Adam and The Ants - Prince Charming (1981)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a LP, recently replaced by a CD. The CD I listened to was the 2004 remastered reissue with six bonus demo tracks.

This past weekend, I saw the image of a skull and crossbones ☠ and almost immediately started singing the song Jolly Roger from Kings of the Wild Frontier. So I grabbed that CD off the shelves and gave it a listen. Man-oh-man, that album is good stuff. Listening to that album made me think of the song Stand and Deliver which led me to think of Prince Charming. I owned a copy of the LP in high school, but I had never replaced it with a CD (probably because I never thought it measured up to KOTWF). But I've got a music addiction to feed, so I ordered a copy and am about to listen to it all the way through for the first time in over 35 years.

Smash Hits, Nov. 12, 1981, p. 25

To be fair, I have four songs from this album (the 3 singles and an incredible b-side) on the 1990 compilation disc, Antics in the Forbidden Zone: Stand And Deliver (#1 UK), its b-side Beat My Guest, Prince Charming (#1 UK), and Ant Rap (#3 UK). Oddly, Beat My Guest isn't included on this edition. I'd rather had b-sides than demos, but whatever. Let's give this thing a spin...

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #94
• CashBox: #85
• Rolling Stone: #41

Tracks:

1. Scorpios: It's been a long while, but I immediately recognize it. This one starts off like a soundtrack to a '70s TV detective show. The verse isn't good but the chorus is pretty good. Not at all like the Antmusic from Kings Of The Wild Frontier, but not a bad opener - lets the listener know this album is going to be a little different.
2. Picasso Visita El Planeta De Los Simios: Even though it harkens back to KOTWF, I'm gonna pass on this one. I don't think I listened to this cut much 35+ years ago, because I have little memory of it. For good reason, it turns out.
3. Prince Charming: An odd little chord progression from Marco, but Adam does the best he can with it. This tune wouldn't be out of place on Friend Or Foe, so it indicates the direction the duo was headed with their writing. A British #1, I'm not sure this was even released as a single in the US.
4. Five Guns West: man, this album sure could use some of the old drumsticks on cement/Burundi drumming. This ditty is derivative of spaghetti western soundtracks and not a very good derivation, at that. "I'm a big tough man and my name is Stan."
5. That Voodoo!: Starts off with a promising groove, but never quite delivers on that promise, despite the amusing Tijuana Brass section. I have absolutely no memory of this one, so I'm guessing that I flipped over my LP to side two after hearing Prince Charming. (Is the above reviewer correct? Are the intros the highpoints here?)
6. Stand and Deliver: Finally, Adam and the boys come through with what might be their best single ever. It's certainly the reason I originally bought this album. "...the faux-tribal calls of his previous hits are suddenly shifted into the 18th century setting with the gloriously idiotic chant of 'fa diddly qua qua!'. "Gloriously idiotic chant" - wish I'd written that.
   
   
   
   
7. Mile High Club: No memory of this one, either. Maybe because there's not much to it. Not even three minutes in length but still too long. But if there's ever been a rock star who I'd believe is a member of the mile high club, it would be Adam Ant (or Rod Stewart).
8. Ant Rap: a favorite of young Mark and I still know all the words. It's silly and an affront to the term "rap" but I simply don't care.
9. Mowhok: I'm not sure why I like this one - is it because it sounds like a discarded track from KOTWF or because it immediately follows Ant Rap or because the catchy chant of the chorus?
10. S.E.X.: I didn't care much for this haunting experimental cut as a 16 year old, but today I'm thinking its brilliant and probably the second best track on the album. Odd that I wouldn't like a song titled S.E.X. as a 16 year old boy, because sex was all I could think about back then.
10. The Lost Hawaiians: an unlisted track, this is stuck on the end of S.E.X. on this CD reissue. It's an slack-key guitar version of Los Rancheros from KOTWF. A goofy way to ended a disjunct album.

Bonus tracks (original 1981 demos and writing tapes):

11. Prince Charming: I've written it before - demos are interesting to hear once, but certainly not more than that. I can't even say this one is worth hearing once. If you were forced to go see your nephew's high school production of Grease, would you rather watch the performance or a read-through of the script?
12. Stand and Deliver: see above
13. Showbiz: sections of this demo have promise so it makes me wonder why they never fleshed out a version of this. At the very least, it would have been a serviceable b-side.
14. Picasso Visits The Planet Of The Apes: I had hopes that the demo might be better than track 2. Go fish.
15. Who's A Goofy Bunny Then?: I'm a goofy bunny for listening to this shite. (Low hanging fruit, admittedly)
16. Scorpio Writing: an in depth, informative look at how a song is written, developed, and produced in a studio setting. I'm just messing with ya - it's 3½ minutes of studio chatter and the musicians messing around hoping lightning will strike.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: When trying to cultivate my Johnny Slash image in 1982-3, I almost always had an Adam Ant pinback on my shirt or jacket (see below). Nonetheless, the only song from this album I'd ever blast on my car's Pioneer deck was Stand And Deliver. No surprise there.

Various Adam Ant/Adam and the Ants pinbacks from my personal collection.
My favorite that I wore the most is the yellow one on the left.

Somewhat related trivia: even though the band had been around in some form since 1977, they were nominated for the (cursed?) "Best New Artist" Grammy award for the year 1981 (presented February 24, 1982), losing to Sheena Easton. Other nominees that year were The Go-Go's, James Ingram, and Luther Vandross.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Antics in the Forbidden Zone (1990)
Friend Or Foe (1982)
Kings Of The Wild Frontier (1980)

Adam And The Ants - Kings Of The Wild Frontier (1980)

Note: this release was originally purchased as a LP, later replaced by a CD. The CD I listened to was the 2006 reissue which includes 6 bonus tracks.

Yesterday I read an article over at avclub.com titled "How Adam Ant made the ’80s his bitch" and I particularly enjoyed how this album was described:

Never one for half-measures, Ant launched his 1980 album, Kings Of The Wild Frontier, with a bizarre new sound that mixed rollicking sea shanties, polyrhythmic Burundi drumming, and Native American war-whoops (at least as they’re portrayed in Hollywood Westerns).

That's the perfect description of this album. Adam Ant called this album "the final nail in the coffin of punk." I was 15 when I heard it for the first time; it was like nothing I had ever heard before and there's still nothing else like it. As I was entering the "I'm cooler than you because I listen to musicians you've never heard of" phase of my deluded adolescence, this album was perfect. This is easily Ant's best album. If I remember correctly, I was attracted to the band name before I'd even heard any of the music. I think Adam Ant would like that.

You would think that an expanded remastered edition would include detailed liner notes, but you'd be wrong. We get lyrics and merchandise ads.

Press of the time:

• Smash Hits (8 out of 10): "strong, intelligent dance music with a dash of drama"
• Trouser Press: "a fine madness"
• Billboard: "music which can't be classified"
• CashBox: "one of the most unique musical entries in the past year"
• Robert Christgau (B): "a clever pop-punk amalgam boasting two drummers, lots of chanting, and numerous B-movie hooks."
• Roadrunner: "The attitude and the music are both timely lung-fulls of fresh air."
• Rolling Stone (★½): "'It's your money that we want/And your money we shall have!' declare Adam and the Ants in 'Jolly Roger.' Well, we'll see about that."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #44
• Billboard Rock: #16
• CashBox: #47
• Rolling Stone: #21

Tracks: It's a strong album, but what was side one (tracks 1-6) is much better than side two. Favorites included Dog Eat Dog, Antmusic, the title track, and disco spoof Don't Be Square (Be There) which contains some of my favorite nonsensical lyrics. I usually skip the last three tracks, Jolly Roger, Making History, and The Human Beings.

The bonus tracks are unreleased demos. Like most bonus tracks of this nature, they are interesting to listen to once but not more than that.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: As I wrote earlier, this music, reminds me of driving a crowded Markmobile to Brazos Mall in Lake Jackson on a sunny Saturday afternoon. I also remember a couple of songs from this album (Killer In the Home and Dog Eat Dog) being included in a 1981 Epic Records sampler I owned on cassette entitled Exposed.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Antics in the Forbidden Zone (1990)
Friend Or Foe (1982)

Adam Ant - Antics in the Forbidden Zone (1990)

GREATEST HITS WEEK (JANUARY 17-23, 2011)

Even though I wasn't a huge Adam Ant fan, I was probably the biggest Adam Ant fan at my high school. I did have all the albums and wore the band buttons on my shirts and jackets (see below). Adam Ant really lost me with 1983's Strip LP, produced, in part, by Phil Collins (wha?!? Talk about strange bedfellows). I hadn't heard any of the tracks from 1985's Vive Le Rock until I picked up this CD. From what I understand, Adam has battled some personal demons, but he made a nice comeback in '95 with the CD Wonderful. I remember having that CD, but I don't see it around here anymore. He also published an autobiography in 2006 which I've added to my reading list. Internet rumors insist that he'll release his first new music since '95 sometime during 2011. We'll see.

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Did not chart

Tracks:

		UK	US
	From Dirk Wears White Sox (1979)
1	Zerox	45
2	Whip In My Valise
3	Car Trouble	33
4	Kick
	From Kings Of The Wild Frontier (1980)
5	Kings Of The Wild Frontier	2
6	"Antmusic"	2
7	Dog Eat Dog	4
8	Los Rancheros
9	Killer In The Home
	From Prince Charming (1981)
10	Stand And Deliver	1
11	Beat My Guest
12	Prince Charming	1
13	Ant Rap	3
	From Friend Or Foe (1982)
14	Desperate But Not Serious	33	66
15	Place In The Country
16	Friend Or Foe	9
17	Goody Two Shoes	1	12
	From Strip (1983)
18	Strip	41	42
19	Puss 'N Boots	5
	From Vive Le Rock (1985)
20	Apollo 9	13
21	Vive Le Rock	50

Ant's best album was 1980's Kings of the Wild Frontier, but his best single, Stand and Deliver, came from the Prince Charming LP. All those songs are included in tracks 5-10. I like tracks 3-17, lose interest with tracks 18 & 19 and am completely disinterested in the remaining tracks. Still, that's a pretty good percentage of good tracks on a CD. One of the best parts of this compilation is the inclusion of Beat My Guest, one of the best b-sides of all time.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: For some reason, this music, particularly music from Kings Of The Wild Frontier, reminds me of driving a crowded Markmobile to Brazos Mall in Lake Jackson on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Various Adam Ant/Adam and the Ants pinbacks from my personal collection.
My favorite that I wore the most is the yellow one on the left.