Music / Prince Charming

I spend my cash on looking flash and grabbing your attention. The devil take your stereo and your record collection! The way you look, you'll quality for next year's old age pension..

"Stand and deliver, your money or your life! *vigorous drumming* Yah!"

—"Stand and Deliver"

Prince Charming is the third and final studio album by Adam and the Ants, released in 1981. It's best remembered for the Top 5 hit singles "Stand and Deliver" and "Prince Charming".

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Tracklist:

Side One

1. "Scorpios" (2:46)
2. "Picasso Visita El Planeta De Los Simios" (3:28)
3. "Prince Charming" (3:18)
4. "Five Guns West" (5:02)
5. "That Voodoo!" (4:18)

Side Two

1. "Stand and Deliver" (3:35)
2. "Mile High Club" (2:42)
3. "Ant Rap" (3:26)
4. "Mowhok" (3:28)
5. "S.E.X." (3:50)
6. "The Lost Hawaiians" (1:05)

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Principal Members:

• Adam Ant - lead vocals, harmonica
• Chris "Merrick" Hughes - drums
• Terry Lee Miall - drums
• Marco Pirroni - guitar
• Gary Tibbs - bass

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Stand and Deliver - your tropes or your life!

• Anachronism Stew:
  • The video for "Stand And Deliver" mostly has a 17th or 18th century look, but with several unexplained modern elements.
  • "Prince Charming" is based on Cinderella but his fairy godmother gives him a car instead of a carriage.
• Boogie Knights: Adam Ant dances in a very shiny suit of armour in the music video for "Ant Rap".
• Chandelier Swing: Adam swings on in the ballroom in "Prince Charming".
• The Dandy: Lampshaded in "Stand And Deliver":
  I'm the dandy highwayman so sick of easy fashion
  The clumsy boots, peek-a-boo roots that people think so dashing
  So what's the point of robbery when nothing is worth taking?
  It's kind of tough to tell a scruff the big mistake he's making
• Face on the Cover: A close-up of Adam's face, shown full frontal.
• Fairy Godmother: Diana Dors plays Adam's in the video for "Prince Charming".
• Gainax Ending: The music video for "Prince Charming" has the crowd at the ball freezing and disappearing, followed by Adam smashing a mirror with a hammer. Immediately afterward, it shows him singing the refrain ("Prince Charming, Prince Charming, ridicule is nothing to be scared of") as The Man With No Name, Alice Cooper, Rudolph Valentino as The Sheik, and the Dandy Highwayman.
• Gratuitous French: "Ant Rap".
  Liberté, Egalité, aujourd'hui c'est très très très
  Voici l'opportunité nous incroyables
• Gratuitous Spanish: "Picasso Visita El Planeta De Los Simios", though only the title and not in the lyrics. The song was re-released on the Ant Box set with the title in English.
• Hidden Track: "The Lost Hawaiians".
• The Highway Man: Ant's persona in "Stand And Deliver".
• Intercourse with You: "S.E.X."
  And sex is sex forget the rest
  The only one that's free
  The only great adventure left
  To humankind that's you and me
• Nature Adores a Virgin: "S.E.X.", despite being about sex, informs us that "virginity is no crime".
• One-Word Title: "Scorpios" and "Mowhok".
• Pep-Talk Song: "Mile High Club"
  Never give up never say die
  Ignore the fools when they cry
  "If this thing fails - nothing at all!"
  It won't fail
• Prince Charming: "Prince Charming".
  Prince Charming, Prince Charming
  Ridicule is nothing to be scared of
• Shout-Out:
  • "Scorpios" references British sex symbol and actress Diana Dors.
    With nails as sharp as Diana Dors
  • "Picasso Visita El Planeta De Los Simios" references painter Pablo Picasso in the title and Planet of the Apes
    I watched Picasso visit the planet of the apes
  • "Five Guns West" references the female pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read.
    Ladies can be captains and ladies can be chiefs
    Just like glorious Amazons, Anne Bonny, Mary Read
    Ladies can be captains and ladies can be chiefs
  • The end of the "Prince Charming" music video had Adam Ant dressed as (in order) The Man With No Name, Alice Cooper, and Rudolph Valentino in The Sheik, before showing him as the highwayman from "Stand and Deliver".
• Spelling Song: "S.E.X.".
  Your body should be yours
  Sex, S.E.X.
  And sharing it is sublime
• Time Marches On: "Mowhok".
  Here were are in the eighties
  Mohican, proud and fair
  Goes to show that a fashion can survive
• Title Track: "Prince Charming".
  Prince Charming, Prince Charming
  Ridicule is nothing to be scared of

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