Manners & Physique is the fourth solo album from Adam Ant

Adam Ant

Adam 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 1980 and 1983, including three No.1s...

. It was released by March 1990 by MCA Records

MCA Records

MCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...

. The single "Room at the Top" peaked at number 13 in England and number 17 in America. "Rough Stuff" (US) and "Can't Set Rules About Love" (UK) were released afterwards.

Ant is credited with writing or co-writing all the tracks on the album, mostly in partnership with guitarist Marco Pirroni

Marco Pirroni

Marco Francesco Andrea Pirroni is an English guitarist, songwriter and record producer...

 or André Cymone

André Cymone

André Cymone is an American bassist, songwriter and record producer. Cymone was a bass guitarist for recording artist Prince's touring band, pre-Revolution. Cymone began a solo career in 1981. His song, "The Dance Electric" , reached number ten on the R&B charts...

, who is credited with playing "Everything Else".

Adam himself later claimed that the album was styled after the bass heavy Minneapolis sound

Minneapolis sound

The Minneapolis sound is a hybrid mixture of funk, rock, pop, R&B and New Wave that was pioneered by Prince in the late 1970s. Its popularity was given a boost throughout the 1980s, thanks to his musical adherents, including The Time, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Morris Day, Vanity 6, Apollonia 6, Ta...

 of which Cymone, in Ant's words, was "one of the architects".

Even though this album was recorded in 1989, six of the tracks were written in 1986. One of which, the title track, Manners & Physique, had new music written by André Cymone.

The album is dedicated to Ann Marie Dollard, Ant's "Dear Friend", 1956-1988. Dollard was Ant's acting agent who was killed in a riding accident.. Her husband Pat is also listed in the credits.

On July, 20th, 2009 the album was re-released with remastered and bonus tracks.

Track listing

Original Release

1. "Room at the Top" – 4:43 (Ant, Pirroni, Andre Cymone; Copyright
   Copyright
   Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...
   
    EMI
   EMI
   The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
   
    Music Publishing/EMI Songs)
2. "Rough Stuff" – 4:40 (Ant, Cymone; Copyright EMI Music Publishing/EMI Songs)
3. "If You Keep On" – 4:16 (Ant, Kevin Rowland
   Kevin Rowland
   Kevin Rowland is an English singer-songwriter and former frontman for the pop band Dexys Midnight Runners, which had several hits in the early 1980s, the most notable being "Geno" and "Come On Eileen".-Career:...
   
   ; Copyright EMI Music Publishing)
4. "Manners & Physique" – 3:30 (Ant, Cymone; Copyright EMI Music Publishing/EMI Songs)
5. "Can't Set Rules About Love" – 4:43 (Ant, Pirroni; Copyright EMI Music Publishing)
6. "U.S.S.A." – 4:27 (Ant; Copyright EMI Music Publishing)
7. "Bright Lights Black Leather" – 5:22 (Ant; Copyright EMI Music Publishing)
8. "Piccadilly" – 4:52 (Ant, Cymone; Copyright EMI Music Publishing/EMI Songs)
9. "Young Dumb and Full of It" – 3:32 (Pirroni; Copyright EMI Music Publishing)
10. "Anger, Inc." – 4:35 (Ant, Pirroni; Copyright EMI Music Publishing)

Re-release on Cherry Records

1. "Room at the Top" – 4:43
2. "Rough Stuff" – 4:40
3. "If You Keep On" – 4:16
4. "Manners & Physique" – 3:30
5. "Can't Set Rules About Love" – 4:43
6. "U.S.S.A." – 4:27
7. "Bright Lights Black Leather" – 5:22
8. "Piccadilly" – 4:52
9. "Young Dumb and Full of It" – 3:32
10. "Anger, Inc." – 4:35
11. "BRUCE LEE
12. "ROOM AT THE TOP (US REMIX)"
13. "ROUGH STUFF (7” EDIT)"
14. "ROOM AT THE TOP (HOUSE VOCAL)"
15. "ROUGH STUFF (12" VOCAL REMIX)"

Tracks 11 - 15 are bonus tracks from various 7" and 12" releases.

Personnel

• Adam Ant: Vocals
• Marco Pirroni: Guitars
• Andre Cymone: "Everything Else" (Keyboards, Synthesizers, Electric & Synth Bass, Drums, Percussion, Drum Programming

Production

• Produced By Andre Cymone & Marc Shaiman
• Recorded, Engineered & Mixed By Dan Marnian
• Assistant Recording Engineer: Sally Browther
• Assistant Mix Engineer: Ryan Dorn
• Mastered By Steve Hall

External links

• "Manners & Physique" at discogs