Dirk wears White Sox - Adam & the Ants

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How good is this album?? It has to be one of the more underated albums that i know. Anyone else have this album, i know its not released in the states

― yaeger, Monday, 22 September 2003 10:52 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't believe I picked it up `til way after the fact (it was indeed elusive here in the States), and remember being shocked by how harder-edged it was than the completely fantastic Kings of the Wild Frontier. That said, it's a fucking CLASSIC. Seek ye "Whip in My Valise", "Kick" and the amazing "Zerox". Hard to believe this is the same man who'd go onto record Room at the Top.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 22 September 2003 11:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Agreed, absolute classic. I've had it since it first came out - it may seem hard to reconcile with the later "Dandy Highwayman" incarnation of The Ants (actually, Adam himself was the only member common to both versions of the Ants) but this was pretty much standard issue for all good little punkers at the time and indeed Adam & The Ants were regularly cited as a major influence by such significant later bands as < whisper > Killing Joke < /whisper >!

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Monday, 22 September 2003 11:54 (twenty-two years ago)

'Dirk' has been a constant inspiration to me for over 20 years (yikes!). I would recommend the original/DoIt version with the lady walking into the sleeve on the cover as the preferable version; it has 'Catholic Day', 'Day I Met God' and the original 'Cartrouble (Pts 1 & 2)' which the later CBS version with Adam's face on doesn't. Nevertheless that DOES have the rerecorded 'Cartrouble', 'Kick', 'Whip In My Valise' and 'Zerox' so you really can't go wrong!

― Guy Flower, Monday, 22 September 2003 12:15 (twenty-two years ago)

And yes it was released in the States, I've got the American pressing of the CBS/Sony CD.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 22 September 2003 12:27 (twenty-two years ago)

cited as a major influence by such significant later bands as < whisper > Killing Joke

Funnily enough, Jaz played "Zerox" recently when he was Bruce Dickinson's guest on his radio show.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 22 September 2003 12:31 (twenty-two years ago)

You should look for Derek Jarman's film, "Jubilee", fetauring the Ants
playing some distressed buzzsaw punk rock. I don't know if the soundtrack is still available...yeah, whatever happened in between
"Dirk", and whenever they went "Indian",...which stage was just a phase they went through??

― Stephen Boyle (SBoyle), Monday, 22 September 2003 17:05 (twenty-two years ago)

You should look for Derek Jarman's film, "Jubilee", fetauring the Ants

Newly released on DVD....as part of the Criterion collection, no less.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 22 September 2003 18:58 (twenty-two years ago)

"whatever happened in between "Dirk", and whenever they went "Indian"....?"

In a nutshell, Adam asked Malcolm McLaren to manage the band (they'd previously been managed by Sex shop manageress and Pistols afficionado Jordan. Malcolm (displaying his usual levels of genius as a manager) promptly sacked Adam from his own band and, after rejecting Boy George as a possible replacement, opted for a teenage schoolgirl he'd heard singing in his local launderette and named the band Bowwowow. Adam meanwhile got together with another old mate, Marco Perroni (formerly a member of The Models as well as the first incarnation of Siouxsie & The Banshees) and formed a new Ants.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Monday, 22 September 2003 19:16 (twenty-two years ago)

"Funnily enough, Jaz played "Zerox" recently when he was Bruce Dickinson's guest on his radio show."

When I interviewed Joke in 1980 (before Kings Of The Wild Frontier) they cited the Ants as one of the few bands they had any respect for.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Monday, 22 September 2003 19:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Well, there you have it!

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 22 September 2003 19:34 (twenty-two years ago)

CLASSIC Post-Punk album! I bought the original Fast Product version in 1981 with the lady on the LP sleeve. IT's much better than the later CBS version. CartTrouble (PT 1 & II) is one of my favorite ever somgs and guitar riffs. Simply beautiful. I second Guy Flower's comment about how inspirational this record has been to me. Some of Adam's best lyrics are on this record too.

― Larry Tremblay, Friday, 26 September 2003 17:36 (twenty-two years ago)

two years pass...

what a great record...
great guitars and drums (the legendary drummer of "the danmed")

― soulwax, Monday, 27 February 2006 06:45 (nineteen years ago)

Great.

― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Monday, 27 February 2006 06:49 (nineteen years ago)

The reissue is a mighty fine thing.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 27 February 2006 06:54 (nineteen years ago)

Classic. Though I still like 'Kings Of The Wild Frontier' better.

― zeus (zeus), Monday, 27 February 2006 15:05 (nineteen years ago)

two years pass...

Wow, I've been playing this nonstop for the past week or so.

Am kinda struck by the fact that "Never Trust A Man (With Egg On His Face)" pretty much anticipates blur to a T.

― dlp9001, Sunday, 16 November 2008 01:32 (sixteen years ago)

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