| Vive Le Rock | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 2 September 1985 [1] | |||
| Recorded | January–March 1985 | |||
| Studio | Good Earth Studios, Soho, London | |||
| Genre | New wave | |||
| Length | 36:40 | |||
| Label | CBS | |||
| Producer | Tony Visconti | |||
| Adam Ant chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Vive Le Rock | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Kerrang! | [3] |
| Trouser Press | generally favourable [4] |
Vive Le Rock is the third solo album by Adam Ant, released in September 1985.
Producer Tony Visconti, famous for his 1970s work with Ant's heroes Marc Bolan and David Bowie, commented on his work with Ant on Vive Le Rock: "What a creative ball of energy! He was great to work with. He's very opinionated and knows what he wants. We didn't quite agree during the mixes, he kind of wanted everything very trebly and I'm a bassey kind of producer." [5]
The album was a realisation of the new "rockers in space" ethic and look Adam Ant had begun with the hit UK single "Apollo 9" in September 1984, which peaked at number 13. [6]
"Apollo 9" was released as a single a year before Vive Le Rock's release, and was a chart hit. However, the album received only minor attention in the United States, peaking at number 131, [7] and number 42 in the United Kingdom. [8] The title track was the one single from the album released in the US. He performed "Vive Le Rock" at the 1985 benefit concert Live Aid. It was the only song he played at the show, as the band preceding him on the bill, The Boomtown Rats (for whom concert co-organiser Bob Geldof was the front man) overran their allotted time. [9] Ant has said that the failure of Vive Le Rock, and his then-current record label's unwillingness to promote it, left him depressed and unenthusiastic about his future in music. This led to his decision to focus primarily on his acting career, not releasing another album until Manners & Physique in 1990. [10]
Twelfth track "Human Bondage Den" was released on the original cassette and CD release of this album (as a bonus non-LP track). Most re-releases did not feature this track until Columbia Records re-released the album in 2005, along with seven other bonus tracks.
All songs written by Adam Ant and Marco Pirroni.
Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant, is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten hits from 1980 to 1983, including three UK No. 1 singles. He has also worked as an actor, appearing in many films and television episodes.
Kings of the Wild Frontier is the second album by English new wave band Adam and the Ants. It was released on 7 November 1980 by CBS Records in the UK and Epic records internationally. The album was the UK number 1 selling album in 1981 and won Best British Album at the 1982 Brit Awards.
Dirk Wears White Sox is the debut studio album by English new wave band Adam and the Ants. It was released on 30 November 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.
Marco Francesco Andrea Pirroni frequently credited simply as Marco, is a British 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.
Prince Charming is the third and final album by Adam and the Ants, released in November 1981. This album features bass player Gary Tibbs in place of Kevin Mooney, the bassist on Kings of the Wild Frontier. The album included the band's two number one UK hit singles "Stand and Deliver" and "Prince Charming" as well as "Ant Rap".
Friend or Foe is the debut solo album by English singer and musician Adam Ant, released in October 1982 by Epic Records in the United States and CBS Records elsewhere. The album peaked at number 5 in the UK, Adam Ant's highest charting solo album.
Strip is the second solo studio album by Adam Ant, and counting his work with Adam and the Ants, his fifth studio album. It was released in 1983 and a stylistic departure from Ant's previous musical efforts. This record is much less rock-oriented and more grounded in pop and dance. Ant continued his songwriting collaboration with Marco Pirroni for the album. Along with Richard James Burgess and Ant, Pirroni was one of the album’s main producers. The album did not perform as well in Ant's home country as his previous albums and performed modestly in the US. Critics generally reviewed it unfavorably.
Manners & Physique is the fourth solo album by Adam Ant. It was released in 1990 by MCA Records. The single "Room at the Top" peaked at number 13 in the UK and number 17 in the United States. "Rough Stuff" (US) and "Can't Set Rules About Love" (UK) were released afterwards.
Wonderful is fifth solo studio album and the eighth LP overall of English musician Adam Ant. It peaked at number 24 on the UK Album Chart and number 143 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The band for this album included Ant's long-time collaborator Marco Pirroni, along with ex-Ruts drummer Dave Ruffy and Morrissey's guitarist Boz Boorer.
Redux a compilation album by Adam Ant. It is a 15-track bonus disc that only came with the Adam Ant Remastered limited edition collector's box set released 11 April 2005. It features previously unreleased demo versions of songs from his previous albums.
Adam Ant is a British post-punk, new wave artist. He was the lead singer of Adam & the Ants until their split in early 1982, by which time they had recorded three studio albums. Ant, however, would go solo, and release an additional five studio albums throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. After a gap of nearly 18 years, his sixth released solo studio album came out in early 2013. A planned follow-up album recorded the following year currently officially remains at developmental stage.
Antmusic: The Very Best of Adam Ant is a greatest hits compilation album from Adam Ant that covers his early work with Adam and the Ants as well as his solo work.
B-Side Babies is a compilation album by English new wave musician Adam Ant, released by Epic Records in 1994. It is not to be confused with The B-Sides, a 7-inch EP of "Friends" b/w "Kick"/"Physical", released by Do It Records in 1982.
Adam and the Ants were an English rock band that formed in London in 1977. The band existed in two versions, both of which were fronted by Adam Ant, between 1977 and 1982. The first phase began when the band were founded in May 1977 and were called The Ants until November of that year. They later changed their style from punk rock to post-punk and new wave, and released one album. The final line-up of this version consisted of Dave Barbarossa, Matthew Ashman, and Leigh Gorman—all of whom left the band in January 1980 at the suggestion of manager Malcolm McLaren to form Bow Wow Wow.
"Ant Rap" is a song by the British new wave band Adam and the Ants. Written by Adam Ant and Marco Pirroni, the song was remixed from the version on the group's 1981 album Prince Charming. It entered the UK Singles Chart in December 1981 at number 9 before rising to a peak position of number three.
Chris Constantinou is an English musician, best known as the bass guitarist and backing vocalist for Adam Ant.
Antics in the Forbidden Zone is a Greatest Hits compilation and accompanying video by the English new wave musician Adam Ant, released 23 October 1990 by Epic Records. The collection spans the years 1979 to 1985, including Ant's time as frontman of Adam and the Ants with selections from Dirk Wears White Sox (1979), Kings of the Wild Frontier (1980), and Prince Charming (1981), as well as his first three solo albums, Friend or Foe (1982), Strip (1983) and Vive Le Rock (1985). The collection does not include "Ants Invasion," from which the title Antics in the Forbidden Zone was taken.
Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter, is the sixth solo studio album by Adam Ant. The album's title was announced by Ant in the NME in April 2010. As he had announced at his gig in Chatham in September 2012, the new album was released on 21 January 2013 by Ant's own record label, Blueblack Hussar Records. Despite the independent self-release, the album reached number 25 on the UK Albums Chart, only one place lower than its predecessor, Wonderful, released on the major EMI label nearly eighteen years earlier. It had previously been at number 8 in the midweek chart update.
"Dog Eat Dog" is the opening track on the Adam and the Ants album Kings of the Wild Frontier. It was written by Adam Ant & Marco Pirroni, and features the two-drummer Burundi beat for which Adam and the Ants would become famous. Released as a 7" single on 3 October 1980, it was their first top ten hit.
"Room at the Top" is a song by Adam Ant, and the lead track on his fourth solo album, Manners & Physique. It was released as a single on 5 February 1990, a month prior to the album's release. It would prove to be Ant's final top 20 single in the US.
