I credit this band (and my Auntie Lisa, who loved Adam & the Ants WAY more than me) for starting me off as a music nerd. When I was 5 (1981, y’all), off I went to Canada with my Realistic (TM) Portable Cassette Recorder, and as a ‘going away’ present, Lis bought me Adam & the Ants platinum selling “Prince Charming” album. Well, she SORT OF did – she gave me the tape and kept the liner notes to pin up on her bedroom wall, convinced as she was that one day she might not only be my Auntie Lisa but Mrs Lisa Ant!)
Anyway, I implore you to have a careful listen and try not to be distracted too much by the videos – they are as mad as a box of frogs, make no mistake – but the innovations he makes especially in the depth and layering of the vocal harmonies is something truly special. Behind that pretty boy facade, Ant has a prodigious grasp of musical structuring, put together in an undeniably unconventional way that yet somehow makes you want to hit ‘repeat’ and listen again. And also? TWO drummers? Wha-hoo!
Lots of people look back on Adam & the Ants with a great deal of scorn. All that lip gloss and hairspray and proclivity for asymmetrical hairstyles and it’s easy to dismiss them as “that early 80’s boy band”. Further still, Adam Ant’s well documented struggles with bi-polar disorder in more recent years lend a tendency to lose track of the most important thing – the music he wrote. Listening to this stuff with my (almost) 34 year old ears? It’s bloody brilliant! What do YOU think? Do you like it, or am I actually as mad as a box of frogs?
Happy Fortissimo Friday, dear readers.
5 comments:
You're mad as a box of frogs. Don't get me wrong, I had Kings of the Wild Frontier and loved it. But I also loved Tight Fit singing The Lion Sleeps Tonight.
Maggie
...as I always suspected. Ah well, back to the drawing board. (ribbit)
I just listened to Goody 2 Shoes on my way to work this morning!
That's a cosmic sign of us being so closely connected. ;-)
No, you're 100% correct.
The man was/is an utter legend, and one of my biggest influences. Been an AATA fan for 30 years now, since I was 6. God, I feel old. I had the absolute pleasure and honour of having dinner with him once and meeting him a god few times and he truly is an inspiration. Antmusic for Sexpeople :)
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