Adam Ant was born Stuart Leslie Goddard on November 3, 1954, in London, England. He had been an art student at the Hornsey School of Art in London before he placed a classified ad in the Melody Maker in June of 1976 that read: "Beat On A Bass With The B-Sides." A few days later he met with Andy Warren and they formed the group the B-Sides.
For about a year they rehearsed, then recorded a punk version of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin" and promptly disbanded.
The Ants made their debut not too long after that at the Roxy Club in London. Members came and went while the band made various appearances supporting other groups as well as headlining their own shows.
Things started to happen for the Ants when they appeared in the Derek Jarman movie Jubilee and were featured on the soundtrack. In January of 1978 the band made their radio debut on BBC Radio 1's The John Peel Session, where they performed "Deutscher Girls," "Lou," "It Doesn't Matter," and "Puerto Rican." The group signed a two-single deal with Decca Records in July after recording "Physical," "Zerox," and "Friends" & "Cleopatra" in their second performance on The John Peel Session.
They went on a short European tour in September and October, then returned to record a demo of "Kick" in mid-November. The Decca single of "Young Parisians" floundered, and the band signed to Do It Records in the beginning of 1979, just before their first major U.K. tour. The Ants made a third John Peel Session performing "Ligotage", "Tabletalk", "Animals & Men" and "Never Trust a Man With Egg on His Face". In July they released the Do It Recordings "Zerox" and "Whip in My Valise" before embarking on the "Zerox Tour."
In August of 1979 Adam and the Ants recorded their debut album, Dirk Wears White Sox. In October of that year former Sex Pistols creator-manager Malcolm McLaren became the group's manager. He introduced the band to the Burundi drums of Africa, inspiring in Adam Ant a whole new musical concept. In January of 1980 Dirk Wears White Sox hit the U.K. independent labels chart at Number One. Shortly thereafter, McLaren coaxed the Ants away from Adam's artistic dictatorship so they could become "more autonomous" and paired them up with Anabella Lwin to form Bow Wow Wow.
Although he was left without a band, Adam Ant would not be defeated. He contacted Marco Pirroni, a guitarist whose work with the Models and Siouxsie & the Banshees he had admired. "We met in a cake shop in Covent Garden", "By the end of the day we realized we wanted to form some kind of Rodgers and Hammerstein writing thing".
They teamed up with producer Falcon Stewart and bassist Kevin Mooney. Adam Ant, still hearing the pounding of tribal drums in his head, listened to ethnic recordings of tribal drumming and decided to recruit two percussionists, Merrick (Chris Hughes) and Terry Lee Miall, instead of one. "We couldn't achieve the cross-rhythms we wanted with just one drummer".
With the addition of the two drummers, the 14-date "Ants Invasion" tour began with a sold-out show. By July of 1980, the new Adam and the Ants were signed to CBS Records, and by August the CBS release Kings of the Wild Frontier broke into the U.K. charts. By the end of January of 1981, Kings of the Wild Frontier had climbed to the top of the chart.
Decca reissued the "Young Parisians" single, and Do It reissued the singles "Zerox" and "Cartrouble", all of which promptly broke into the U.K. charts.
In 1981, with the release of the Prince Charming album, Adam and the Ants embarked on their sold-out "Prince Charming Revue Tour".
In January of 1982 Adam disbanded the Ants, kept Pirroni as his writing partner, and decided to go solo. Still trying to capitalize on the wondrous success of Adam and the Ants, Polydor reissued the old track "Deutscher Girls" from the Jubilee soundtrack, and Do It issued the Antmusic EP, a collection of old Do It tracks.
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This MySpace page is brought to you by an Antfan, and focuses on the first phase of Adam & The Ants career, 1977 - 1979.
For more other like minded people and Antfans please visit some of these wonderful sites...
Visit - Adam Ant official site
Visit - Adam Ant official MySpace page
Visit - The Real Ants official MySpace page
Visit - Antmusic Antfan site
Visit - Ant Liberation Front Antfan site
Visit - Cartrouble home of Carty and his mixes
Visit - Mice In Free Fall Ant memorabilia
Visit - Prince Charming for all your Ant lyrics
Visit - Music For A Future Age Antfan blog
Visit - Antcomics by Amy Hankins
