''Prince Charming'' is the third album by and final credited to

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 ...

(future albums would be credited to

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 ...

), released in November 1981. This album features bass player

Gary Tibbs Gary Tibbs (born Gary Brian Tibbs, 25 January 1958) is a bass guitarist and actor. He is best known as a member of Adam and the Ants and Roxy Music. He appeared alongside Hazel O'Connor in the film '' Breaking Glass'' (1980) as bass guitarist ...

in place of

Kevin Mooney Kevin Paul Mooney (born 5 May 1962) is an English-Irish bassist and guitarist who has worked with Adam Ant, Sinéad O'Connor, and others. Career Born in the Greenwich area of London, Mooney began his musical career in 1977 with the English-Ir ...

, the bassist on ''Kings of the Wild Frontier''. The album included the band's two number one UK hit singles "

Stand and Deliver ''Stand and Deliver'' is a 1988 American drama film directed by Ramón Menéndez, written by Menéndez and Tom Musca, based on the true story of a high school mathematics teacher, Jaime Escalante. For portraying Escalante, Edward James Olmos wa ...

" and "

Prince Charming Prince Charming is a fairy tale stock character who comes to the rescue of a damsel in distress and must engage in a quest to liberate her from an evil spell. This classification suits most heroes of a number of traditional folk tales, incl ...

" as well as "Ant Rap". The album peaked at number 2 in the UK charts and received mixed reviews from critics. The track "Five Guns West" appears unrelated to the

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

film ''

Five Guns West ''Five Guns West'' is a 1955 Western film set during the American Civil War directed by Roger Corman. It was Corman's first film as director although he had already made two as producer. It was the second film released by the American Releasing ...

.''

Release

''Prince Charming'' was released in November 1981 by

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

. The album spawned the two UK number 1 singles "

" (with a different ending from the single version) and "

", which reached number 1 in April and September 1981 respectively, and " Ant Rap" which reached number 3 in January 1982 when it was remixed. The album was remastered and reissued in 2004 with six bonus demo tracks. On 10 September 2008, the ''

Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publish ...

'' gave away a CD copy of ''Prince Charming'' with the newspaper.

Reception

Writing in ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand fo ...

'' magazine in November 1981, Ian Birch gave the album 5 out of 10 and commented "Gone are the strong melodies that made ''Kings of the Wild Frontier'' so addictive; in are elaborate details (the intros are the highpoint here)... The surface might be glossily busy but it's no substitute for good songs." In his retrospective review,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "the songs just aren't there", stating that it "simply has style and sound – which, in retrospect, isn't all that bad", while ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' called it "exactly the same album s ''Kings of the Wild Frontier'' except with a blue cover." ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' called it "a letdown" and that "much of the LP seems forced, ill-tempered and silly."

Alleged plagiarism

The song "Prince Charming" employs strong musical influences in common with

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (born 30 March 1930) is an Australian entertainer whose career has encompassed work as a musician, singer-songwriter, composer, comedian, actor, painter and television personality. He often used unusual instruments in his performan ...

' 1965 song "War Canoe", and in March 2010 Harris claimed on BBC Radio 5 Live's '' Danny Baker Show'' that an out-of-court settlement had been reached and a large sum of royalties received after a musicologist had found the two songs to be musically identical. "Prince Charming" producer Chris Hughes has stated that Harris withdrew his complaint "with a bit of a giggle" when Adam Ant pointed out that both tracks borrowed heavily from an old Maori recording of a 'War Canoe'-type song.

Track listing

Note: Some releases have "Prince Charming" as track 1 and "Scorpios" as track 3.

Personnel

; Adam and the Ants *

– vocals, bass, harmonica *

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 ...

– guitar * Merrick – drums,

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, acoustic guitar on "Prince Charming" * Terry Lee Miall – drums *

– bass ; Technical * Ross Cullum –

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

Chart positions

References

External links

* {{Authority control Adam and the Ants albums 1981 albums Epic Records albums Albums produced by Chris Hughes (musician)