ADAM & THE ANTS 'DIRK WEARS WHITE SOX'

1. "Cartrouble (Parts 1 & 2)" – 6.51
2. "Digital Tenderness" – 3.03
3. "Nine Plan Failed" – 5.18
4. "Day I Met God" – 2.58
5. "Tabletalk" – 5.34
6. "Cleopatra" – 3.15
7. "Catholic Day" – 3.08
8. "Never Trust A Man (With Egg On His Face)" – 3.13
9. "Animals And Men" – 3.20
10. "Family Of Noise" – 2.36
11. "The Idea" – 3.26
12. "Zerøx" – 3.48"
13. "Whip In My Valise" – 4.00
14. "Kick!" – 1.36
15. "Physical" – 3.59
16. "Cartrouble (Parts 1 & 2) (Hughes Mix)" – 6.36
17. "Friends" – 2.40
18. "Cartrouble (Single Version)" – 3.24
19. "Kick! (Single Version)" – 2.06

There are lots of people I'm sure who think of Adam Ant then 'Prince Charming', 'Kings Of The Wild Frontier', 'Stand And Deliver' etc. How many know that THIS was the first (and best) Ants Album? This was recorded by the original line-up before that bastard Malcolm McLaren stole the drummer, guitarist and bass player to form Bow Wow Wow. I first bought this as a 10-year-old lad and still have that original vinyl copy - I loved it then and still love it now. The remastered CD has such crisp, tight sound - sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday.

"The original Ants lineup released only one LP, Dirk Wears White Sox for Do It in 1979. The album finds a young Adam Ant exploring the sometimes-awkward fusion of punk, glam, and minimalist post-punk with bizarre images and disturbing tales of alienation, sex, and brutality." Second Spin

"People tend to overlook ‘Dirk Wears White Sox’ in the context of Adam Ant’s career as it was before the years of success, and the chart-topping collaborations with Marco Pirroni that turned him into a proper star. It was before the teenage girls (and boys) were squealing and wetting their knickers over the dandy highwayman; before the make-up stripes and the Red Indian obsession; before the military jackets and the shoelace skull giveaways with Look-In; before Diana Dors, sow-on patches and appearances on Swap Shop. That’s what most people think of when they think of Adam Ant or maybe even ‘Save the Gorilla’ and his subsequent struggles with mental illness. It used to massively piss me and my brother off that during the height of Britpop, when Damon Albarn was asked about his influences he’d reel off the cool ones – XTC, Wire etc – but never ever give Adam Ant any credit. If you listen to ‘Dirk Wears White Sox’ (especially ‘Never Trust a Man (With Egg on His Face)’, with it’s oh so English lyrical references like the suit “bought from Marks”, and twirly riffing), you’ll be left in no doubt that Damon (and Graham) had definitely been listening too." The White Noise Revisited

"...the spareness of the production, its musical minimalism and its lyrical perversity - the latter laden with references to Catholicism, sex and sadomasochism which would have flown right over my head as a callow youth. Having said that, to this day, I'm still not entirely sure what the song 'Never Trust a Man (With Egg On His Face)' is all about. But what I do know is that, with its choppy, scratchy guitars and syncopated — almost danceable — rhythms, Dirk Wears White Sox sounds remarkably contemporary in a musical universe inhabited by such young art punk pretenders as Franz Ferdinand, Hot Hot Heat and the Kaiser Chiefs." Nude Magazine

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