Song · Adam & the Ants
“Prince Charming” by Adam & the Ants
From the album Prince Charming (1981)
“Prince Charming” by Adam & the Ants appears on 12 radio countdowns from 4 stations between 1981 and 2005. It was first released in 1981 on the album Prince Charming. Its best result is #24 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1981. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #24 alternative song of 1981, #2,460 alternative song of all time and #416 of the '80s.
Watch
Video from YouTube (AdamAntVEVO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube
"Prince Charming", the title track of Adam and the Ants' 1981 album, is pure costume-drama pop, and it gave the band their second straight number-one single. Adam Ant and Marco Pirroni wrote it, and the secret weapon is producer Chris Hughes, known in the band as Merrick and usually a drummer, strumming an acoustic guitar in open tuning, a rousing riff that never lets up. Ant sings lead and chips in harmonica, over a thundering, tribal clatter of drums.
The video was a lavish production for its day: Ant plays a male Cinderella stuck with the chores while his moustached, drag-queen stepsisters head off to the ball, until Diana Dors appears as his Fairy Godmother. Pirroni mimes Merrick's guitar part on a harp, and the song ended up among the biggest hits of 1981.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 24 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1981 | 106 |
| 1982 | 76 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1982 | 107 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 975 | Q101 | Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 1017 |
| 1999 | 1134 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 1136 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 1137 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2002 | 1136 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2002 | 1787 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) | 2002 |
| 2003 | 1121 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2003 | 1761 | Fred (XM 44) | Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) | 2044 |
| 2004 | 1121 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
| 2005 | 1121 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) | 1994 |
Comments
Log in or create a free account to join the conversation about "Prince Charming" by Adam & the Ants.
No comments yet. Be the first to share your thoughts.