The song was featured in the 1934 film “Bright Eyes” which I used the title repeatedly in the lyrics when writing the song ”Total Eclipse of the Heart” recorded by Bonnie Tyler.

I would also use the 1945 film title Kiss and Tell starring Temple when I wrote the song ”Wishing Well” recorded by the artist we named  Terence Trent D’Arby.

The name of “Terence” came from actor Terence Stamp, Reznor would later chose the name of “Trent” for part of his stage name.  It was Stamp’s character Sgt. Francis ‘Frank’ Troy in Far from the Madding Crowd that inspired Adam Ant’s style in the early 80′s.  This is also why I made reference to Superman when I wrote the song “Rapper’s Delight” recorded by The Sugarhill Gang.  On 12 June 1999, INXS headlined the opening of Stadium Australia in Sydney, with D’Arby and Russell Hitchcock as guest vocalist.

Terence Stamp not only appeared in Superman film as General Zod, but he had also been roommates of Michael Caine and Vidal Sassoon, the latter of which I mention in the lyrics of “Rapper’s Delight” recorded by The Sugarhill Gang.

Temple also appeared in the 1949 film Mr. Belvedere Goes to College, which was part of the inspiration behind Michael Jackson and I working on ideas for the ABC sitcom Mr. Belvedere for English actor Christopher Hewett who had the brief role as Lawrence on Fantasy Island.

Temple also starred in the 1949 film The Story of Seabiscuit about the famous racehorse which inspired the 2003 film Seabiscuit which starred Tobey Maguire as Red Pollard, Jeff Bridges as Charles S. Howard, and Chris Cooper as Tom Smith.  It had also been Jeff Bridges who wanted to use the song “Valparaiso” recorded by Sting and I wrote during the closing credits of the 1996 film White Squall which he starred in.

I love the fabrics, details, embroidery and general look depicted by the new romantics.

For years now I have been a huge fan of Adam Ant! I see him, his style and music as a great inspiration in my projects and personal work. He reminds me of the romanticism of a pirate. I love the rich layers and fabrics combined with a rich tapestry of colors. It was and still is a moody and sexy style. The fabrics – whilst remaining tailored – always move in an exaggerated way, flouncing across the stage. It really relates to some of today’s styles, catwalks and popular culture. I will seriously consider this look in my design.

Giddy Little Girls With Puppy-Love-Struck Expressions

1. Chloe by Grouplove
2. Bird in Another Tree by The Good Mad
3. Enchanted by Taylor Swift
4. Indiana Sun by Chase Coy
5. Troubles Will Be Gone by The Tallest Man on Earth
6. First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes
7. Goody Two Shoes by Adam Ant
8. Be OK by Ingrid Michaelson
9. Charlie Boy by The Lumineers
10. Ours by Taylor Swift
11. In The Aeroplane Over The Sea by Neutral Milk Hotel
12. Home by Phillip Phillips
13. Tongue Tied by Grouplove
14. You’re Going Back by The Tallest Man on Earth
15. Everything Has Changed by Taylor Swift Ft. Ed Sheeran

    Enjoy and have a sweet, bright-eyed, love-stuck, heart-tickled week!

Achievement results from work realizing ambition.-Adam Ant

Adam Ant is back with his first album in 17 years (Picture: Getty)

Adam Ant talks about his comeback album, the stigma around mental health problems and the secret to his success in the 1980s.

What can people expect from the new album?

It’s a double album, it’s 17 songs and has been a long time coming. There’s a lot of variety. It’s quite autobiographical. It’s a bit different to what I’ve done before. I wrote most of the songs over the past two years.

Is making music therapeutic?

It’s an important part of my life. You don’t get that kind of high from acting – I’ve done plays, movies and TV stuff but the adrenaline rush and response you get from a live show I can’t find anywhere else. It’s my favourite thing to do.

The album title, Adam Ant Is The Blueblack Hussar In Marrying The Gunner’s Daughter, refers to your experiences in the music industry – in what way?

Just about some experiences in general. It’s not just me: every generation of musician has to deal with a large organisation like a record company when they don’t know anything about contracts that they sign. It was like the old-style Hollywood system – if they didn’t like a record, they wouldn’t work on it, so I found myself in the middle of America with no tour support, which isn’t a nice situation.

Were you so prolific in the 1980s because of contractual obligations?

Pretty much. Sometimes having a deadline is a good thing but there comes a point where you’re worn out with it all. One of the reasons my band split up was because we were so tired of it. A year off between albums would have been good, which is commonplace these days.

What was the secret to your success in the 1980s?

Prior to the success I had, which pretty much happened after I did one performance on Top Of The Pops, I’d had years of being told: ‘You’re s***.’ That makes you run with ball when you get a bit of success. It was the fact I was willing to work that bit harder because I didn’t know how long it was going to last.

What were the highlights of your success?

Changing the sound with every album and using the training I had at art school to co-direct my videos – being part of that video revolution gave as much visual importance to the singles as the music. I enjoyed doing the Motown 25th anniversary show, too – I got to work with all my heroes in one night.

You were the only non-Motown act on that bill. How did that happen?

I had no idea what I was doing on there but I’d met Berry Gordy and he saw my videos. It was a challenge following Michael Jackson after he’d just done the moonwalk for the first time. I was standing there in awe most of the night. I got a knock on my dressing room door: ‘Hello, I’m Marvin Gaye.’ I was like: ‘I know who you are.’

Did you enjoy being famous?

You get into it to be successful and with success comes fame. It’s a bit silly spending your life saying: ‘Make me famous’ and when you become famous saying: ‘Now f*** off.’

You attracted some crazy fans, though…

I had two stalkers, which is something I never want to repeat. It is something you can’t really describe to someone who hasn’t been through it.

To what extent have your mental health problems affected your career?

You can’t choose your path, it’s chosen for you to a degree, but the amount of work I was doing in the 1980s without taking any breaks created a series of events which led to my mental health issue. It’s something you have to deal with. It’s been interesting discussing it. The good thing is you realise you’re not alone and it’s a very common problem – but misunderstood. Every person’s version of manic depression, bipolar disorder, whatever you want to call it, is different.

In what way is it misunderstood?

It’s a complex subject. The chemical causes of it in the brain, what the medication does and how they all work together is difficult to explain. There’s still a taboo around it. I’m talking about doing a TV show with other people in the public eye who have been through it, which will hopefully show what it’s like.

What been your most extravagant purchase?

I bought six screen prints by pop artist Alan Jones before I got my first royalty cheque – that was an extravagance because I hadn’t actually got the money yet. I still buy art. Eduardo Paolozzi’s my favourite pop artist. My new album covers are two paintings by Mary Jane Ansell.

Have you still got your old stage wear?

No, I gave them to the Victoria and Albert Museum. I went to have a look at them with my daughter a while ago. She’s 15 and has very particular music tastes – she likes jazz and Rob Zombie, so she just nods and smiles but she came to one of my shows in the US recently and said she liked it.

Have you got any unfulfilled career ambitions?

Just to keep making music and not leave it so blinking long next time.

Adam Ant Is The Blueblack Hussar  In Marrying The Gunner’s Daughter  is out now.

Anyway, enough of that walk down hypomania memory lane. It had it’s shitty side, too. Mostly it was how much I annoyed people. For a while, they really liked how I was when I was hypomanic. Then they got bored of it. It’s really hard to deal with someone that high energy, with the racing thoughts and disorganized speech (I would go from A to Z in my head and say it without explanation). Right about when that happened is when I would start getting self-conscious. Were they figuring it out? Did they hate me? Why didn’t they see how brilliant I was? Didn’t they love me being hypomanic as much as I did? There’s nothing quite like vaguely paranoid racing thoughts.

Back to the caffeine. My friend recently gave me a bag of coffee from Brazil–extraforte–as a belated Christmas present. I kind of know that I shouldn’t be drinking coffee, but I didn’t want to be rude, so I accepted the gift and made some coffee this morning to start to use it up before I move this summer. I didn’t take the “extraforte” as seriously as I should have and I ended up triggering some hypomania. Like always, it was pretty fantastic for a while. I was able to get a ton done really fast. But then I started to notice how much I was emailing a friend (warning sign #1) and how high I must have appeared from outside of the situation. And then I had another cup of coffee because why the fuck not. Of course, then I got light paranoia. Were people seeing what I was seeing? Would they figure out my diagnosis?

Soon after, the caffeine started to wear off and my mood started to crash. I started to beat up on myself for fucking with my moods like that because, while the first cup of coffee’s effect was an accident, I went back for a second cup. I knew better than to do it, but I did it anyway because being hypomanic just felt so damn good and I was so happy to get so much work done after such a long time of low productivity (thanks, meds!). Still, I shouldn’t have done it and I’m terrible at forgiving myself.

At least it wasn’t alcohol, although I have started to drink on occasion again (the same friend gave me some alcohol). I used to use alcohol as an upper, mostly because of its social lubricant possibilities (thanks for that, social phobia!). The fact that a depressant worked as an upper probably should have raised some flags about my brain chemistry, but I would have had to actually care about myself to connect the dots. I also took advantage of that when I found out I was bipolar. I once drank so much on my meds that I may have fucked up my kidneys a little bit. I felt like shit for about a week…and then drank some more. I’m glad I can at least limit myself to a single light drink these days. Progress is progress.

I do have one healthy way of manipulating my moods–music. I touched on this a little bit with the Phil Collins shout out, but it warrants more explanation (why is this not spelled explaination??). I started doing this when I was about 14 to manage my crushing and never-ending depression. We’re talking clinical depression (probably) since I was 8. Intense shit. When I was 14 I started listening to really depressing shit to make the depression better. My main band was AFI (see Sing the Sorrow–This Time Imperfect–for said depressing shit). I even have a tattoo in tribute to them because they really kept me from killing myself a few times. I dabbled in some Nirvana (I’ve been fond of them since I was 4), but they’ve always been more of a wallowing in depression staple.

I learned over time that I could also use music to trick myself into thinking I was hypomanic. All I needed was some up-tempo music (maybe upbeat, but I’ve never been fond of happy shit) and, before long, I would start feeling manic. It was a fantastic trick for getting my work done when I was depressed and I still do it on occasion because, really, the hypomania is fake. I use Mumford & Sons currently to help amp me up enough to write this blog. It’s no Adam Ant, but it does get the job done.

I wonder if there’s ever going to be a time when I get so okay with being stable that I stop manipulating my moods. For whatever reason, though, I start getting really antsy when I see days of normal on my MoodTracker (it’s no longer on the app store, but MoodReporter is a good substitute) . I even miss the depression sometimes. I guess I think it made me interesting or complex. It’s pretty easy to forget after a while of 0 moods that it made me miserable (and miserable to be around) more often than it made me interesting or creative. I guess that’ll be one of the true signs of recovery, when I can finally be okay with normal.

What. The. Hell?
Am I being punked? Is this *really* the new Adam Ant album? Look. I understand that Adam has dealt with serious mental problems in the vast timespan since 1995′s Wonderful. But why does this album sound so awful? Was there seriously nobody to take one listen to this album and say “Adam… we’ve gotta talk.”?
It was so promising too. A couple weeks back Adam dropped his first single, “Cool Zombie”. It was weird, creepy, not quite what we’re used to. But it was catchy as hell and somehow it worked. I’ve actually had the song stuck in my head quite a bit since then. So that starts the album, and then track two, “Stay in the Game” starts with some promise, but the instruments are all mixed badly, with really loud low bass, guitar that is milked down to only high pitch treble and everything regulated to a bad mono-sounding backdrop. The mix is hard on the ears but the song itself is not bad at all. Then “Marrying the Gunnar’s Daughter” is very electronic driven, very much early Nine Inch Nails inspired and then somewhere in the middle it’s like Adam just wandered away from the mic and kept singing not caring if we heard the song in his head or not. Damn shame really because it kills the song. We get to “Vince Taylor” and here’s where it just falls apart. The sound quality is wretched. The vocals just come and go and are so poor. This would be considered bad by even demo standards. It’s the kind of thing that would be on the end of a deluxe edition for historical context, but listened to only once. “Valentines” is where I’m ready to surrender already. It’s torture to listen to a chorus of out of tune badly overlaid vocal tracks. This makes “Vince Taylor” sound good by comparison.
“Darlin’ Boy” gets *even* worse. It’s just a track full of out of tune warbling. This sounds like a night of really horrible karaoke. It reminds me of some of those very early Beck demos where you try to listen, thinking my goodness what drug did he ingest before pressing record?
I feel like at this point I’m literally listening to somebody’s mind fall apart. It’s sort of like listening to a later period Syd Barrett recording. One of the bad ones where they were just panning for gold but coming up short. Except on Syd’s stuff you could at least understand the words and the producers made and attempt to make it all sound as good as possible. Not the case here.
“Punkyoungirl” offers some slight promise of a reprive with its electronic synth beat. Nope! Out of tune warbling and “lift up your skirt, let me lick the alphabet”. Seriously. The song sounds like an indie record art project gone horribly wrong. Then there’s “Sausage”. What the flying fuck? It’s just mumbling with out of tune… umm… “harmonizing”.
If we skip a few tracks ahead we get to “Shrink”. This is Adam Ant again showing his heavy Nine Inch Nails influence, but this track actually sounds produced. But then it falls apart with screeching out of tune singing. Dammit! Foiled again! The lyrics are “Your 15 minutes is up”.. and then later I can make out in the chorus “is it me or is it just medication?”
Then we get to “Who’s a Goofy Bunny?”. It has a country bar blues kinda feel and actually starts off sort of good. Then the chorus happens.. again tone-deaf-as-hell.
It’s fitting the second to the last song is called “Bullshit”. Somehow *this* of all songs is decent. Is this whole thing a prank? In fact this is the only song on the album that comes anywhere near to reminding me of the Adam Ant I grew up loving.
I really try to be the guy that finds something good in everything. I’m sure that Adam Ant had some great ideas buried under all of this. But over 75% of this album is simply unlistenable. I feel almost embarrassed for him because I’m sure he thinks he’s returning to glory. And I really wanted him to. But his voice is nowhere near ready. He needs at least one or two of his old co-conspirators back to help with the music production. At least a little bit of quality control. I want to feel joy when I listen Adam Ant, but this just makes me feel sad.
Now excuse me while I go blast “Vive Le Rock” and try to forget this experience ever happened.

Since there are no videos or youtube tracks other than “Cool Zombie”, here’s an interview Adam did about the album:

Gary Allan – Set You Free
Adam Ant – Adam Ant is The BlueBlack Hussar Marrying The Gunner’s Daughter
Bad Religion – True North
Patricia Barber – Smash
Big Harp – Chain Letters
Camper Van Beethoven – La Costa Perdida
Casting Crowns – The Acoustic Sessions Volume 1
Crashdiet – The Savage Playground
Dolly Varden – For A While [MP3 Download]
DRGN KING – Paragraph Nights
Ex Cops – True Hallucinations
FaltyDL – Hardcourage
FIDLAR – FIDLAR
Petra Haden – Petra Goes to the Movies
Head of the Demon – Head of the Demon
Helloween – Straight Out of Hell
Hilly Eye – Reasons to Live
Randy Houser – How Country Feels
Jose James – No Beginning No End
The Joy Formidable – Wolf’s Law
The Lone Bellow – The Lone Bellow
Love & Death – Between Here & Lost
Steve Lukather – Transition
Jimbo Mathus & The Tri-State Coalition – White Buffalo
Aaron Neville – My True Story
Nightlands – Oak Island
The Night Marchers – Allez Allez
Otep – Hydra
Pillowfight – Pillowfight
Pink Cream 69 – Ceremonial
Ra Ra Riot – Beta Love
Carrie Rodriguez – Give Me All You Got
2013 GRAMMY Nominees compilation album
Trapt – Reborn
12-12-12 The Concert for Sandy Relief (2 CDs) compilation album
Voivod – Target Earth
Henry Wagons – Expecting Company?
Walk the Moon – Tightrope EP [EP; MP3 Download]
Widowspeak – Almanac
Andy Winter – Incomprehensible

It’s the statement few in the Internet age expected to type: today, Adam Ant releases his first album in nearly 20 years. Adam Ant is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunnar’s Daughter (try saying that three times fast) features brand-new original compositions by Ant with longtime collaborators/guitarists Marco Pirroni and Boz Boorer, and is the first album on his new label, the eponymous Blueblack Hussar Records.

Early critical notes indicate an album that’s weird and urgent – fair descriptors of the best of Ant’s work. The man born Stuart Leslie Goddard in London back in 1954 has had a long, unpredictable and at times erratic career (all of which he’s been incredibly candid about as the years have gone on), but the five (now six) albums he’s released have been occasionally brilliant and always catchy. And fortunately for music geeks, there has been plenty of attention to his catalogue, so fans old and new have plenty to collect.

Goddard’s serious musical career began in November 1975, when, as bassist for the pub rock band Bazooka Joe, he watched in amazement a set by the band’s support act: The Sex Pistols. It was their first gig; so taken was Goddard that he soon quit his own band and pursued the punk sound. It was around the same time that, following a depressive episode that left him in the hospital with a pill overdose, Goddard declared himself “dead,” instead naming himself Adam Ant.

Forming a band with guitarist Matthew Ashman, bassist Andy Warren and drummer David Barbarossa, Adam and The Ants secured a management deal with iconic Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren.

The rest, which is certainly history, is after the jump.

Adam and The Ants, Dirk Wears White Sox (Do It, 1979 – reissued Epic/CBS, 1983; expanded Columbia, 1995/2004)

The early work of Adam and his Ants was characterized by a bit less radio-friendly approach to punk and New Wave styles. Lyrics were often dark and fetishistic (a particular sticking point with the most vocal critics), and the music lacks the polish of later releases.

Of course, Dirk Wears White Sox - named for the English actor Dirk Bogarde – was notably the only full-length album released by the original incarnation of The Ants. Two months after its successful release (it topped the first ever installment of the British Independent Albums chart), manager McLaren plucked Ashman, Leigh Gorman (who’d replaced Andy Warren on bass) and Barbarossa out of Adam’s employ and into a new group, Bow Wow Wow, with singer Annabella Lwin. Adam would have to regroup – and regroup he did.

After Ant became a household name, he and guitarist Marco Pirroni reorganized Dirk for public consumption in 1983, dropping three original tracks and adding four – all previously issued non-LP tracks, including the shorter single version of lead track “Cartrouble” and the single “Zerox.” A 1995 CD release (on Columbia’s British reissue imprint Rewind) kept that re-ordered track list (along with the “Cartrouble” remix) but added the other two dropped tracks to the end of the disc. The expanded remaster from 2004 brought the orignal LP listing back to disc (including the premiere release of the original “Cartrouble Parts 1 + 2″ on compact disc) and featured eight bonus cuts, including all the non-LP single material from that time period.

Adam and The Ants, Kings of the Wild Frontier (Epic/CBS, 1980 – expanded Columbia, 2004)

What do you do when your manager steals your band to create another? You make another, arguably better band. The masterstrokes of the new Ants were threefold: two drummers, including Terry Lee Miall and “Merrick,” the pseudonym for producer Chris Hughes (who went on to produce the first two Tears for Fears albums) – and, biggest of all, Ant’s new guitarist and writing partner, Marco Pirroni. His muscly rockabilly riffs recalled Duane Eddy and Link Wray, while the drums elicited a danceable, almost tribal feel. Combine that with Ant’s new style of dress – war paint and colonial/pirate wear! – and you had a bona fide hit record. The killer singles didn’t hurt, either; “Dog Eat Dog,” “Antmusic” and the title track were all British Top 5 hits.

The 12-track album became a 13-track affair in the U.S., with the omission of one album side (“Making History”) in favor of two B-sides (“Press Darlings,” off the “Kings” single, and the fan favorite “Physical (You’re So),” from the flip side to “Dog Eat Dog”). Certain copies came with a free single of “Stand and Deliver” (formally released on the next LP) backed with “Beat My Guest”; these tracks ended up on the cassette edition as well. The 2004 remaster featured six unreleased demos and alternate mixes as bonus tracks.

Adam and The Ants, Prince Charming (Epic/CBS, 1981 – expanded Columbia, 2004)

The follow-up to the Brit Award-winning Kings of the Wild Frontier (which would also become the best-selling British album of 1981) was a much anticipated one. Armed with a new bassist (Kevin Mooney was replaced by Gary Tibbs, formerly of Roxy Music) and a clutch of new songs (“Stand and Deliver” and “Prince Charming,” both British chart-toppers, and Top 5 hit “Ant Rap”), The Ants were still a force to be reckoned with in the pop world. (An added variable: the band’s increasing success on the fledgling MTV network; the Ants’ catchy hooks and Adam’s eye-catching looks made for a powerful combination on video.)

Stylistically, it was somewhat of a departure from its rhythmic-obsessed predecessor, and the album has a bit more filler. But it’s a great effort for what would turn out to be the proper band’s final album. Six unreleased demos were added to the expanded edition, including “Who’s a Goofy Bunny Then?”, a tribute to McLaren that was re-recorded for Gunnar’s Daughter.

Friend or Foe (Epic/CBS, 1982 – expanded Columbia, 2005)

Citing a lack of enthusiasm among the other members, Adam Ant broke up his band for 1982′s Friend or Foe, only retaining Marco Pirroni (who did not accompany him on tour). While this album may have been the beginning of Ant’s cooling-down period in the U.K., Friend or Foe is the album that gave him his most major taste of success in America, with U.K. chart-topper “Goody Two Shoes” peaking at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. Friend or Foe was also expanded with a clutch of demos and outtakes (and the single mix of “Goody Two Shoes,” mixed by Chris Hughes) – in all, there were as many bonus tracks on the disc as there were on the original album!

Strip (Epic/CBS, 1983 – expanded Columbia, 2005)

Strip was Adam’s least successful album thus far, only peaking at No. 20 in the U.K. and mustering only one Top 5 hit, “Puss N’ Boots.” It is notable, however, for featuring production by up-and-coming producer Hugh Padgham (fresh off that summer’s Synchronicity for The Police) and drum work by the inimitable Phil Collins. Ant’s ensuing American tour was also a major draw in 1984, with the singer using costume changes and big set pieces to entice his audiences. Eight demos, rehearsal takes and live cuts were appended to the expanded remaster.

Vive Le Rock (Epic/CBS, 1985 – expanded Columbia, 2005)

With a new producer at the helm (Tony Visconti), a new band (featuring Pirroni alongside bassist Chris Constantinou and drummer Bogdan Wiczling) and a new visual aesthetic (the colonial togs were ditched for a more sci-fi-inspired look), Adam gave Vive Le Rock his all – perhaps too much. Lead single “Apollo 9″ peaked at No. 13 in the U.K., but the resultant album wouldn’t come out for another year, by which point all but the most hardcore Antfans had moved on. Bonus tracks on the expanded remaster focused less on demos and more on mixes; Ant and Visconti had very different ideas about the final mix, and many unreleased dance and single mixes appear as extra material.

Manners and Physique (MCA, 1990 – expanded Cherry Pop, 2009)

What happened to Adam Ant in the five years between his last album for CBS/Epic and this, his first (and only released) LP for MCA? His performance at Wembley Stadium at Live Aid was one of his last major concerts for a decade, and he walked away from his longtime label the following year. In fact, Ant was largely absent from the recording studio in those years, opting instead for a burgeoning CV as an actor on stage, film (Love Bites) and television (The Equalizer, Northern Exposure). (He and Pirroni kept writing and demoing, however.)

Eventually, Ant decided to return to recording, recruiting singer/songwriter/producer André Cymone (known for his early work with childhood friend Prince and fresh off the success of girlfriend Jody Watley’s “Looking for a New Love”) to helm the project. (Cymone is actually credited alongside Ant’s vocals and Pirroni’s guitar with “Everything Else.”) Manners and Physique, which took many cues from the Minneapolis sound that dominated pop and R&B in the ’80s, spun off another worldwide Top 20 hit in “Room At the Top” and a Top 20 Dance hit in the U.S. with “Rough Stuff.” A 2009 expansion from Cherry Red’s Cherry Pop imprint included five bonus tracks from various singles.

Antics in the Forbidden Zone (Epic/CBS, 1990)

The first Adam Ant compilation was a rather thorough one, featuring not only all of his singles from the Epic/CBS years, but a handful of choice album cuts and “Beat My Guest,” the B-side to “Stand and Deliver.” An accompanying videocassette compiled 13 of Ant’s iconic videos. This might be the best place to get into Antmusic for the casual fan.

Persuasion (unreleased – recorded for MCA, 1991/1992)

Spurred on by the relative of Manners and Physique, Ant and Pirroni reconvened in the studio for Persuasion, Ant’s intended next album. Recorded in London and America and featuring the production work of CHIC bassist Bernard Edwards and Larry Blackmon of Cameo and even Leigh Gorman, bassist in the Dirk Wears White Sox-era Ants.

Despite the high energy and spirit Ant reportedly expressed during the recording sessions, the recent takeover of MCA by Japanese electronics giant Matsushita resulted in the dropping of all artists who’d not managed any gold albums recently. Manners and Physique sold just short of 500,000 copies, and so Ant was without an album or a label. What happened next was a breakneck series of events: Ant got a new manager (the iconoclastic Miles Copeland, manager for The Police and later Sting’s solo career), suffered a mental lapse  when a stalker began pursuing him, recovered well enough to perform a well-received set at KROQ-FM’s annual Almost Acoustic Christmas and embarked on a tour to promote the nonexistent Persuasion.

While these events drummed up enough interest to find Ant a new recording contract, they were not enough to persuade MCA to change their mind about the album; worse yet, as Pirroni discusses in Dan Leroy’s great book The Greatest Music Never Sold, Universal has never allowed Ant to license some or all of the album for catalogue purposes.

Antmusic: The Very Best of Adam Ant (Arcade, 1993)

This rather intriguing compilation (not released by Epic/CBS but licensed by them instead) featured some genuine rarities, some making their CD debut. This included “Young Parisians” and “Deutscher Girls,” from the Jubilee soundtrack and released as the band’s first single. A double-disc edition also features the only full live disc by Ant, recorded on the Persuasion Tour the year prior. Interestingly, Antmusic is the highest-charting Adam Ant compilation in the U.K., peaking at No. 6.

B-Side Babies (Epic/Legacy, 1994)

Why weren’t Adam Ant’s original non-LP tracks included on those later remasters? Because they’re already available in one convenient place. B-Side Babies featured a lot of goodies for Antfans; half the tracks had never been released on any format in the U.S. (including some tracks dropped from American versions of his albums), and one track, an instrumental dub of “Vive Le Rock,” was a brand new vault track just for this set.

Wonderful (Capitol/EMI, 1995)

An absolute out-of-the-gate surprise, Wonderful is a more reserved, confident Adam Ant LP, bolstered by the title track, a surprise international Top 40 hit. Featuring the first of Ant’s collaborations with additional guitarist Boz Boorer, known for his work in rockabilly outfit The Polecats and, since 1992, Morrissey’s primary guitarist, Wonderful was a respectable hit, but the last we’d hear from Ant for a long time.

The 2000s were a time of occasional turmoil for Ant. Sidelined by failing mental health and legal troubles in the U.K. in the early part of the decade, by the start of the new decade he had righted the ship, so to speak, and began touring the world in advance of a perpetually-in-development new album.

Antbox (Columbia, 2000/2003)

While the world waited for Adam Ant to triumphantly revive his musical career, a series of catalogue projects appeared through the 2000s. The first was this U.K. career-spanning box set, featuring three discs of hits and unreleased demos, BBC sessions and other rarities, spanning the entire gamut of his career. (This included not only tracks released by Epic/CBS, MCA and EMI, but some of The Ants’ earliest recordings for Decca Records, as well.) Originally released in an oversized 7″ lidded box with matching liner notes booklet, in 2003 the discs were reissued in a simple jewel box.

The Essential Adam Ant (Epic/Legacy, 2003)

This single-disc compilation is the only one to feature both of Ant’s non-Epic hits, “Room At the Top” and “Wonderful.” While it sticks to the hits and doesn’t offer anything rare or underrated, it’s also not a terrible place to start an Ant collection.

Adam Ant Remastered / Redux (Columbia, 2005)

The Adam Ant catalogue was greatly overhauled in 2004 and 2005, remastered by Marco Pirroni and expanded to fit all those great bonus tracks described above. In 2005, as the solo albums were given the deluxe treatment, fans had the option of buying another kind of Antbox which featured the expanded Friend or Foe, Strip and Vive Le Rock in one package, space for the Adam and The Ants remasters, and one further bonus disc, Redux, which featured another 14 vintage demos (plus one rarity from Ant’s long period of late ’90s silence – a cover of T. Rex’s “Dandy in the Underworld”).

Playlist: The Very Best of Adam Ant (Epic/Legacy, 2012)

The latest Ant compilation is arguably the poppiest, focusing mostly on those biggest hits from 1980 to 1983 in non-chronological order. It also features a relative rarity in a 12″ dance mix of “Apollo 9,” remixed by François Kevorkian.

I decided to name a band Berlin after writing the song “Love Bites” recorded by Def Leppard with the beginning lyrics inspired by my family history of being part German and English on my maternal mother’s side of the family found in my adoptions records (see above).

During the time I decided to name the band, I had already given Michael Hutchence the nickname “Max” after he told me about the Australian film Mad Max starring Mel Gibson.

Michael Hutchence, Tom Cruise, Kurt Cobain and others started researching for other dystopian type films like Mad Max or books, such as Planet of the Apes (1968) which inspired the remake starring Mark Wahlberg (2001), Blade Runner which became an inspiration to me when I wrote “More Human Than Human” recorded by Rob Zombie, 1984 loosely based on George Orwell’s novel, and Logan’s Run.

Another dystopian type film they discovered was the 1927 German film Metropolis by Fritz Lang filmed in Berlin.  Only the name of the film would inspire me to write the song “The Metro“.  At the time, they were also discussing the studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) which Michael Jackson and others had arranged for me to take a private tour of the studio and were telling me about it’s history.

After writing the song “The Metro”, music producer Giorgio Moroder released a version of the film with a soundtrack by rock artists such as Freddie Mercury and Adam Ant in 1984.  Moroder would then be given credit for having written the song  ”Take My Breath Away“, which I wrote and Tom Cruise decided to use on the soundtrack for the 1986 film Top Gun.  I wrote the song “Take My Breath Away” as a love song to Michael Hutchence and after I wrote the song “Every Breath You Take” recorded by the band I named The Police.

One of the first songs I wrote while goofing around with Michael was “Sex (I’m A…)” and inspired by band manager Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood’s “Sex Shop”.

The music video for “No More Words” which I wrote, had Terri Nunn and bandmates re-enact a Bonnie and Clyde-style car chase and shoot-out.  The music video was inspired by Faye Dunaway appearing on the cover of “Life Magazine” released on the day of my birth, January 12, 1968, promoting the 1967 film which she stars opposite Warren Beatty.

We also started working on other dystopian type films or book to films and spawned many others inspired by Mad Max, Blade Runner, and Fritz Lang’s Metropolis with (1993) Demolition Man, (1995) Judge Dredd, (2001) A.I., (2002) Minority Report, (2005) Æon Flux, (2006) Ultraviolet, (2006) V for Vendetta(2005) The Island, (2009) District 9 (2011) Book of Eli, The Fifth Element, Tank Girl, and many others.

Of course, The Hunger Games is included in this list and the films I named I, Robot, The Matrix inspired by The Matrix Corporation in the 1981 science-fiction film Looker, written and directed by Michael Crichton, Johnny Mnemonic, Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future, and the 1990 Total Recall that I worked on ideas with Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Years later, Harrison Ford who appeared in many films I worked on ideas came to see me.  Ford knew of my connections to the film Blade Runner, and I found out he was a fan of Terri Nunn and the band Berlin.  He decided to work with Lucas and Spielberg on the fourth film in the Indiana Jones franchise, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, which throughout the film “Berlin” is mentioned by him and his co-star Karen Allen.

It’s one of the first- if not only leading blog showcasing aspects of modern 18th Century life and fashion right now. The blog is a superbly wicked take on all things reminiscent of past times. Just reading some of the posts from ‘Diary of a Rakish Highwayman’ one gets a genuine taste of what must have been a decadent lifestyle of a rogue. This is seriously absorbing reading!

Style-wise this seventeenth century look it is a step beyond the Gothic and even the adventurous Steampunk- examples of fashions/imagery that have strong historical elements running through them too. But then one could argue that the ’18th Century’ inspired look has been around for a lot longer, one thinks back to Adam Ant of the 1980′s. Ok so the music was ‘Post-Punk’ or ‘New Wave’, but those long military gold buttoned coats with the horse drawn coaches, highway robbery and that unmistakable flare for fashions of the day are all undoubtedly very ’18th C’!

Hold onto your horses! period fashion is back in an explosive way! I was lucky to catch up with The Rakish Highwayman himself AKA Oxford based writer and 18th Century enthusiast Rob Lucas to find out more…

Rob Lucas Editor and writer of The Diary of a Rakish Highwayman

The Fashionistics:  So Rob, tell me about your inspiration! On the blog and everything 18th Century that inspires you…

Rob Lucas: I have been inspired by the 18th century for many years. I guess it’s an accumulative thing really. When I was young I was a huge fan of the singer Adam Ant who wore 18th century clothes, he’s a wonderful friend now and we’re working together. I made the stage clothes he now wears. I also enjoyed the tv series about the highwayman Dick Turpin that was on in the late 70s/early 80s, as well as the Blackadder tv series. I also used to visit the V&A museum regularly and remember spending most of the time in the fashion galleries pressing my face up against the glass while I drooled over the fabulous clothes. Also of course there have been lots of amazing historical films. I really love Georgian cartoons and prints such as Hogarth, Gillray and Rowlandson which give a great insight into fashions of the period – as well as being brilliant lampoons on what was going on in the world at the time!

The Fashionistics:  So I’m guessing this love of all things period costume fueled the beginnings of ‘Pimpernel’ and the forthcoming ‘Blueback Hussar’? Tell me about your fashion label…

Rob Lucas: It was certainly the origin of Pimpernel. I should also mention the Scarlet Pimpernel books and the Richard E Grant version of some of them which was aired in the late 90′s early 00′s, the costumes were excellent and a real inspiration. I love the concept of the character, someone who rescues aristos from the guillotine and who dresses impeccably too!

Adam Ant has always been a fashion and style icon so Blueblack Hussar is a natural step. As he and I have such a similar aesthetic  when it comes to period inspired fashion, we make a great creative duo.

My main philosophy behind pimpernel is ‘period style, timeless elegance’. I feel that the 18th century in both men and women’s fashion has so much to offer. I design clothes that although 18th century inspired, can be styled with more contemporary looking items to create a unique look.

Rob’s also starred in Adam Ant’s video for his single ‘Cool Zombie’. (He is sitting in the middle of the top row)

The Fashionistics: Finally Rob, do you think that seventeenth century fashion can ever be as popular as Steampunk, Gothic and Rockabilly? What is the future for this look of the past?

Everyone recalls with great fondness their earliest music memories, don’t they?  Mine was Golden Brown by The Stranglers (I still remember being blown away by the video when I saw it for the first time on Top of the Pops, with that harpsichord with the black and white keys the wrong way round).  So, The Stranglers, and Adam Ant.  Definitely Adam Ant.

I was 6/7 when Adam and the Ants released the albums Kings of the Wild Frontier and then Prince Charming.  Too young to really appreciate music, maybe? (Around the same time I got massively into Bruce Springsteen’s The River, because my dad used to play it over and over in the car!) But nevertheless, there was something about Adam Ant that I just loved.  Maybe it was the theatricality of the videos.

Adam’s new song, Cool Zombie, is inspired by his return to London after living in Tennessee.  It sounds great.  It sounds cool. He looks cool. (A bit like Jack Sparrow, if I’m honest, but still cool.  If anybody can pull off that look it’s Adam Ant – he’s the Dandy Highwayman, after all.)  It’s certainly a damn sight better than a certain Mr Bowie’s release last week, after his long time away from the limelight.

There’s no doubt he’ll be doing a lot of press and publicity, but if you haven’t seen or heard it yet, here’s the video.

Oh, and just to prove my fan status. A few years ago some friends of mine had a Hallowe’en party.  They called it the Spinal Vinyl party; the idea was that music for the whole party would only be played from original vinyl records. Everyone had to bring a 45, and wear a costume relevant to the song.  The game was to guess who had brought what single, just from the costume they were wearing.  I took Prince Charming. This was my costume.  I made it all myself.

Me as Adam Ant

I won the best costume prize!

The 21st release is:

Artist:                             Album:

Esben and the Witch  Wash The Sins Not Only The Face

The 22nd releases are:

Artist:                           Album:                                                        You May Know As:

Michael Jackson and I not only decided to make a film of Charlotte’s Web, but also “Stuart Little”.  Of course, the latter inspired the music video for Puss N’Boots that I wrote and recorded by Stuart Goddard (a.k.a. Adam Ant).

While working on script ideas for the film Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, we named a character Garth Volbeck (the surname later inspiration for the Pokémon character and band name Volbeat) for the illustrator of Charlotte’s Web, Garth Williams.  I would also later give the stage name of Garth Brooks to an artist.

While working with Nicolas Cage, I told him about the Queen of England claiming Ian Fleming was a “National Treasure”.  He decided to use the name of “Charlotte” for the Colonial ship trapped in Arctic ice in the 2004 film National Treasure which he starred in.

I was later inspired to write the song “Little Things” by the title “Stuart Little”.

NEW YORK MAGAZINE | 01/11/13

When the CW announced it was making The Carrie Diaries, a prequel to Sex and the City, it was a no-brainer that they called on 42-year-old Eric Daman to be the show’s costume designer. Ten years prior, working as…

Read the full article by Stephanie Davila at nymag.com

In this episode Roxy confronts Lee, Jeremy confronts Roxy, and Lee confronts himself, as some in-house dirty laundry gets aired out for everyone to hear. The terrible trio also spends time discussing the latest outbreak of Bieber fever, and when that smoke settles, the discussion turns to Amish gangsters, Tales from the Crypt, and neat-o online resources for obscure films. Roxy then professes her love for Udo Kier yet again as she pulls Lars Von Trier’s The Kingdom from her rack. There’s even an open letter to the pricks in Hollywood and much more in this episode, which might be one destined for the podcasting Hall of Fame.

Episode 46: Twitter Reject and the Pot Smoking Pop Star

awesome adam ant

Source:

http://music.msn.com/music/article.aspx?news=783277

10. At the bottom of my top 10 are Joy Division with ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’. Different to much of the stuff coming out back then. Ian Curtis’ individual guitar is worth noticing too.

9. I’ve never been a huge fan of Elvis, but you’ve got to love ‘A little Less Conversation’. A little less fight, a little more spark.

8. The Stranglers now with ‘Golden Brown’. Absolutely love this song, not many people can get away with the use of a harpsichord.

7. I couldn’t choose which song of Ray Charles’ to include. So I thought I’d choose the one that many people could relate to from Kanye West’s sample of it in his song Goldigger. Here’s ‘I Got A Woman’.

6. I’m about to do something I thought I would never do on my blog, but oh well. It’s time to put a video that was in the previous post. Welcome back Ant Music.

5. The forefounders of indie music now, The Smiths. Arguably, this is their most commercial song but that makes no difference; ‘This Charming Man’ is an excellent track. And mind your eye with Morrissey’s famous spinning flowers trick. Noel Gallagher seems to be a fan too.

4. The best way to start any 1980s music video has to be with a boombox. Congratulations to Luther Vandross for making the coolest thing to come from the 80s. If you haven’t before, take a listen to ‘Never Too Much’.

3. I’m not really one for classic rock, but in my opinion, one band stands above all others, Guns ‘n’ Roses. It’s hard to pick a favourite with great tracks such as ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’ etc. However, I believe mine is ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’.

2. Arguably the most incredible and talented man on this list now, Mr. Stevie Wonder. Once again I couldn’t decide which song of his to put in here, but I’ve gone for ‘Superstition’.

1. If you didn’t guess who was going to be top of this list I’d be very surprised. Michael Jackson could have taken this whole top ten to himself after countless hits. For me, it just had to be ‘Billie Jean’.

So that’s my top 10 classic tracks. Upcoming will be the top 10 covers in history and the top 10 songs to come from bands such as the Beatles and the Stones in the 60s. I hope you agree with my list, but of course please comment with any disagreements or opinions of your own!

Getty Images

Bon Jovi – What About Now, Spring 2013: They’re gonna tour the hell out of this new release. Go JBJ!

Adam Ant In Concert Getty Images

Adam Ant – aka Stuart Leslie Goddard –  album title –Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying The Gunner’s Daughter, 1/22: “Completely different from anything else I’ve done before,” says Mr. Ant, who had huge popularity in the ’80′s.

Darius Sings National Anthem at North Carolina v Virginia Tech – Getty Images

Darius Rucker – True Believers, 1/22:  Did not know this was the third solo album from the former Hootie frontman.

LL Cool J at The GRAMMY Nominations Concert Show – Getty Images

LL Cool J – Authentic Hip-Hop, 2/12:  The album is said to include 15 tracks from the man who brought us ”Going Back to Cali,” and” “Mama Said Knock You Out.

Mumford & Sons — The Road To Red Rocks, 1/22: This English folk rock band is huge.

Camper Van Beethoven — La Costa Perdida, 1/22:  This boutique American alternative rock group formed in Redlands, California in 1983 and later located in Santa Cruz and San Francisco. Their eclectic and ever-evolving style mixes elements of pop, ska, punk rock, folk, alternative country, and various types of world music.

Bad Religion — True North, 1/22: Longtime punk  band swears in the first single –  ”F*** (Forget) You.”

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds – Push The Sky Away, 2/19: This Australian alternative rock band  formed in London in 1983. Cave’s a busy man on his own what with all the Hollywood soundtracks, but this is the first album with the Bad Seeds in 5 years.

-Lee Callahan, Jack Seattle