Adam And The Ants - Antmusic Reaction 

Yep.. We all loved this guy for a couple of years. He offered catchy singles and a striking look for us kids to toy with for a year (1981 was his peak in popularity). Then he came to Australia and allowed us to explore our inner-pirates. Gillian and some other girls made wooden swords at woodwork class, and had their little sword fight outside the Festival Hall, where Adam And The Ants set were to play. I think we rocked up to the Festival Hall as a gang of 30 Countdown kids, and came home with about 50 phone numbers from other kids that we had met at the concert. Some I'm still friends with to this day. Cheers, Hayley

The drummer on the left is Chris Merrick Hughes who produced Tears For Fears

This song and it's music video are probably my earliest memory of pop music. I can remember dancing around to it in front of the TV and laughing with my mother. I was probably 4 years old

Aussies had two reasons to apply a white stripe across the nose. Sunscreen during the summer and Adam Ant for the rest of the year.

All hail Suzie from Norfolk who put that on a mixtape for me way back when those were a thing.

The one drummer playing the rim of the snare, put me in mind of ants wearing tap shoes, scurrying around. 😊

I'm also in that ''Countdown'' audience. I was 11 years old and was Ant crazy. By then, I was used to seeing popstars in the flesh, because I'd be in that studio almost every Friday. Some popstars could be as bossy as school teachers and would often ''shush'' us if we got too excited. When the cameras were away, some performers would tell us to behave ourselves and to not give host, Molly Meldrum, a hard time. But Adam Ant was different. He was larger than life and it was amazing having him right there in the studio. It feels weird that you guys only know him as a solo artist. You missed out on a pretty important chunk of pop history by not fully getting into the Ant craze. 🐜

Yeh, one of the comments explains chris merrick produced tears for fears who were massive in England.

Wouldn't hurt for you to try 'Go Wild in the Country by Bow Wow Wow' from the same time..

🎶 Don't Tread On An Ant ! He's Done Nothing To You 🎶 🐜

One of the drummers went onto be a producer in the eighties for a lot of big British bands but you'll have to investigate that, hanier detectives. I'm sure. Scott South Coast England.

This was the second incarnation of The Ants. The bandmembers that recorded the tracks on the first album, "Dirk Wears White Sox," left to form Bow Wow Wow. That incarnation spelled it Adam and The Antz -with a Z. They had more of a weird punk sound. Songs I'd recommend from Dirk Wears White Sox would be "Digital Tenderness" or "Nine Plan Failed" or "Day I Met God" or "Never Trust A Man (With Egg On His Face.)"

Another band with 2 drummers is Rialto, a Britpop band with a few nice singles, esp Monday Morning 5:19.

The double drum sound was called 'the burundi beat',a sound also employed by the superb but underated band Bow Wow Wow who where mostly made up of the original line up of Adam and the Ants ,which i recommend you try and review.

Graham (Dad?) my other father brought this album when it was released and another favourite

Take's me back to 1980 saw them live in Birmingham England still got the ticket only cost £3 and at the end got one of the drummers drum stick

Their early stuff is amazing! I believe their sound changed when they lost the guitarist and drummer to "Bow Wow Wow" (you can hear the early Ant sound in "Bow Wow Wow").

Another song that totally changes my world ❤ I still know all the words. Learned them from a comic aged 11. No Internet then

Black Flag parodied this song in a Los Angeles radio ad. Ant actually influenced the Germs singer Darby Crash, perhaps the most reckless and primitive of the LA scene. Darby copied the mohawk and warrior makeup for a while. Great song! 🐜

I remember boys and girls in Melbourne dressing like him, complete with the face stripe. It was cute seeing little Aussie dandies running around with a wild frontier attitude.

i remember seeing this on top of the pops back in the day, he was famous instanlty

They were huge for a brief time here in Oz, the other really big hit being Stand And Deliver.

Was gonna say that I can't believe you've never heard this one, their biggest hit. Btw, it's "unplug the jukebox". Anyhoo, I loved them straight away, probably because I love strong drums and recommend you try some other songs like Prince Charming, stand and deliver, dog eat dog and ant rap.

Kia Ora hello Ginger Tom happy to hear your input MEOW indeed brother. I'm glad you're mum and dad got you settled into ya new pad. Maybe you could review some PUNKROCK for us 🙀MEOW 💥🤘✊😺😸😹

Time to start on Bow-Wow-Wow now. (several members of the Ants were in bow wow wow before this)

When I heard this on a "Jukebox" in a bikers pub I realised it's a great song where previously I'd dismissed Adam as teen idol only. it's good to be proved wrong .

Cartrouble Part 1&2 are a great one from their Dirk Wears White Sox album. The original band. From the Kings Of To The Wild Frontier album I would suggest Ants Invasion, Don"t Be Square (Be There) and Feed Me To The Lions.

Yes, for literally decades I had understood it as "Unlock the jukebox" myself, but it's actually "Unplug the jukebox" - and listen to this (then) brandnew Antmusic instead! 😁 I'll have to put that whole album on again some time soon! Been a while! 😊 And yes, I did also notice Chris' apt 'Ant Man' shirt! 😁👍

This was the first big hit for Adam and The Ants, for another like this I recommend "Kings of the Wild Frontier", there were a string of hits. As others have said, 'Adam and The Antz' (with a 'Z' not a 'S') started out as a Punk band, my favourite by them from the Punk era was, "Lady".

i have many demos and other rarities that were never recorded. i would say if you like a vibe parody by Adam is A.N.T.S. you may heard YMCA lol.

The first single I bought 👌🏼

Some people were offended by his white streak across the nose saying it was taking from native American culture so he later dropped it. Amanda Donohoe (later famous on "LA Law") is in a lot of his music videos (she was also in a relationship with Adam Ant)

Early singles great punk such as Zerox, Lady. Very interesting post punk album Dirk Wears White Sox (cracking lyrics especially Catholic Day, Animals and Men, Cleopatra). His band members left to form Bow Wow Wow with the amazing Annabel Lwin (please play Prince of Darkness). The Ants then do Kings of the Wild Frontier with some sublome songs and excellent guitaring from Pirroni. Then it all went downhill with Prince Charming

Adam once received a phone call in the early hours from someone claiming to be Michael Jackson and wanting to know where Adam got his pirate jacket from. Adam told him to F off but it was actually MJ and he called back a few hours later, went to the costumiers and started wearing the jacket.

# 2 in UK # 1 in Australia As a Countdown kid that was part of the Countdown focus group, I was required to watch music videos on a screen in a litte dingy TV room at the ABC studios. There was often a lot of boring songs and music videos that we had to sit through, and most of them were by either very new or lesser known artists. But seeing as it was the early 80's, there was always something that would stand out and Adam & The Ants were one of those acts that shined through the screen. It was around about December of 1980, and we were shown videos for ''Kings Of The Wild Frontier'' and ''Antmusic''. We loved the second and gave it the thumbs up. The following January (summer school break - no school, no Countdown), we pushed The Swingers ''Counting The Beat'' into the number one spot. Then the following February, the ''Antmusic'' video finally got played on Countdown. The whole nation of kids were impressed, and we did for ''Antmusic'' what we had done for ''Counting The Beat''. Begged our local radio DJ's to play the record. 'Antmusic'' stayed in the # 1 spot for five weeks. After '''Goody Two Shoes'' got to # 1, we moved on to something else... I love seeing bits of the Countdown clip, but the original video is where all the magic is happening. Spend a couple of minutes and watch the video that we all got to see..

I'd like to see Richard Clapton's ''Girls On The Avenue'' (antipodes) music vid. on Friday night. I t's a pretty good Friday night song, and anybody that knows it wouldn't associate it with any other night of the week. 👍

I was about 12 when this came out, it seemed impossibly exciting at the time. I'm pretty convinced that one of the main reasons Adam is still with us, is Marco Perroni, who seems to have kept him from some of his more excessive situations!

This is where I got in to AATH, I recommend going back in his career though, he was punk(ish) before this. The Album 'Dirk Wears White Sox' is arguably his best work. Cartrouble part 2 is prob best but Catholic Day is also a belter. His B Sides were always punk as well. 'Christian D'or' and 'Beat My Guest' are stand outs

This is one of those songs that seems sily but isn't. "It's so sad when you're young to be told that you're having fun"

I remember when this song knocked ''Counting The Beat'' by NZ band Swingers (a band fronted by a Split Enz member that wasn't Neil or Tim) off the # 1 spot. Suddenlyl, kids were applying white stripes across their noses and wearing what Adam Ant is wearing. I liked this song and the whole Adam And The Ants hype, but the craze was inescapable.

In Britain towards end of 1980 and through 1981 they were constantly on BBC's Top of the Pops, extremely popular, and great fun sound at the time. Thank you for the reaction.

"This was fun" ;)

Haven’t heard this song in forever. Forgot how fun it was.

Wow! Can't believe you've shown a Countdown performance!!! They were so Popular in Australia!! I had the albums..

As it's the 12th now here in the U.K. I'd like to wish, Jay McGee a very Happy Birthday! All the very best mate.

This lot Brought back the word Style when you went out for an evening wether it was Live Music or Night Club ! Ace !

The first album - Dirk wears White Sox is great. The "Ant Warriors" were their own moment in those days. It has long been a standard move by record companies to find someone they think can be a big star and sign them while getting rid of the band. Especially in the days of punk, this was used where possible to get rid of the attitudes and opposition that could come from a unified gang of friends. Isolate your " star" and they have no support mechanism anymore, and are less likely to complain or oppose whatever you are imposing on them. When he went solo, Adam was dismissed by his fans as a pop star and sell out.

I like this stuff again. I think it's mostly a nostalgia thing for me as for years I avoided this stuff as an adult but really loved and obsessed over as an impressionable 12-13-14 year old kid 😊

Kia Ora hello Cynthia hay could you please say ABOUT again 😊😅😂

The name comes from a make of toilets 'Adamant'.

Adam Ant did a great cover of a T.Rex track "Dandy in the Underworld" Check it out.

Ha, ha - I'm somewhere in that Countdown studio audience. I was Ant crazy! Sorry, WE were Ant crazy!

Adam and the ants were his punk band -dirk wears white sox was his punk album

Nice seeing the Countdown performance again! It was exciting to have him in the studio. This is the studio performance with us kids trying our best to cheer on him: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-mdaGhGhvq28.html Great times!

The band mimicked north american indians like the native Canadian tribes.

From The Album Kings Of The Wild Frontier a massive hit everywhere but North America.

I wasn't suckered in to the Ant craze like my Melbourne mates, Gillian and Drew. I had my eyes firmly on Spandau Ballet, Ultravox, Visage, Simple Minds, Icehouse, INXS, The Church and that style. Adam And The Ants just seemed clumsy. I was happy to see ''Counting The Beat'' knocked off the top spot, but its replacement (''Ant Music'') might as well have been ''Counting The Beat part II''. Their music always sounded like the muffled sounds of a noisy party next door. A bit of a rumble here, some clanking there, some people going ''woah'' and a bit of music to keep people moving. That's what Adam And The Ants sounded like to me.

I seem to remember he had a mental breakdown and got commited.

Never really rated them musically, they just got lucky with their image at the right time. Had a large temporary cult following but not a dedicated loyal one, unlike most British punk / new wave bands. EDIT yes its pretty hard watching this to believe this band were once a punk band in London

Another example of Malcolm McLaren's eclectic and pervasive influence on English pop music and fashion. Not many bands and singles have made such an immediate and identifiable cultural impact. Suddenly Adam Ant went from punk nowhere to mainstream everywhere.

I’m sure it was number 1 everywhere 😂

I still love being an Ant ,... but (imo) there are better songs that did not get released of albums into singles

My pal growing up liked this band,i felt sorry for him🤣🤣🤣🤣

Dog Eat Dog, Ants Invasion, and Killer In The Home, are the best of the early songs, along with Kings Of The Wild Frontier. After Antmusic, it started to go downhill, in my opinion, culminating in the awful Ant Rap. He's still touring, to this day.

I remember my mate Nick Stables being nuts about this song. Okay, now I'm SC's secretary: This is the biggest punk sellout. I used to go and watch all of the punk bands at The Royal Standard, in Bradford, and Adam and the Ants were one of the best bands. The next thing you know, they're on TOTP peddling this pretty boy music. I really felt let down, as I'm sure that lovely Jay and many others were. Unfortunately for Adam, his time came to an end , and he has suffered miserably with mental health issues ever since.

Don't mean to offend Countdown kids or English people, but I hated this song. Maybe it's irrational prejudice towards children whose only crime was to love pop music, but Countdown kids forced this stuff onto us over here in Australia. I had a few early Adam And The Ants singles and the _Dirk Wears White Sox_ LP. When I hear this and '"Counting The Beat'' I just see their little grins and their countdown badges on their school uniforms. It was forced on you because radio programmers took the demands of Aussie kids more seriously than the rest of us. Middle finger to Countdown.

Not heard this in decades and clicked on video not knowing I would have heard this before, but once it started up it sounded like I heard it before but never did anything for me as a kid and even less now. I never understood all this gimmicky look lots of music artists had around this time. If they were great musicians like Prince or great performers like Billy Idol I could forgive them for the theatrics because the music talent made it a backdrop rather than what you remembered of them as just a look. Adam and the Ants is very forgettable music to me but the look is memorable for how crap it was and still is. Bay City Rollers is another band where I remember the look and how silly it seemed to me but I could not name one song of theirs.

I’d got outta the habit of “ bagging “dross but I’ll happily put myself out for Stuart/Adam n his mates . This is an absolute triumph of style over substance 😳.. when Punk didn’t work for Adam he just literally put on a different set of clothes and make up and mixed his weak pop stylings with the prevalent New Romantics scene … all of which could be forgiven if the guy could actually sing ffs . Photogenic and a good “ performer “ but a weak , reedy voice and if you take away the overblown production from the hit singles AND especially the videos for his hit singles , the actual songs are piss poor 🤷‍♂️…. ( think of your promise to smile due to the Stealers Wheel song and BREATHE Jay.. 😮 ) 🙂 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Great artist but he was nothing in the US but a one hit wonder. Sorry to be mean to someone on here, but some people need to be reminded just how they small they really are. Xtraordinary, your country's rockstars aren't going to make you a bigger boy. Stop giving us reasons to laugh at you. We've already got Jay to snicker at.