Adam And The Ants
Adam and the Ants are a punk curiosity for a number of reasons. As basically Adam Ant cycled through guitarists, his bondage look and S&M, Night Porter lyrical thesmes
Each of these incarnations of the band atracted a hardore following called the Ant Crew
By the time they got to release an album they had already 2 albums worth of material under their belt but time had moved on so these remained unreleased. The result was
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It’s 1975. Our story starts with a boy called Stuart Goddard who is studying at Hornsey School of Art. While there his studies include the Erotic Arts and in particular the work of Allen Jones.
Painter and sculptor Allen Jones was a seminal—and controversial—member of the British Pop art movement; he’s renowned for highly sexual figurative works that raise questions about the representation and objectification of women. Jones rose to infamy in the 1960s with a series of sculptures that depicted women as furniture, posed for submission and clad in fetish wear.
For Stuart his interest was the tension between what was porn and what was creative exciting and ting provoking imagery.
At college he meets Danny Kleinman who is in a band called Bazooka Joe & His Rhythm Hot Shots playing a supercharged 50’s style of music. Stuart takes over on bass from Vibrator to be Pat Collier and gigs with the band.
At one of these gigs on the 6th of November is the famous Sex Pistols incident where they support Bazooka Joe and there is an altercation with Johnny Rotten and Danny with the former abusing the latter’s equipment. For Stuart it’s a major turning point and it’s seeing the Sex Pistols’ look, attitude and sound that, like for so many others who witness the band, changes everything.
It also sets into motion a pattern that would repeat itself frequently. Stuart leaves Bazooka Joe, and drafts in another college mate renamed Lester Square and forms a band called the B Sides that plays well….. B Sides. A Melody Maker ad brings them Andy Warren on bass, but apart from rehearsals, they never play as they haven’t got a drummer. Well they sort of have. Dorothy Max Prior is the girlfriend of Andy Warren and a model, gogo dancer (she would introduce Cosi Fanni Tutte of Throbbing Gristle to it) and drummer in the style of Mo Tucker. Dirk Wears White Sox is written around this time. Stuart’s image is very Klark Kent like. He’s quiet and unassuming and dresses in plaid shirts and wears glasses.
Stuart meets a girl called Carol Mills, falls in love and they marry and move in together. Getting more into music and punk, Stuart gives up college and begins acting strangely to the point he takes an overdose and undergoes professional psychiatric treatment. It will take many years to understand the severity of Stuart’s mental issues including bipolar disorder. He will suffer many bouts of depression throughout his life, but finds a way to keep it at bay.
Adam Ant At the time it seemed that only by keeping really busy and having as much sex as possible would I keep the awful depression at bay. And so that became the big idea for Adam Ant -work and sex for a healthy life. Adam Ant, Stand & Deliver
When he is released and comes back, he and Carol now sleep separately and have an open relationship. Most importantly Stuart is now reborn as Adam Ant and Carol, like Stuart, renames herself as Eve Goddard. Eve will stay connected with the band into the Eighties and for a very brief moment is captured singing with the Moors Murderers.
Adam phones Max to tell her the news
…he’s going to be reborn. He’ll be the first man, like Adam…..”Like Adam Adamant” I say (we both like the Adam Adamant TV show)….The ideas come thick and fast… the band will be called The Ants… It’ll be so big that big stadiums will be filled with “little girls wetting themselves”. He’s going to wear leather trousers…and a leather jacket but with bare chest underneath. Dorothy Max Prior, 69 Exhibition Road
Eve Goddard singing with Steve Strange and Chrissie Hynde in the Moors Murderers 1977!
The new Adam then plunged 100% into music. The B Sides became the Ants at the Siouxsie & The Banshees gig on the last night of the Roxy Club under Andrew Czezowski.
Adam goes full on into his stage dress. He dresses head to toe in black leather and bondage accouterments including a leather rapist mask and punk is the perfect vehicle being both confrontational and stylish.
Two streams of punk are developing – 1) The Sex Pistols and in particular the clothes, look and message meaning the shop Sex and 2) The Clash with a more utilitarian, urban political message and 2) The Clash with a more utilitarian, urban political message.
Pamela Rooke aka Jordan
Adam is firmly in the first camp. This is the next big change when Adam discovers the shop Sex and the striking assistant that worked there Jordan. He has seen her previously in fetish magazines. This sparks off a series of furtive notes delivered to the shop till they actually meet and what happens next will again change everything.
Adam Ant I found punks were sexless, grey. ‘Blank Generation’ – nonsense. Dole queue martyrdom – nonsense. I just wanted to react against it. Adam & The Ants, Judy and Fred Vermorel
Adam approaches Falcon Stuart to manage them who declines because he’s with X Ray Spex who are just getting going. He approaches Andrew Czezowski from the Roxy Club but Andy bails when Stuart doesn’t get out of bed to play a gig organised in Manchester!
Mark The Kid’ Ryan joins on guitar and Paul Flanagan is recruited from somewhere to drum.
Their first gig is at the ICA cafeteria which Dorothy Max Prior had secured for her own band but gave up to The Ants. Adam rocked up head to toe in leather and they managed to get through Beat My Guest before being thrown out.
Mark Ryan Day one, learnt the set. Day two, first Ants gig : ICA restaurant. We were billed as a folk band. Adam in full bondage gear, we were pulled on the first number. But the management said we could do a set in the theatre during the interval between John Dowie and Victoria Woods’ sets. Strangely, hardly anyone left. Punk77 Interview, 2002
Adam has changed.
The transformation is complete. Not a vestige of the shy young Stuart Goddard remains – Adam Ant has emerged into the world, complete. Wild, sexy, ironic, intense, terrifying, lovable. Dorothy Max Prior, 69 Exhibition Road
Adam Ant I realised my limitations, so I just decided to scare hell out of my audiences. If that meant wearing a hood, then I did it, because to me it was just a contemporary parallel with people like Alice Cooper, who I’d admired. It’s called showbiz. Adam & The Ants, Judy and Fred Vermorel
Another gig at the Man In The Moon where Adam again hooded scares the small audience into leaving, has Jordan in attendance and she is asked to become, and accepts, being their manager. She even helps write some songs with Adam including the legendary Lou (written after seeing a poor Lou Reed performance) which she sings with him on stage.
In June 1977 Jordan carves the word FUCK onto Adam’s back which is seen by Jarman. Jordan already in the film, suggests Adam & The Ants to appear both playing and Adam acting. The band run through Plastic Surgery but with Banshees drummer Kenny Morris on drums (who had also been designing some of the Jubilee film sets) as they had once again lost a drummer!
Filmed at Drury Lane Theatre they lucked out that a production was in progress and they used the stage set of spinning mirrors.
The Ants begin to play ‘Plastic Surgery’, Adam leaps about doing handsprings the lights and mirrors flashing, the cameras rolling – and then Adam dislocated his knee. James Shaw, The Official Adam Ants Story
Filming is in June and the same month see Adam and Jordan attend a Desolation Angels gig at Adam’s old college. The Kid, who knows their drummer Dave Barbe, persuades him to join the Ants. In a cull, the Kid is suddenly out, and guitarist John Beckett, aka Johnny Bivouac, (who is also in Desolation Angels and another band Dick Envy with Vermilion) is in.
Mark Ryan Adam asked me if I knew any other drummers because we were due to play at Hornsey College of Art. I got my friend Dave Barbe in who played by ear. Adam was well impressed, but not initially : ‘You never told me he was a coon, kid!’ (this is the 1970’s, you understand).
One of the reasons I got sacked was because I thought I could contribute. It wasn’t going to happen. Andy played Adam’s bass lines and I played his guitar parts. At the time he was a great admirer of The Model’s guitarist, a fat git called Marco, and it was only when he learnt to delegate (to Marco) he got any hits. Punk77 Interview, 2002
Dave Barbe Adam always had trouble getting the right guitar sound, and Mark bless him couldn’t keep up with playing. It’s a very physical job…It was he who asked me to ‘dep’ for the Ants on the drums and Adam took a shine to me. Defying Gravity, Jordan’s Story
Johnny Bivouac (Guitarist) I was then asked to join The Ants after Mark Ryan left which was a bit of a no brainer. When Vermilion heard she called me a cunt which was pretty mild coming from her. But there was no malice at all really and we remained on friendly terms. Punk77 Interview, May 2020
Time for this incarnation of the band to roll into 1978.
The start of the year saw The Ants get a higher profile. January 1978 saw the first Ants session for John Peel featuring Deutscher Girls / Puerto-Rican / It Doesn’t Matter and Lou. February saw the release of the Jubilee soundtrack with two Ants songs on it (plus the Maneaters song Adam had written with Toyah)on Polydor/EG records. The film was released, and critically panned, and Adam attended premieres with Jordan. Major labels like RCA and CBS were sniffing around but nothing came of it.
The Roundhouse in February was Johnny Bivouac’s last gig (Adam was unhappy that he had done some songs with Mark Ryan and didn’t even own his own guitar) and Mathew Ashman (an early Ant fan) replaced him on guitar for what would be a stable line up for some time. Jordan departs from being their manager but on good terms. In one of those twists Mathew slits from his 15-year-old girlfriend Mandy who then has a long affair with Adam. Her full name is Amanda Donahue and she will become a famous actress Stateside in the Eighties.
The band started to do Rock Against Racism gigs… partly as a response to criticism coming their way in their use of imagery and songs that featured lines like ‘I’m going to light me a beacon on a Puerto Rican.’ A familiar justification was given for their use of nazi imagery.
The use and the power of Nazi imagery was two-fold it was primarily used as a shock tactic, in much the same way that Mel Brooks used it in his film The Producers, but it also evoked a certain air of decadence and alienation. James Shaw, The Official Adam Ants Story
Adam Ant I had suffered a few idiots taking my interest in pre-world War II Berlin decadence and the S&M imagery as featured in the Night Porter( featuring my personal hero Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling) as assign of support for Nazis. It wasn’t and never has been. Adam Ant, Stand & Deliver
Check out the interview page with Lucy Toothpaste from RAR’s Temporary Hoarding. At the same time as RAR another strand was developing called Rock Against Sexism and it was mooted that for bands to be able to play they would have to meet certain criteria. Oh the irony about fascism and dictators.
The ‘nazi’ tag also made them a target in the music press who were vociferously against them. Like the Banshees, they paid for their early image, lyrics and shock tactics though there were some supporters like Jane Suck. Below is an example from Garry Bushell who actually enjoyed the gig he was reviewing but the preamble went like this.
Repeat after me: everyone hates Adam and The Ants. ..when you start work on a music paper they make you sign a piece of paper to the effect that you detest AA and everything he stands for, and you have to swear on a Bible never even to even consider giving them a good review. It’s the truth. I’ve done it meself willingly. Sounds
Not surprisingly it was the fanzines that supported Adam and in particular Ripped and Torn and Panache who would do large features on the band and be a vehicle for Adam’s views.
They would also pick up a hardcore set of followers called the Ant Crew who would follow the group around and who were fiercely protective of them. Some of these would form their own bands like Martian Dance. There are lots of tales of how when violence became prevalent at gigs through rival factions like Teds, rockers, Skinheads and local football hooligans the ant fans would act as a family to protect each other. Adam & The Ants became THE them against us band.
Later that year the band signed to Decca Records. Once a recording giant, they were now an aged out of touch organisation. They had signed Slaughter & The Dogs and Cock Sparrer as their punk acts and the Ants were the third.
A second John Peel session followed in July 1978 featuring – You’re So Physical, Cleopatra, Friends and I’m A Xerox.
The result was the unexpected Young Parisians single released in October 1978. As a calling card it certainly wrongfooted fans and critics alike and caused an onslaught of negative press and poor sales. John Peel was of course a supporter.
John Peel A marriage of Adam & The Ants and Decca Records seems a most peculiar thing, and here’s the first consequence of that marriage. And after playing it commented Well, I rather care for that, I must confess. 12.10.78
There were arguments both internally within the company about how the single had gone and Adam claimed it was poorly promoted and ideas vetoed. Check out the Italian picture cover for the single that he was livid about. That said the band began demoing for what became Dirk Wears White Sox recording multiple tracks but arguments continued and the end result was that The Ants were on Decca no more. Later Decca would try to release these at the height of Adam’s fame but he cannily had stipulated all demos done for Decca remained his property.
A European tour with a new look Adam – (leather trousers, shirts from Sex, kabuki make up and Japanese shoes. It took in Germany, Belgium and lastly Italy. The latter had a major impact on those who saw them and was detailed in a book published many years later called Whip Avant Garde.
By the end of the year it was a depressing time for the Ants. The Jubilee film had come out been panned, their single had stiffed and they were off their label. It wouldn’t have helped seeing Siouxsie signed to Polydor who had released Jubilee but not picked up The Ants and their first single hit the charts and set the band off with their seminal Scream LP released just after Young Parisians.
The band then closed ranks and issued their Ants manifesto (see page) in November which basically was their version of the Sex (shop) T-shirt called ‘One day you’re gonna wake up one morning and find what side of the bed you’re on’ and guaranteed to provide more ammo for their critics!
The start of 1979 was more positive as thy came into contact with Do It Records who had just Roogalator on their label. Adam was given complete freedom over artwork etc and it was for one album and 2 singles. The first was Zerox.
Off to Germany again and another change of look and the infamous kilt arrived.
Another British tour this time to support Zerox in July 1979 then straight into the studio to record Dirk Wears White Sox which was released in November 1979. The band were by then arguably the biggest unsigned act pulling in large crowds.
The sessions weren’t easy either.
But it’s not a happy experience – for Andy anyway, who I see returning him tense and dejected from the recording studio, more often than not…It’s clear the band has become a dictatorship. Dorothy Max Prior, 69 Exhibition Road
Adam also has a habit of him rerecording guitar and bass parts to his liking.
The album itself is a curious affair. It has the feeling of a second album rather than a debut. Malcolm McLaren described it to Adam as “the sort of the thing one puts out as your eighth album, you don’t launch yourself on the world with it.” Songs like Cleopatra were older ones and clearly so. The rest is a peculiar mix and one which 40 years later holds up better because it doesn’t come with the surrounding baggage Adam came with or the musical time.
Adam wanted to produce a stylish album, one that more the quality of soul and funk. Most of the songs were products of a much more consciously intellectual inspiration than the recent work. James Shaw, The Official Adam Ants Story
The album made #1 on the newly created Independent Records charts. The release was supported by full page music paper adverts but Do It struggled to keep up with demand as the initial pressing sold out and cash flow meant a wait for the next repress. Reviews were predictably bad.
Click on above for larger images
Adam had met two performance artists, Wad and Clare, at a show at his old art college. Influenced by their show and ideas, Adam gets them to advise on his dress (kilt), the atmosphere and lighting of shows and even record covers. They did the artwork for Dirk. It resulted in a change to the band approach.
…he was able to drop the shock tactics which were the keynote of the band in Jordan’s time and get into a more considered area of light and shadow, using less frantic energy and more drama. James Shaw, The Official Adam Ants Story
Post the album Andy and Mathew leave, both left tired of Adam’s dictatorial stance and him re-recording some of their parts. On Adam’s part he is jealous of how popular both are (especially Mathew) with Ant fans and his fragile ego struggles with this. Both are asked to return but only Mathew does. Lee Gorman is brought in on bass.
Jordan was also back advising the band and she tried to get Malcolm McLaren to manage them. Malcolm does a deal to advise Adam for a month and Adam paid him £1000 for the pleasure. Adam tells Malcolm what he wants which is “I want to be a household name, and have everyone know and like Adam and the Ants.”
What he gave him was books on Indians like Geronimo and a playlist of songs as a template for what great songs should include. The list included The Safaris – Wipe Out, Village People – YMCA, Burundi Black – Burundi on 45, Buddy Holly – Rave on, Johnny Burnett – Tear It Up, Jungles – Ska 45 and Hello, I’m Back – Gary Glitter. He also offered advice to be less self-indulgent, simplify lyrics and concentrate on slogans like ‘Ant Music For Sex People’, and that a small label like Do It were too small to cope with him and his inevitable sales. He needed to think BIG.
By the time of January 1980 McLaren was forcing Adam to write songs while the rest of the band created music where previously Adam had done the lot. A single gig at the Electric Ballroom for the new line up and an interview in Melody Maker in early January with no hint of the sudden end coming.
When the writing arrangement turned out to be not working, McLaren advised Adam to lay down the law to the band in what was a contrived situation as one by one the members walked out on him, to become Bow Wow Wow under McLaren.
History shows though, that Adam regrouped, found his Ronson in Marco Pirroni and used most of the ideas McLaren had shown him and turned the tables. Inexplicably having being rejected by every major record label, they end up on CBS, the home of The Clash (oh the irony – turning rebellion into money!) It was the Ants who became mega stars selling millions of records (In the 80s he had 16 hit singles and sold 15m records) and Bow Wow Wow who turned out to have a short shelf life.
Be careful what you wish for though, because fame came at a cost including Royal Variety Performances, appearances on Cannon & Ball, skits on the Two Ronnies and relentless touring as Adam became part of the machine he’d always craved for.
No more Sweet Gwendoline and Tom of Finland graphics. No more songs about rubber fetishism, bondage or Nazi whorehouses. Prince Charming is in the wings, waiting to make his entrance. It’s a fairy tale come true. Dorothy Max Prior, 69 Exhibition Road
For his hardcore fans, it was all a step too far. As the band no longer became just theirs and the music became more and more populist Ant fans felt betrayed. Even to this day when people say Adam & the Ants it will be thinking of Prince Charming, not the livewire singing Fall In.
I remember me and my friends being confronted by a disillusioned Ants’ fan when ‘Prince Charming’ came out – We were about 12 and dressed like teeny-Ants’ fans. Do you like ‘Adam and the Ants’?, he asked. ‘Yes!’, we squealed. ‘Then have these’, he said, ‘I don’t need them anymore’ and he carelessly tossed us what looked like quite an interesting parcel.
We leapt on it excitedly, only to find that it contained pretty much the entire Ants’ back catalogue smashed to bits. We tried piecing stuff together – most of the titles weren’t that familiar to us, being from the ‘Dirk’ phase of their career, so we lost interest and binned it. Only later when an older boyfriend insisted I listen to the early stuff did I appreciate the significance of those broken fragments. Helen, Amazon
Who had the last laugh? It’s arguable. Young Parisians was re-released by Decca and made the Top 10 in 1981. Polydor/EG, who wouldn’t sign Adam, re-released Deutscher Girls in 1982 and that made #13 with the surreal spectacle of Legs & Co dancing to it in lederhosen!
Young Parisians / Lady
(Decca October 1978)
So the first single out of a possible two for Decca. What do you make of this then? Bit of a mindfuck isn’t it? After a long long wait for the band on vinyl you get a cover with the band all dressed in leather looking like hardcore punks (the sleeve was done by Adam). So far so good. Then you play it and you get this pleasant ditty.
Adam had never been abroad and sitting in his small box in Putney he began to really want to travel. He wanted to go to Paris Unfortunately he had no money at all. He refused to sign on the dole. There was no possibility of his being able to travel abroad, so instead he wrote the song: ‘I want to go to Paris with you, to see what the French boys do.’ For Adam the song was a kind of joke boen out of his miserable room and the lack of money which was tying him down. James Maw, The Offical Adam Ant Story
For Adam it was a chance to confound assumptions
I’d chosen the single deliberately to confuse those people who thought that we were a punk band: it sounds like a 1920s Parisian jazz song – there’s not a buzzing guitar in earshot. Adam Ant, Stand & Deliver
Perhaps unsurprisingly the record didn’t sell well and Decca didn’t take up the option to release Zerox. Adam claims it wasn’t promoted but there were ads all over the music papers and reviews so not unlikely that his plan backfired except it did confuse people. Fun fact this is the first Ants single featuring a Pirroni. Well, Marco’s dad on accordion!
Much more like it is the B side (sic) Lady that has all the hallmarks of his interest in the hidden and forbidden S&M world written from a voyeuristic angle and coupled with a fantastic uptempo tune.
Zerox / (You’re So) Physical / Whip In My Valise
(Do It Records July 1979)
Six months and later this pops out on Do It Records a label set up by Robin Scott of ‘Pop Muzik’ fame. An absolutely perfect single that should have been a hit. From the riff to the backing vocals to the lyrics the song swings and swaggers. Several thousand were mispressed with different b sides so you also get the sublime grinding Physical and Whip. No dole queue blues here – just a new kind of punk – Ant music for sex people!
Adam’s lyrics successfully walk the tightrope of talking about a subject normally kept under wraps and playful humour.
When I met you you were just sixteen
Pulling the wings off flies
When an old lady got hit by a truck
I saw the wicked gleam in your eyes
Your sadistic suits my masochistic
And there’s a whip in my valise on yeah
Describe the special punishment room
Over my garage, there’s a
Whipping post, a vertical beam
You have to be in charge
I paid a packet for a new straight jacket
And there’s a whip in my valise oh yeah
Whip In My Valise was based on a book of the same name by Greta X with this delightful precis.
Meet four merciless women plus one nymphomaniac. Their wanton passions leave a trail of whipped and buggered men throughout Europe. These rubber clad ladies lust for blood, and it flies! Poor Per Petersen has no idea how far these femmes fatales will take him until they descend on his home to give him a night to remember!
Deutscher Girls / Plastic Surgery
(EG
I’ll throw this in though it came after our time period. It was a quick cash in as Adam found fame as a pirate and so the two songs from the punk film Jubilee by Derek Jarman (released 1978) were issued as a single.
Again the mind boggles at the subject matter. Deutscher Girls is a ‘cheerful’ romp/sexual fantasy about a dominant sexually voracious female concentration camp commander in the spirit of Ilsa: She Wolf Of The SS film.
We have to include the sight of Pans People dancing to the song when it charted on Top Of The Pops. Though the lyrics were altered substituting ‘nasty’ for ‘nazi.’
Dirk Wears White Socks
Wong footed again – If you were an Ants fan and you heard the title then you might be expecting the old Ants song of the same name but sadly no. If you weren’t an Ants fan the title might be very confusing but it’s a nod to Adam’s past incarnations of the bands and subject matter and possibly the first Ants song written. The Dirk in question is Dirk Bogarde who played an ex-concentration commandant who has a sado masochistic relationship with Charlotte Rampling who was in his camp. The film is The Night Porter and was beloved of those early punks into their sexy Sally Bowles kind of nazi chic schtick. Lyrically the album covers a lot of ground from Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in Cleopatra to Futurism and JFK.
Panned by the critics here’s Paul Morley reviewing both Throbbing Gristle and Ants albums in the NME under the headline ‘Berks that lurk in the corner of your psyche.’
Adam is ambitiously curious, but that’s not enough. You can admire the skill of it all but he creates no tension, no disorder; he does not innovate, so he continually fails to incite or inspire.
No amount of enigmatic isolation, dour defensiveness or articulate explanation can cover up the fact that these records just aren’t very good.
Here’s another review that sums up the album well.
Dirk Wears White Sox is definitely a punk record. You’ll detect a hint of the sophisticated harmonies to come, but mostly this is angular, early punk music propelled by stop-and-start rhythms and texture over melody. Think early XTC meets early Siouxsie. It would have been interesting to hear this group evolve, had Malcom McLaren not shanghaied David Barbe (Barbarossa) and Matthew Ashman for the inferior Bow Wow Wow.
I’ll confess, most of these songs are easily overshadowed by what followed on Kings of the Wild Frontier. Still, Cartrouble (especially the second part), Never Trust a Man, Cleopatra, Nine Plan Failed and Catholic Day are songs that every Adam and the Ants fans should hear. They show a different, darker side of Adam Ant—a side that was more interested in pushing buttons than sewing them on. The rest of the Ants deserve a lot of credit for getting the sound right. Barbe gives Rat Scabies competition for punk’s best drummer and Ashman’s guitar playing, while severe, doesn’t yield an inch to convention. More than a few times, I wondered if even Gang of Four sounded this heavy.
Lyrically, well, I’m not always sure what Ant is on about. Maybe that’s to be expected from an album with such an abstruse (or is it just absurd?) title. Animals and Men and The Idea appear concerned with big things, but Ant doesn’t seem to have the attention span to delve deeply into them. Then again, the album’s rapid movement from one musical idea to the next is half of its appeal. Although initially overlooked by the broader record-buying public (the minor label release didn’t help matters), Dirk Wears White Sox got a second, wider showing in the 80s with some minor track shuffling—and no doubt confused a lot of people who were expecting antmusic instead of artmusic. Dave Connolly, July 2022
Madam Stan
Caution: Bootleg 1981
Fact of the matter is this bootleg from around 1981 is arguably what Ant fans would have wanted for the first album. Time and time again these songs have been up for release and each time they’ve been pulled.
This isn’t all the songs either – there’s Dirk Wears White Sox, Fat Fun, Hampstead, Fall In, Beat My Guest, Catch A Falling Star, Il Duce, Punk In The Supermarket, Nietsche Baby Puerto Rican, and no doubt more. Throw in the three John Peel sessions and that’s a sizeable amount of catalogue that makes what’s available very very one-sided.
That’s a lot of songs!
There’s a wide range of subject matter from Bathroom Function which is about Adam catching his wife Eve having sex with Glen Matlock in the bathroom and Song For Ruth Ellis which was about the last woman to be hanged in 1955.
Physical
Friends
Xerox
Boil In The Bag Man
Christian Dior
Song For Ruth Ellis
It Doesn’t Matter
Cleopatra
B-Side Baby
Bathroom Function
Rubber People
Red Scab
John Peel Sessions
30 January 1978
1. Deutscher Girls (0:07)
2. Puerto-Rican (2:45)
3. It Doesn’t Matter (4:55)
4. Lou (6:54)
17th July 1978
1. You’re So Physical (0:07)
2. Cleopatra (3:15)
3. Friends (6:44)
4. I’m A Xerox (9:58)
2nd April 1979
1. Animals and Men (0:27)
2. Ligotage (3:37)
3. Tabletalk (7:00)
4. Never Trust a Man With Egg On His Face
The rumour thats gone on many years, which doesn’t gladden Ant fans hearts is Marco Pirroni is overseeing their remastering. A number of these songs appeared on b sides (ironic in the light of the bands name before the Ants!) in Adam’s eighties phase which was a criminal end for them but I suppose there was a demand on the band for songs to enable singles to be released. Mind you, you have to chuckle at some 13 year old buying Prince Charming and flipping the single and finding a reworked chunkier Marco’fied Beat My Guest.
November 1978 The Ant Manifesto by Adam Ant
We are 4 in number; we call our music Antmusic; we perform and work for a future age, we are optimists and in being so we reject the ‘blank generation’ ideal; we acknowledge the fanzine as the only legitimate form of journalism, and consider the ‘established’ press to be little more than talentless clones, guilty of extreme cerebral laziness; we believe that a writer has the right to draw upon any source material, however offensive or distasteful it might seem, in pursuance of his work; we are in tune with nothing; we have no interest in politics; we identify with no movement or sect other than our own; there are no boxes for us or our music, we are interested in Sexmusic, entertainment, action and excitement, and anything young and new; we abhor the hippy concept and all the things that surround the rock’n’roll scene; we admire the true individual; and above all the destruction of the social and sexual taboo; finito muchachos.’
Likes: The Slits, Tamla Motown, discs, Dirk Bogarde, curry, Steve Walsh, Rudolph Schwarzkogler, Otis Redding, The Velvet Undergound, The Monkees, Stanley Spencer, Dave Berry, Jane Suck, Roxy Music, tea, letters from Antpeople, The Doors, David John Gibb, early Futurist ideas, Roald Dahl, Kraftwerk, Jordan, Ripped & Torn, good graphic design, doing the Ant (the new dance craze), bad reviews (funny and useful), James Brown, unpredictability, Fellini, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Lenny Bruce.
Dislikes: Nostalgia-lifestyles, drugs, outdoor festivals, false modernity, the National Front, sloppy journalism (the NME), chocolate, hangers-on, dole queue martyrdom, sexual repression, male chauvinism, bad record covers, bootlegs, spitting.
Well here’s perhaps the most interesting interview with Adam & The Ants you are ever likely to read. Stung by accusations of racism, The Ants were asked to play a Rock Against Racism concert. Our fun-loving friends at RAR decided they weren’t suitable but allowed them an interview in their fanzine Temporary Hoarding. While Adam would claim that according to the Ants manifesto “We believe that a writer has the right to draw upon any source material however offensive or distasteful it might seem in the pursuance of his works.”
Lucy Toothpaste was having none of it. While she raises a valid point about the artist and morality it becomes at times just relentless and at others just plain bullying as she labours on to prove an innocuous point and make great sweeping statements about trivial rock’n’roll lyrics. It’s a real shame Jordan wasn’t around coz she would have put an excellent perspective across and given Lucy a run for her money. As it is, Adam barely comes out of it alive and not entirely convincing!
Scan comes courtesy of the excellent Zerox Ants Fanzine 1977-79. Click for larger images
In which Johna, one of the Ants Crew, relates a cautionary tale of skinheads, Hells Angels, away day gigs in Digby and fun on the road with Adam & The Ants. This was given to the Punk77 site around 2005 ish. Since then he’s gone on to write two volumes of Ants-related memoirs that are well worth a read.
Buy it here
It was the 2nd night of the Zerox tour, having played Retford Porterhouse the night before. I was intending to go home after the Retford gig as funds were low, and catch up with the tour in a couple of days, but as soon as I got to Retford and bumped into the old Ants crew I was like an addict needing a fix. I just knew I would be in Birmingham the next day.
The ‘Parisians’ tour finished in Feb and they had only played at the Lyceum in April since then. Adam had a new look. out went the Kabuki makeup, green army mac, shirt and leather tie, and sash look, and now he had a camouflage face makeup, cowboy style shirt, leather trousers, black kilt and black sandals with white soles. The Retford gig was great, but not much happened except I was thrown out for sniffing glue, and nearly didn’t get back in. Some punks from London introduced me to it. It was also the 1st time I met Dean Parko from Cleethorpes, who has been a great friend ever since.
After the Retford gig we all slept in this small but comfy train station until the morning when the train came. I was in a precarious position, as I hardly had any money, which meant I would have to bunk the train to Birmingham, but you never worried about things like that, things always worked out. I got within 2 stops of Birmingham before I was caught. This was mainly due to a combination of hiding in the toilets. I was caught coming out of the toilets and told the conductor he had just checked my ticket and was going back to my seat and moved in the direction he had come from reaffirming, I think? That he had checked all the people’s tickets from that end of the train. I finally got caught when I let my guard slip, thinking I had got away with it and fell asleep
The options were pay or get nicked, so I had to go round the train tapping 10p’s. All this and without a Mohawk hair cut lol! I managed to get quite a bit of money to pay for the train fair and had a bit spare.
We arrived in Birmingham quite early so we hung around the church near the Bull Ring, a famous Market in Birmingham. There were loads of Chinese tourists who came up to us and offered us money to take photos of us to show people back home. So that was more money in the coffers! We then went to walk around Brum and get something to eat. We came across this record shop that had an Italian and Portuguese copy of the ‘Parisians’ single which was hard to find. I could only afford one of them so I bought the Portuguese copy, thinking that would be the rarer, something I was to regret as I still haven’t got a copy of the Italian one. We went back to the others at the church and decided to find a pub where all the local punks went. After looking around for about an hour we eventually found it, but it was empty. We had a drink then returned to the civic hall. Just in time to watch the Ants do their sound check.
After I spoke to Mathew Ashman (RIP) and Andy Warren to make sure I was on the guest list and general chit chat. My mate Gary O’Connell (RIP) turned up from Bradford. He asked how I was getting home the day after as the Ants had a day off. I said I don’t know he said we could get coach tickets. So we went across the road to the bus station and asked how much the coach fair would be back to Bradford the next day, we then put that money in our back pockets for safety so as not to lose it.
I was starting to think this was going to be a great night. I had made a bit of money the gig was sorted out, bought a record, the coach fair was paid for and had a bit of money left for a couple of beers. I was standing outside the gig talking with Pete Vague, Tom Vague and Gary and a large group of punks turned up across the road. Then we realised it was more Ants crew who had come up from London. We felt great there must have been about 100 of us now. We couldn’t wait for the gig to start and people were still turning up. Boxhead from Liverpool, Paul Wanness from Middlesbrough and a lad from Leeds whose name I can’t remember now.
Eventually the doors opened around 7.30.I got my name ticked off the quest list and made straight for the bar where everyone else was. I noticed that all the security were Hells Angels from Wolverhampton, which we thought was a bit strange, but we ignored them. We all sat in the bar, it was like a private party as there were no punks from Brum there. Then this girl, I had seen at a couple of Ants gigs turned up. It also turned out she was from Brum. She had turned up with another guy from Bradford. Barry Jepsom (who would later become the bass player for Southern Death Cult) said we could stop at her house after the gig things were just getting better. She told us that the skinheads had told the Brum punks not to turn up because they were going to attack the London Ants crew, and anyone who was there was libel to get attacked if they were not skinheads. The skinhead issue became the main talking point from then on. The Ants crew were getting a bit of a reputation for being a bit handy in a fight as Ants gigs were quite violent to visually, but this was just the way people danced to the Ants, it was unlike any other punk gig.
The Ants crew were not that bothered however as there had been many a scrap at Ants gigs since they did the ‘Parisians’ tour and before at London gigs. Punk gigs around this time were starting to resemble football matches, without the police to monitor the situation. Lots of people started touring around the country following groups in fairly large numbers. As soon as you landed in another city the local hooligans would find out and mob up. I knew I could look after myself and I was used to this sort of situation when following Leeds United and I knew some of the Ants crew could look after themselves and were quite handy lads. It was also a tight-knit crew so everyone knew that if there was any trouble they were confident that they wouldn’t be on their own.
Suddenly someone shouted “They’re here” we all rushed over to the window to look. Outside, there were about 200 skinheads walking down the middle of the main road, blocking all the traffic. They stopped outside the gig and started shouting abuse up at the Ants crew. The ant’s crew returned the taunts. The Hells Angels wouldn’t let the skinheads in the gig, probably because they knew what was going to happen. Some of the skinheads climbed up the drainpipes and climbed in through the windows but were dealt with immediately. There seemed to be a lull in proceedings so we concentrated on the gig, thinking that because the skinheads couldn’t get in they had gone away.
We were sat in the bar when the Gary Glitter song “Hello, hello I am back” again”, came on and everybody started singing along The Ants played this before every gig to let everyone know they were coming on stage. The Ants hit the stage to the usual frenzy of delight. The atmosphere was electric. The Ants were about to start singing their 4th song, “Animals & Men” Then all of a sudden we heard this loud noise and turned around. To our amazement, there were the skinheads. They were spread out all across the hall with arms linked, goose-stepping slowly towards us, as to box us in near the stage. And make sure that no one could get past. Adam started the intro ‘1, 2, 3, 4’ to start the song and I noticed the skinhead leader had a Manchester United shirt on. So as they charged forward, I went straight for the guy with the Manchester United shirt on (being a Leeds fan he was an obvious target).
I shoved these two Millwall skinheads [who followed the Ants] out of the way and whacked the Manchester United fan straight in the face. To my amazement, this had no effect on him at all. He didn’t see who hit him, so I jumped back out of the way and started helping out others who were getting attacked. The fighting seemed to go on for what seemed ages. Adam was on stage saying “I’m sick of you lot, you travel all over the country to see us and just end up fighting” then walked off the stage. The Hells Angels were on our side, together we managed to get the skinheads out and down the stairs and eventually out of the venue. They locked the doors.
We went back in the gig and Adam came back on the stage and the gig was finished in peace. The Ants were great as usual. With Adam being annoyed with what had happened earlier the music seemed to reflect his anger. They were loud, energetic, and aggressive. With everybody on a high on adrenaline from fighting the skinheads everybody seemed to be dancing in a state of frenzy.
They always danced like that, but even more so tonight. It was like some sort of testosterone ritual. It’s hard to describe how people danced at Ants gigs it’s got to be seen to be believed. The music seemed to transform people into potential homicidal maniacs. I have seen people, who are placid turn into potential homicidal maniacs once the music starts. My mate Duncan (Martian Dance drummer pictured below) showed some photos someone took of people dancing at an Ants gig and they all looked like they were having a nervous breakdown. To see the Ants live was an unbelievable experience and no other punk gig came close, including the Pistols. The nearest atmosphere to an Ants gig was the Meteors, but then half the people at the Meteors gigs used to follow the Ants.
At the end of the gig, I went backstage to speak to the band. Adam was really pissed off so I went back outside to sort our sleeping arrangements out. I met up with Gary and Paul, and then Barry came up and said that that girl from Brum had changed her mind about us stopping at her house and that there had been a mix-up, so we made our way outside. When we got outside there were loads of police everywhere. We were told we would be getting a police escort to the train station, as that was how most of the Ants crew had come up from London. As the police marched us back to the station the skinheads tried to attack the front of the escort [It’s an old football hooligan tactic to get all the weaker ones in the middle of the escort, so you can protect the front and the back] Me, Gary, Popey and a few others went to the back of the escort as that’s the most vulnerable part of the escort, as the police will protect the front but you’re more open to attack from the back; that’s if your attackers have any brains. So far the skinheads weren’t showing any. They continued to attack the front, and the police kept them at bay. The skinheads then split into two groups. They kept probing at the front of the escort, throwing bottles, but keeping their distance so they didn’t get nicked and to occupy the police.. Eventually, the police had enough and charged the skinheads down the road. Leaving us with no protection.
Then those skinheads who had split off earlier came out of hiding and attacked us We got all the people to the front that could look after themselves and the weaker ones at the back. There were about equal numbers and after a while we managed to get the upper hand. It’s hard to describe a free for all as you don’t have the time to be an observer. You’re just trying not to get hurt and concentrating on protecting yourself.
The only thing I can remember is Popey picked up one of those circular metal road lamps and whacked this skinhead over the head with it, leaving him lying in the middle of the road. This had a dramatic effect on the skinhead’s appetite to continue the fight and they dragged their mate to safety. The police then realised [as usual] that they had been outmaneuvered by the skinheads. The police quickly herded us into a street so as to make sure we were under their supervision again.
At the end of the street, we could see that an ambulance had arrived to attend to the skinhead that had been hit earlier. Everyone started cheering! The police went over to see what was going on, and then the inspector then came over to where we were and addressed us all. He asked if anyone knew anything about what had happened to the skinhead.. Someone shouted out” I think he tripped over his big mouth” and everyone started laughing. Then some said “Why don’t you ask HIM…..in a few days when he wakes up” Everyone started laughing again. Apparently, he was in quite a bad way. We realised Popey could be in big trouble, so we hid him in the middle of the escort In case one of the skinheads had seen him hit their mate and could point him out.
The skinheads had now lost their appetite for a close contact brawl but were still up for ambushing us with bricks and bottles all the way to the train station. When we finally arrived at the train station the police escorted everyone towards the the London train. We said goodbye to everyone as they got on the train, in two minutes the train had gone. All of a sudden we were stood in Birmingham train station on our own just me, Gary, Paul and the lad from Leeds, with nowhere to go and the skinheads were still outside the station.
We went up to the police and told them the situation, thinking they might put us up in a police cell for the night, but they just said in no uncertain terms that they didn’t care what happened to us, and that we shouldn’t have come to Birmingham. This was a standard reply by the police to football fans who had been attacked on their patch. With the Ants gig resembling a football match rather than a gig, we were not surprised by their attitude. We realised that if the skinheads got hold of us we would get one hell of a beating after what had happened to their mate. I didn’t fancy our chances either of trying to walk back into the station itself. Luckily the skinheads thought that everyone had got on the train to London so they were not particularly looking for us. We looked around and saw a little opening at the side of the station and we saw that there were some taxis parked there. So we dashed it, then one of the skinheads spotted us and they started running towards us. We just managed to get into the taxi.
We jumped in the taxi driver got half way through “Where to” and we just said “Anywhere”, just drive!” The taxi driver could just see all the skinheads approaching the car and he said “Are they after you” we said “yes!” So he set off as fast as he could, realising his car would get smashed to bits if they caught up to us. We just about set off before the skinheads got to us. We got to the end of the short road and then realised that the traffic lights were red. We looked behind us and the skinheads had also seen that the traffic light were on red and set off in pursuit of us again. We sat there wondering what to do and praying that the traffic light would turn green. The skinheads got to within a foot of the car then the light turned green. The taxi driver, who was as scared as us just put his foot down and we were off again …phew! Everyone, including the taxi driver. We drove of into the distance and we all started to relax. Our taxi driver asked us what had happened and we told him we had been to see the Ants play. The taxi driver exclaimed, “All that trouble for a concert, what’s the world coming to?” We all laughed! The taxi driver asked us where we were going again. We said we had to know where to go. He said “We can’t just drive round Brum all night” We said “I know” We counted up all the money we had between us which came to £5 We just said we wanted to get out of Brum centre and try to find somewhere to sleep. After a few suggestions, we decided to go sleep under the motorway bridge. It was July so the weather was ok, and we had a duvet so it wasn’t that bad. We were just glad to have survived the night.
The next day we all woke up with the sun with a slight hangover and hungry. Because we hadn’t eaten since the afternoon, the day before. As we found our bearings we realised we were about 6 miles from the city centre. We set off walking towards the centre. We had no money left for food. or bus fare back into the centre. It took us about an hour and a half to get back to the bus station. We were really knackered, but relieved to get there. We sat down for a minute to get our breath back.
Paul had his ticket for the coach back to Boro so he said farewell and left. The lad from Leeds had a train ticket so he departed to get his train. Me and Gary (Pictured right third and fourth from left) then went and queued to buy our tickets back to Bradford. We got there and the queue was massive, eventually after what seemed a lifetime we got to the front of the queue. “Two tickets to Bradford please” Certainly! Then the woman behind the till asked us for our money.
We gave her our money and she said there’s not enough. We said we came and asked the price the day before. She said that the prices had gone up overnight. We could have died right there. We stood in front of her looking unwashed and disheveled, starving and hung over. We explained what had gone on the night before and that we had slept on the motorway all night I also said if I could have one wish it was to get home. I started to think of walking all the way back to the motorway and hitching home, I think at that point I just wanted to die. Gary was sat on the floor at this point in despair and I was about to join him when the woman behind the till said she would pay the difference for us. I think it was about 60p each. I said “I will return the money as soon as I got home” I don’t think she believed me, but she gave me her address I was just glad she took pity on us or was it the thought of having to drag our bodies up from the floor so she could carry on serving customers? I didn’t care, I was going home. I think it is one of the only times I can say I was glad to be going back to Bradford. When I got back to Bradford I said goodbye to Gary and I went home and had a beautiful sleep. The next day the first thing I did was send the women the money back.
At the next Ants gig I bumped into the girl from Birmingham who was going to put us up at the Ants Brum gig. She asked us why we didn’t come back to hers. We told her that Barry Jepson had come up to us and told us that you had changed your mind. She looked furious and said, “Wait till I see him.” Obviously Barry had his own agenda and he didn’t want anyone else staying. so he told us that we couldn’t, even though we could have been seriously hurt. Typical ! “self before others every time!
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