Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter
Encyclopedia
Adam Ant Is The Blueblack Hussar in Marrying The Gunner's Daughter is the upcoming sixth solo studio album
by Adam Ant
. The album is due to be released in 2012 by Ant's own record label Blueblack Hussar Records, as confirmed by Ant's official website and numerous interviews. The album's title was announced by Ant in the NME
in April 2010. It has been confirmed that the album will be released in early 2012.
. However they separated and scrapped all work around March 2010 coinciding with Ant's return to live performance. The majority of the double album was recorded with Boz Boorer
on a laptop, additionally Chris McCormack co-wrote 6 of the album's tracks. Ant has explained that the idea behind the album's title is that the Blueblack Hussar is his classic Kings of the Wild Frontier
-era persona, back from the dead, while the phrase "marrying the gunner's daughter" (an old naval
term for a form of corporal punishment
in which sailors were tied to a ship's cannon and flogged) is intended by Ant to serve as a metaphor for how he believes artists are treated by the music industry. The album first started to receive attention after NME confirmed Ant was back in the studio in March 2010. It was initially announced Gun In My Pocket would be the first single, backed with Who's A Goofy Bunny as the b-side, a tribute to the recently deceased Malcolm Mclaren
.
Ant also worked with ex-Oasis
member Andy Bell
on a track called Cool Zombie, however Liam Gallagher
attempted to block its inclusion on the album.
In early 2011, in preparation for a cover feature for issue 2 of Vive Le Rock magazine, Ant granted journalist John Robb an exclusive listen to the entire work-in-progress for the upcoming album. Robb reported in the feature that the songs written with McCormack were "tough, hard neo-industrial song that sound like the Physical-era Ants
" while those written with Boorer were "really cool twangy rockers." Gun In Your Pocket (as it was now titled) was "a rocking neo-Stooges rush" and other songs were described as "slower almost ballad-like songs, and a brace of off the wall angular moments that hark back to the groundbreaking Ants of the debut Dirk Wears White Sox
album"
The songs Call Me Sausage, Hard Men, Tough Blokes and punkyoungirl were originally demos from 1997 which have apparently been reworked for the album.
in a deluxe gatefold sleeve and cassette
. The cover has been designed by Mary Jane Ansell.
A 40 second clip of the proposed single Hard Men, Tough Blokes was released on Ant's official website on 16 August 2011.
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
by Adam Ant
Adam Ant
Adam Ant is an English musician who gained popularity as the lead singer of New Wave/post-punk group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring ten UK top ten hits between 1980 and 1983, including three No.1s...
. The album is due to be released in 2012 by Ant's own record label Blueblack Hussar Records, as confirmed by Ant's official website and numerous interviews. The album's title was announced by Ant in the NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
in April 2010. It has been confirmed that the album will be released in early 2012.
Background and development
Adam Ant started working on the album in late 2009, originally recording with writing partner Marco PirroniMarco Pirroni
Marco Francesco Andrea Pirroni is an English guitarist, songwriter and record producer...
. However they separated and scrapped all work around March 2010 coinciding with Ant's return to live performance. The majority of the double album was recorded with Boz Boorer
Boz Boorer
Boz Boorer is a British guitarist and producer most known for his work founding the new wave rockabilly group, The Polecats, and later for his work as a co-writer, guitarist and musical director with Morrissey.-The Polecats:The band "Cult Heroes" was formed in 1977 by Tim Worman , Boz...
on a laptop, additionally Chris McCormack co-wrote 6 of the album's tracks. Ant has explained that the idea behind the album's title is that the Blueblack Hussar is his classic Kings of the Wild Frontier
Kings of the Wild Frontier
Kings of the Wild Frontier is a New Wave album by Adam and the Ants, released in 1980 . This album introduced the new Burundi drum sound. After having his previous backing band wooed away by producer Malcolm McLaren, who used them to form Bow Wow Wow, Adam Ant recorded Kings of the Wild Frontier...
-era persona, back from the dead, while the phrase "marrying the gunner's daughter" (an old naval
Navy
A navy is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake- or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions...
term for a form of corporal punishment
Corporal punishment
Corporal punishment is a form of physical punishment that involves the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to deter attitudes or behaviour deemed unacceptable...
in which sailors were tied to a ship's cannon and flogged) is intended by Ant to serve as a metaphor for how he believes artists are treated by the music industry. The album first started to receive attention after NME confirmed Ant was back in the studio in March 2010. It was initially announced Gun In My Pocket would be the first single, backed with Who's A Goofy Bunny as the b-side, a tribute to the recently deceased Malcolm Mclaren
Malcolm McLaren
Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren was an English performer, impresario, self-publicist and manager of the Sex Pistols and the New York Dolls...
.
Ant also worked with ex-Oasis
Oasis (band)
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as The Rain, the group was formed by Liam Gallagher , Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs , Paul "Guigsy" McGuigan and Tony McCarroll , who were soon joined by Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher...
member Andy Bell
Andy Bell (musician)
Andrew Piran "Andy" Bell is a Welsh musician, currently playing guitar in the band Beady Eye. He is a songwriter, singer, producer, DJ and former member of the early 1990s shoegazing band, Ride, and later, Hurricane #1...
on a track called Cool Zombie, however Liam Gallagher
Liam Gallagher
William John Paul "Liam" Gallagher is an English musician and singer-songwriter, the former frontman of the English rock band Oasis and currently of the band Beady Eye. Gallagher's erratic behaviour, distinctive singing style, and abrasive attitude have been the subject of commentary in the press...
attempted to block its inclusion on the album.
In early 2011, in preparation for a cover feature for issue 2 of Vive Le Rock magazine, Ant granted journalist John Robb an exclusive listen to the entire work-in-progress for the upcoming album. Robb reported in the feature that the songs written with McCormack were "tough, hard neo-industrial song that sound like the Physical-era Ants
Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were a British rock band active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. The original group, which existed from 1977 to 1980, became notable as a cult band marking the transition from the late-1970s punk rock era to the post-punk and New Wave era...
" while those written with Boorer were "really cool twangy rockers." Gun In Your Pocket (as it was now titled) was "a rocking neo-Stooges rush" and other songs were described as "slower almost ballad-like songs, and a brace of off the wall angular moments that hark back to the groundbreaking Ants of the debut Dirk Wears White Sox
Dirk Wears White Sox
Dirk Wears White Sox is Adam and the Ants' first album, released on Do It Records in 1979, before Adam went on to fame with "Kings of the Wild Frontier." Dirk Wears White Sox features a much more eclectic, sometimes brooding sound than Ant's later work...
album"
The songs Call Me Sausage, Hard Men, Tough Blokes and punkyoungirl were originally demos from 1997 which have apparently been reworked for the album.
Release and promotion
The album is to be released as a double album in 2012 on CD, vinylGramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
in a deluxe gatefold sleeve and cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
. The cover has been designed by Mary Jane Ansell.
A 40 second clip of the proposed single Hard Men, Tough Blokes was released on Ant's official website on 16 August 2011.
Singles
On Absolute Radio on 4 January 2011, Ant announced that the first single will be a double a-side of Hard Men, Tough Blokes and punkyoungirl, both tracks receiving their radio premieres on the show . The single will be released in late 2011.Reported Tracks
- Hard Men, Tough Blokes
- punkyoungirl [sic]
- Gun in My Pocket
- Cool Zombie
- Shrink
- Cradle Your Hatred
- Who's A Goofy Bunny
- Bullshit (a song about the internet)
- When I Was A Sperm
- Dirty Beast
- How Can I Say I Miss You
- Marrying The Gunners Daughter
- Stay In The Game
- Valentine's Day
- Vince Taylor
- Vivienne's Tears
- Bumpy Capers
- Mios Agos Y
- Call Me Sausage
- I Know