Two decades before Meg and Jack, there was only one white stripe that mattered: the warpaint over the nose of Britain’s biggest pop star: Adam Ant. His look was so iconic that kids copied him everywhere: indeed, me and my cousin Audrey, inspired by his style, attempted to emulate said stripe one summer, using tennis shoe paint, only for it to not come off. Turps was applied, and there were tears. Thanks,Adam.
Few pop stars were as successful – or as subversive – as Adam (real name Stuart Goddard) and The Ants. The strutting, preening warriors took inspiration from history’s dressing up box, but also had the musical chops to back it up.
While the peerless Prince Charming was his monster hit, I reckon the previous album, Kings Of the Wild Frontier, their second studio album, is more consistent. The songs are brilliant pop, still tinged with the early punk they made, but pulling from different influences: as the lyrics alluded to, it was all about Native American culture, colonialism, Thatcher (yeah, that asshole again), B movies and punk rebellion itself.
Marco Pirroni was arguably the band’s secret weapon. He played mean, twangy guitar like Duane Eddy. But add to the mix the twin Burundi style drumming, and Adam Ant’s wild yodelling and yelping, and it was unlike the shiny New Romantic pop of the time. They sounded fierce, fully formed, dangerous and camp all at once, like a real gang. What could be more appealing to kids?
They even paid homage to other musicians, at a time when sampling was just getting started in mainstream culture. ‘Killer In The Home’ slows down the tremolo of Link Wray’s classic ‘Rumble’, and spaghetti western composer Ennio Morricone is referenced in both ‘The Magnificent Five’ and ‘Jolly Roger’.
As for any accusations of cultural appropriation, well, they pretty much pre-empted those on the title track, by defiantly chanting: “Just below those dandy clothes, you’re just a shade too white”. . When Americans went for them, as Adam And said in his fascinating autobiography Stand and Deliver, they were ready to bite back. And if vintage pirate gear was good enough for Vivienne Westwood, well, nothing was going to stop them. For a while back then in the early eighties, they seemed utterly infallible. And how we loved them.
Hit The North 