Album · Adam & the Ants
Kings of the Wild Frontier by Adam & the Ants
Kings of the Wild Frontier is an album by Adam & the Ants, released in 1980. 4 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 45 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Antmusic”, on 34 lists with a best position of #2.
Kings of the Wild Frontier, Adam and the Ants' second album, came out on 7 November 1980, on CBS in Britain and Epic elsewhere, and it's the sound of a band rebuilt from the ground up. Earlier that year, at manager Malcolm McLaren's urging, Dave Barbarossa, Matthew Ashman and Leigh Gorman had walked out to form Bow Wow Wow, leaving Adam Ant alone with the name. He regrouped with guitarist Marco Pirroni and drummer Chris Hughes, who also produced, and the new Ants came stampeding back on a tribal thunder of Burundi drums.
"Antmusic", "Dog Eat Dog" and the title track made the case, and Britain bought it wholesale: it was the country's best-selling album of 1981, and it took Best British Album at the 1982 Brit Awards. The band's videos found a home on MTV too, which made them part of the Second British Invasion in America.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from Kings of the Wild Frontier on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antmusic | 34 | #2 | – | 1981–2021 | |
| 2 | Dog Eat Dog | 5 | #43 | – | 1981–2003 | |
| 3 | Kings of the Wild Frontier | 4 | #30 | – | 1980–2026 | |
| 4 | The Magnificent Five | 2 | #899 | – | 2002–2003 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.