Deutscher Girls

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"Deutscher Girls"
Deutscher Girls.jpg
Single by Adam and the Ants
from the album Jubilee Soundtrack
B-side "Plastic Surgery"
Released12 February 1982
Format vinyl record (7")
Genre New wave, post-punk
Length2:40
Label E.G. Records
Songwriter(s) Adam Ant
Producer(s) Guy Ford
Adam and the Ants singles chronology
"Ant Rap"
(1981)		"Deutscher Girls"
(1982)		"The B-Sides (EP)"
(1982)

"Deutscher Girls" is a song by Adam and the Ants. It was a posthumous UK Top 15 hit single for the band's first incarnation. It was included in the 1978 Derek Jarman film Jubilee , in which Adam Ant appears as "The Kid". [1]

Adam and the Ants English rock band

Adam and the Ants were an English rock 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.

Derek Jarman British film director and artist

Michael Derek Elworthy Jarman was an English film director, stage designer, diarist, artist, gardener, and author.

<i>Jubilee</i> (1978 film) 1978 film directed by Derek Jarman

Jubilee is a 1978 cult film directed by Derek Jarman. It stars Jenny Runacre, Ian Charleson and a host of punk rockers, including Adam Ant and Toyah. The title refers to the Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 1977.

Contents

History

"Deutscher Girls" was written by Adam Ant, and was an early fan favourite among "Antpeople". The song was first recorded in August 1977 at Free Range Studios with Mark Ryan on guitar; this version appears in the actual film (in the same scene depicted on the single sleeve). It was performed at a John Peel session on 23 January 1978, with new guitarist Johnny Bivouac. The song was re-recorded from scratch on the following day for the soundtrack album. "Deutscher Girls" and "Plastic Surgery", also from the Jubilee soundtrack, were the first Adam and the Ants tracks committed to vinyl. The latter song was recorded in July 1977 at Chappels Studios, with a minor overdub added to the guitar break during the 24 January session.

Mark Ryan was an English guitarist who played in different punk bands during the late 1970s.

John Peel English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist

John Robert Parker Ravenscroft,, known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004.

John Beckett is an English musician, actor and music producer. He is best known for being a former guitarist of Adam and the Ants under the name Johnny Bivouac, during which time he recorded the track Deutscher Girls with the band, later a UK Top 15 hit single. As an actor, he is best known for the role of Strings in the police sitcom Operation Good Guys.

Both songs regularly featured in the live set of the original Ants between May 1977 and January 1980, with "Plastic Surgery" (often used as set opener during 1977-1978) continuing to be performed by the "new" Ants (including Marco Pirroni and two drummers) on tours in 1980. Both songs have been frequently revived for live concert use since 2010.

Marco Francesco Andrea Pirroni frequently credited simply as Marco, is an English guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He has worked with Adam Ant, Sinéad O'Connor, Siouxsie and the Banshees and many others from the late 1970s to the present day.

Single

Adam and the Ants had achieved massive success with their 1980 album Kings of the Wild Frontier . It was the UK's selling album in 1981 (having been the 48th-best seller in 1980) and won Best British Album at the 1982 Brit Awards.

<i>Kings of the Wild Frontier</i> 1980 studio album by Adam and the Ants

Kings of the Wild Frontier is the second album by English new wave band Adam and the Ants. It was released in November 1980 by CBS Records International. This album introduced the "Burundi beat" sound to popular music.

Brit Awards British pop music awards

The BRIT Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trusts Show. In addition, an equivalent awards ceremony for classical music, called the Classic BRIT Awards, is held in the month of May. Robbie Williams holds the record for the most BRIT Awards, 13 as a solo artist and another five as part of Take That.

As "Antmusic for Sex People" was sweeping through Britain, Adam Ant's former label E.G. Records decided to cash in his success by releasing "Deutscher Girls" as a 7" single. "Plastic Surgery" was released on the B-side. Released on 12 February 1982, it reached number thirteen on the UK Singles Chart. Chronologically, it followed "Ant Rap", and included the long-departed line-up of Ants Dave Barbarossa on drums, Johnny Bivouac on guitar and Andy Warren on bass guitar.

E.G. Records was a British artist management company and independent record label, mostly active during the 1970s and 1980s. The initials stood for its founders, David Enthoven and John Gaydon.

Single (music) Type of music release usually containing one or two tracks

In the music industry, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separately from an album, although it usually also appears on an album. Typically, these are the songs from albums that are released separately for promotional uses such as digital download or commercial radio airplay and are expected to be the most popular. In other cases a recording released as a single may not appear on an album.

UK Singles Chart British singles sales chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-selling singles in the United Kingdom, based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and streaming. The Official Chart, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and MTV, is the UK music industry's recognised official measure of singles and albums popularity because it is the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, today surveying over 15,000 retailers and digital services daily, capturing 99.9% of all singles consumed in Britain across the week, and over 98% of albums. To be eligible for the chart, a single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio track not longer than 15 minutes with a minimum sale price of 40 pence. The rules have changed many times as technology has developed, the most notable being the inclusion of digital downloads in 2005 and streaming in July 2014.

It was the second-to-last single by Adam and the Ants. Later in 1982, another of Adam and the Ants' former labels, Do It Records, released "Friends" b/w "Kick"/"Physical" from the Dirk Wears White Sox recording session at Sound Development in August 1979. [2]

Do It Records was an independent record label based in London, England. It was an early label of Adam and the Ants, releasing their debut album Dirk Wears White Sox in November 1979 as well as singles Zerox in June 1979 and Cartrouble in March 1980, the latter being not only a Number One on the UK Independent Singles Chart but also the first collaboration between Adam Ant and Marco Pirroni, following the departure of the original Ants to form Bow Wow Wow.

<i>Dirk Wears White Sox</i> 1979 studio album by Adam and the Ants

Dirk Wears White Sox is the debut studio album by English new wave band Adam and the Ants. It was released on 30 October 1979 by record label Do It. It was the first number one album on the UK Independent Albums Chart when the chart debuted in Record Week in 1980.

Lyrics [3]

"Deutscher Girls" was inspired by the controversial art film Portiere Di Notte ( The Night Porter ) by director Liliana Cavani, and starring Dirk Bogarde (after whom Adam and the Ants' 1979 debut album Dirk Wears White Sox is named) and Charlotte Rampling. [4] The 1974 Italian film featured elements of Nazisploitation; Bogarde plays a former Nazi, and Rampling a former concentration camp inmate. [5]

Lyrics were changed from the original Jubilee version when it was released as a single three years later. [6] The line "So, why did you have to be so Nazi" was changed to "So, why did you have to be so nasty", and "Camp 49 way down on the Rhine" was changed to "A lover of mine from down on the Rhine". [7] Adam Ant told Sounds : [8]

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Charlotte Rampling British actress

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The B-Sides (EP) 1982 song performed by Adam and the Ants

"Friends" b/w "Kick"/"Physical", also known as The B-sides, was the final single from Adam and the Ants. All three songs were written by Adam Ant, and were early fan favorites among "Antpeople." "Friends" and "Physical" were performed at a John Peel session on 10 July 1978. All three tracks had previously been recorded in 1978 for the Ants' first label Decca Records. "Kick" at RAK Studios in Chalbert Street, London, produced by Snips, "Friends" and "Physical" at Decca's own studio at Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead, produced by Ant himself.

References

  1. ↑ Adam and the Ants. "Deutscher Girls". Adam-Ant.net. Careers BMG (BMG Rights Management).
  2. ↑ Adam and the Ants. "The B-sides". Adam-Ant.net.
  3. ↑ Adam Ant. "Deutscher Girls". Careers BMG.
  4. ↑ Dr Mark Griffiths (11 December 2013). "The Reich Stuff: A brief look at Nazi fetishism". WordPress.com.
  5. ↑ Roger Ebert (10 February 1975). "The Night Porter". Chicago Sun-Times .
  6. ↑ "Original Adam & The Ants – Deutscher Girls". Discogs.com.
  7. ↑ Adam Ant. "Deutscher Girls (single)". Careers BMG.
  8. ↑ "Deutscher Girls". Songfacts.com.
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