"Dog Eat Dog" is the opening track on the

Adam and the Ants Adam and the Ants were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. The group existed in two incarnations, both fronted by Adam Ant, over the period 1977 to 1982. The first, founded in May 1977 and known simply as The Ants until November of t ...

album ''

Kings of the Wild Frontier ''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 ( ...

''. It was written by

Adam Ant Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), 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 ...

Marco Pirroni Marco Francesco Andrea Pirroni (born 27 April 1959, London, England) 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 man ...

, and features the two-drummer

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

beat for which Adam and the Ants would become famous. Released as a 7"

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

on 3 October 1980, it was their first top ten hit.

''Top of the Pops''

Shortly after the single's release, the band performed "Dog Eat Dog" on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' on 16 October 1980, helping launch the single to number 4 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, and increasing anticipation for the forthcoming album ''Kings of the Wild Frontier'' (released 3 November 1980).

Lyrics

In his 2007

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, ''Stand and Deliver'', Adam said that "Dog Eat Dog" was inspired by a

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

quote he'd read in a newspaper. The expression refers to a situation of fierce competition in which people are willing to harm each other in order to succeed. The lyrics of this song are about bands in competition with each other, and doing just that.

"Physical (You're So)"

The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to the single was "Physical (You're So)." It was a rerecording of an old favourite among "Antpeople" which, up to this point, had been known as "Physical" or "You're So Physical." The song was first recorded by Ant as a four-track home demo in the Chelsea flat of Linda Ashby and was first played live in March 1978. Adam and the Ants performed the song at a

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

session on 10 July 1978 and recorded a full band demo at

Decca Studios Decca Studios was a recording facility at 165 Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead, North London, England, controlled by Decca Records from 1937 to 1980. The building was once West Hampstead Town Hall, and had been converted to a recording studio b ...

circa August 1978. Originally a medium-fast song, the tempo was gradually slowed down until, by late 1978, it was a slow song.\ This particular version was recorded during the ''Kings of the Wild Frontier'' LP sessions circa August 1980. On this version, Ant can be heard saying, "Eat your heart out Do It," during the track's opening riff in direct reference to Do It Records' unofficial release of an old version of the song which had been recorded during sessions for ''

Dirk Wears White Sox ''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 debut ...

'' and then discarded from the track listing, on the B-side of the Zerox single repress some months earlier. This version, along with two other ''Dirk'' out-takes, was reissued in March 1982 as The Antmusic EP. "Physical (You're So)" was not included on the UK edition of ''Kings of the Wild Frontier''. However, when the album was released in the US, the track "Making History" was dropped in favour of "Physical (You're So)" & "Press Darlings" (the B-side of "

") for the American release. "Physical" was covered by

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN and stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer Trent Reznor was the only permanent member of the band ...

, and appears as one of the two bonus songs on '' Broken''.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1980 singles Adam and the Ants songs Songs written by Adam Ant Songs written by Marco Pirroni 1980 songs CBS Records singles Song recordings produced by Chris Hughes (record producer)