This month marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of Kings of the Wild Frontier, the second studio album from Adam and the Ants. This 1980 release spent thirty-five weeks on the US Billboard Album chart, peaking at number 44.
For my full review, click here.
For more from Adam Ant, click here.
I'm very thankful for this album and for your mention of it.
ReplyDeleteNot a clue who Adam & the Ants were until one fateful Saturday morning on American Bandstand. (Looked it up - it was May 16, 1981.) By then, they were already topping the UK chart with "Stand & Deliver", the debut single from their third album, Prince Charming, which was just voted by Classic Pop magazine readers as the number 4 album of the 1980s just ahead of Kings at number 8. Meanwhile, the title track from Kings Of The Wild Frontier was also spending its 18th and final week on that chart, down at number 66.
On the US Rock charts that week, Kings Of The Wild Frontier was in its seventh week on the Rock Album chart and "Antmusic" was in its fourth week on the Top Tracks chart. The album was also number 31 on the Disco Top 100 after fourteen weeks. Over on the mainstream Top LPs & Tape chart, Kings Of The Wild Frontier was sitting at number 56 after twelve weeks on the chart.
Following that episode of Bandstand (which also featured this gem), I peddled my orange ten-speed up to the Base Exchange (BX) on Chanute Air Force Base, Rantoul, Illinois and snagged my copy of the album and spent the rest of the Summer etching the songs into my brain.
Love/hate these reminders of how long an album has been out but I sure do dig the albums.
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