Adam and the Ants - Kings of the Wild Frontier - crash course!

At almost every performance early in their career, Adam and the Ants had a steady stream of line-up changes. The album Kings of the Wild Frontier was the first that had a completely fresh line-up with Adam Ant himself being the only returning member.

Having his prior band leave to form their own group called Bow Wow Wow (with Annabella Lwin), Adam and the Ants re-formed with Adam on vocals, Marco Pirroni on guitar, Kevin Mooney on bass, and the drumming duo of Chris Hughes and Terry Lee Miall. This new line-up independently released a single called Kings of the Wild Frontier. It quickly gained attention from labels and eventually landed Adam and the Ants a major label deal with ABC records. With this deal in their pocket, they hit the studio and recorded this album, Kings of the Wild Frontier.

Prior to purchasing this LP, I have never heard any Adam and the Ants’ music, so I went into this with a completely fresh and open mind. Having read an interview with Adam Ant in the recent issue of Record Collector Magazine and often seeing his name associated with punk rock led me to seeking out this LP. I can’t compare this record to any other in my collection. It has a completely unique sound and is obvious why it was so influential to other punk bands. With the two drummers forming the Burundi drum beat and Marco Pirroni with a guitar style often compared to Link Wray, I have never come across another band with a similar sound.

The album released three hit singles: Dog Eat Dog, Antmusic and Kings of the Wild Frontier. With this album, Adam and the Ants soon became one of the leading bands in the New Wave/Post Punks genres,  and quickly took over the UK airwaves. With their fetish lyrics, sex influenced performances, and flashy clothes, music fans were paying attention and the album climbed to the top of the charts resulting in it becoming the 1981 bestselling album in the UK.

 Check out this video of Kings of the Wild Frontier. Enjoy!