"Antmusic" is a song by English rock band

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 ...

, released as the third single in the UK from the 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 ( ...

''. "Antmusic" (often stylised as 'Antmusic') peaked at No. 2 in the UK in January 1981, being held off the top by the re-release of

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

's " Imagine" after his murder in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

on 8 December 1980. In Australia, the single spent five weeks at No. 1 on the

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent (historian), David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music ...

and earned the band

platinum certification Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

for sales of over 100,000 copies. It also reached No. 2 in South Africa, No. 4 in Ireland, and No. 6 in New Zealand. In the North America, the song reached No. 14 on the US Rock Albums & Top Tracks chart, as well as number 19 on the National Disco Action Top 30 chart (alongside " Dog Eat Dog" and "

"), but it did not find success in Canada. The music video to "Antmusic" features the group playing in a discothèque with a giant juke box, and persuading the young audience to turn away from disco music and dance to the new-styled "Antmusic". The music video was directed by

Steve Barron Steven Barron (born 4 May 1956) is an Irish-British filmmaker. He is best known for directing the music videos for the songs "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, "Summer of '69" and " Run to You" by Bryan Adams, " Money for Nothing" by Dire Stra ...

. The song was featured in the 2015 film ''

Ant-Man Ant-Man is the name of several superheroes appearing in books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Stan Lee, Larry Lieber and Jack Kirby, Ant-Man's first appearance was in ''Tales to Astonish'' #27 (January 1962) but first appeared in cost ...

''.

"Fall In"

It was common for Ant to record new versions of his pre-1980 compositions for 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 ...

of his singles. For this single, a song dating back to the pre-Ants band the B-Sides in 1976 called "Fall In" was used. The song was co-written by Ant and

Lester Square : ''For the London landmark, see Leicester Square.'' Lester Square (born Thomas Hardy, 17 April 1954, Canada) is the former lead guitarist for The Monochrome Set. He joined the first incarnation of Adam and the Ants as lead guitarist , (and its e ...

and originally titled "Fall Out" until

the Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...

released a song by that same name in May 1977. A recording has surfaced of the song being performed by the Ants at a private preview show in a Muswell Hill bedroom on 5 May 1977. Following Square's departure, Ant added new lyrics referencing the band's regular rehearsal space at the Screen on the Green cinema in Islington. The resulting version was first recorded as a home demo in Putney in July 1977, and a full band demo was recorded 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 ...

in August 1978. The version on the Antmusic B-side was recorded in 1980 during sessions for the ''Kings'' album at Rockfield Studios. The song has been a frequent feature of Ant's live setlists both with the Ants and solo from 1977 to the present day. Live versions have been released on the 1994 live album '' Antmusic: The Very Best of Adam Ant: Disc Two'' and in excerpt form on the 2014 documentary ''The Blueblack Hussar'' directed by Jack Bond. The 1978 Decca Studios version appears in full as closing credit music on the 2015 DVD live video album ''Dirk Live at the Apollo''. Square's later band

the Monochrome Set The Monochrome Set are an English post-punk/ new wave band, originally formed in London in January 1978. The most recent line-up consists of Bid, Andy Warren, Athen Ayren and Stephen Gilchrist. History Original band: 1978–1985 The Monoc ...

also continued to perform a version of the song, with new lyrics, under the title "Fallout". The song appeared as a B-side to the 1979 single "He's Frank (Slight Return)" as well as a 1979

Peel Session 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 ...

. Another joint Ant/Square composition titled "Fat Fun", which had similar shared ownership between the two bands (albeit again with differing lyrics), was recorded by the Ants at Rockfield Studios but not released until 2000 on the ''Antbox'' box set. The Monochrome Set's version of "Fat Fun" can be heard on the compilation '' Volume, Contrast, Brilliance...''.

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Cover versions

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

recorded a cover version on the B-side of his single " No Regrets" in 1998, which was used in ''

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''. *

OK Go OK Go is an American rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, now based in Los Angeles, California. The band is composed of Damian Kulash (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass guitar and vocals), Dan Konopka (drums and percussion), an ...

released a cover version of it on the B-side of the single " Get Over It". *

DJ Hyper DJ Hyper (born 23 February 1977) is a British DJ, producer and remixer, known for his use of live bass, guitars and uncompromising vocals. He has done remixes for artists such as BT and Paul Van Dyk and his music has been featured on TV and ...

recorded a cover featuring

Leeroy Thornhill Leeroy Thornhill (born 8 October 1968) is a British electronic music artist and formerly a rave dancer and occasionally keyboardist for the British electronic group the Prodigy. Thornhill's live performances throughout the 1990s included his un ...

for their album ''

We Control ''We Control'' is the debut studio album produced by English musician DJ Hyper or simply known "Hyper" and was released in 2006. The single "We Control" is featured on the popular 2005 racing game ''Need for Speed: Most Wanted (2005 video game), ...

''. * The Charlatans and Dirty Pretty Things covered it live on ''

Transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission ** ...

'' on 5 September 2008 * Rogue Traders recorded a song titled " Would You Raise Your Hands?" which contained samples from "Antmusic", including the lyrics "So unplug the jukebox and do us all a favour". *

The Quakes The Quakes are an American psychobilly band from Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the he ...

recorded a cover version on the album ''Psyops'' in 2005. * Hypnolovewheel recorded a cover of the song that was included on the compilation album ''Freedom of Choice: Yesterday's New Wave Hits as Performed by Today's Stars''.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1980 songs 1980 singles 1981 singles Adam and the Ants songs Music videos directed by Steve Barron Number-one singles in Australia Songs written by Marco Pirroni Songs written by Adam Ant Epic Records singles CBS Records singles Song recordings produced by Chris Hughes (record producer)