Adam and the Ants

Adam and the Ants
The line-up for Adam and the Ants in 1981.
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	New wave post-punk punk rock (early)
Years active	1977–1982
Labels	CBS Do It Decca
Associated acts	Bazooka Joe Bow Wow Wow Rema-Rema The Monochrome Set The Moors Murderers The Wolfmen Wide Boy Awake
Website	adam-ant.net
Past members	Adam Ant Andy Warren Paul Flannagan Lester Square Mark Ryan David Barbarossa Johnny Bivouac Matthew Ashman Leigh Gorman Marco Pirroni Terry Lee Miall Chris 'Merrick' Hughes Kevin Mooney Gary Tibbs

Adam and the Ants were an English new wave band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The group, which lasted from 1977 to 1982, existed in two incarnations, both fronted by Adam Ant. The first, founded in May 1977 and known simply as The Ants until November that year, achieved considerable cult popularity during the transition from the punk rock era to the post-punk and new wave era and were noted for their high camp and overtly sexualised stage performances and songs. The final line-up of this first incarnation – Dave Barbarossa, Matthew Ashman and Leigh Gorman – left the band in January 1980 at the suggestion of then-de facto manager Malcolm McLaren, to form the instrumentalist personnel of the controversial Bow Wow Wow.

The second incarnation of Adam and the Ants featured guitarist Marco Pirroni and drummer-producer Chris Hughes and was noted for its use of Burundi drums. It lasted from February 1980 to March 1982 and achieved major commercial success in the UK and abroad.

Prior to Adam and the Ants, Adam Ant (born Stuart Leslie Goddard) played bass in pub rock group Bazooka Joe, now primarily known as the band that headlined when Sex Pistols played their first concert on 6 November 1975 at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. After witnessing this, Adam quit the band with the intention of forming his own, inspired by Sex Pistols.

Tentatively called The B-Sides, they practised regularly over the following months but, lacking a drummer, never managed to play a gig. Meanwhile, Adam Ant had befriended some influential figures in the burgeoning London punk scene, most notably Jordan, who worked in Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's SEX boutique shop. The Ants eventually formed in early 1977 consisting of Lester Square (guitar), Andy Warren (bass guitar) and Paul Flannagan (drums). Lester Square left to finish his course at an art school and to later form The Monochrome Set just days after The Ants played their first gig on 5 May 1977, at a bedroom in Muswell Hill.Mark Ryan replaced him on guitar and played the first formal gigs (starting with a performance at the ICA in London on 10 May 1977). In early June, Flannagan was replaced with Dave Barbarossa and the resulting line-up recorded "Plastic Surgery" (along with seven other unreleased demos later dubbed the "Jubilee Demos" by bootleggers) and featured in the film Jubilee as the band of Adam's character Kid, until Ryan was replaced by Johnny Bivouac in October 1977. Shortly after this, the group adopted the longer Adam and the Ants bandname.