Prince Charming (album)

Prince Charming is the third album by and final credited to Adam and the Ants (future albums would be credited to Adam Ant), 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", which went to Number 1 in Australia.

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

Content

The hidden track, "The Lost Hawaiians", is an instrumental remake of "Los Rancheros" from their previous album, Kings of the Wild Frontier.

Release

Prince Charming was released in November 1981 by Columbia 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.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[1]
Rolling Stone	^[2]
Smash Hits	^[3]
Trouser Press	unfavourable^[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."^[3] 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",^[1] while Rolling Stone called it "exactly the same album [as Kings of the Wild Frontier], except with a blue cover."^[2] Trouser Press called it "a letdown" and that "much of the LP seems forced, ill-tempered and silly."^[4]

Title track controversy

The song "Prince Charming" bears strong musical similarities to Rolf Harris' 1965 song "War Canoe", and in March 2010 Harris stated 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.^[5]

Track listing

All tracks written by Adam Ant and Marco Pirroni.

Side A
No.	Title	Length
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.	Title	Length
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)	1:05

2004 reissue bonus tracks
Track listing
No.	Title	Length
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

Adam Ant – vocals, harmonica
Marco Pirroni – guitar
Merrick – drums, production
Terry Lee Miall – drums
Gary Tibbs – bass

Technical

Ross Cullum – engineering

References

1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Prince Charming – Adam and the Ants | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
1 2 Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (Revised ed.). Simon and Schuster. p. 5. Retrieved December 22, 2014.
1 2 Birch, Ian (12 November 1981). "Album Reviews". Smash Hits. EMAP Metro. 3 (23): 25.
1 2 Young, Jon; Lewis, Kate; Rompers, Terry. "TrouserPress.com :: Adam Ant". TrouserPress.com. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
↑ "Danny Baker and Rolf Harris discuss Adam Ant's Prince Charming". The Danny Baker Show (Interview). Interview with Danny Baker. 27 March 2010. Retrieved 6 April 2015.

External links

Prince Charming at Discogs (list of releases)

Adam Ant

Adam and the Ants albums	Dirk Wears White Sox (1979) Kings of the Wild Frontier (1980) Prince Charming (1981)

Solo albums	Friend or Foe (1982) Strip (1983) Vive Le Rock (1985) Manners & Physique (1990) Persuasion (1991, unreleased) Wonderful (1995) Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter (2013)

Compilations	Antics in the Forbidden Zone (1990) Antmusic: The Very Best of Adam Ant (1994) B-Side Babies (1994) Antbox (2000) Redux (2005)

Adam and the Ants singles	"Young Parisians" (1978) "Zerox" (1979) "Cartrouble" (1980) "Kings of the Wild Frontier" (1980) "Dog Eat Dog" (1980) "Antmusic" (1980) "Stand and Deliver" (1981) "Prince Charming" (1981) "Ant Rap" (1981) "Deutscher Girls" (1982) "Friends" (1982)

Solo singles	"Goody Two Shoes" (1982) "Friend or Foe" (1982) "Desperate But Not Serious" (1982) "Room at the Top" (1990)

Related	Discography Bazooka Joe Bow Wow Wow

Book

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