Published on Dec 20, 1999
Stewart Leslie Goddard was restless. It was 1975, he was a
married man at 20, living with his new bride and her family. He was
proper husband, doing odd jobs around the house and attending
classes at art school. But he was leading a double life.
He’d signed up for a class in erotic art and found that he had
an affinity for the subject. In no time he was immersed in the
realm of sadomasochism. He began dressing in black leather bondage
clothing and adopting an attitude that didn’t go over well with the
in-laws at home. After some therapy he realized that he was not
ready for marriage, effectively dropped the bride and started his
liaison with music.
He had already been in a band called Bazooka Joe which was short
lived. He formed a band called the B-Sides which stalled for lack
of a drummer. He toyed with the idea of changing his name and
eventually chose “Adam” because the garden of Eden had appealed to
him; and since the Beatles had gotten along well with an insect
name, “ant” might be propitious in his case.
In 1977 he formed Adam and the Ants and it was around this time
that he started hanging around Malcolm McClaren’s SEX shop in
London. At the time McClaren was the manager of the Sex Pistols and
Annabella Lewinn. He soon became Adam’s manager and mentor
suggesting the band don pirate garb and add a second drummer. He
introduced the group to the Burundi beat which would distinguish so
many of the Ant songs. Under the auspices of McClaren, Adam and the
Ants released one album,
Dirk Wears White Socks.
This is where
Antics in The Forbidden Zone picks up. The album chronicles
the evolution of the Adam Ant sound through 21 tracks from the
Dirk Wears White Socks to the album
Vive Le Rock. The flashback potential is high and it is a
nice excursion through Ant’s pre-mellow years as the glam rock icon
of the 80’s. Behind all the glitter, leather and paint was an
indefatigable performer whose message of hedonism, sex and just
plain fun was delivered with integrity through well crafted pop
songs, and a furious thumping set of drums.
The four cuts from
Dirk Wears White Socks reveal the Ants in their nascence.
Their sound is not distinct enough to distinguish them from the
host of other punk bands of the day but the lyrical content was
anything but run of the mill. Ant was quick to proclaim his
proclivity towards the leather bound S&M world with his early
single “Whip In My Valise”. Lyrics like “Who taught you to
torture/who taught ya” and “you put my head in the stocks/then you
went to choose a cane/…I can’t thank her/My Sunday spanker” were
probably enough to have Ant placed firmly on the BBC’s most wanted
OFF the radio list.
Shortly after the release of this album, Ant was left high and
dry after McClaren conscripted the Ants to work behind the
nymphette, Lewinn, in Bow Wow Wow. Undaunted, he rounded up another
small colony (including Marco Pirroni who he would collaborate with
for many years after). This new incarnation re-recorded “Car
Trouble” from the
Dirk Wears White Socks album, and the Ants trademark sound
was born. This is the version we hear on the compilation with the
thunderous Burundi style drumming.
The five tracks from
Kings Of The Wild Frontier reveal a tighter, more polished
sound, more complex arrangements and a broader scope of subject
matter. Ant always asserted that his music fit no genre and to make
his point he released the anthem “Ant Music”( my personal
favorite). This is the most melodic of his releases with vocals and
guitars bouncing off a virtual wall of percussion. “Kings Of The
Wild Frontier” and “Killer In The Home” display a new social
consciousness, especially concerning the plight of Native
Americans. “Los Rancheros” is a rockabilly ode to Clint Eastwood.
And with “Dog Eat Dog” we’re left to ponder its exact meaning.
After
Kings Of The Wild Frontier, Adam dropped the Ants, save
Pirroni, for lack of enthusiasm and became a solo act. The
difference was hardly discernable on the next album,
Prince Charming. The title cut is the standout with its
tribal vocal intro and steady mesmerizing ryhthm. “Ant Rap,” on the
other hand, proved that rap is not the arena for yodeling and he’d
do best to sidestep the territory completely.
“Stand And Deliver” displays Ant at his cockiest as he sings
“I’m the dandy highwayman who you’re too scared to mention/I spend
my cash on looking flash and grabbing your attention” – and, of
course the wickedly derisive chorus “Stand and deliver your money
or your life!/Try and use a mirror no bullet or a knife!. A b-side
to the single called “Beat My Guest” indicated that the whip had
not been forsaken.
Friend Or Foe introduced a brassier sound with a horn
section heralding the proclaimation “Desperate But Not Serious”.
This new ingredient accents the songs well giving them a more
exotic flare and underscoring Ant’s cheekiness. In “Friend Or Foe”
he sings “I’ve tried and try tried/To take care of my
insides/Nobody’s perfect so leave me if you object/I want those who
get to know me/To become my admirers or my enemies”.
Friend Or Foe represented Ant at the crest of his career.
Strip precipitated his decline. It didn’t help that the BBC
banned the single “Strip”. How they managed to overlook Ant yelling
“pussy” in the background of “Puss ‘n Boots” is beyond me (maybe
they figured this was a nursery rhyme). These two songs were
produced by Phil Collins and they lack a lot of what made Ant great
– and they have too much of what made 80’s Genesis lackluster.
The compilation rounds out with two songs from the album
Vive Le Rock. “Apollo 9” and the title cut which proved that
Ant could rebound from
Strip and still rock, albeit, a little less than in the
heydays. Shortly after this album, Ant took a sojourn from music to
do theater and television work.
So
Antics In The Forbidden Zone does a great job of
encapsulating the early career of one of the most dynamic
performers of the 80’s. Too often, Ant was dismissed as a flashy
pinup idol for the teenybopper set.; a poster boy for the
fickleness of the UK charts. But once you enter the “forbidden
zone” you will see that there was more to Prince Charming than the
glitter.