•
Rating:
Adam Ant, born Stuart Leslie Goddard, is a charming rock troubadour from the early '80s who enjoyed a couple of years of high-chart success as an artist of the genre defined as New Romantic, although in reality, it’s Pop-Rock filled with various, clever gimmicks. Music to be seen more than heard.
Endowed with a voice melodic enough, emerging from an emaciated body, painted and dressed in the fashion of the time (a cross between an Indian, an English soldier, and a pirate), Adam embodies a modern quartermaster, also a bass-player, summarizing part of the history of 18th-century Britain and North America. In the previous album, "King Of The Wild Frontiers," he dressed as a Native American with braids and Comanche-colored face paint, narrowly escaping the clutches of puppet-master manager Malcolm McClaren, former mentor of the Sex Pistols, who wanted to turn him into another meat puppet to manipulate at will. He is the "Prince Charming" of this 1981 album, the third with his loyal Ants and the one that finally breaks into the European charts, especially the English ones, thanks to a Pop-Rock-Punk medley with brass, showcasing the handiwork of Marco Pirroni, the loyal right-hand man and author as well as the true musical mind of the crew, a good guitarist in the service of simple, disposable music, which sees the presence of two drums as a lure quickly sent racing into the English charts by a prominent music-image campaign, with the motto "Antmusic For Sex People," that exploded onto the London scene of the early '80s.
I, the de-reviewer, leaped in my chair at the age of eleven when even on Mickey Mouse, there was talk of our pirate rebuked by American Indians, mortally offended by his colors brought to the stage (www.fucine.com). In the previous albums, there was an air of rain dance at the Indian camp, then setting off in search of pirate treasure whistling by the ocean under the "Jolly Roger" flag, but also a sort of self-celebration of the character in "Ant Music." In this album, glossy buccaneers are on stage, like those appearing from a musical (not like Running Wild), where melody here is only a pretext, what matters is the sharp, cunning image, after all, we're in the '80s.
"Stand And Deliver" is the killer single with a trumpet intro and horse neighing, while Pirroni bursts in with the hard sound of the guitar: the single cover explains the whole scene that runs to No. 1 in the Anglo-Saxon 45s. "Mowhok" instead takes us to London in 1730 with the sing-song voices of women resembling a yodel, truly haunting, fading into the guitar riff of "S.E.X", a reflective song, an eerie ballad with Pirroni's subdued but also moaning guitar dominating the track, with a nostalgic flavor; just a parenthesis that preludes to the last jingle by the sea, where the ukulele plays and pirates gather around the campfire. More rock in the track "Picasso Visita El Pianeta De Los Simios": educational arpeggio, rough guitar, and driving tarantella embellish the piece, which declines into a skipping vinyl needle finale, while more rhythmic is "Scorpios" with prominent wind instruments. Noteworthy is the use of two drums in all tracks playing in perfect harmony, giving an extra edge to some songs.
Also noteworthy is "That Voodoo!" with gypsy accents and the punk guitar providing an energetic direction to the song, but there remains always a sense of dissatisfaction, as if the energy needed to make the song take off is missing, or the genius flare to craft a brilliant pop single. The rest of the album is forgettable, however with the great single "Prince Charming" at No. 1 in England, which is quite devoid of ideas, with the refrain-catchphrase, yet reflecting the taste of the time.
The album's artwork features our Adam on the cover, heavily painted and dressed as an English soldier, while on the back are the four Ants with Pirroni, amid the other three because he is somewhat hefty, adorned as “Ready For Boarding” pirates. Our Adam yearns for success in American lands and dissolves the band to continue as a solo artist taking his friend Pirroni with him and releases in 1982 "Friend Or Foe," a continuation of the old sound in a more mechanical manner (especially in the rhythm) that still finds success with the single "Goody Two Shoes" in the U.S. Top 10 singles. A character more famous for the image than for the actual musical proposal, although he was there when Punk exploded.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Scorpios (02:44)
There's a gang in every town
I say that the rules be turned around
listen here from one who knows
be fearless just like the Scorpios
pretty, look young be fearless
like the Scorpion
pretty, look young be fearless
like the Scorpion
the Scorpion
the Scorpion
black's the colour watch the claws
with nails as sharp as Diana Dors
watching us is stopping you
from cruising Ugly Avenue
pretty, look young be fearless
like the Scorpion
pretty, look young be fearless
like the Scorpion
the Scorpion
the Scorpion
and if by chance you cling to hate
just rest assured it's your mistake
hold up your head, you know I'm right
the street's the place, tonight's the night
the night
the night look pretty, look young be fearless like the Scorpion
the night look pretty have fun, don't listen when you're told there's none...
03 Prince Charming (03:16)
Don't you ever, don't you ever
Stop being dandy, showing me you're handsome
Don't you ever, don't you ever
Stop being dandy, showing me you're handsome
Chorus:
Prince Charming
Prince Charming
Ridicule is nothing to be scared of
Don't you ever, don't you ever
Stop being dandy, showing me you're handsome
Don't you ever, don't you ever
Lower yourself, forgetting all your standards
Don't you ever, don't you ever
Lower yourself, forgetting all your standards
Chorus
Silk or leather or a feather
Respect yourself and all of those around you
Silk or leather or a feather
Respect yourself and all of those around you
Chorus
Don't you ever, don't you ever
Lower yourself, forgetting all your standards
Don't you ever, don't you ever
Lower yourself, forgetting all your standards
Prince Charming (2x)
Ridicule is nothing to be scared of
Prince Charming (2x)
Ridicule is nothing to be scared of
06 Stand and Deliver (03:33)
Stand and Deliver!
I'm the Dandy Highwayman
You're too scared to mention
I spend my cash
on looking flash
and grabbing your attention
The Devil take your stereo
your record collection
the way you look you'll qualify for next years old age pension
(Chorus)
Stand and deliver
your money or your life
HWOAH!
try to use a mirror
not a bullet or a knife
HWOAH!
I'm the Dandy Highwayman
so sick of easy fashion
the clumsy boots, peekaboo roots
that people think so dashing
so what's the point of robbery when nothing is worth taking?
it's kind of tough to tell a scruff the big mistake he's making
(chorus)
Stand and deliver
your money or your life
HWOAH!
try to use a mirror
not a bullet or a knife
HWOAH!
and even though you fool your soul your conscience will be mine
all mine
We're the Dandy Highwaymen
So tired of excuses
of deep meaning philosophies
where only showbiz loses
We're the Dandy Highwaymen
and here's our invitation
throw your safety overboard and join our insect nation!
(chorus)
Stand and deliver
your money or your life
HWOAH!
try to use a mirror
not a bullet or a knife
HWOAH!
and even though you fool your soul your conscience will be mine
all mine
qua qua
da diddly qua qua
da diddly qua qua
da diddly qua qua
continue to fade out......
08 Ant Rap (03:24)
Rap up!
Rap it up!
Put some wax on the trax and slide on outta here
Hane hane hane hane hane
Hatchets in the corner ears to the ground
Improve to the groove get down to the sound
Buttons and bows and bleu blanc rouge
All things lively must be used
Liberté, egalité, au jourd'hui c'est très très très
Voici l'opportunité nous incroyables
I got the moves they got the grooves
Summoned the Gods and they all approved
Bad vibes akimbo on the shelf
Bit of a rap thing going for myself
This gold on the teeth's no sense at all
It only matters when it's on the wall
I'm standing here with my four men
Let's start that rapping thing again:
Marco, Merrick, Terry Lee, Gary Tibbs and yours truly
In the naughty North and in the sexy South
We're all singing I have the mouth
In the naughty North and in the sexy South
We're all singing I have the mouth
I have the mouth
So tired of anarchists looking at me
Don't need their credibility
"Destroy," they say, "Defy! Condemn!"
As long as you don't destroy them
With twenty years of drugs and drink
I thought the time had come to think
About standing up and saying that
It's tragedy and such old hat
I'm standing here with my four men
Let's start that rapping thing again:
(I got) Marco, Merrick, Terry Lee, Gary Tibbs and yours truly
In the naughty North and in the sexy South
We're all singing I have the mouth
In the naughty North and in the sexy South
We're all singing I have the mouth
I have the mouth
These happy feet are all we need
Summoned the Gods and they all agreed
These feet won't stop they're in such a hurry
I knock it on the head and I go for a curry
Staying sober can be neat
Get drunk on these here happy feet
Keep on trying to pin me down
"Why a title for your sound?"
I'm standing here with my four men
Let's do this rapping thing again:
I got Marco, Merrick, Terry Lee, Gary Tibbs and yours truly
In the naughty North and in the sexy South
We're all singing I have the mouth...
In the naughty North and in the sexy South
We're all singing I have the mouth... (repeat until:)
In the naughty North and in the sexy South
We're all singing
And I have the mouth
And you have the mouth
And they got the mouth
© BMG Music Publishing Limited
09 Mowhok (03:09)
London town 1730
women drunk, children dirty
they'd seen the pictures from afar
down in Gin Lane
over the bar
yo ho ho - Mowhok!
yo ho
yo ho ho - Mowhok!
yo ho aee yo ho ho hoh
here we are in the eighties
Mohican, proud and fair
goes to show that a fashion
can survive
so beware!
yo ho ho - Mowhok!
yo ho
yo ho ho - Mowhok!
yo ho aee yo ho ho hoh
ha ha hilla hey hallah hollo lo ho
Mowhok!
ha ha hilla hey hallah hollo lo ho
Dey hoh
ha ha hilla hey hallah hollo lo ho
Mowhok!
ha ha hilla hey hallah hollo lo ho...
Loading comments slowly
