Albums Revisited: Adam Ant’s ‘Wonderful’ at 20: Peter Marks celebrates the brief career revival of the New Wave icon.

By: Peter Marks

When people think of Adam Ant invariably one of two albums are brought up: ‘Friend or Foe’ and ‘Strip’. It is easy to forget how many other releases he has out (especially the ones he did with the Ants besides ‘Kings of the Wild Frontier’) but the one record which is routinely overlooked most would be 1995’s ‘Wonderful’. This was Adam re-born and re-designed for the new decade in a decidedly rough and ready manner. After the debacle of ‘Manners and Physique’ it was time for a change. Pronto. Every artist is allowed a misfire in their career, that one was his.

By the time Ant and Pirroni reconvened to begin work on this release the public could have cared less. Britpop was at its height with a new crop of pretty boys to go up on the walls so really who cared anymore about what some former 80s pop star was up to. I can attest to the times when playing ‘Wonderful’ drew some very strange looks from friends of mine who just wouldn’t shut up about Blur, Oasis or Suede; there was a very resistant attitude towards someone who had come up with such iconic imagery having the nerve to re-invent themselves and that is precisely what our jolly highwayman did.

Gone were the garish costumes and slapstick videos and in their place we got to meet up with an older, wiser and far more reflective gentleman. Who primarily now wore leather. Continuously. Along with Marco, Adam recruited Boz Boorer (of Morrissey fame) to assist with the writing process. The results first became apparent to me one day sitting around watching VH1 when the video for “Wonderful” debuted. Oh now this was something of a much different nature; no comedic undertones were to be found here, it remains one of the heaviest tunes he’s put out. The earnestness jumped out of the screen and left me flabbergasted, where in the hell had this come from and why had it taken so long to get there.

It goes without saying that my girlfriend at the time, a massive Ant fan, went hysterical when she heard this. He wasn’t due to play our city for months but she immediately obtained tickets. The true test had been passed: the ladies liked it; for Adam Ant they have always been his biggest supporters, whether this is by design or if it’s just a happy coincidence is unknown. Mr. Goddard’s lips are sealed.

I was dispatched downtown to secure a copy of both the single and album; the first proved easy enough to procure, both parts even. Oh I should explain something here, labels used to issue CD singles as sets sometimes. Both discs would come with b-sides. Even at his lowest point, Adam has been a king of them, you might almost say that he puts his best tracks outside of the album as a reward to those willing to track them down. “Norman” is only to be found on the first disc of that single and it is indeed a brilliant little pop gem, if you haven’t had the pleasure do look into it. Other stunners would have been “Phoenix”, “Woman Love Run Through Me” and “Goes Around”. All of this made finding a copy of the full length vital.

To do this I had to haggle with a record store employee for the promotional copy they’d gotten (another hallmark of ages past is that labels serviced some outlets and others they ignored) and buy two copies of the entire single. This I happily did and a quick bus ride later I was back home savoring this delicately crafted collection of down and dirty ditties.

“Won’t Take That Talk” kicked it off with some nasty guitar work and muscular vocals from Adam but if people thought he’d just made a rock album they were in for a surprise. “Beautiful Dream” dabbled in dub and delivered a groovy electronic edge which you couldn’t help bobbing your head along with. Each track improved upon the last and with repeated listens wormed into my skull handily; “1969 Again”, “Image of Yourself”, “Alien” and “Vampires” made up most of the core, ‘Wonderful’ concluded with a charmer called “Very Long Ride”.

Now naturally the critics of the time savaged Adam for this radical departure from what they’d come to expect. How could he have done this? To us. The fickle English press tore the album to pieces and sneered at the bare bones feel of it but Ant really didn’t give a shit. He went on tour with his two drummers and played smaller, more intimate venues. Under these conditions what oozed out on disc became a visceral and imposing presence; these songs were here to kick your ass and perhaps get you to think, they didn’t concern themselves with pleasantries.

The artwork was black and white, the words were just as to the point. Just to drive it home even harder, a second two-part single for “Gotta Be a Sin” emerged and boasted some bruising live versions of several classics. As always, his version of “Physical (You’re So)” is the best and in a live setting it shook the foundations of the venue I saw him at.

This would be the last we’d hear from him for some time and even though he’s since gone back to his classic look there was a time when he put himself out there as he was. Stripped of all defenses and completely vulnerable; it takes a rare sort of person to risk so much knowing that total strangers are going to be allowed to get up close and personal but for Adam Ant these tunes define him best. A veteran. A survivor. A singer and an entertainer of the highest caliber; you can keep your auto-tuned jump cuts that pass for music these days. If I’m ever wanting to feel a bit less alone in the world I will play this record which after two decades has aged brilliantly.