Adam and the Ants is a British new wave group formed by Adam Ant in London , England , in 1977 , which had great commercial success in the early 1980s and had a significant impact, in particular, on many Brit pop artists ( Elastica , Suede , Franz Ferdinand et al.). In 1980-1982, 8 singles of the group were included in the UK Singles Chart Top 40 , two of them, "Stand and Deliver" and "Prince Charming" topped the lists. [1] Kings of the Wild Frontier also became Charttopper, having spent 66 weeks on Top 40. [2]
| Adam and the ants | |
|---|---|
 Adam and the Ants (1981) | |
| basic information | |
| Genres | post punk new wave new romance |
| Years | 1977 - 1982 |
| A country |  Great Britain |
| City | London England |
| Where from | |
| Labels | Cbs Do it records |
| Former the participants | Adam Ant Marco Pirroni Kevin Mooney Terry Lee Myall Merrick Andy warren Lester Squire |
| Other projects | Bow wow wow |
| Adam and the ants | |
Group History
Origins
In the early 70s, Adam Ant (real name Stuart Leslie Goddard ) played bass in the pub rock band Bazooka Joe , which is now mostly known for the fact that they were headlining the concert on November 6 1975 at the Central Art College of St. Martin , where they gave their first performance, Sex Pistols . After this concert, Adam, inspired by the Sex Pistols , left Bazooka Joe to organize his own ensemble. On July 3, 1976 , The B-Sides was formed, with bass player Andy Warren and guitarist Lester Square . Having recorded the punk version of “ These Boots are Made for Walking ”, the group (which did not have a permanent drummer, which means there was no chance to break into the metropolitan concert chain) broke up. [3]
But Adam acquired some useful acquaintances - in particular, among the staff of the SEX boutique, which was run by Malcolm Maclaren . In April 1977, Adam Ant attended the Siouxsie and the Banshees concert (along with The Violators ) at The Roxy in London. It was here that he came up with the idea of creating Adam & the Ants.
Why did I call myself Adam? .. You see, I was physically physically somewhat different than David Bowie and Alice Cooper , my idols. He was more muscular and looked like Adam in the Garden of Eden, as if descended from a picture of the Renaissance ... Well, The Ants - this, of course, was an analogue of The Beatles ... But the main thing, the name Adam And The Ants easily flew off the tongue . - Adam Ant, "Time Out." [4] [5]
Debut
Adam & the Ants, composed of Ant, Square, Warren and drummer Paul Flanagan, gave their first concert (which was private) on May 5, 1977, in Maswell Hill's bedroom. A day after the premiere, Leicester Square left the group (in order to finish his studies at the art school, he later organized The Monochrome Set ). He was replaced by guitarist Mark Ryan ( born Mark Gaumont ). In this composition, on May 10, 1977 , in the theater of the Institute of Contemporary Art ( ICA ), the group held its first official public concert. [6]
At the very beginning of June 1977, Flanagan was replaced by drummer Dave Barbie ( Dave Barbe , real name David Barbarossa), with whom, in July - August of the same year, the first recordings of Plastic Surgery and Deutscher Girls (and six more songs that were subsequently released on the The Jubilee Demos bootleg). [7]
January 23, 1978 the group debuted on the radio in the program of John Peel . At the sessions, Peel recorded 4 songs, including “Lou”, where the group manager Jordan ( born Jordan , real name Pamela Rooke) was invited as a vocalist. The next day, Deutscher Girls and Plastic Surgery were re-recorded for the soundtrack for Derek Jarman 's Jubilee. And at the sessions at John Peel and on the recording of the soundtrack, the new guitarist Johnny Bivouac participated. The latter, however, left the lineup on May 15 - after the band performed at the London Roundhouse (together with X-Ray Spex ). The band played two concerts as part of a trio.
In the summer of 1978, there was a curious conflict between Adam and the Rock Against Racism organization. The latter constantly accused Adam & the Ants of sympathizing with the Nazis (the only basis was the use of symbolism and the use of the word 'nazi' in the texts), which the group denied. RAR, in order to “test” A & tA for reliability, invited them to perform in a series of their concerts. Adam Ant agreed, and RAR, disappointed that the “disclosure” failed, subjected the group’s frontman to “interrogation” in the form of an interview conducted by Lucy Tuspaste with obvious prejudice. [eight]
In June 1978, guitarist Matthew Ashman made his debut as part of a band (at a concert at Hard Rock Café ). Intensive UK tours began (often paired with Siouxsie and the Banshees), including two concerts played as part of Rock Against Racism. A month later, the group recorded their second session with John Peel (John Peel Session). The group then signed a mini-contract with Decca to release only two singles and went on a European tour. The first single “Young Parisians” was released in October 1978. Dissatisfied with the poor success of the single, Decca at the beginning of 1979 stopped collaborating with the group, so their second single “Zerox” Adam & the Ants was released on the independent label Do It . On March 26, the group participated in sessions with John Peel for the third time.
Dirk Wears White Sox
The same composition (Ant, Ashman, Warren and Barbarossa) recorded the debut album Dirk Wears White Sox (1979, Do It), a gloomy and ambitious record with characteristic torn rhythms and angular guitar riffs, in addition, glam intonations in Anta's vocals. [9] The punk community met the album without enthusiasm:
Sadly, their best things have remained unwritten and continue to circulate on bootlegs like Red Scab ... Listen to things like Christian Dior, Red Scab, and Ruth Ellis. It is amazing how many songs they have left unreleased. The drummer and guitarist left for Bow Bow Wow , but this does not answer the question of how this excellent set of songs could turn into a dull Dirk Wears White Sox ... Two official singles by which you can judge how the debut album should have sounded - Young Parisians / Lady and Zerox (with Whip In My Valise and Physical on bi-sites) are no less revolutionary than Siouxsie & the Banshees first album . - Punk 77. [10]
In 1983, Adam bought the rights to the record and re-released it in a remixed version, making a change. “Catholic Day” and “Day I Met God” were replaced by the single versions of “Zerox” and “Kick” (Trouser Press observers saw “the theme in this revisionism”) [3] , and a completely new record “Cartrouble” was added to them [9 ]
Faced with complete indifference of both critics and spectators, the group felt the need to urgently change their image and called for the help of Malcolm McLaren . It is generally accepted that it was he who proposed a new image and style for the group, but Ant, claimed that he invented everything on his own. He developed a vivid Native American-pirate image as a kind of reaction to "... the dominance of colorless groups that make no effort to create a stage image." [eleven]
Kings of the Wild Frontier
The changes were met negatively by the music press and enthusiastically by the audience: the group began to rapidly gain popularity. In October 1979, Warren retired and joined Leicester Square in The Monochrome Set - he was replaced by Leigh Gorman . The New Year concert at Electric Ballroom, which was held with great success, was, however, the first and last for Gorman as part of Adam & The Ants. In January 1980, he, Ashman and Barbarossa left for the new McLaren line-up - Bow Wow Wow , just in the days when Adam worked on the material for the second album.
In February 1980, Adam & the Ants included Chris Merrick Hughes, Terry Mayall (drums), bassist Kevin Mooney and Marco Pirroni (ex-The Models and Siouxsie & the Banshees). The latter soon became the real musical brain of the group and co-author of all its hits. [9]
In May 1980, Adam & the Ants signed a contract with CBS . On November 8, the single “Dog Eat Dog” (after the band’s first appearance in the Top of the Pops program ) climbed to 4th place on the British lists. Two months later, Kings of the Wild Frontier's second studio album, charged with “powerful rhythms and primitive fun” [3] , led the UK Albums Chart , and six months later received the Brit Award as the best album of the year. After the single "Ant Music" rose to # 2 in Britain, Decca and Do It began to promote old records in order to capitalize on the popularity of new ones. “Young Parisians” in December 1980 rose to # 9, “Zerox” (January 1981, # 45), “Cartrouble” (January 1981, # 33), the album Dirk Wears White Sox in February 1981 rose to # 16 [1] .
Prince Charming
On September 19, 1981, the single “Prince Charming” climbed to 1st place in the UK Singles Charts and the band performed a full-house tour of Prince Charming Revue with material from the yet-unreleased third studio album. Mooney left the squad and was replaced by Gary Tibbs, and he recorded the track “Stand & Deliver” released by the single (5 weeks # 1 in May 1981 ) [1] and received later ( April 29, 1982 ) Ivor Novello Award for Best Single of the Year; Ant and Pirroni won the "author of the year" nomination.
In November 1981, the third studio album by Prince Charming was released , which, although it seemed to music critics more “inhibited” than the previous one [3] , was a significant commercial success. Following the “Stand and Deliver”, the title track climbed to the top of the charts (4 weeks # 1 in September). Ant Rap reached 3rd line in January 1982 . [one]
In 1982, before the band broke up, Ant began a successful solo career, releasing the hit single “Goody Two Shoes” (# 1, 1982) and the album Friend or Foe (1982), the second single from which the title track came out. In March 1982, accusing his colleagues of "lack of enthusiasm", he dismissed the lineup and continued to perform solo, retaining Marco Pirroni as a co-author.
Discography
Studio Albums
- Dirk Wears White Sox - 1979
- Kings of the Wild Frontier - 1980
- Prince Charming - 1981
- Peel Sessions - 1990 (records 1978-1979)
Adam Ant Solo Albums
- Friend or Foe - 1982
- Strip - 1983
- Vive Le Rock - 1985
- Manners and Physique - 1990
- Wonderful - 1995
- Live At The Bloomsbury - 2008
- Adam Ant Is The Blueblack Hussar In Marrying The Gunner's Daughter - 2013
Collections
- Hits - 1986
- Antics In The Forbidden Zone - 1990
- The Collection - 1991
- Antmusic - The Very Best Of Adam Ant - 1993
- B-Side Babies - 1994
- The Complete Radio 1 Sessions - 1996
- Super Hits - 1998
- The Very Best Of Adam And The Ants - 1999
- Antbox - 2000 (box set, 3 CDs)
- The Very Best Of Adam & The Ants: Stand & Deliver - 2006
- Dandy Highwaymen: The Best Of Adam & The Ants - 2007
- Playlist: The Very Best Of Adam Ant - 2012
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Adam & the Ants UK Charts . - www.chartstats.com. Date of treatment December 9, 2009. Archived February 25, 2012.
- ↑ Kings of the Wild Frontier . - www.chartstats.com. Date of treatment December 9, 2009. Archived February 25, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 3 4 Jon Young, Kate Lewis & Terry Rompers. Adam and the Ants . www.trouserpress.com. Date of treatment December 11, 2009. Archived February 25, 2012.
- ↑ Adam Ant. Time Out interview, 09/11/2006. Page 2 (Eng.) . - www.timeout.com. Date of treatment December 9, 2009. Archived February 25, 2012.
- ↑ In a 1981 interview (Swap Shop interview), Adam Ant claimed the name was suggested by the band's guitarist.
- ↑ "Antmusic" (unavailable link) . Date of treatment January 3, 2016. Archived March 4, 2016.
- ↑ "Antmusic" (unavailable link) . Date of treatment January 3, 2016. Archived on February 26, 2009.
- ↑ Adam Ant vs Lucy Toothpaste . - www.punk77.co.uk. Date of treatment December 9, 2009. Archived February 25, 2012.
- ↑ 1 2 3 Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Adam and the Ants . www.allmusic.com. Date of treatment December 11, 2009. Archived February 25, 2012.
- ↑ Adam & the Ants . - www.punk77.co.uk. Date of treatment December 9, 2009. Archived February 25, 2012.
- ↑ NME: Swap Shop interview, 1981 . - www.nme.com. Date of treatment December 9, 2009. Archived February 25, 2012.