Adam Ant

Adam Ant at the height of his career.

Adam Ant is the stage name of Stuart Leslie Goddard (born November 3, 1954, London, England), lead singer of 1980s New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later a solo artist.

Early Life

Born in Marylebone, London on November 3rd 1954. Adam was an only child. His first school was Robinsfield Primary where he created a considerable stir by heaving a brick through one of the windows. Matters were presumably settled to everyone's satisfaction for Adam continued to attend Robinsfield. One of the themes he was to use in his later work - the suppressed minorities - came to him at birth, for Adam is of gypsy stock. His grandfather, Walter Albany Smith, was a full blooded Romany, an attitude that Adam would later include in a new triumphant image. Home was two rooms in Dewladen buildings, St Johns Wood. Adam recalls "There was no luxury, but there was always food on the table." His father worked as a chauffeur and his mother was a cleaner for Sir Paul McCartney. Although Adam didn't actually meet Paul until many years later his mother was able to get him an autograph by one of The Beatles.

Career

Early Career

Ant's early career was as part of the punk rock movement, firstly as one of the "Art School Punk" contingent who followed the original punk groups that included Siouxsie Sioux, Chrissy Hynde, and Billy Idol. Ant can be seen in the audience in film of early Sex Pistols gigs. His first band was Bazooka Joe, [1]which got big enough for the Sex Pistols to open for them. He acted in Derek Jarman's 1978 "punk" film Jubilee. His debut as a recording artist was the song "Deutscher Girls", which featured on the film's soundtrack LP, and which was re-released as a single in 1981, after the Ants had achieved mainstream chart success.

Stage Name

Many sources claim the name "Adam Ant" was inspired by the 1960s BBC television series Adam Adamant Lives! [2]. Adam himself has denied this claim; his official site states, "After experimenting with various names, Stuart finally settled on Adam because he'd seen paintings of the Garden of Eden and thought it would be a nice place to be. He decided on The Ants as insect names like the Beatles because they did well". [3]

Adam and the Ants

In 1979, having released the album Dirk Wears White Sox and gained an enthusiastic fanbase, Ant recruited former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, whose main influence was to persuade the three other band members to leave and form a new band Bow Wow Wow.

In early 1980 Adam Ant recruited old friend Marco Pirroni to reform the lineup, sound and image of the band, now featuring two drummers and pirate dress. This new look was used to market the album Kings of the Wild Frontier, and several singles charted. The band's popularity grew, and the follow-up album Prince Charming was highly successful, with three United Kingdom top-ten singles (two reaching #1). At the same time he and actress Jamie Lee Curtis had a brief relationship.The Ants split up in early 1982. Newspaper articles of the time offered various explanations for the motivations behind the split. Initially Adam was quoted as saying that the split was amicable but later he was to say that "the interest just wasn't there anymore. It might have been Adam and the Ants on the billboards but not on stage". In addition, it is said that Marco Pirroni quit as he was tired of touring.

Solo Career

After the split, Ant went solo, taking his songwriting partner Pirroni with him. His greatest chart success was 1982's Friend or Foe album, which included the hit single "Goody Two Shoes" which made it to Number 1 in the UK + Australia and #12 in the US. Other hits from that album were "Desperate But Not Serious" and "Hello, I Love You".

In 1983 Ant worked with Phil Collins on the Strip album. The single "Puss 'N Boots" reached #5 on the UK charts, but the BBC banned both the video and the song for the follow-up single "Strip," which peaked at #42. He worked with veteran producer Tony Visconti on 1985's Vive Le Rock. He secured a spot at the Live Aid concert, but was asked to cut his set to one song. He chose his new single, "Vive le Rock".[4] The album and single had disappointing sales, and Adam decided to take a break from music to focus on his acting career.

As the 80s wore on, Ant's attention turned toward acting, especially TV and movie roles. He spent three months in England on stage starring in Joe Orton's Entertaining Mr. Sloane. He also appeared on American television shows, notably The Equalizer and Northern Exposure. He began taking roles in films such as Nomads and Slamdance. He moved to Hollywood and appeared in a range of largely unsuccessful productions.

Adam Ant

In 1990, whilst maintaining an interest in acting, Ant returned to London and re-entered the pop music world with the album Manners and Physique, a collaboration with André Cymone, a solo artist and an early member of Prince's band. The album was another moderate success, and featured the hit single "Room at the Top". In 1993, he toured in support of a planned album called Persuasion. For reasons unknown, however, the album remains unreleased.

Ant returned to Los Angeles where he had a relationship with actress Heather Graham. He also acquired a stalker, which placed him under great stress. As Graham became more successful, the relationship faltered.

In 1995, he released another new album, Wonderful. The title track was a successful single, as was a tour of the U.S. in support of the album. While Ant and his group (which retained longtime guitarist Pirroni) played in smaller venues than they had played in the 1980s, the houses were often packed with enthusiastic fans. The tour was curtailed, however, when Ant and Pirroni both contracted a respiratory illness.

A new generation of Ant-influenced artists covered Adam and the Ants' hits during the 90s, including Elastica, Sugar Ray, Nine Inch Nails, Superchunk and Robbie Williams.

Antbox, a retrospective box set spanning Ant's career from the late 1970s through the 1990s, was released in late 2001. The box set included 66 tracks on three CDs, and quickly sold the initial 10,000 units. Ant was poised to join the 80s-focused Here & Now tour in early 2002, but was unable to do so after he was charged with threatening members of the public with an imitation firearm in a London pub [5]. The court also ordered that he undertake rehabilitation, although he was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder (manic depression).

Since the 2002 incident, Ant has occasionally been featured in news stories surrounding potential projects and his medical condition. A television special entitled The Madness of Prince Charming was aired in the UK in 2003 documenting his career and his struggle with mental illness.It may be of interest to Ant fans that this documentary appears on later editions of the "Prince Charming Revue" DVD, having been added as an extra.

In 2004 and 2005, six "remastered" compact discs were released, spanning the years 1979 through 1985. The CDs featured previously unavailable songs, including demos and material culled from the "Ant vault." The project was greatly overseen by Marco Pirroni, and includes a written message from Ant himself, circa 2005.

Discography Highlights

:See also Adam & the Ants

Albums

* Friend or Foe - released October 1982, re-issued with bonus tracks 2005 (UK #5/US #16)
* Strip - released October 1983, re-issued with bonus tracks 2005 (UK #20/US # 65)
* Vive Le Rock - released September 1985, re-issued with bonus tracks 2005 (UK #42/US #131)
* Manners And Physique - released February 1990 (UK #19/US #57)
* Antics In The Forbidden Zone - released 1990
* Adam Ant The Very Best Of - released 1993 (UK #6)
* Persuasion - unreleased 1993
* B-Side Babies - released 1994 (US)
* Wonderful - released 1995 (UK #24/US #143)

Singles and other releases

* "Goody Two Shoes" / "Red Scab" - CBS single- released 1982 (UK #1, US #12 + Aus #1)
* "Friend or Foe" / "Juanito the Bandito" - CBS single- released 1982 (UK #9)
* "Desperate but not Serious" / "Why do girls love horses?" - CBS single- released 1982 (UK #33, US #66)
* "Puss n Boots" / "Kiss the Drummer" - CBS single- released 1983 (UK #5)
* "Strip" / "Yours Yours Yours" - CBS single- released 1983 (UK #41, US #42)
* "Apollo 9" / "B side baby" - CBS single- released 1984 (UK #13)
* "Vive le Rock" / "Greta X" - CBS Single - released 1985 (UK #50)
* "Room at the Top" / "Bruce Lee" - MCA single - released 1990 (UK #13, US #17)
* "Can't Set Rules About Love" / "How to steal the World" - MCA single- released 1990 (UK #47)
* "Rough Stuff"/ "Bright Lights, Black Leather" - MCA single- released 1990 - Germany & US only
* "Wonderful" / "Goes Around" - EMI single - released 1995 (UK #32, US #39)
* "Gotta be a Sin" / "Dog Eat Dog (Live)" EMI Cassingle and double CD - released 1995 (UK #45)
* "Beautiful Dream [single version]" / "Let's Have A Fight" EMI single - unreleased 1995
* Antbox - box set - released 2001

Remastered CDs - released 2004 and 2005

* Friend or Foe - Remastered
* Strip - Remastered
* Vive Le Rock - Remastered
* REDUX - Remastered (bonus CD w/ unreleased tracks)

Videos

Prince Charming Revue - Concert video - released 1981
Antics in the Forbidden Zone - Compilation - released 1990
Live in Tokyo - Concert video - released 1994
Antvideo - Compilation - released 2001
Digital Tenderness DVD (Definitive Video History 1977 - 1996)'' - soon to be released