Since September 2010, this blog has recorded the journey of this music junkie as I attempt to listen to all the music in my CD collection. CDs revisited in their entirety from start to finish - no skipping tracks, no shuffle. Compact Discs only - no vinyl, no tapes, no files.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Adam Ant - Friend Or Foe (1982)


Note: this release was originally purchased as an LP, later replaced by a CD. Mine is the original CD reissue, not the 2005 reissue that included 12 bonus tracks. I hope the liner notes are better on the 2005 edition because the ones here are horrible; they didn't even give us lyrics.

This release is much different than 1980's Kings Of The Wild Frontier. Gone are the tribal beats and, for the most part, the drum-sticks-on-concrete percussion. In their place are a bunch of pretty good tongue-in-cheek pop songs with over-the-top production. I listened to this album a lot in '82-'83 because I liked it but also because I thought listening to New Wave music by post-modernist Brits made me cool (it didn't). Unfortunately, this was Ant's last decent release. I bought and quickly sold 1983's Strip and didn't even bother with 1985's Vive Le Rock. I'll pull out this disc every now and then whenever I feel a twinge of nostalgia, but still prefer Kings Of The Wild Frontier.

Press of the time:
  • Trouser Press: "consolidates previous styles with assorted influences and a newly developed sense of melody."
  • Smash Hits (7 out of 10): "sharp, incisive and immediate"
  • Stereo Review: "hard to tell whether this depressing album of 'sex music for ant people' is the result of incompetence of indifference."
  • Rolling Stone (★): "Adam is a man with limited musical ideas, and apparently he used them all up on Kings of the Wild Frontier"
  • Robert Christgau (B-): "four of these are arrogantly catchy"


Album chart peaks:
  • US Billboard 200: #16
  • Billboard Rock: #13
  • CashBox: #17
  • Rolling Stone: #18

Tracks: Favorites include the title track, Desperate But Not Serious (#66 pop), and the big hit single, Goody Two Shoes (#12 pop, #7 rock). My least favorite tracks are Something Girls and Cajun Twisters. The cover of The Doors' Hello I Love You isn't as good as it could have been, but the rest are entertaining enough.


Personal Memory Associated with this CD: This is the first album for which I knew the actual release date ahead of time. On the October Tuesday of its release, my friend Jim and I anxiously drove to the nearest mall record store (40 miles away) and each purchased an LP. I can't remember if we took my jalopy or his. [note: Jim has contacted me and claims we rode in his "compressed rust Pontiac Astre"]

My friend Brett went to see Ant on his tour in support of this album. INXS opened. What a double bill; I shoulda been there. At least Brett brought me a sleeveless concert shirt.

Brett's young brother and I tried to figure what was said in the album closer, A Man Called Marco. The best we could figure, he was saying "Allow me to introduce my five-foot-seven" which, being in our mid-teens, guessed he was bragging about his impressive manhood. Several decades later, I discover that he says "Allow me to introduce my Firebird VII" which is a classic Gibson guitar. I don't know if fact trumps fantasy here or not.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Antics in the Forbidden Zone (1990)

3 comments:

  1. Just caught him on Jimmy Fallon last night!!!

    Friend Or Foe is still one of my favorite all-the-way-through listens after more than 30 years although I agree with you about "Hello, I Love You" being weak sauce. My Mom brought home the promo only 12" of "Friend Or Foe" b/w "Desperate But Not Serious" one night - said she mentioned to her partner at tailor shop that I was into "that Adam Ant guy" and she in turn told her brother, a disc jockey. Score!

    Have purchased (and still own) every Ant release ever since including his latest with the ridiculously long title. Managed to find something to like about each album, even if it was only a lyric or a melody rather than a complete song. 1995's "Wonderful" was crazy popular with the missus as well.

    If you haven't already, I highly recommend reading his autobiography, Stand & Deliver.

    Had tickets to Adam's 1983 tour but it was among several dates cancelled due to an injury or something. Picked up a sleeveless shirt and concert poster at Spencer's, though.

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  2. I've tried to find the autobiography, but it's a hard get in the US. Will keep looking.

    I think the song "Wonderful" is one of the best he's written. Had that CD but either lost it or sold it somewhere along the way.

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  3. Got my "used" paperback copy (looks and smells new!) from Amazon reseller for less than $10 if you haven't looked there yet. Or you could pay $300+ for hardback:)

    You're getting Classic Pop, right? Think I read you had found latest issue via your Twitter feed. (Hey, a guy can lurk can't he?) Issue 3 had great cover feature on Adam Ant.

    Find a copy of Ready Player One to read yet? You have a reader or tablet? I checked out the unabridged audio book read by Wil Wheaton from the library.

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