Adam and the Ants were an English rock band that formed in London in 1977. Two versions of the band, both fronted by Adam Ant, existed between 1977 and 1982. The first was founded in May 1977 and called the Ants until November of that year. They later changed their style from punk rock to post-punk and new wave and released one album.
The final line-up of this incarnation consisted of Adam Ant, Dave Barbarossa, Matthew Ashman, and Leigh Gorman — all of whom except Ant left in January 1980 at the suggestion of manager Malcolm McLaren to form Bow Wow Wow.
Following this, a second version of Adam and the Ants was formed, with only Ant himself remaining from the original band. It also included guitarist Marco Pirroni and drummer-and-producer Chris Hughes and was noted for its use of Burundi drums. This incarnation existed from February 1980 to March 1982 and achieved significant commercial success in the UK. With their music videos receiving airplay on MTV and Ant appearing as a guest VJ on the station, they are associated in the United States with the Second British Invasion.
In March 1982, Adam and the Ants was disbanded and Ant embarked on a solo career, although he continued working with Pirroni.
History Formation Before forming Adam and the Ants, Adam Ant (Stuart Leslie Goddard) played bass in pub rock group Bazooka Joe, who are now mostly known for headlining the show at which the Sex Pistols played their first gig on 6 November 1975 at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. Ant has since recounted how he left the band directly due to a dispute over Sex Pistols' performance, which he was the only member of the band to have enjoyed. While looking to form a new band, Ant befriended some influential figures in the burgeoning London punk scene, most notably Jordan, who worked in Malcolm McLaren's and Vivienne Westwood's SEX boutique. In early 1977, Ant formed a new band named The Ants with Lester Square on guitar, Andy Warren on bass guitar, and Paul Flanagan on drums. Ant inducted the three sidemen into his band at an initial band meeting at the Roxy Club on 23 April 1977, the night of a gig there by Siouxsie and the Banshees.Stand And Deliver, Adam Ant, Hodder & Stoughton 2006 pp.100-102 A month later, Square left to finish his course at Hornsey College of Art and he later formed The Monochrome Set.
Square was replaced by Mark Ryan, and this line-up began to play regular gigs starting with the Institute of Contemporary Arts cafe on 10 May 1977 and taking in support slots around London. In early June, Flanagan was replaced with Dave "Barbe" Barbarossa, and this line-up recorded the songs "Plastic Surgery" and "Beat My Guest" at Chappell Studios in London. Ant starred as Kid in the film Jubilee (1978) while the band appeared with the stand-in drummer Kenny Morris from Siouxsie and the Banshees. During a performance of "Plastic Surgery", Ant dislocated his knee. Towards the end of the year, difficulties with management resulted in Ryan being fired and replaced with Johnny Bivouac, while the band's name was extended to Adam and the Ants.
Touring extensively around the UK, often with Siouxsie and the Banshees, Adam and the Ants were unpopular with much of the British music press, who disliked their fetishistic lyrics and imagery. In response, the group formed a strong – and at times ideological – rapport with amateur punk fanzines such as Ripped and Torn, which gave them more favourable coverage.Ripped And Torn 1976-1979, Tony Drayton, Exctatic Peace Library 2018, , Chapter 14 "Issue 14" contains Adam Ant Interview The band built up a strong cult following but struggled to find mainstream success and sign a record deal – apart from the two Jubilee soundtrack songs – until 1978, when they were signed to Decca Records. Al Spicer described this first incarnation of the band as "a fairly standard black-leather, sour-puss punk image, with songs that had a habit of building slowly towards a full-volume 'sturm-und-drang' climax".
Early recordings Adam and the Ants made their radio debut on John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show when they recorded a session on 23 January 1978 that included the songs "Deutscher Girls", "It Doesn't Matter", "Puerto Rican" and "Lou" – the latter of which featured the group's manager Jordan on lead vocals, as she regularly did during live performances until 14 May 1978, when she left the band after a gig at Roundhouse. The day after the Peel Session, they re-recorded "Deutscher Girls" and overdubbed a new guitar break on the Chapells Studio version of "Plastic Surgery" at AIR Studios for the Jubilee soundtrack album, which was released later that year. The un-dubbed version can be heard in the film itself.
On 15 May 1978, the afternoon after Jordan's final gig with Adam and the Ants, Bivouac also left the band and soon after was replaced by Matthew Ashman. This line-up continued to demo new material, and on 10 July 1978, they recorded a second Peel Session that featured the songs "Zerox", "Physical", "Friends", and "Cleopatra". At the end of the month, the band signed a contract for two singles with Decca Records. The line-up of Adam Ant (vocals and guitar), Matthew Ashman (guitar), Andy Warren (bass guitar), and Dave Barbe (drums) embarked on their first tour of continental Europe. In October 1978, Decca released their first single "Young Parisians". In November 1978, the band recorded a planned second singleStand And Deliver, Adam Ant, Hodder & Stoughton 2006 pp.135 of "Zerox" and "Kick" at RAK Studios in London produced by Stephen "Snips" Parsons. but after the first single met with little success, the company abandoned plans for a second release. Additional material was recorded at Decca's studio in West Hampstead, In January 1979, the band embarked on their Young Parisians Tour of the UK, which ran throughout January and February. and the band recorded a third Peel Session on 26 March 1979 that included "Ligotage", "Tabletalk", "Animals & Men", and "Never Trust A Man (With Egg On His Face)".
After the Decca single's release, the band signed with the independent label Do It Records and re-recorded the second single, "Zerox", backed with "Whip In My Valise", at Roundhouse Studios. "Zerox" was released in July 1979, after which the band embarked on a 17-show Zerox Tour around Britain in support, culminating in a sell-out show at London Lyceum on 5 August.
In the middle of August, the band started recording their debut album at Sound Development Studios in London. Ant wrote and produced the material recorded at the sessions, which were completed within twelve days because the band had rehearsed all of the material on stage. After two sell-out shows at Electric Ballroom, Ant sacked Ashman and Warren,"I had become determined that Andy and Matthew had to leave the band ... I talked things over with Dave Barbe and controlled the urge to fire them immediately ... On October 1 I split the Ants ... Dave and I rehearsed together from October 1979, auditioning bass players and guitarists ..."Stand And Deliver, Adam Ant, Hodder & Stoughton 2006 pp. 138-139 Ant and Barbe worked on new material while Ashman and Warren attempted to form a band (with a French singer called Dominique)69 Exhibition Road, Dorothy Max Prior, Strange Attraction Press, 2022, , pp181-182 after which Warren joined The Monochrome Set in early October. He was replaced in the Ants by Leigh Gorman. Ashman soon returned to the Ants"Meanwhile, Matthew had agreed to rejoin the Ants, but Andy Warren, who had also left the band back in October, fed up with my mood swings and determination to work the band as hard as I could, had refused the chance to rejoin when Malcolm agreed to help us." Ant op cit p142 and the album was scheduled for a November release.
The album was titled Dirk Wears White Sox; it peaked at number one on the UK Independent Albums Chart, which was launched in early January 1980. Ant asked Malcolm McLaren to take over as manager for a flat fee. Adam and the Ants played a sell-out New Year's Day gig at Electric Ballroom. At the end of January 1980, McLaren persuaded guitarist Matthew Ashman, bassist Leigh Gorman, and drummer Dave Barbe to leave Adam and the Ants and form Bow Wow Wow, which was fronted by Annabella Lwin.
Replacement line-up and breakthrough In the following months, a new version of Adam and the Ants was formed. This included Ant himself (the only remaining member from the previous line-up), plus Marco Pirroni (guitar), Kevin Mooney (bass guitar), and drummers Terry Lee Miall and Chris "Merrick" Hughes.
Pirroni became an influential member of the group, regularly co-writing with Ant throughout much of his career. Falcon Stuart was engaged to manage the new band after McLaren had dropped Ant. It signalled a style change by adapting Burundi-style African drumming and an image that mixed Native American make-up with pirate-style, colourful costumes.
While forming the new band, Ant and Pirroni, with future Culture Club drummer Jon Moss, re-recorded the Dirk Wears White Sox track "Cartrouble Part 2" as a contract-fulfilling single for Do It. The label hired Hughes to produce the duo at Rockfield Studios in Wales, after which they asked Hughes to join. The label released the single under the title "Cartrouble" in March 1980, with Moss credited as "Terry 1+2". Ant and Pirroni signed a publishing deal with EMI, and worked with Hughes and the rest of the band on new material at Matrix Studios in London. Stuart took these to prospective record companies while the band embarked on a 14-day Ant-Invasion Tour of the UK, which culminated in a show at Empire Ballroom.
In July 1980, the band signed a deal with CBS Records and released the single "Kings of the Wild Frontier", which reached No. 48 on the UK Singles Chart. Hughes continued to produce the band's work, and they completed recording at Rockfield by the end of August. A second single, "Dog Eat Dog" was released in October; it reached the top 10 and resulted in the band's first appearance on BBC Television's weekly music show Top of the Pops.
In November 1980, the album Kings of the Wild Frontier was released and became a hit in the United Kingdom, putting Adam and the Ants at the forefront of the New Romantic movement, and the band completed a 32-day UK tour. The album reached number one on the UK Albums Chart on 24 January 1981.
A third single "Antmusic" was released later in November; it peaked at number two in January 1981 and at number one in Australia, where it stayed for five weeks. Both Decca and Do It Records re-released the band's previous output; "Young Parisians" reached number nine in the UK in December 1980 and Dirk Wears White Sox peaked at number 16 in the UK Albums Chart in February 1981. "Cartrouble" and "Zerox" also charted that month, peaking at numbers 33 and 45, respectively, in the UK Singles Chart.
In February 1981, Adam and the Ants played at the inaugural Children's Royal Variety Performance, the band played two songs "Antmusic" and "Dog Eat Dog", but bassist Mooney refused to take the performance seriously, and it was later claimed his bass strap had broken. Footage of the performance clearly shows Adam Ant being very annoyed with Mooney and mouthing "what the hell was that?" followed by an obscenity and the end of their set. Mooney was subsequently sacked and replaced with Gary Tibbs. CBS re-released the single "Kings of the Wild Frontier", which peaked at number two in March that year.
Major success