Adam and the Offshoots

by Mr J Karr

During the earlier part of his career Adam Ant brought together many talented musicians who went on to become the nucleus of other bands.

Adam and the Ants began with the B-Sides formed by Adam Ant (vocals) and Lester Square (guitar), who had met at Art School. The next permanent member was Andy Warren (bass). Other temporary members of note included Dorothy (drums) and Bid (vocals). After the band's name was changed to Adam And The Ants, Lester Square left the band. Unfortunately, to my knowledge, no recordings of the B-Sides or the Ant-Square-Warren ANTS lineup have survived, or more likely, no one actually wants to admit to them. After leaving the Ants, Lester Square began working with Bid to found the first off-shoot, The Monochrome Set.

Having been rejected as a client by Malcolm McLaren, the Ants were adopted by Jordan, McLaren's assistant (she's the girl in Rock & Roll Swindle with the lessons written on her chest). While Adam got the starring role in Jubilee, The Monochrome Set were getting taken a lot more seriously and had several singles released on the Rough Trade label.

Through most 1978 and 1979 the Ants were fairly stable with Andy Warren (bass), David Barbe (drums), and Matt Ashman (guitar), with Jordan as Manager and occasional vocalist. During this period Andy briefly joined Marco Pirroni and Dorothy in Rema Rema, who had an EP released posthumously (of a live performance without Andy) on 4AD. Marco had played guitar (with Sid Vicious on drums) in the first line-up of Siouxsie and the Banshees (again there don't seem to be any recordings in existence).

After the recording of Dirk Wears White Sox, Andy Warren made the worst possible career move, joining the Monochrome Set who had toured the States, left their bassist behind, and gotten signed to a major label. Since after his first show, Andy's replacement, Lee Gorman, got nabbed by Malcolm McLaren along with the rest of the band for Bow Wow Wow, it is probable that Andy's departure wasn't as much a career move as a response to the situation that must have existed within the band.

After losing his entire band Adam recruited Marco Pirroni (late of the Models and Rema Rema) as his main partner in crime and filled out the Kings of the Wild Frontier Band with Chris Hughes, Terry Lee Miall, and Kevin Mooney. Before the first American Tour Kevin Mooney became romantically involved with Jordan and both left the band. Kevin was promptly replaced by Gary Tibbs. Kevin and and Jordan put together a band called Wide Boy Awake, which got picked up by RCA (now BMG) at about the same time as Bow Wow Wow. Wide Boy Awake released one 12 inch single, Chicken Outlaw, which flopped on its initial release but I can remember hearing the B-Side, Slang Teacher, in New York clubs throughout the 80s.

There was a great article in the defunct Trouser Press with a chart tracing all of the different lineups and their associations. When I locate the article again, I'll try to scan it and have it posted here.