Adam Ant – The Remastered Bonus Tracks
As I wrote earlier, the remastered reissues, which my late daughter bought me for a birthday present in 2005, is not only a comprehesive collection of Adam’s Columbia years but they include bonus tracks, demos and curios not heard before.
Here’s a peek at what you’re missing:
From Dirk Wears White Sox:
Dirk immediately paints me as a a liar as it starts the additional material with some singles and doesn’t have much to fofer in the way of “unheard music”. Ah, the late 70s, early 80s, when weird-ass songs could be released as singles and corporate record labels didn’t have their fingers in every single decision.
“Zerox” was a well know Adam song that can be found in a lot places, b/w “Whip in My Valise”, which is included here. Adam was able to buy his original masters (from what I recall) for his debut after the sales of later records, rare for artists, so Marco was able to include that material here.
The next set are also singles from the Do It days. “Kick” is a post-punk exercise, “Physical” is the early version of “Physical (You’re So)” which Adam had been playing for a while and would show up on Kings.
“Cartrouble (Parts 1 & 2)” is a slightly reworked version of the original album opener and “Friends” is a name dropping piece of piffle about an unctuous club goer who is trying to prove his importance so he can “get in free”.
The last are the single versions of “Cartrouble” which is more aggressive, powerful and is only the second half or Part 2 of that song. The same goes for “Kick”. Bigger, stronger and incorporating the “burundi beat” that Adam was about to make famous.
From Kings of the Wild Frontier:
An alternate mix of “Antmusic” is hardly worth hearing but then we get to the nuggets.
The demo for “Antmusic” shows different lyrics being tried out and, even in the early stage, they were concentrating harder on Adam’s multi-layered vocals than just about anything else.
“Feed Me To The Lions” demo and the one for “The Human Beings” just show songs in an early development stage.
Interestingly, there is a very early version of “S.E.X.” which would, of course, be included on Prince Charming. I swear there are sounds of a bong being smoked in the background and I don’t know if that’s part of the song or if they were just high. I imagine since the song is just bass, guitar and vocals that the bass is being played by Adam. The song is actually slightly better on this version than it would turn out with big production.
Then there’s the real treat: The original, demo version of “Ant Invasion” a seminal piece on the record started off very different from what it would become. Whereas the album version is a scary and dangerous b-movie horror show, the original is much more cheeky. The B-movie in the demo would more likely have been directed by Ed Wood. And it’s not about an Ant invasion.
No. It’s called “Omelette from Outer Space” and it’s about someone who is “so frightened by the omelette from outer space”. Dig it.
From Prince Charming:
The “Prince Charming” demo is a stripped down 4 track version of the unlikely hit. The same for “Stand & Deliver”. I was so surprised not find “Beat My Guest” here but, if it were, why you buy other Adam reissues?
“Showbiz” is a an attempt at some salsa inspired craziness, the only part of it that would survive is the lyric, “I hope the day would never come when showbiz is a dirty word” which appears on Friend or Foe’s “Cajun Twister” and is probably included here for that reason.
“Picasso Visits the Planet of the Apes” is in stripped down demo form, set to a drum machine.
“Who’s a Goofy Bunny Then?” would be rewritten for Strip and become “Libertine”. Since that’s one of the better songs on that disaster its hard for me to say that I wish the song had stayed in it’s original form. But, have you ever heard a title that great?
“Scorpio Writing” is just what you would think and hope for: Adam talking about what to play while the tape is running and him, Marco and, I assume, Hughes, running through an acoustic version that sounds like a couple teenagers trying write a rock song with little or no knowledge of the form. You almost feel embarrassed for them. And then you remember that final version and realize they were geniuses.
From Friend or Foe:
This album is loaded with extras.
“Coup D’etat” is a bouncy piece decrying new technology and how the music of the day is taking over.
“Little Italy” is a wholly instrumental version of “Man Called Marco”. The original’s vocals was just Pirroni introducing his guitar. That’s not here.
“Maid of Money” is the demo version of “Made of Money” and it might only be included because of the different title except that it features Adam on drums as does the demo for “Place in the Country”, which is such a mess that it sort of proves why Adam shouldn’t play the drums.
“And So You Shall”, while it sounds very familiar and might have been reworked as other songs, it’s a fun song extolling Adam’s prowess in various arenas. It’s also a song I think could have had a life over something like “Hello, I Love You”.
“Yellowbeard” is a piano driven pirate march, a trifle at best.
“I Know They Know” is begging for a full production. It’s traditional Antmusic but much more fun than some of FoF’s tracks.
“Gargoyles Are Go” is reminiscent of “Five Guns West” and is the early progenitor for “Mowhok”. Part of it sounds like Oingo Boingo.
And we close with “Good Sex Rumples The Clothing”. A play on the famous Jackie Onassis quote “Sex is bad because it rumples the clothing”. It’s great piffle and I’m glad I had a chance to hear it.
From Strip:
The demo for “Strip” is just an early sketch of the song.
“Dirty Harry” would turn into “Amazon”. I like it better as a theme song for a take no prisoners asshole cop than as an ode to big, strong women.
“Horse You Rode in On” would become, well, a few other songs, but it’s the closes to the “Goody Two Shoes” feel and that’s probably why it was never developed further.
“She Wins Zulus” is a trite lesser track. It fits perfectly in the idiom of Strip but, more importantly, it has the lyric “She wishes she could sing like Michael Jackson, no chance”, which was also found on “Showbiz” and would turn up on either “Cajun Twister” or “Crackpot History”, I can never remember and the lyric “She Likes Johnny, she like Joe but they both ignore her so” which would find it’s way on “Playboy”.
The “Puss in Boots” demo proves that Phil Collins wasn’t really needed after all and the bizarro feedback heavy solo is sorely missed from the final product.
They’ve included the rehearsal take for “Playboy”, which is a song I almost never imagined anyone playing live. I don’t remember it from the Radio City Show I saw on that tour. It’s massively uninspired. Adam’s spoken word parts on the album are creepy, unctuous and bland. But, live he’s cheeky and ironic. So, in that way, the song is preferable. By the time it’s over, with the band references and all, you’ll find you wish that this was the version they left on the cd.
“Navel to Neck” gets the rehearsal addition as well. I always kind of liked the minimalism in this song and it’s here, too. But it’s great to hear Adam actually singing. He had a pretty good voice. If only he knew what to do with it outside of the Antmusic bubble.
In both of these rehearsal takes it’s obvious that the fun and humor was stripped out of strip. Whether that was by Adam & Marco’s design or the producers, I don’t know. But it’s sad.
The alternate version of Strip includes a little banter between Collins and a german assistant talking about how to get the strings in the studio with Adam. Otherwise, the original’s better.
From Vive Le Rock:
“Human Bondage Den” was probably left off because it sounds a little too much like Apollo 9. Too bad. It’s a great song. It can also be found on the Antbox and the B-Side collection. Well worth being included.
The Rico Conning remix of “Vive Le Rock”. This was the era of the remix. Every band from Madonna to Queen was remixing and putting out 12” singles. I hate remixes and this one is no exception. It’s boring at best. Redundant at worse.
The Francois Kevorkian remix of “Apollo 9” manages to make an exciting dance track boring. It actually borders on obnoxious.
“Doggy Style” (Demo) just makes me wonder how much studio time Adam was allowed. Not complaining but, wow, he just pumped out track after track. This is an early version of “Manners & Physique” and it’s superior in every way.
“Night they Vietcong” is maybe the ugliest and laziest song Adam’s ever recorded.
“Big Big Man” is the original template for Razor Keen and is actually a neat little jazzy beat number.
“Rip Down” (Demo) shows a song almost completed. Man I love this album (Vive, that is)
There is ANOTHER Kevorkian remix of “Apollo 9” and it’s as boring as the other. What separates them is this is the 12” version where the other was the 7”. And they both grate.
The fun ends with a Steve Thompson remix of “Vive” and not a moment too soon. The remix festival was killing.
