Review: “Prince Charming” by Adam and The Ants (CD, 1981)

Today’s Pop Rescue from an uncertain fate, is the 1981 third album Prince Charming by the group Adam and The Ants. Will this album Charm your socks off, or should you Stand And Deliver it to the bin? Read on…

Adam and The Ants - Prince Charming (1981) album — Adam and The Ants – Prince Charming (1981) album.

This 10 track album opens with Scorpios, which was not the start that I was expecting. Loaded with percussion and brass, it takes me almost in some kind of calypso direction, but it’s a bit chaotic at times to really allow me to find something catchy.

Next is Picasso Visita El Planeta De Los Simios, and this track has some really nice acoustic guitars and vocal harmonies. It seems to focus on a Spaniard eating quality street… or something like that (‘he’s on quality street’). This is quite catchy and playful, and the bass helps to sew it all together even when the drums, animal sounds, and chanting begins. This probably could have been a single.

The titular Prince Charming follows this, and this track is iconic for the 1980s. Electric guitars and acoustic guitars flood the ears, joined by backing vocals. Adam Ant delivers the vocals flawlessly. The track was the second single from the album, and gave them a UK #1. The track was found to have been very similar to the late-paedophile Rolf Harris’ song War Canoe, resulting in an out-of-court royalties payment to Harris, but then dropped when both were found to be similar to an old Maori song.

Then its 5 Guns West, and this transports us to somewhere in the ‘wild west’ with some very stylised vocals and tons of guitars and playful old western riffs. Harmonica drops in alongside the vocals and what sounds like some sort of a hoedown. It’s a fun track and its tempo makes it worthy of some decent foot-tapping.

Next up is That Voodoo, which opens with some nice electric guitars before switching to a harder sound with rapid-fire vocals and simple beat. An underlying theme of plodding along on the back of a camel seems to be woven into the track, whilst Adam and the Ants give it their all on the vocals. It’s a good track.

Hit lead single Stand And Deliver follows that, and rightly the track gave the group a #1 UK hit. The song gives Adam the highwayman persona, last made famous by Dick Turpin. Dick never made any records, so Adam expertly fills the gap with this somewhat bonkers romp. The rapid drums keep the track galloping along – echoing the role of Turpin’s horse. Adam’s vocals are perfect here, and you can hear him having fun in the delivery, with the final ‘bwaaa’ being an excellent summary of the tone of the track. Perfect.

That’s followed by Mile High Club, which by contrast is quite sleepy. Here, we’re treated some wonderful vocal harmonies and backing vocals. A bass, chugging electric guitar, and sporadic beats meander through this song, but the hard work is done by the vocalists. The track does build though, as my CD shows me that I have 6m 7s of it (the longest song here) or so it seems….

…the track takes a sharp left genre turn about half-way through, and reviewing the CD booklet, it reveals that we’ve actually slipped into Ant Rap (which should be the next song, but CD says ‘no, it’s not’) in which Adam raps, over a frantic snare drum and layers of percussion.

Mowhok is next, and this gives us some wonderful percussion, whilst Adam and The Ants show off their vocal range and dexterity. The band’s delivery of the word mowhok is perfect and really helps to make it a pretty catchy song.

The album comes to a premature climax with er… S. E. X. This track gives us some really nice guitars – acoustic and electric, with another set of wonderful vocals and harmonies. Here though, the guitars sound fantastic and they’re given time to breathe. The track’s wafting vocal layers and guitars towards the end makes it feel like it’s a final track but…

…in what the CD’s artwork claims is the same track (compensating for the Mile High Club/Ant Rap adjustment), The Lost Hawaiians are found in their own final 1m 9s. Here we’re treated to something that sounds like Tight Fit’s Lion Sleeps Tonight meets a drunk Beach Boys. It’s a fun little goodbye as the waves crash on the shoreline.

Adam and The Ants lead single ‘Stand And Deliver’ (1981).

Verdict

Over all, this album is a fascinating stylised example of early 80’s new wave sound, safely in the hands of the somewhat bonkers Adam and The Ants.

Aside from two of the hits – Prince Charming and Stand And Deliver, I didn’t really know what to expect. I’m not too surprised at what I found here though in hindsight, as it feels like a good collection of tracks. The genre and deliver flitters a little between track, giving a sense of fun but also a hunt for a genre.

Highlights here are led by Stand And Deliver, with Prince Charming and Picasso Visita El Planeta De Los Simios coming in close behind. The Lost Hawaiians is a nice ending to the album, but a fuller song might have made a nice addition. The band’s vocals and harmonies are wonderful, and they are able to show off their ability well.

At its weaker point, led here by opening track Scorpios, the music sounds chaotic, and whilst that fits in with the dramatic look of the band, it didn’t help me to find the song amongst the sounds.

Still, I can now happily tick off an Adam and The Ants album listen, and it lands in as a good album that its definitely worth a listen if you’re a fan of the two number one singles.