Favorite New Wave Albums #9 - Kings of the Wild Frontier

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Time now for a shift to the new wave side of the musical spectrum, as I count down my favorite new wave albums. We are at #9: Kings of the Wild Frontier by Adam and the Ants. Led by highly charismatic vocalist Adam Ant, Adam and the Ants were a British new wave group that formed in London in 1977. But did you know that there were, in fact, two incarnations of Adam and the Ants? The band was already making a splash when, in 1980, former Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren talked the three guys not named "Ant" into leaving to join Bow Wow Wow. No problem. Adam Ant grabbed original Siouxsie and the Banshees guitarist Marco Pirroni and formed a new group, complete with dual drummers. The new band wasted no time, releasing Kings of the Wild Frontier that same year. A classic new wave album (produced by Chris Thomas, who, performing under the working name "Merrick," was one of the group's two drummers,) Kings of the Wild Frontier sounded unlike anything else going on in rock music at the time. The title track is, frankly, bloody awesome, "Ant Music" reached #2 in the UK (and #14 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart,) and the spaghetti western-influenced "Los Rancheros" (complete with a "Clint Eastwood" chant in the chorus) is catchy as hell. Damn. What a fun album! Adam Ant, of course, went on to a successful solo career. Marco Pirroni stayed with him until the pair had a falling out in 2010, and also played guitar on four Sinead O'Connor albums, while Chris Thomas enhanced his reputation as a producer by helming the first two albums by Tears for Fears (he also co-wrote "Everybody Wants to Rule the World.") And had none of that post-Ants success happened, there would still always be the glory that was Kings of the Wild Frontier! (Info verified by Wikipedia)