westwood's, New Romantic fashion lines. The group's music is described as having an "African-derived drum sound". -History:...
, fronted by
Annabella LwinAnnabella Lwin is an Anglo-Burmese singer, songwriter, and record producer best known as the lead singer of Bow Wow Wow.-Biography:Myant Myant Aye...
.
Kings of the Wild Frontier
A new version of the Ants was formed with
Marco PirroniMarco Francesco Andrea Pirroni is an English guitarist and singer. He has worked with Adam Ant, Sinéad O'Connor, Siouxsie & the Banshees and many others in a career spanning the late 1970s to the present day.-Biography:Born in Archway, he lived with his parents in Camden Town, until at 15 years...
(an ex-member - for short time - of
Siouxsie & the BansheesSiouxsie & the Banshees were a British rock band formed in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bassist Steven Severin, the only constant members....
, The Models, Rema Rema and
Cowboys InternationalCowboys International were a New Wave and synthpop band formed by vocalist and songwriter Ken Lockie that put out one album in 1979, the influential The Original Sin, and a handful of 45s before dissolving in 1980...
) (guitar),
Kevin MooneyKevin Mooney is an English rock bassist and guitarist from who has worked with Adam Ant, Sinéad O'Connor, and others.-Career:...
(bass guitar), and two drummers, Terry Lee Miall and Chris Hughes (ex-
The Blitz BrothersThe Blitz Brothers were a New Wave band based in Merseyside, England, comprising Chris Hughes , Dave Bates , Steve Lovell and Hugh Jones ....
, future
Tears For FearsTears for Fears are an English pop rock duo formed in the early 1980s by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith.Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, they were initially associated with the New Wave synthesizer bands of the early 1980s but later branched out into...
producer), called also Merrick. Pirroni would become an influential member of the group, co-writing many of their songs with
Adam AntAdam Ant is an English musician, who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1979 and 1983, including three No.1s...
.
The band signed a major label deal with
CBS RecordsCBS Records is a record label founded by CBS Corporation in 2006 to take advantage of music from its entertainment properties owned by CBS Television Studios. The initial label roster consisted of only three artists; rock band Señor Happy and singer/songwriters Will Dailey and P.J...
and began recording
Kings of the Wild FrontierKings of the Wild Frontier is a New Wave album by Adam and the Ants, released in 1980 . This album introduced the new Burundi drum sound. After having his previous backing band wooed away by producer Malcolm McLaren, who used them to form Bow Wow Wow, Adam Ant recorded Kings of the Wild Frontier...
. That album was an enormous hit in the
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
and put the band at the forefront of the
New RomanticNew Romanticism was a youth fashion movement that peaked in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. Originally centered around part of the Synthpop music scene, it has seen several revivals since then, and continues to influence popular culture...
movement. The album reached #1 on the
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
album charts on 24 January 1981.
There were several hit singles from this LP, including "Dog Eat Dog" (reaching #4 on the
UKThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
singles charts in October 1980), "
Antmusic"Antmusic" was the third single released in the UK in 1980, from the hugely popular Adam and the Ants album Kings of the Wild Frontier. The first single from the album Kings of the Wild Frontier was relatively unsuccessful at first, only making number 48...
" (#2 in January 1981),which was only held off of #1 due to the re-release of "
Imagine"Imagine" is a song written and performed by English rock musician John Lennon. It is the opening track on his album Imagine, released in 1971. "Imagine" was released as a single in the United States where it reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100...
" after the death of
John LennonJohn Winston Ono Lennon, MBE was an English rock musician, singer-songwriter, author, and peace activist who gained worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles...
, and "Kings of the Wild Frontier" (#2 in March 1981). In addition, "Antmusic" made it to #1 in Australia for five weeks.
Bassist Kevin Mooney left the band in 1981, and was replaced with
Gary TibbsGary Tibbs is a bass guitarist and actor, who appeared in the film Breaking Glass, alongside Hazel O'Connor....
who joined just in time to record the hit single "Stand & Deliver".
Prince Charming
In November 1981, Adam & the Ants released another highly successful album,
Prince CharmingPrince Charming is the third and final album by Adam and the Ants, released in 1981 . Unlike Kings of the Wild Frontier, Prince Charming showed the Ants moving away from their earlier Burundi drum style. It is also noticeable that this album is the first without Kevin Mooney, the bassist from...
. The band had two
United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
#1 singles. "
Stand and Deliver"Stand and Deliver" was Adam and the Ants' most successful single. It entered the UK Top 40 at Number One and stayed there for five weeks. It was featured on their Prince Charming album...
" was the #1 single in the UK for 5 weeks in May 1981
http://www.everyhit.com/retrocharts/1981-MayA.html, followed by "Prince Charming", which topped the UK charts, for 4 weeks in September 1981.
http://www.everyhit.com/retrocharts/1981-SeptemberB.html "Ant Rap" reached #3 in January 1982.
http://www.everyhit.com/retrocharts/1982-JanuaryA.html
Breakup
In early 1982, the band received a
Grammy AwardThe Grammy Awards —or Grammys—are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry...
nomination for
Best New ArtistThe Grammy for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1960. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967...
.
http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1982/grammys.htm In March 1982, feeling certain band members "lacked enthusiasm", Adam Ant disbanded the group. Newspaper articles at the time offered various explanations for the motivations behind the split. Initially Adam was quoted as saying that the split was amicable but later he was to say that "the interest just wasn't there anymore. It might have been Adam and the Ants on the billboards but not on stage." In addition, it is said that Pirroni quit as he was tired of touring.
http://www.adam-ant.net/ants.html. A few months after the split
Adam AntAdam Ant is an English musician, who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1979 and 1983, including three No.1s...
launched a solo career (though he retained
Marco PirroniMarco Francesco Andrea Pirroni is an English guitarist and singer. He has worked with Adam Ant, Sinéad O'Connor, Siouxsie & the Banshees and many others in a career spanning the late 1970s to the present day.-Biography:Born in Archway, he lived with his parents in Camden Town, until at 15 years...
as co-writer). Merrick rejoined
Dalek I Love YouDalek I Love You may refer to:* Dalek I Love You, a synthpop group* Dalek I Love You , the group's self-titled album* Dalek I Love You , an audio play broadcast on BBC Radio...
.
Post breakup activity
- In 2000, Antbox a retrospective box set spanning Ant's career from the late 1970s through the 1990s, was released. The box set included 66 tracks on three CDs, and quickly sold the initial 10,000 units.
- In 2003 the Antbox set was re-released in a different form (with the same tracks) and sold once again with success.
- 2004 saw the digitally remastered re-release of the albums Dirk Wears White Sox
Dirk Wears White Sox is Adam and the Ants' first album, released on Do It Records in 1979, before Adam went on to fame with "Kings of the Wild Frontier". Dirk Wears White Sox features a much more eclectic, sometimes brooding sound than Ant's later work...
, Kings of the Wild FrontierKings of the Wild Frontier is a New Wave album by Adam and the Ants, released in 1980 . This album introduced the new Burundi drum sound. After having his previous backing band wooed away by producer Malcolm McLaren, who used them to form Bow Wow Wow, Adam Ant recorded Kings of the Wild Frontier...
, and Prince CharmingPrince Charming is a stock character who appears in a number of fairy tales. He is the prince who comes to the rescue of the damsel in distress, and typically must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell...
, with bonus material in the form of previously unreleased demo songs. These were overseen by Marco Pirroni, and Kings of the Wild Frontier and Prince Charming were remastered by Chris Hughes (a.k.a Merrick in the band's line-up).
- On 10 September 2008, The Daily Mail give-away for Prince Charming was released with the newspaper.
Legacy
Adam & The Ants have served as a major influence on many artists that have emerged during the band's short career, including
Robbie WilliamsRobert Peter Williams, better known as Robbie Williams is a BRIT Award-winning English British singer-songwriter. His career started in 1989, at the age of 15, as a dancer and singer with the pop band Take That. He left the band in 1995 to launch his solo career...
, The Charlatans,
Dirty Pretty ThingsDirty Pretty Things were an English band fronted by Carl Barât, a former member of The Libertines. The formation of the band was announced in September 2005, after a dispute between Barât and Pete Doherty led to the breakup of The Libertines in 2004. Barât had worked with Vertigo Records and had...
,
ElasticaElastica were a British alternative rock band, who played punk rock-influenced music. They were best known for their 1995 album Elastica which produced singles that charted in the U.S. and the UK.-History:...
,
RepublicaRepublica were an English band formed in 1994. The height of their popularity spanned from 1996 to 1999. The Republica sound was described by the band as "techno-pop punk rock", although Melody Maker took to calling it "electronica", a label which stuck as a genre category.- History :Republica was...
,
Nine Inch NailsNine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
&
SuedeSuede is a type of leather with a napped finish. However, it can also refer to a similar napped or brushed finish on many kinds of fabrics. The term comes from the French "gants de Suède", which literally means "gloves of Sweden"....
.
An affectionate short film, featuring Nick Moran, called Ant Muzak was made in 2002 featuring Adam and the Ants visiting a supermarket late at night at the same time as
Sigue Sigue SputnikSigue Sigue Sputnik are a British new wave band led by former Generation X bassist Tony James. The band achieved moderate fame in 1986, when they achieved 3 UK top 40 hits including the song "Love Missile F1-11", which hit the pop charts around the world, helped by its use in the cult-hit movie...
. Gary Tibbs appeared in the film as Dirk, the supermarket Manager, and naturally he wore white socks. The film is available on DVD with two similar parodies.
Adam & The Ants have also been made into cartoon characters:
Antcomics http://www.drunkduck.com/Antcomics, a webcomic by Amy Hankins, made its debut on the
DrunkDuckDrunkDuck is a free webcomic hosting service founded by Dylan Squires in 2002. The site provides a community, peer and fan based feedback through a voting/comment system, and various rankings of webcomics divided in two categories, which are Comic Books and Comic Strips...
webcomics site in May 2007.
Antcomics is a comical and almost entirely fictional depiction of Adam Ant and his bandmates struggling to gain fame during their early formative years.
In April 2009,
No DoubtNo Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, founded in 1986. The ska-pop sound of their first album, No Doubt , failed to make waves...
performed a cover of
Stand and Deliver on an episode of the American TV show
Gossip GirlGossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group...
and intend to perform it again live at the
BamboozleThe Bamboozle is an annual rain-or-shine, two-day music festival held in New Jersey. Every year, new bands compete for spots during the two days. The event evolved out of the Skate and Surf Festival.- The Characters:...
music festival, New Jersey, USA, in May 2009, although they have no plans to release the song as a single.
Music Videos
Adam and the Ants made some of the most innovative music videos ever to be made. The band seized the opportunities provided by music videos on the new
MTVMTV is a cable television network based in New York City and launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs...
channel to develop a theatrical, charismatic on-screen persona. With romantic costumes and heavy make-up, the band was an early example of the
New RomanticNew Romanticism was a youth fashion movement that peaked in the United Kingdom during the early 1980s. Originally centered around part of the Synthpop music scene, it has seen several revivals since then, and continues to influence popular culture...
movement but they still showed their
punk rootsThe punk subculture is a subculture based around punk rock. It includes music, ideologies, fashion, visual art, dance, literature and film. The punk scene is composed of an assortment of smaller factions that distinguish themselves from one another through unique variations...
. Lavish videos were produced for the
Prince CharmingPrince Charming is the third and final album by Adam and the Ants, released in 1981 . Unlike Kings of the Wild Frontier, Prince Charming showed the Ants moving away from their earlier Burundi drum style. It is also noticeable that this album is the first without Kevin Mooney, the bassist from...
singles, including "Stand and Deliver", "Prince Charming", and "Ant Rap". All Adam & The Ants music videos were produced and storyboarded by
Adam AntAdam Ant is an English musician, who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1979 and 1983, including three No.1s...
. These videos helped break the band in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
when MTV began airing them.
Discography
- Dirk Wears White Sox
Dirk Wears White Sox is Adam and the Ants' first album, released on Do It Records in 1979, before Adam went on to fame with "Kings of the Wild Frontier". Dirk Wears White Sox features a much more eclectic, sometimes brooding sound than Ant's later work...
- Kings of the Wild Frontier
Kings of the Wild Frontier is a New Wave album by Adam and the Ants, released in 1980 . This album introduced the new Burundi drum sound. After having his previous backing band wooed away by producer Malcolm McLaren, who used them to form Bow Wow Wow, Adam Ant recorded Kings of the Wild Frontier...
- Prince Charming
Prince Charming is the third and final album by Adam and the Ants, released in 1981 . Unlike Kings of the Wild Frontier, Prince Charming showed the Ants moving away from their earlier Burundi drum style. It is also noticeable that this album is the first without Kevin Mooney, the bassist from...
Awards
| Year |
Nominated work |
Award |
Result |
| 1982 |
Adam and the Ants |
Grammy AwardThe Grammy Awards —or Grammys—are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry...
s: Best New ArtistThe Grammy for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1960. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967...
|
|
| Kings of the Wild Frontier Kings of the Wild Frontier is a New Wave album by Adam and the Ants, released in 1980 . This album introduced the new Burundi drum sound. After having his previous backing band wooed away by producer Malcolm McLaren, who used them to form Bow Wow Wow, Adam Ant recorded Kings of the Wild Frontier...
|
BRIT Awards The Brit Awards, often simply called The Brits and stylized as The BRIT Awards, are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British" or "Britannia", but has subsequently become a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...
: Best British Album |
|
| Stand and Deliver (song) "Stand and Deliver" was Adam and the Ants' most successful single. It entered the UK Top 40 at Number One and stayed there for five weeks. It was featured on their Prince Charming album...
|
Ivor Novello Awards: Songwriters of the Year |
|
External links