Adam and the Ants

The 1980s was full of colourful characters but one of them was Adam Ant and his merry band of Ants. The band started in 1977 as a punk band then shifted through various changes during the new wave era and towards the new romantic period
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The band made several personnel changes from the original band where three went on to form Bow wow Wow. However, one that remained was Adam Ant. The original band had limited success with the album Dirk wears white sox.

During 1980 the band welcomed new members Marco Pirroni, Kevin Mooney, Terry Lee and Chris Hughes. The band started a tour without any record deal and soon they were snapped up by CBS and they got to work on Kings of the Wild Frontier.

The album was a huge success and it hit the top of the charts and spawned three singles Kings of the Wild Frontier, Antmusic and Dog eat Dog which all hit the top 10. Antmusic was at number 2 and was kept of the top by John Lennon. Further personnel changes occured when Mooney left the band and was replaced by Gary Tibbs.

Late 1981 they released a new album Prince Charming which saw Adam Ant alter-ego change from a pirate to a dashing young prince. Again the album was a huge success and soon the band were hot property appearing on every programme and magazine. The album saw 2 number one singles, the first was 'stand and deliver' and this was followed by 'prince charming' both went number one for a total of 9 weeks. They released a third single named 'ant rap' which went to number 3 in early 1982.

The band were at the top of there peak and then it all ended suddenly. Adam Ant decided to dissolve the band before a nationwide tour and he embarked on a solo project. He enlisted the help of Marco Pirroni as he helped write most of the Ants biggest hits.

His solo career kicked off in fine style when he went to number one with 'goody two shoes'. As the decade wore on and styles changed unfortunately he took a decline in sales.

The band will be remembered not just for its music but also it's videos that accompanied them. The success of these videos made an impact in America and in particular on MTV. There videos were seen as fun and often camp and theatrical but they did enlist some big names from music and film.

Actress Diana Dors starred in the Prince Charming video and 1960s pop star Lulu starred in Stand and Deliver video. For all the fun and campiness they did play some good music and inspired many artistes to put the glam back in rock and pop.

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