"We are four in number; 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 tasteless 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 the pursuance of his work; we are in tune with nothing; we have NO interest in politics; we identify with no movement or sect other then 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 hippie 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..."
Bazooka Joe
Adam Ant became interested in music at the age of 14 when he learnt to play the guitar. By 1971, he had joined a North London band called Bazooka Joe which was originally started up by four men of the name of Kleinman, Collier, Ellis and Wernham. After the 6 years Bazooka Joe survived, the only original band member left was Danny Kleinman.
The band changed many times in its life, and for one of its 25 personnel changes, Kleinman enlisted the help of Adam, then called Stuart Leslie Goddard, who was at the time studying at the same college as him, Hornsley Art College. By 1974, Bazooka Joe has started touring the London pub and art school circuit and were popular enough to have their own warm up acts, one of which was the Sex Pistols.
On leaving college, Kleinman became an illustrator, as well as a brief spell with Rapid Eye Movement, and kept in touch with Adam, who had formed his own punk rock group just before leaving college. Kleinman eventually designed the Ants warrior logo, and occasionally stepped in to play bass in Adam's new band.
B-Sides
Adam's new band, The B-Sides was formed in early 1976 with Lester Square, who was studying painting at Hornsey Art College, the same place Adam was taking his graphics course. An advert was placed in Melody Maker in July of the same year for a bass player, and Adam Warren replied and joined the group. Rehearsals happened, but Adam lost interest, and a new vocalist, Bid, was found to take his place.
By early 1977, Adam was interested in the music scene again, and resumed rehearsing with the group, but they became frustrated with the lack of gigs they could score, and Adam disappeared yet again, with the band splitting up in February 1977.
"We are out to be ants and spread the music"
Adam Ant
Adam and the Ants
On 23rd April 1977, Adam tried to resurrect the B-sides at a Banshees concert at the Roxy club. Here Adam and The Ants formed in their first incarnation.
"He called the band 'The Ants' because he wanted to be bigger than The Beatles'"
John Bivouac, a former member of the Ants
The line up of the band was
- Adam Ant - guitar and vocals
- Lester Square - guitar
- Andy Warren - bass and vocals
- Paul Flanagan - drums
Plastic Surgery
By this time, punk had broken, with the Sex Pistols and The Clash already signed, and The Damned had had their first hit album. These band member worked on the tracks Plastic Surgery and Deutscher Girls, and auditioned for various companies.
"Plastic Surgery is about the Hollywood thing. The thing of changing yourself through plastic surgery."
Adam Ant
This incarnation of the Ants, however,never played a gig in their one month of being together as two days before
Adam and The Ants were about to play their first gig ever, at the ICA, on 10th May 1977, Lester Square resigned from the band. This left the group in a difficult position, but they enlisted
Mark Gaumont, who learnt Lester's part in the band at short notice.
"We give 100% at every gig, so there is no difference between hostile/favorable audience. They are going to listen."
Adam Ant
X Ray Spex
They played a few other times together which weren't very successful. When the band supported X Ray Spex at the Man in the Moon public house on King's Road, London, in May, most of the audience left within the first few minutes, but a woman called Jordan, real name Pamela Rooke, was amongst the few that stayed longer. Until that time she was considered to be very close to the Sex Pistols, however Adam asked her to become the band's manager which she accepted a few months later.
Sadomasochism
Around the time of the performance at the Man in the Moon, Adam started to wear leather face masks and other articles closely related to sadomasochistic practices. This was mostly due to Adam's influences, as he bought his clothing from new designers of the time. In 1977, Seditionaires and the shop co-owned by Vivienne Westwood and Malcom McLaren, Sex were breaking fashion.
"I'm not personally into S/M, I mean I never smacked the arse of anybody. It's the power, it's the imagery. There's a certain imagery involved with that which I find magnetic. It's not done viciously, if you read S/M mags and spank mags or anything like that, it's done with an essence of humour... war dress and stuff, that just appeals to my imagination. "
Sex
Sex was a big influence on Adam and the Ants music. Adam himself, in 1977, admitted that sex is his life and found sex to be the most exhilarating experience he could think of even going as far as to say that he thought it should be done on stage. Adam has a tattoo which says, Pure Sex. He calls it his philosophy. Despite believing what happens in the privacy of a bedroom should remain private, the Ants also later recorded songs about rubber fetishism and transvestitism.
Adam and the Ants Version 3
By June 1977, Adam and the Ants version 3 had appeared.
The line-up was
- Adam Ant - Vocals and Guitar
- Jordan - Vocals
- Mark Gaumont - Guitar
- Andy Warren - Bass and Vocals
- Dave Barbe - Drums
Dave Barbe
Dave Barbe joined the Ants for a gig at Hornsey College of Art as the support act to Desolation Angels, the band Barbe was playing with at the time. The Ants had been without a drummer for a short time, with Kenny Morris of Banshee fame standing in on occasions. With the band looking like an explosion in a make-up factory with added attitude, they recorded Plastic Surgery for their Jubilee album, and started getting attention from the music press. During the filming of Plastic Surgery at Dury Lane Theatre for Derek Jarman's Jubilee film, Adam managed to dislocate his knee during the take which was eventually used.
Many gigs followed with Adam and the Ants supporting The Slits, Generation X, The Vibrators and the Banshees amongst others.
Adam and the Ants Version 4
By October 1977, the line up for the band was changing again with Adam asking Mark Ryan to join the Ants on guitar. This didn't last long though. Dave Barbe called John Bivouac for an audition to be the new guitar player at the Manos rehearsal studios in Chelsea. The audition was so successful that Bivouac learnt 6 songs that day, and six the next day ending with the band playing at the Vortex as support for Siouxsie and the Banshees the next night. Previously Bivouac had seen Adam Ant perform at Hornsea College of Art when Bivouac and Barbe were both playing with the band Desolation Angels.
John Bivouac
When Bivouac joined the group, his real name, John Beckett, was deemed to be not the right stage name for him whilst in Adam and the Ants. Jordan decided on the final name, and even after he left the Ants, Bivouac still uses the name when credited with playing the guitar on albums, as well as his friends still calling him Bivvy.
Jordan didn't think that Bivouac had the right look for the band either, and on the day after he joined the band, she took him out to have his hair cut and to buy some new clothes on Kings Road, London. Despite not having a stylist as such, Jordan used to dress most of the band in clothes similar to Adams which were from Sex and Seditionaries with leather being a favourite. Despite changing the looks of the band members, Jordan managed to do this in a way in which she didn't offend the band members at all.
Jordan
By the time Bivouac and Barbe had joined the Ants, Jordan had agreed to be the band's personal manager as well as to write songs and sing on the occasional track. The Ants were also managed by Megalovision. The Ants had quite a few successes around this time . At the start of 1978, they had their first appearance on the John Peel show on Radio One where they recorded Deutscher Girls, Lou, It Doesn't Matter and Puerto Rican. With a strong cult following beginning to form a line of one night appearances followed which strengthened their fan base,They also recorded Deutcher Girls as the second track for the Jubilee soundtrack which was released as a film and album in April. Even with these releases, record companies were still wary about the band and their potential.
Roundhouse
On 14th May Adam and the Ants were the support act for X-ray Spex at the Roundhouse in London. Despite being the support act, the crowd was full of Adam Ant lookalikes, complete with make-up and fetish clothes. After one lookalike was chased around the venue until the crowd realised that it wasn't the real Adam Ant, the Ants appeared on stage and began their act as the crowd went wild. When Jordan took to the stage, the audience didn't know whether she was a fan or part of the act until Adam picked up a guitar and started playing Lou. Jordan started singing lead vocals and the crowd went mad. When she had finished the song, the atmosphere was high and the applause was so overpowering that Adam and the Ants played two encores before the headline act was able to start their set. This was to be the last performance for Jordan and Bivouac before Jordan left the music industry in May 1978 to concentrate on a career in television. Bivouac left to to form the band Lustlarza, and eventually Swim.
More recently, Bivoac stated,
"Adam Ant was bigger than the band - he was the band."
"Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that all the musicians involved weren't influential to the sound of the Ants - we all brought a lot of individuality to the band, but Adam was the focus, the songwriter and performer who made it something extra special. "
Megalomaniac
Despite being a band, as opposed to a solo singer with a backing group, the band didn't have much influence musically or business-wise, as usually Adam took control with the help of Jordan. Around this time, Adam went through a particularly megalomaniac phase where he wanted total control of the band. He decided that he could play almost all of the musical instruments himself and didn't need the other band members. He recorded some demos with Barbe without telling the other band members, but needed the help of Barbe as Adam himself couldn't play the drums.
"Adam was convinced that I was not now the right guitarist for the Ants and things came to a head when I turned up at Dave's house to go to an ICA gig to be told that I wasn't playing that night and that Adam would be playing guitar. That was it and I never played with Adam again. "
John Bivouac
Despite being pushed out of Adam and the Ants in this way, Bivouac didn't bear a grudge and still doesn't.
"The Ants gave me a big break into the music industry and as I'm still playing and producing and earning a good living from music that break is what propelled me to where I am now. All things happen for a reason...
I don't think Adam was difficult to work with - he had his moments like anyone else and could be a bit moody but I just let him get on with it."
John Bivouac
Adam didn't bear a grudge either, even as far as going to see Bivouac's new band performing and having a chat with his after he had seen them perform where he thanked him for all the good work he had done in the Ants. This was followed at a later date with a thankyou letter from Adam too, and an invitation to join the Ants on tour as their support act.
Adam and the Ants Version 5
With Jordan and John Bivouac out of the band, the Ants needed a new guitar player. This position was filled by Matthew Ashman who was found by Adam. At the time Ashman was with the band Cameras, but as Young Parisians, Lady, Zerox and Whip in my Valise were about to be recorded by the Ants, he joined the group. This was in June 1978.
The new line up consisted of
- Adam Ant - Vocals and Guitar
- Matthew Ashman - Guitar
- Andy Warren - Bass and Vocals
- Dave Barbe - Drums
Ashman's first gig with the Ants was to be at the Hard Rock Cafe in London on 6th June 1978, which was quickly follwed by ones at Ealing College and Southbank Polytechnic for Rock Against Racism.
Southbank Polytechnic
The show at Southbank Polytechnic on 17th June 1978 was an event full of excitement. Someone in the audience at the concert set fire to the left hand PA stack bass bin with a cigarette butt which wasn't noticed by the band, so they carried on playing whilst the sound system burned for a while. Once the fire was seen to, the concert continued, however the streets outside the polytechnic were lined with more than a hundred policemen who just stood there in silence whilst the concert goers left the gig to go home. Luckily there was no trouble.
A gig at the Marquee Club followed on 24th June, with the Ants recording a second session with John Peel for the BBC on 10th July. This session included the tracks Physical, Zerox, Friends and Cleopatra.
Decca Records
On 29th July,Adam and the Ants signed to Decca Records. This only managed to last a short while until 12th February when the group left sign with the independent label Do It.
The Rock Garden in Covent Garden, London was the venue for the Ants on 10th August 1978. This event which was supposed to be a highlight of the bands career to date, turned into a minor crisis situation. On the street outside the venue, a passer-by had been stabbed. As an escape route, the criminal ran into the venue and had made their way through the Rock Garden and down to the basement where Adam and the Ants were playing. When there, they started a fight with the audience causing the gig to be halted for half an hour in which time Adam threw promotional badges into the crowd to keep them happy.
On the 26th of the same month, Adam and the Ants recorded Lady at Island Studios.
European Tour
September was the start of the Ants European tour with dates in Leopoldsburg and Ninove in Belgium, and Cologne and Berlin in Germany. Numerous Italian tour dates followed in October including an guest appearance to open the Modanosta Fashion Festival in Milan.
In October of the same year, Andy Warren left the group to join former Ant guitarist, Lester Square to join the band Monochrome Set.
1979 started in much the same way as 1978 ended, with a long stream of concerts, but this time touring the UK as opposed to London clubs. In January alone they toured Leeds, Bradford, Middlesborough, Northampton, Manchester, York, Liverpool, Swansea, Blackpool and Gwent.
On March 26th, the Ants recorded a third session with John Peel for Radio One which included the tracks Ligotage, Tabletalk, Animals & Men and Never Trust A Man. This was followed up with a sell out concert at the Lyceum in London on 22nd April and another two dates in Berlin.
Dirk Wears White Sox
August proved to be an exciting month for Adam and the Ants when on the first day of the month Adam split his head open at a gig at Plymouth Woods. This had to be dealt with efficiently as the next night the band were to be playing in Port Talbot. Adam needed 6 stitches, but was fine to carry on with the tight schedule. Two weeks later, the band recorded their debut album Dirk Wears White Sox at the Sound Development studios in London.
Adam named the album Dirk Wears White Sox because
"He's my hero, I've got lots of heroes, I've always had lots of sort of people to look up to. Dirk Bogarde as an artist, as an actor, as a person comes over very strong to me, and I wrote White Socks about the two films that he did. The Damned, not so much The Damned, it was more The Night Porter, that song is my favorite. I think it's the best because it catches what I think of Dirk Bogarde."
Adam Ant
Lee Gorman
After having these tracks mixed and performing two sell-out shows at the Electric Ballroom in London, Things started to change again for the Ants. Andy Warren left the band, with Lee Gorman taking his place. At the same time, Malcom McLaren, whom Adam knew from buying clothes at the shop McLaren owned with Vivienne Westood, took over managing the band for a £1000 fee as an image consultant after being asked by Adam to help boost audience numbers. He advised the group to change from their fetish inspired clothing to a look which combined Native American and Pirate imagery.
With rumours flying around that Adam and the Ants were splitting up, Adam whilst being interviewed seemed very positive.
"First LP's are very much an experiment. Antmusic is born anyway, although every record we have made is Antmusic. Only like a child, it grows, develops and gets stronger. A totally independent L.P. exactly like we wanted it to be. Pure ANTMUSIC!"
Adam and the Ants Version 6
The line-up, as from October 1979 was
- Adam Ant - Vocals and Guitar
- Matthew Ashman - Guitar
- Leigh Gorman - Bass and Vocals
- Dave Barbe - Drums
Bow Wow Wow
However, there was tension building in the group from the word go. Sick of being ordered around by Adam, the rest of the band member complained to McLaren about the lack of say they had in the groups decisions. With McLarens's support, they told Adam that they wanted to form their own band. Just three months later on 24th January 1980, Lee Gorman, Dave Barbe and Matthew Ashman left Adam and the Ants with their manager Malcom McLaren to form Bow Wow Wow.
Marco Pirroni
When this happened Adam started looking for a new band to join him to reform the Ants. First he phoned formed band member Jordan who told Adam to get in touch with Marco Pirroni, a former member of Models and a musical associate of Soiuxie and the Banshees. Adam asked Pirroni to join the band and met him in a Covent Garden coffee shop on 28th January to agree to the new partnership to which Pironni agreed. Next was John Bivoauc.
"When all the business with McLaren and Bow Wow Wow happened, Adam rang me and asked me to come and play bass in the new Ants with Marco etc. I was flattered but at the time was committed to a tour of Germany with my own band and unfortunately had to turn him down."
John Bivouac
Adam and the Ants Version 7
The opinion of the music press was that this time Adam and the Ants were finished. However, with a new line-up of musicians, and a fresh image courtesy of McLaren, with their Apache war paint and piratical costumes they managed to reinvent themselves.
Terry Lee Miall worked with Pirroni in Models and joined the band in February, but finding a bass player wasn't as easy. Danny Kleinman, who was in the Ants original incarnation as Bazooka Joe stood in as bass player until a permanent musician was found in the form of Kevin Mooney, who eventually married Jordan.
Merrick
On 18th February 1980, Adam with Marco recorded Car Trouble Part 2 and Kick at Rockfield Studios. With a drummer short, Jon Moss stepped into to help out, however, whilst recording, Chris Hughes, also known as Merrick, who was producing a track at the studios volunteered to be the Ants new drummer. Now with two drummers, Adam and the Ants had created a new sound to go with their new image.
Around the same time, Adam and the Ants left the Do It record label, however not before releasing their latest recorded tracks on 3rd March.
The line-up now was
Ants Invasion Tour
In the week starting 19th April, the new incarnation of the Ants recorded King of the Wild Frontier and Press Darlings at Matrix Studios in London. Then, after a brief rest they started their Ants Invasion tour beginning with a private show at John Henry's PA company rehearsal studio. Many tour dates followed which included sell out shows at the Electric Ballroom and the Empire Ballroom in London.
CBS
During the tour, on 16th July, Adam and the Ants were signed to CBS, with King of the Wild Frontier entering the UK charts at number 53 on 25th July with the Ants filming a music video for the single on 5th August .
Short video clips were also created showing the Ants in Romantic clothing which were shown frequently on BBC television. With this publicity push, Adam and the Ants were beginning to be a new pop sensation even having posters of them appearing in Smash Hits magazine.
Ant Music Publishing
The same month, the Ants started recording the Kings of the Wild Frontier album at Rockfield Studios in Monmouth. The band had hit it big now, and Adam was having to take part in interviews and public appearances. Five days after being interviewed by Radio 1, Adam formed Ant Music Publishing Ltd on 8th September.
"I know what I want on record and I want to go into that studio and get it. We haven't got it, yet, but we will get it 'cos nothings going on with 'The Ants' unless it's exactly Ant music. It's got to be Ant music. It's got to be fucking Ant music. I want to be proud to play it to anybody, that's all I'm in it for, to have good records out. Money can't buy the 'thing' you get when somebody sits there and appreciates your music, just no way. "
Adam Ant
Busy Schedule
October was a busy month for the Ants. In the month of October alone, they
Dog Eat Dog
November was just as busy. As well as still being on tour with a concert nearly every night, Dog Eat Dog managed to reach number 4 in the UK pop charts and the Ants had to go back to London to make a pop video for Antmusic at the Sombrero Club.
Their show at Hull College of Further Education on 14th November made headlines for all the wrong reasons though, as for the second time in the Ants history, the venue of their concert was set on fire whilst they were performing. This time the fire was so bad that the venue had to be evacuated.
Luckily no-one was hurt and the band was able to continue with their tour, with a brief intermission where they appeared on Top of the Pops again, this time to perform Antmusic.
Adam and the Ants were filmed many time in December. Their concert at the Manchester Apollo was filmed for promotional use, Killer in the Home, Antmusic and Something Else were recorded for BBC television, and Adam himself was a guest on children's television show, Tiswas.
Pop Star Pin-up
The new improved Ants were a hit. Their use of
costume and natural
pin-up, Adam, heralded a new era in British pop. With well produced pop videos and
melodic songs with a
hook, 1981 as to be the Year of the Ant.
January proved to be even busier that the two previous months with Adam and the Ants trying to break into the American market. The week before Adam flew to New York for a promotional visit, the Ants recorded A.N.T.S which was released as a flexidisc for Flexipop magazine and appeared on Multi Colored Swap Shop performing Antmusic and Ant Invasion as well as being interviewed.
Old Grey Whistle Test
Whilst in New York, Adam had a meeting with Epic Records and had a day of interviews before returning back to the UK on 14th January so that he could join the rest of the band to record Killer In The Home and Ants Invasion for the Old Grey Whistle Test television show.
Interviews with French radio and Australian television followed before Adam and Marco left the UK to go on a promotional tour of Amsterdam.
Gold Disc Presentation
On 27th January, the Ants were presented with a gold and a silver disc by the chairman of CBS Records, Dick Asher, for Kings of the Wild Frontier which was still at number one in the album charts.
Royal Variety Performance
The stop over in the UK didn't last long though, with Adam and Marco going on a promotional visit to Germany the next day where they took part in Rockpop television show before traveling to France where they stayed until 5th February. Three days later the Ants appeared on the Royal Children's Variety Performance at the London Palladium singing Antmusic where they later met Princess Margaret who was the Royal guest at the stage show.
Stand and Deliver and Beat My Guest were the next tracks to be recorded. These were done at Townhouse Studios on 9th February. Also on this day, Kevin Mooney left the group.
Despite losing their bass player, Adam and the Ants had a busy schedule to keep up with whilst looking for a new band member. Adam had to appear on Radio 1 with Annie Nightingale as well as the band having to go to a photo shoot for The Sun. Guest appearances by the band still had to be made, so stand ins had to be found to make the band's numbers up. On 17th February Danny Kleinman, for example, stood in for Kevin Mooney with the Ants to appear on Jim'll Fix It.
The next week, the band had to rehearse for the Nationwide Pop and Rock Awards with Madness and Hot Chocolate. This is where Adam met David Bowie for the first time. This was just a short while before Adam and Marco went to Sweden on another promotional tour.
Adam and the Ants version 8
The line up from 9th March 1981 was
- Adam Ant - Vocals and Guitar
- Gary Tibbs - Bass
- Merrick - Drums
- Terri Lee Miall - Drums
- Marco Pirroni - Guitars and Vocals
Tibbs had played bass with Roxy Music and The Vibrators before joining the Ants. Luckily, because of his previous experience, he managed to slot into the tight schedule which Adam and the Ants had planned. This included filming the video of Stand and Deliver at Hatfield House on 12th March, and the Stand and Deliver tour which started on 23rd March at Newcastle City Hall touring through the UK including concerts at the Glasgow Apollo and the Birmingham Odeon. At one show at the Dominion in London, Adam was presented with a Multi Colored Swap Shop award by Michael Crawford.
MTV
When MTV was launched in America in 1981, the station started showing Adam and the Ants videos quite rapidly. These were shown so often that the band decided to organize a tour of the USA. The group did over a dozen shows in America starting on 30th March which included performances in Boston, Washington DC, New York and San Francisco.
There were numerous highlights for the band on this tour.
On 8th April at the Ritz Ballroom in New York, Mick Jagger and Pete Townsend were amongst the guests which led to the Ants being on Channel 7 News.
On 13th April at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles, Rod Stewart, Elton John and Warren Beaty came to see the Ants.
Grammy Award
The Ants also managed to get the win the title of Best New Artist at the 1981 Grammy awards, but despite this the tour wasn't a huge success. In the UK, however, the Ants were causing a storm, and a European tour on the way.
Rehearsals for this tour started on 2nd May, the day before Stand and Deliver was released in the UK going straight into the pop charts at number one and staying there for 5 weeks. Whilst still number one, the Ants flew to Spain to start their tour of Europe. The concerts in Spain were followed quickly by gigs in Stockholm, Copenhagen where the band met Liberace, Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris to name but a few. This lengthy tour made the Ants travel around most of Europe until 31st May when Adam contracted conjunctivitis in his right eye. He managed to play at the concert on 1st June at Schwabinger Braeu in Munich, but the show in Frankfurt the next day had to be canceled. Luckily the next day he felt much better so the tour resumed again starting in Cologne and carrying on until it they got back to London on 5th June. The tour didn't stop here though as there were still concerts to be done in Jersey, Guernsey and Cornwall.
Prince Charming
After a week in New York on business, Adam flew back to London to start work on the Ants third Album, Prince Charming at Air Studios. After being a guest on the 900th edition of Top of the Pops, Adam visited Mike Mansfield to discuss the script for the Prince Charming video. After a few more television appearances, including time on Razzamatazz and Good Morning America, the Ants filmed the video for Prince Charming at Shepperton Studios with Mansfield as Director.
The Ants rehearsed for the final part of their world tour from 31st August to 2nd September. This part of the tour would take them to
Australia,
Japan and once again to America. They left for the US on 6th September and started their tour at the
Pier in
New York. After numerous concerts, they flew to Australia to continue the next part of their tour. Whilst there, they appeared on the
Don Lane television show and
Countdown as well as performing at
Festival Hall in
Brisbane. Adam also went to see
Liza Minelli in concert, meeting her in person after the show, and going to her
press conference a few days later with
Danny La Rue and
Mel Gibson.
Liza Minelli
After seeing Minelli on concert again, the Ants did their last performance in Australia at the Entertainment Centre in Perth before traveling to Japan for concerts in Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Kyoto. Whilst the band come back to the UK on 17th October, Adam stayed in Tokyo to complete the schedule of interviews that have been arranged, traveling back to the UK on 21st October.
Adam and the Ants weren't given much time to settle down though, as on the 26th October, they all went to Air Studios for a week to remix Antrap, before going to appear on the Multi Colored Swap Shop again with Noel Edmonds.
Prince Charming Revue
After the album Prince Charming was released and entered the UK album charts at number 2, Adam and the Ants started rehearsing for another tour of the UK named the Prince Charming Revue.
More interviews were to be done before the tour though by Adam for Capitol Radio, Radio Luxembourg, and television show Friday Night, Saturday Morning. As well as these interviews, Adam and the Ants met the Queen on 22nd November after performing Antmusic at the Royal Variety Performance at Dury Lane Theatre.
The Prince Charming Revue tour started at the Cornish Riviera Club in Austell, but was cut short on the date of the 10th gig at the Deeside Leisure Centre in Liverpool on 22nd January 1982 when Adam announced that Adam and the Antswere to be disbanded so that he could persue a solo career with Marco Pirroni as his song writer.
Brit Award
After this announcement, tracks already recorded by Adam and the Ants were still to be released. Kings of the Wild Frontier won an award for the Best British Album at the first Brit award ceremony on 24th February, and Deutcher Girls was released by Polydor Records on 6th March reaching number 6 in the charts. Friends was also released by Do It Records on 20th March reaching number 46 in the UK charts.
Songwriters of the Year
Awards for Adam and the Ants kept coming in though, with Adam and Marco named as Songwriters of the Year at the Ivor Novello Awards on 29th April 1982, with Stand and Deliver being named the best selling single.
Goody Two Shoes
Another single by the Ants was released on 9th May called Goody Two Shoes. However, when Marco decided that he didn't want to tour any more, the Ants were officially separated and some copies of Goody Two Shoes were released with Adam Ant as the artist, as opposed to Adam and the Ants. This record reached number 1 in the UK charts. Adam himself carried on with his solo career, and despite mental health problems and a spell in a mental institution in 2002, has plans to carry on recording.
In October 1998, there were rumours that Adam and the Ants were considering a multi million dollar recording deal which would consist of them making another album and taking part in a tour. Marco Pirroni said of this rumour,
"I am working with Adam on an album but I'm not sure about touring with the other members. To be honest, they didn't contribute much musically."
2001
An anthology of Adam and the Ants tracks was released in 2001 called Antbox, as well as the Complete Radio One Recordings which included the Ants John Peel sessions and two dance remixes of Dog Eat Dog on limited edition vinyl.
Singles Discography
Album Discography
Sources
http://www.geocities.com/TelevisionCity/Studio/8022/
http://www.adam-ant.net/
http://www.mtv.com/bands/az/adam_and_the_ants/bio.jhtml
http://www.nme.com/