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Cover of Kings of the Wild Frontier by Adam & the Ants
Cover: Kings of the Wild Frontier

Song · Adam & the Ants

“Antmusic” by Adam & the Ants

From the album Kings of the Wild Frontier (1980)

“Antmusic” by Adam & the Ants appears on 34 radio countdowns from 9 stations between 1981 and 2021. It was first released in 1980 on the album Kings of the Wild Frontier. Its best result is #2 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1981. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #2 alternative song of 1981, #823 alternative song of all time and #337 of the '80s.

34countdowns
9stations
#2best position
0#1 finishes
1top 10 finishes
1981–2021years charted

Watch

Adam & The Ants - Antmusic

Video from YouTube (AdamAntVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Antmusic" is Adam Ant's manifesto, a song he wrote with Marco Pirroni for Kings of the Wild Frontier, the second Adam and the Ants album, in 1980. The title doubles as his name for everything he makes, with the Ants or on his own, and the idea had already shown up as a slogan, "Antmusic for sex people", on the sleeve of the earlier single "Dog Eat Dog".

On record it's pure swagger: Pirroni's electric guitar slashing away, Kevin Mooney's bass, and two drummers, Chris Hughes and Terry Lee Miall, pounding out a tribal stomp while Adam crows his lead vocal and adds piano. Hughes produced, and the whole thing plays like a call to arms.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1981 2 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1981 106

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
– 131 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 200 Songs of the 1980s 200
1988 330 Live 105 Live 105 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1988) 501
1989 189 91X 91X Top 191 Songs of the 1980s (1989) 191
1989 337 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1989) 495
1989 74 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1991 141 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1991) 302
1991 454 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1992 499 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1992 253 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1992) 299
1994 271 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1994 312 Live 105 Live 105 Revolutionary 500 (July 1994) 500
1994 294 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1996 310 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1996 385 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1996 296 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1998 397 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 163 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 384 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1999) 500
1999 989 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 735 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 735 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 735 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 515 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 735 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2004 735 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 735 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2007 1768 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1739 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 1767 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 1810 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1885 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1949 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2021 873 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909

Also listed as: Ant Music.

Charting alongside it in 1981

Best songs of 1981 →
  1. 1Start Me UpThe Rolling Stones
  2. 2Tom SawyerRush
  3. 3I Love Rock-N-RollJoan Jett
  4. 4Every Little Thing She Does Is MagicThe Police
  5. 5Jukebox HeroForeigner
  6. 6For Those About to RockAC/DC

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