Adam Ant: B-Side Babies – US – CD [1994]

1. Adam And The Ants: Fall-In
2. Adam And The Ants: Making History
3. Adam And The Ants: Beat My Guest
4. Adam And The Ants: Friends (Version 2)
5. Adam Ant: Red Scab
6. Adam Ant: Juanito The Bandito
7. Adam Ant: Why Do Girls Love Horses
8. Adam Ant: Yours, Yours, Yours
9. Adam Ant: Kiss The Drummer
10. Adam Ant: B-Side Baby
11. Adam Ant: Greta-X
12. Adam Ant: Human Bondage Den
13. Adam And The Ants: Physical (You’re So)
14. Adam Ant: It Doesn’t Matter
15. Adam And The Ants: Christian D’or
16. Adam Ant: Vive Le Rock (Instrumental Dub Mix)

I was a modest Adam Ant fan, but probably more of one following the hot set I saw Adam with Maco Pironni and band perform in the Fern Park Station rock club in Orlando in the spring of 1993. It was a perfect set and a fantastic show. Later that year I bought my first Adam Ant CD, a solid singles collection but the first pressing came with a bonus live CD recorded shortly before the time I saw him, so it was close to the vibe of that show. It was browising the bins the next year in Park Avenue CDs that I saw the disc above of Adam Ant B-sides and snapped it up with gusto. Show me a good collection of rarities that I don’t have to buy and compile myself, and I capitulate like a puppy dog.

Most of these songs were old Pre-Ants-era songs given a new run-thouugh with his then contemporary band. So these were older songs [from a younger time] with a band of steely-eyed, flat bellied professionals recording them. How could we lose? “Fall-In” was so old that Lester Square [later of Monochrome Set] had played it with Ant. It’s two minutes of Punk energy shot through with Adam’s penchant for pop. How many Punk songs ended with a chorus of “bop-shu-wop?”

“Making HIstory” was a track cut from the US release of “Kings Of The Wild Frontier” so that the B-side of “Dog Eat Dog” could be added to the US edition in its place. I can’t say that was a bad idea, since “Physical [You’re So]” is actually the superior song, even if it was tonally off from the “Kings” template. “Making History” was a bit of light-hearted metaphor on the topic from Adam.

The torrid “Beat My Guest” was another scorcher we’ve discussed before. Surely one of the best B-sides, ever? The early Ant music [as opposed to Antmusic] was grounded in S+M themes and deliberate bad taste and the song was a lot more aggressive than the hits Adam had. It was of a piece with the aforementioned “Physical [You’re So]” but also with the “Goody Two Shoes” B-side “Red Scab.” The latter a paean to Adam’s “Pure Sex” tattoo. It was the better of the B-sides from the “Goody Two Shoes” period.

The other two from those singles were the corny joke songs of “Juanito The Bandito” and “Why Do Girls Love Horses?” These two were not Adam’s finest hours, to put it mildly. Much better things were ahead in this program with the great “Kiss The Drummer” having been the salvation of the “Puss ‘N Boots” single on its flipside. I liked the poppiness of this one and the xylophones were an unusual touch, especially with the string synths.

More strong material followed with “B-side Baby,” “Greta-X” and “Human Bondage Den.” The first of which, surely must have dated back to Adam’s Pre-Ants days with his band the B-Sides. The chugging harmonica on this one was something we usually didn’t hear on Adam’s records. It sounded like producer Tony Visconti put a chorus effect on it. “Greta-X” was the B-side to the fantastic “Vive Le Rock” single and a tip of the hat by Adam to that popular pastime, transvestism. And the latter was a cassette bonus track [remember those?] from the great “Vive Le Rock” album.

The sequencing got a little wonky three quarters the way through. We next had “Physical, {You’re So]” even though it was the B-side to 1980’s “Dog Eat Dog,” the first Adam + The Ants hit. In 1993 that song was newly ascendant due to Nine Inch Nails cover version from 1992. But Adam’s version was far wittier. I love his delivery of the line “those dirty things” which was campier than Trent Reznor would ever allow himself to be.

“It Doesn’t Matter” was an odd track, left over from the “Vive Le Rock” sessions. It’s a weird one about disliking a girlfriend due to her armpit odor. Surely the first and last time this subject ever inspired a song. At any rate, it sounded unfinished, and probably for good reason. Much stronger was the “Prince Charming” B-side, “Christian D’Or.” Wherein Adam got to list his fetishes to music. The last cut here was the “Vive Le Rocl” dub mix which [amazingly] didn’t fit on the “Vive Le Rock” DLX RM that happened over a decade later, so it’s appearance here is still the only place to hear it on the silver disc, amazingly enough.

This was a fun collection with a good hit to miss ratio. Many of these tracks have made their way to the silver disc in other releases, but in 1994, this was a singular piece for the American Adam Ant market. I’ll gather that for many years this CD was trading hands in other countries for a premium. And even today, the copies of this on the secondary market are a surprising $20-60. Which makes me doubly glad I invested by $5.00 for it almost 30 years ago. What I can’t believe, revisiting this release today, is that I never wrote a review of the wonderful “Vive Le Rock” DLX RM which my good friend Mr. Ware gifted me with almost four years ago for my birthday! I swore I reviewed that disc ages ago. I remember listening to that heavily in preparation for a review…which must have gotten bumped by some unplanned event. This must change. Watch this space.

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