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The 80s, myth and reality?

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12,021
Location
East of Los Angeles
I last saw him in 2011, being lucky enough to be given one of a raft of tickets he donated to the Chap magazine after they interviewed him for a cover feature. Met him after the show, lovely fella. Quiet and shy offstage. (And Johnny Depp totes stole his look.) Still did all the old stuff too - a magnificent version of Stand And Deliver. Adam's solo era in the early eighties provided a lot of the early pop videos I can remember - him and Toni Basil. I remember desperately wanting one of the Mice costumes from the 'Puss n' Boots' video. I remember Swap Shop (kids' Saturday morning magazine show of a kind no longer made) gave away one of the helmets from that in a competition. Heady stuff. I hate loathe and despise eighties nostalgia, but not everything from back then was awful - even if you couldn't pay me enough to live through it again.
My late wife and I last saw him when he was touring the "Manners & Physique" album here in the U.S. around the turn of the century. First and only time (so far) I've been front row (grabbing the guard rail, no less) at a proper concert. Good show, Adam was in good voice, danced around a bit if the effort didn't cause him to lose his breath, and we had a great time.
 

rogueclimber

Practically Family
Messages
551
Location
Marina del Rey
I never would have imagined I would find so many Adam Ant fans in one place. Each one a bigger fan than I've ever met before. Not to sound dramatic, but this to me is like Twilight Zone material.
I wanted to be this:

1731594773445.png



But instead I went into the Army at 18yo (1982) so never really embraced my innner Adam Ant
 
Messages
12,021
Location
East of Los Angeles
Is it more a mid or late 80s reminiscence?


Those girls weren't even born yet in the 80s. Or early 90s, for that matter. That being said, if that song had been released in the 80s it would likely have been quickly forgotten because it sounds like almost every other song released in the 80s...here in the U.S., anyway. On that note, not that I'm a modern music expert, but they've been around as a band since 2009 and I've never heard of them or heard that song until today.
 
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Edward

Bartender
Messages
25,084
Location
London, UK
I've got his biography and he went through some hard times with bi-polar disease. I'm glad he's still doing his thing and entertaining devotees across the UK.

Yes, he hard a hard couple of years, greatly exacerbated by the way the tabloid press sensationalised it. He seems to be doing well again now, which is great.


I never would have imagined I would find so many Adam Ant fans in one place. Each one a bigger fan than I've ever met before. Not to sound dramatic, but this to me is like Twilight Zone material.

Heh. It is kinda funny, though when you scratch the surface.... It's not that uncommon in the UK. Depending on age, you tend to find a huge chunk of the 'vintage' scene here are old punks, goths, and/or new romantics who aged into a vintage look for various reasons. Adam and the rest of the New Romantic scene was particularly about a defiant sense of dandyism in the economically depressed UK of the turn of the eighties - a form of rebellion of sorts you see elsewhere at different times, too. The sapeurs of the Congo, for instance. Rockabilly tends to be where the punks end up; new romantics and goths go vintage. Steampunks are essentially cybergoths who discovered brown. ;)

Well that's a lot better than this -
But he did wear the jacket well...

View attachment 655484

There's a whole story behind that guitar as well. As memory serves, it was an incredibly rare Gretsch. It's not on the record, but it was sourced for the visual vibe for that shoot for the cover of the album(?) / single(?). Poor old GM. I have to admit I'd really quite written him off as a bit of a washed up former pop star until after he died, when it all came out just how much he was quietly doing for charity (nurses and homeless people particularly) without fanfare. (Likely harder these days when it all ends up on social media, of course.)

As I recall the BSA jacket was an original rocker piece that he or a stylist saw somewhere and picked out for stagewear.
 

Monte.C

One of the Regulars
Messages
157
Location
Brooklyn
Yes, he hard a hard couple of years, greatly exacerbated by the way the tabloid press sensationalised it. He seems to be doing well again now, which is great.




Heh. It is kinda funny, though when you scratch the surface.... It's not that uncommon in the UK. Depending on age, you tend to find a huge chunk of the 'vintage' scene here are old punks, goths, and/or new romantics who aged into a vintage look for various reasons. Adam and the rest of the New Romantic scene was particularly about a defiant sense of dandyism in the economically depressed UK of the turn of the eighties - a form of rebellion of sorts you see elsewhere at different times, too. The sapeurs of the Congo, for instance. Rockabilly tends to be where the punks end up; new romantics and goths go vintage. Steampunks are essentially cybergoths who discovered brown. ;)



There's a whole story behind that guitar as well. As memory serves, it was an incredibly rare Gretsch. It's not on the record, but it was sourced for the visual vibe for that shoot for the cover of the album(?) / single(?). Poor old GM. I have to admit I'd really quite written him off as a bit of a washed up former pop star until after he died, when it all came out just how much he was quietly doing for charity (nurses and homeless people particularly) without fanfare. (Likely harder these days when it all ends up on social media, of course.)

As I recall the BSA jacket was an original rocker piece that he or a stylist saw somewhere and picked out for stagewear.
I'm impressed by so many things right now. Thank you Edward. [thumbs up icon]
 

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