Adam & the Ants: Stand & Deliver/Prince Charming

Adam & the Ants: Stand & Deliver

1980

CBS Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1.  Stand & Deliver  2. Beat My Guest

 Adam & the Ants: Prince Charming

1981

CBS Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Prince Charming  2. Christian D'Or


Woah! I think I get to air a re-run today since I already covered most of the songs in previous blogs!  Huh? No re-runs? Alright...

I already owned three of the four songs contained on these two singles..."So why did I buy them again," you ask? Cos' they have beautiful sleeve photos that were in immaculate condition and I found them for a buck apiece at Eastside...

I'm still kind of puzzled as to why Adam Ant is such a divisive figure in pop history...His early shit can't be topped. I still don't fully understand how he arrived at his signature sound...I can hear some American Indian whooping and drumming, definitely some punk and post-punk, lots of glam and glitter rock, a bit of yodeling...To this day, there was never really anyone else like him...And if there was one song that sums up everything that was great and unique about him, it's got to be "Stand & Deliver"...No need to go praise it up and down all over again, since I'm sure you can dig through the old posts for that...The B-Side is the classic "Beat My Guest," which is a must if you're at all curious about the sub-genre "yodel punk"...

I was especially stoked to find the "Prince Charming" single...Aside from the A-Side (which is possibly my personal favorite Adam Ant song) we also get a non-album B-Side that I hadn't heard before... With all the filler on the "Prince Charming" album, I wasn't expecting much from an outtake from that album, but "Christian D'Or" is fan-flippin'-tasic...Funny, flashy pop rock with Adam giving a run down of his various fetishes using a buncha funny vocal deliveries...My favorite section?

"Big man,
Big shoes,
No style.

Damp squibs,
Retard..."

 How can you not love a song with the phrase "damp squib" in it? I believe this song also appeared on some B-Sides compilation that came out in the 90's...I should probably look for that sometime since I've been listening to so much old school Adam Ant lately...

 

Alright, let's cut this short today and listen to some Adam Ant...Here's "Christian D'Or"...Dig it...

Adam Ant: Antics from the Forbidden Zone

Adam Ant: Antics from the Forbidden Zone

1990

Epic Records

Format I Own it on: Compact Disc

Track Listing:  1. Zerox  2. Whip in my Valise  3. Car Trouble  4. Kick  5. Kings of the Wild Froniter  6. Antmusic  7. Dog Eat Dog  8. Los Rancheros  9. Killer in the Home  10. Stand and Deliver  11. Beat My Guest  12. Prince Charming  13. Ant Rap  14. Desperate but Not Serious  15. Place in the Country  16. Friend or Foe  17. Goody Two Shoes  18. Strip  19. Puss N' Boots  20. Apollo 9  21. Vive Le Rock

This compilation album offers an excellent overview of Adam's career up to this point. Despite the almost uniform quality of the tracks here, I'm still a little hesitant to recommend it as a first purchase. I would probably still go with "Kings of the Wild Frontier," since it's all killer. This has a few duds on it and some of the tracks don't quite come across as well  outside of the context of their original albums.

The material from the first four albums are of course the highlights of the disc, but we've already discussed those, so, let's move onto "Beat my Guest"... I was already well familiar with this song from the cassette version of "Kings of the Wild Frontier" that I discussed a few days ago...It's a fast paced  punk-type song featuring lots of yodeling, that was originally the B-side to the classic "Stand and Deliver" single. Despite its B-side status, it easily holds its own against the A-sides here.



(yodel-ay-hoo!)

( I used to watch the Price is Right just so I could see the yodeling guy...I loved the yodeling guy.)

The album also features two tracks from the 1983 album "Strip."



Which I would probably be too embarrassed to buy based on the cover alone. I try and skip the song "Strip" whenever I can.  Yuck! "Puss N' Boots," is fun though, and I always get a laugh at the deep-voiced  backing vocal in the chorus that sounds to me like  "PUSSY!"(Yes, I realize he's probably saying "PUSS'N!" But let me have my fun, please?)

The disc ends with a couple of tracks from 1985's "Vive Le Rock," which was his last album for quite awhile...



The bouncy, catchy "Apollo 9" is dangerously close to being 100% up to snuff. Go, Adam!  Uh oh, the next track is "Vive Le Rock." A big bloated 80's-fest that sucks out almost everything that made Adam Ant cool.  A bit of a sad way to end a great compilation, but there it is...

There's an awful lot of incredible stuff here, and really only 2 songs I'd ever skip, so I really do heartily recommend it. Holy shit, I can't believe there was a time when pop music wasn't completely retarded baby talk. (Even though I'll concede that "Apollo 9" does indeed have some baby talk in it....) can we get back to this, please?

Thanks, now let's check out the video for "Puss N Boots" starring future techno superstar Deadmou5 (pronounced Dead-Mow-Five):

Adam Ant: Friend or Foe

Adam Ant: Friend or Foe

1982

CBS Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Friend or Foe  2. Something Girls  3. Place in the Country  4. Desperate But Not Serous  5. Here Comes the Grump  6. Hello, I Love You  7. Goody Two Shoes  8. Cradckpot History and the Right to Lie  9. Made of Money  10. Cajun Twisters  11. Try This for Sighs  12. Man Called Marco


"When Showbiz is a dirty word, I hope my time will come..."

Uh oh! Adam Ant's first solo album is that most dreaded of musical tropes, the "whining about fame" album. Who wants to hear about some rich, pampered pop star complain about his good fortune. A quick scan of the lyric sheet almost makes you want to throw out the record before you even put it on, but against all odds, this record doesn't suck. In fact, it's probably his second best record!

Lyrically, it may be a bit grating, gloomy and paranoid, but you don't really notice because the music surrounding it is so ebullient. I mean listen to "Goody Two Shoes." For some reason it makes me so damn...happy!



(Although I have to say that cover of the "Goody Two Shoes" 45 almost makes me take back all the good things I've said...)

I like this album quite a bit more than "Prince Charming." The minute I first put this on my turntable and heard the title track's awesome avalanche of drums and  Marco's  twangy spy guitar lick hovering  menacingly above it all,  I knew this was what I had been looking for...

The album is also extremely horn-heavy. . I'm usually less than enthused when 80's musicians decide to add a shitload of horn charts to their records, but Adam makes it seem like they should have been there all along. It's actually an improvement! Listen to "A Place in the Country," the combination of horns, drums, and the "Whoo-ooo" vocals make it absolutely infectious. I love those "whoo-ooo's!" Go ahead! Try and sit still!



The only "skipper" track on the album is a pointless remake of the Doors' "Hello, I Love You," which isn't bad by any means...It just comes off as filler, since he doesn't especially do anything new with the song, so cut side 1 short at your Friday Night Record Party and you're good. Plus, it's hard not to love a new-wave/glam/punk album that gives a shout out to Liza Minnelli!

I bought this album back in the 90's at the same record/porn shop in Alpena, Michigan where I bought my "Prince Charming" record. This is the most recent Adam Ant album I own, since the few tracks I have heard from the subsequent albums haven't particularly inspired me to pick them up yet. But who knows, if I run across them at a decent price, I might check them out...

On that note, we're going to close things out on a high note with Adam Ant's "Goody Two Shoes" video. Enjoy...

Adam and the Ants: Prince Charming

Adam and the Ants: Prince Charming

1981

Epic Records

Format I own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing:  1. Scorpio  2. Picasso Visita El Planeta De Los Simio  3. Prince Charming  4. Five Guns West  5. That Voodoo!  6. Stand and Deliver  7. Mile High Club  8. Ant Rap  9. Mowhok  10. S.E.X  11. The Lost Hawaiians

A bit of a comedown after "Kings of the Wild Frontier." This starts out pretty strong w/ most of side one featuring some of his coolest songs ever, and side two starts out with what is possibly the greatest track of Adam's career, "Stand and Deliver." But after that it's just a big, gaping void of wasted time...

 I guess "Antrap" finally grew on me. It only took about 20 years, but I finally enjoy it. If just you're a little worried about Adam Ant tackling rap you don't really have to worry. It's not exactly "2 Chainz" or anything. Hell, the only reason I was able to identify it as rap was because of the title. It's basically Adam doing what he normally does, the only difference being that the music is missing. The backing consists of drums, vocals, and a whistle...That's it... Pretty entertaining though, and along with the Clash's "Sandinista" LP, an example of the early British new-wave/rap connection.



(suave cover of the "Ant Rap" single)

In fact, Adam seems to be going out of his way to not repeat his previous triumphs...There's a lot of new things he tries here, with some success and with some failures.

The successes: "Scorpio" sounds like the gaudiest Bond theme ever, but once you get acclimated to it, you'll find it has a pretty cool chorus. "Picasso Visita El Planeta De Los Simio" is a ridiculously catchy piece of power pop. Next is "Prince Charming" which is runner-up with "Stand and Deliver" as the album's best track. Apparently, it's ripped off from some song I never heard called "War Canoe." I wouldn't know about all that, though...Here, I guess you can listen to them both and judge for yourself...

 All I know is this sparse track slowly builds with all manners of thumps, screams and flamenco strumming.  Man, it's hard to get this out of your head once it worms its way in there. "That Voodoo" really grew on me too, as it alternates between rocking and calmer almost muzak-like passages. This is the closest the album gets to the ominous pop songs on "Kings of the Wild Frontier" while being altogether something different. 

And that's about it for successes...

"Five Guns West" is a continuation of the wild west motif explored on the previous album.  While arguably more successful in capturing the Old West vibe, with it's gunshot sound effects and Sergio Leone theme, it isn't quite up to that album's standards. The difference being, on "Kings of the Wild Frontier" you got the Western motif and the great songs to go with it. Here you just get to hear an evocative spaghetti western track with no memorable melodies... And the band wastes a perfectly fine key change on the dumb "Mile High Club." "Mohowk"  seems pretty tame compared to prior Indian-themed tracks. And while "S.E.X" is playing all I can really think about is "I wonder what the initials in S.E.X. stands for?"

So all in all, a mixed bag.  But the high points are so high, that I say if you come across a copy of it, pick it up and play it at your next Friday Night Record Party.  Just cut side 2 a little short. and you'll be fine

I bought my vinyl copy while I was in college during the 90's, at a store in Alpena. Michigan that sold records, guns and porn.  I can't really remember the name of the place. I'm not 100% sure if the guns were for sale, but I remember going through the record bins one day and the owner opened a closet and pulled out some semi-automatic weapons and was showing them to another guy in the store...Ahhhh, Michigan...

Let's relive those memories while listening to "Prince Charming..."

Adam and the Ants: Kings of the Wild Frontier (U.S. Version)

1980

Epic Records 

Version I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing:  1.Dog Eat Dog  2. Antmusic  3. Los Rancheros  4. Feed Me to the Lions  5. Press Darlings  6. Ants Invasion  7. Killer in the Home  8 .Kings of the Wild Frontier  9. The Magnificent Five  10. Don't Be Square (Be There)  11. Jolly Roger  12. Physical (You're So)  13. The Human Beings

YES! One of my favorite record ever! I don't know why this isn't more highly regarded. Any time I've ever let anyone borrow this record, I never get it back, since it usually ends up becoming one of their favorites too. The version I have now is a little different than the original cassette version I grew up listening to...




As I've covered before, I  like the cool red lettering on the sides. I should hate the shrunken cover art that shares equal billing with the bar code, but dammit., this is how I remember it and I love it despite its faults! It also has a slightly different track listing due to it including the "Stand and Deliver/Beat My Guest" single that originally came with the LP...



God, that cover of the 45 really sums up the song perfectly, if you've somehow  never heard it, that picture is exactly what it sounds like. It's not on the vinyl copy I have but I'm somewhat grateful for that. "Kings of the Wild Frontier" has so many great songs on it that when it was included on the cassette, it just kind of seemed like, "Oh yea. This song's great too." But its inclusion on the follow up LP, "Prince Charming" really raises that album up a notch. "Prince Charming" needs the song more than "Kings of the Wild Frontier" does. It's also worth noting that the running order of the cassette is wildly different than the LP and compact disc.  Both versions are missing the track "Making History,"(which is a pretty cool track, featuring the Ants take on the Bo Diddley beat) originally included on international versions of the record. But I'm not too bitter cos we get "Physical(You're So)" and "Press Darlings," which more than make up for the loss.

"Kings of the Wild Frontier" really is the highpoint of Adam's career. He introduces his new Ants  and  they're a huge improvement. The addition of Marco Pirroni's guitar playing (which alternates between twanging and snarling)  combined with the double "Burundi" drumming on "Dog Eat Dog"  really gets the blood pumping. . A brilliant mix of Cowboy and Indian stomp ("Los Rancheros," "Magnificent Five," "Dog Eat Dog"), dark pop ("Feeding me to the Lions," "The Human Beings," "Ants Invasion") and just incredibly bouncy new wave ("Antmusic," "Press Darlings," "Don't Be Square (Be There.)") Wow, I got a double parenthesis out of that one! How many points is that?

Oh yea, and I mentioned the "Burundi" drumming. Whenever you talk about Adam Ant you always have to throw in "Burundi" drumming. Burundi is a country in Africa. Let us contemplate its flag....



Adam's vocal performance on this record is one of the most memorable performances in pop history; He's constantly self-aggrandizing, yet wants us all to take part in his Ants invasion. You know that  he knows he's on a high here. And mark my words, once you spin this thing a few times you'll constantly find yourself chanting "Blackfoot, Pawnee, Cheyenne, CROW! Apache, Arapaho."  At least once a week since the early 90's I've found myself walking around singing that to myself. Unshakable.

Oh yea, and there's some pirate punk too. Check out "Jolly Roger," which I would put up there with other pirate-tinged new/wave punk tracks such as the Sex Pistols' "Friggin in the Riggin',"  Tenpole Tudor's "Swords of a Thousand Men" and  Devo's "Speed Racer." The record also includes "Killer in the Home," which is basically a cover of Link Wray's "Rumble" with vocals...

To me, "Kings of the Wild Frontier" represents everything good about the 80's.

 Forget New Coke...



Forget the Atari 2600 version of Pacman...

All that was just a bad dream...Check out this video of Adam and the Ants performing "Antmusic" and it's alright to love the '80's. 



...to be honest I kind of liked New Coke and Pacman 2600...

Adam and the Ants: Dirk Wears White Sox

Adam and the Ants: Dirk Wears White Sox

1979 (original release date), 1983 (U.S. version Release date)

Epic/CBS records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Car Trouble  2. Kick!  3. Digital Tenderness  4. Nine Plan Failed  5. Family of Noise  6. Tabletalk  7. Zerox  8. Cleopatra  9. Never Trust a Man (With Egg on His Face)  10. Animals and  Men  11. The Idea  12. Whip in my Valise

I picked up a used vinyl copy of the 1983 U.S. version about a year ago at FYE. I love Adam Ant's music, going as far as saying "Kings of the Wild Frontier" is maybe the album I've listened to most in my life, but I could never find a copy of "Dirk Wears White Sox." I had only previously heard four of the tracks on the compilation album, "Antics in the Forbidden Zone."

 To this day I still haven't heard the original 1979 version or the missing tracks ( "Catholic Day" and "The Day I Met God.") These songs were replaced by the early singles "Zerox," "Car Trouble" and  its B-side "Kick," which are more in line with what you expect from an Adam Ant record. These two singles reflect the band's signature mix of new wave, glam rock ,and spaghetti western (complete with cowboys and Indians!) and are easily the best tracks here...



"Car Trouble" is just an amazing new-wave/pop single. It starts with muted guitar during the hushed verses and slowly adds cool new elements, until the song is bursting with great hooks, massed vocals and exciting guitar licks. A perfect example of the sort of thing Adam and the Ants excel at.

Then we get "Kick." This is really close in sound and spirit to the wild, drum-heavy, American-Indian gang-chant sound he perfects later on "Kings of the Wild Frontier." Dig all those hyphens! It's also worth noting that the "Car Trouble/Kick" single introduces the guitar genius of Marco Pirroni which makes all the difference. I can't say enough good things about his playing here, and he would go on to prove himself an invaluable collaborator on Adam's subsequent albums.

The other early single, not originally included on the album is "Zerox," which comes across as a camp Gang of Four. Which I'm cool with.

 The remainder of the album is an interesting departure. It  features an artier post-punk sound, which doesn't quite "pop" in the same way as the singles. There are some definite ups and downs. The ups: Digital Tenderness, which sometimes threatens to turn into "Cartrouble" but is catchy nonetheless. "Animals and Men" is a blast, too. Guaranteed to wonk people out at your next Friday Night Record Party.

 I would probably classify the dulls-ville "Tabletalk" as a down, despite it's interesting (although a bit routine for the late 70's) dub touches. However, "Tabletalk" might work as the comedown after a long Friday Night Record party, and it does go pretty well with a nice dry Sauvignon Blanc, so....



This would be the one and only full length featuring the original "Ants" as they were later lured away to form Bow-Wow-Wow, who oddly enough, sounded kinda like post-"Dirk Wears White Sox" Adam Ant.

I should probably also mention, the original UK issue of the album came in a different sleeve....



...which is pretty cool, but I like the reissue cover better. It maintains the "photographed video screen" aesthetic of  his next few albums. Whoa, look at the Z's on "Antz."

All in all, an interesting debut, but I wouldn't start with this one...They would top "Dirk Wears White Sox" in every conceivable way on their next album, but if you're already a big fan of Adam Ant, then I would pick this up with no hesitation, whatsoever...

Now, I can't tell if I'm celebrating 1979 or 1983...So, I don't know whether to throw a 70's fondue party...



...or play Q*Bert on my 2600...



...either way playing "Car Trouble" by Adam and the Ants(z) should liven things up...