Music / Dirk Wears White Sox

The family of noise is here and it's come to save everybody!.

Dirk Wears White Sox is the debut studio album by Adam and the Ants, released in 1979. It is the only album released by the original Adam and the Ants line-up, who would go on to be swiped by Malcolm McLaren for Bow Wow Wow. The "Dirk" of the title refers to classic British film icon Dirk Bogarde.

---

Tracklist:

Side One

1. "Cartrouble (Parts 1 & 2)"
2. "Digital Tenderness"
3. "Nine Plan Failed"
4. "Day I Met God"
5. "Tabletalk"

Side Two

1. "Cleopatra"
2. "Catholic Day"
3. "Never Trust A Man (With Egg On His Face)"
4. "Animals And Men"
5. "Family Of Noise"
6. "The Idea"

---

Bonus Tracks (Reissues):

1. "Kick!" (2:05)
2. "Zerox" (3:45)
3. "Whip In My Valise" (3:58)
4. "Physical" (3:59)
5. "Friends" (2:40)

---

Principal Members:

• Adam Ant - lead vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica
• Matthew Ashman - guitar, piano
• Dave Barbarossa - drums, percussion
• Marco Pirroni - guitar
• Andrew Warren - bass

---

Never Trope A Man (With Egg On His Face):

• Album Title Drop: The line "Dirk wears white sox" doesn't appear until "Don't Be Square (Be There)" on the NEXT Ants' album, Kings of the Wild Frontier.
• Aliens Are Bastards: "Never Trust A Man (With Egg On His Face)", in which a woman shoots her husband in front of her children because of an extraterrestrial conspiracy (or possibly just a psychotic break):
  She was the victim of an awful plan
  Announced through the mouthpiece of a little green man
  She'd heard the voices from outer space
  Saying, "Never trust a man with egg on his face
• Alliterative Name: The main character in "Whip In My Valise"
  I can't thank her, my Sunday spanker
• Anti-Love Song: "Digital Tenderness"
  That alphabet you call love is just a digital tenderness
  (...) And my heart is stronger than a four-letter-long word
• Belief Makes You Stupid: "The Idea"
  I could be religious if...
  You didn't have to kneel down
  I could be religious if...
  A god would say "hello"
  I could be religious if...
  An angel touched my shoulder
• Car Song: "Cartrouble (Parts 1 & 2)"
  Have you ever had a ride in a light blue car?
  Ever stopped to think who's the slave and who's the master?
  Have you ever had trouble with your auto-mobile?
  Have you ever had to push, push, push?
  Car trouble
• Deliberately Monochrome: The album cover.
• Ethereal Choir: "The Day I Met God"
  And the herald angels sang: "Ooh, ooh, oooh, ooh
• Gratuitous Italian: "Animals And Men"
  Uno, due, tre, quattro...
• Mundane Made Awesome: "Cartrouble", a song about ... well... car trouble.
• Named After Somebody Famous: "Cleopatra", named after the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII.
• One-Woman Song: "Cleopatra".
• One-Word Title: "Tabletalk", "Kick!", "Zerox", "Physical" and "Friends".
• Post-Punk: It was released in its wake.
• Record Producer: Adam Ant and Chris Hughes.
• Religion Rant Song: "The Idea"
  I could be religious if...
  You didn't have to kneel down
  I could be religious if...
  A god would say "hello"
  I could be religious if...
  An angel touched my shoulder
• Shout-Out:
  • The "Dirk" in the album title refers to actor Dirk Bogarde.
  • "Catholic Day" references the assassination of John F. Kennedy and his affair with Marilyn Monroe. The song also name-drops the line "I see the chickens have come home to roost", which was Malcolm X's reaction when interviewed about JFK's death.
  Kennedy died in '63
  Poor John.F-
  (...) No more messing around, playing with Monroe
  (...) Kennedy's wife with his brain on her knee
  Poor Jackie-
  • "Animals And Men" references artists from the Futurism movement:
  Marinetti, Boccioni, Carra, Balla, Palazzeschi!
  Marinetti, Boccioni, Carra, Balla, Palazzeschi!
  Futurist Manifesto!
  Futurist Manifesto!
  • "Cleopatra" has a reference to the film Cleopatra, and what a disappointment it was:
    What a weak distorted image
    Elizabeth and Richard gave you
  • "Family Of Noise" quotes from "She Loves You" by The Beatles, available on Past Masters.
  • "Nine Plan Failed"
  Now he wears big spectacles
  And he sings like Buddy Holly
• Sadist: The subject person in "Whip In My Valise", whose activities include pulling the wings off flies, killing grandmothers, and good old punishment.
  Your sadistic suits my masochistic
• Spell My Name With An S: The word "socks" is spelled as "sox" in the title.
• Stock Punishment: "Whip In My Valise"
  You put my head into the stocks
  And then you, you went to choose a cane
• Too Kinky to Torture: The main character in "Whip In My Valise"
  I can't thank her, my Sunday spanker
• War Is Hell: "Nine Plan Failed"
  After nine years in the army, they took away his brain
  They tattooed "defect" on his brow
  And signed him up again

---