Adam and the Ants drive the "final nail in the coffin of punk"

Adam and the Ants : The Human Beings

[Purchase]

On November 3, 1980 Adam and the Ants released the UK#1 album Kings of the Wild Frontier. While the album wound up in American cut-out bins where I found a cassette copy in a Woolworth's, Kings of the Wild Frontier created a huge sensation in the U.K. and Europe where Adam Ant woke up one morning to discover he was the biggest pop star in all the land. How did they achieve such fame and sales?

"We stole what we could, like magpies," guitarist Marco Pirroni said. "We used ocarinas, echo chambers, textures from John Barry and Ennio Morricone soundtracks, rockabilly guitar riffs from Duane Eddy and Hank Marvin. We were even twanging rulers on desks and recording the results!"

Stan Keaton of Sounds gave the album a 5 star review, writing "if you're expecting a half dozen re-workings of the jungle drum beat of  (UK#4) "Dog Eat Dog" and "Kings" then forget it. A whole quilt of styles are played out here. It's the Ants' most accessible work to date, wholly satisfying and without doubt one of the year's most exuberant releases."

I played my Woolworth's cassette quite a bit, but it's not like I wore face paint out in public. Much.

As I wrote earlier the Ant Invasion was in full swing. You can't say you weren't warned. The band made their intentions known. On "Jolly Roger" they chant in unison "It's your money that we want/ And your money we shall have!" Ant called the album "the final nail in the coffin of punk".