The Adam Ant thread

Simon says as much, to his credit.

Is he actually bipolar?

From the interview:

A lot of acquaintances and admirers seem to be concerned by this comeback. They're worried that you're not up to it. This sounds like a dumb question, but… how are you?

AA: "I'm alright! I'm back to normal. I'm excited by my work. The definitions of bipolar disorder are – look it up – sexually promiscuous, dressing up funny, behaving in an unusual manner, spending lots of money erratically, and just generally being a nutcase. Well, I don't know a fucking good rock 'n' roller who doesn't fit all the criteria, so lock everybody up! Lock Keith Moon, Pete Townshend, Jimi Hendrix... who would you not lock up? Cliff, maybe? I'm serious. People don't know anything about mental illness. It's bipolar disorder. Churchill called it the 'black dog'. It was 'the blues' in the old days. Being 'nuts', 'Bedlam', call me a 'nutter'. I was sectioned under the Mental Health Act, a Victorian law, which upset me because I don't think I'm nuts. I did wrong, I broke the law, OK. But they made a big fucking display of it. I was sentenced in the court where The Krays were sentenced, which I thought was a bit out of proportion, maybe they wanted to make an example of me, but that's the law. I paid the price, now get the fuck off my back. Cos I am Adam Ant, I dress up funny, that's what I do for a living, The End. They dress up funny, but they've got a shit outfit. The French police have stopped me a couple of times, and after a while I've said to them 'Those uniforms are shit, ain't they? You should be looking like fuckin' Alain Delon and you're looking like Mr Plod.' The British Police look like Teletubbies. No sense of fashion. If they got Vivienne Westwood in to design them, then we'd have something. Might happen! She's a Dame…"

A brief but proper celebration from one who knows:

http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/2010/11/if_you_left_adam_and_the_ants.php

Man, that voice is still something. Just got back from the show. He played nearly 30 songs, with tons of Dirk era tracks, the expected big hits and some deep cuts like "Red Scab" and "Lady". He may not move like he once did but it didn't matter at all. Blast of a time.

Saw him in Austin a couple days ago, truly an epic set. Was a little disturbed by all the 40 somethings re-living their high school years, but was still fun. He was definitely going for a more hard rocking sound than he had way back when.

I agree, the band was much more of a hard rock band. Worked well on most stuff, though "Vive Le Rock" and "Room At The Top" sounded a bit odd. The 40-somethings didn't bother me too much except for the one's who dressed up. That was uncomfortable for everyone.

I think Dirk & Kings are two of the most underrated albums ever - they're so good, and people acknowledge that they are, but really, they stand shoulder-to-shoulder with any big album from that era you can name, each in its own way.

I don't have much use for Adam after those two & the Stand & Deliver EP, bar an occasional good hook. I do remember hearing the band was great GREAT great back in the day, so it wouldn't surprise me to learn that he's still a great performer.

I love Kings (and "Stand & Deliver/Beat My Guest" is easily in my top 3 A/B sides ever) but still need to hear Dirk.

debating whether to see the dude in October

Yes to both. (In that, hear Dirk immediately and yes, go see him.)

Seconding Ned. Dirk is a necessary listen if you're thinking of seeing him as he played a ton of old tunes. Try to track down the remaster with the early singles appended to it.

Yeah, said remaster finally restored the original track order and two tracks cut from later reissues, "The Day I Met God" and "Catholic Day."

There was a plan at one point for a box set unearthing a huge slew of Dirk and pre-Dirk recordings but I think that fell by the wayside, more's the pity.

Here were the details on said set:

As previously announced, a multi-CD box set is currently in the planning stages with Sony Music in the UK. This yet to-be-titled album will contain the DECCA demos, Putney tapes, Chelsea tapes, Muswell Hill tapes, Virtual earth demos and other rarities. This may include uncirculated tracks entitled "Hooray, I'm Hetero", "Bobby Baby", "London Sound" and many other never-heard-before tunes from the late 70s and beyond. The majority of this material will be from Adam's original tapes wherever possible.

Tentative release date for this is March, 2005. Andi Vaughan, Mark Alleyne and Marco Pirroni will compile this CD box set. In addition, production is the task of Marco Pirroni and Mark Alleyne.

That woulda been great.

Is the b-sides comp still in print? I used to have a copy but think I lost it in the last move. I wanted to play "Red Scab" and "Fall-In" and "Christian D'or" to refresh my memory of the studio versions and was sadly out of luck.

Available for $9.99 on iTunes.

Thanks! I always forget to check itunes. I've spent maybe $20 there in the near decade of it's existence.

Ned - did you catch him in LA on this tour?

Alas, had to miss it. Not the best of months there for me in terms of shows I'd love to see! But money's been very tight, as has my schedule.

Maybe he'll tour again early next year when the new album finally comes out.

Pre-DIRK first wave punk material isn't hard to find online, and is amazing; clearly the work of Pistols fans with talent to burn, and a 100% commitment to outrage. This is a sample, NOT included on the LP

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cGGiEo3qAc

Saw him live last year, and his set concentrated on this material. Do NOT miss him. He's really going for it and, you will bore your grandkids about how you saw Adam plain.

Just bought a ticket for the Bath show in April. Sickly excited.

Marcello said some things.

That's what spurred me into buying the tix...

I hope it's good and not embarrassing. I hope it's nothing like the cool zombie video.

If it's like the show I talked about upthread it'll be amazing. If it's mainly material from Blueblack Hussar, I'm sorry.

Report: it was 1/3 brilliant old stuff, 1/3 tedious new stuff, and 1/3 pop hits. Pop hits mostly murdered horribly, esp. Prince Charming, but they did a surprisingly good job with Goody Two Shoes. Song of the night for me was Ants Invasion, which must have been killer in a live set back in the day. The recorded version is insipid by comparison.

This is a cool, weird thing https://t.co/UxiY2tY0Kx

— Paul (@mondosalvo) January 11, 2021