Prince Charming
Studio album by
Adam and the Ants
Released6 November 1981
StudioAir Studios, London, England
GenreNew wave
Length37:21
LabelCBS
ProducerChris Hughes
Adam and the Ants chronology
Kings of the Wild Frontier
(1980) 		Prince Charming
(1981) 		Friend or Foe
(1982)
Singles from Prince Charming
  1. "Stand and Deliver"
    Released: 1 May 1981
  2. "Prince Charming"
    Released: 4 September 1981
  3. "Ant Rap"
    Released: 4 December 1981

Prince Charming is the third and final album by Adam and the Ants, released in November 1981. This album features bass player Gary Tibbs in place of Kevin Mooney, the bassist on Kings of the Wild Frontier. The album included the band's two number one UK hit singles "Stand and Deliver" and "Prince Charming" as well as "Ant Rap".

The album peaked at number 2 in the UK charts and received mixed reviews from critics.

Release

Prince Charming was released in November 1981 by CBS Records. The album spawned the two UK number 1 singles "Stand and Deliver" (with a different ending from the single version) and "Prince Charming", 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 gave away a CD copy of Prince Charming with the newspaper.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Rolling Stone[3]
Smash Hits[4]

Writing in Smash Hits 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."[4] In his retrospective review, AllMusic'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",[2] while Rolling Stone called it "exactly the same album [as Kings of the Wild Frontier], except with a blue cover."[3] Trouser Press called it "a letdown" and that "much of the LP seems forced, ill-tempered and silly."[5]

Alleged plagiarism

The song "Prince Charming" employs strong musical influences in common with Rolf Harris' 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.[6] "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 a recording of an old Maori 'War Canoe'-type song.[7]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Adam Ant and Marco Pirroni

Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Scorpios"2:46
2."Picasso Visita el Planeta de los Simios"3:28
3."Prince Charming"3:18
4."Five Guns West"5:02
5."That Voodoo!"4:18
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."Stand and Deliver"3:35
2."Mile High Club"2:42
3."Ant Rap"3:26
4."Mowhok"3:28
5."S.E.X."3:50
6."The Lost Hawaiians" (unlisted track - an instrumental re-recording of "Los Rancheros" from Kings of the Wild Frontier)1:05
2004 reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
12."Prince Charming" (Demo)3:09
13."Stand and Deliver" (Demo)3:04
14."Showbiz" (Demo)3:07
15."Picasso Visits the Planet of the Apes" (Demo)3:21
16."Who's a Goofy Bunny Then?" (Demo)4:24
17."Scorpio Writing" (Demo)3:20

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

Personnel

Adam and the Ants
Technical

Chart positions

Chart (1981–82) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[8] 7
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[9] 45
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[10] 5
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[11] 21
Japanese Albums (Oricon Albums Chart)[12] 51
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[13] 43
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[14] 29
UK Albums (OCC)[15] 2
US Billboard 200[16] 94
US Cash Box Top 200[17] 85

In popular culture

Posters promoting the album are plastered across a wall in the 2008 première episode of Ashes to Ashes, signaling Alex Drake's arrival in 1981.

References

  1. ^ "The Daily Mail at Discogs". discogs.com. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  2. ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Prince Charming – Adam and the Ants | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  3. ^ a b Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (Revised ed.). Simon and Schuster. p. 5. ISBN 9780743201698. Retrieved 22 December 2014. adam and the ants prince charming.
  4. ^ a b Birch, Ian (12 November 1981). "Album Reviews". Smash Hits. 3 (23). EMAP Metro: 25.
  5. ^ Young, Jon; Lewis, Kate; Rompers, Terry. "TrouserPress.com :: Adam Ant". TrouserPress.com. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  6. ^ "Danny Baker and Rolf Harris discuss Adam Ant's Prince Charming". The Danny Baker Show (Interview). Interviewed by Danny Baker. 27 March 2010. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2015.
  7. ^ "Classic Tracks: Adam & The Ants 'Stand & Deliver'". Sound on Sound (Interview). Interviewed by Richard Buskin. January 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  8. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  9. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0439". RPM. Library and Archives Canada.
  10. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Adam and the Ants – Prince Charming" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  11. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Adam and the Ants – Prince Charming" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
  12. ^ Okamoto, Satoshi (2006). Album Chart Book: Complete Edition 1970–2005. Oricon. ISBN 978-4-87131-077-2.
  13. ^ "Charts.nz – Adam and the Ants – Prince Charming". Hung Medien.
  14. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Adam and the Ants – Prince Charming". Hung Medien.
  15. ^ "Adam & the Ants | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  16. ^ "Adam Ant Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  17. ^ "Cash Box Top 100 Albums" (PDF). Cash Box. 23 January 1982. p. 34. Retrieved 9 March 2022.

External links

Adam Ant
Authority control databases
Categories