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Cover of Friend or Foe by Adam Ant
Cover: Friend or Foe

Song · Adam Ant

“Desperate, But Not Serious” by Adam Ant

From the album Friend or Foe (1982)

“Desperate, But Not Serious” by Adam Ant appears on 24 radio countdowns from 6 stations between 1989 and 2014. It was first released in 1982 on the album Friend or Foe. Its best result is #140 on the WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #996 alternative song of all time.

24countdowns
6stations
#140best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1989–2014years charted

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Adam Ant - Desperate But Not Serious

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Adam Ant pulled "Desperate But Not Serious" from Friend or Foe, his first solo album, as its third single in November 1982, and it struts like a peacock on a short leash. He wrote and produced it with guitarist Marco Pirroni, handling the vocal and the bass himself, while Bogdan Wiczling is on drums and a saxophone plus Martin Drover's trumpet give it a brassy kick.

The single got to number 33 in Britain and number 66 on America's Hot 100, and in 1983 Ant sang it, along with "Goody Two Shoes", on American Bandstand's opening episode of the year. For the flip he dusted off "Why Do Girls Love Horses?", part of his habit of recutting older songs for B-sides; he'd first demoed it at home on a four-track in July 1978, back when he lived in Notting Hill Gate.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

All Rock Formats

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1989 140 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1989) 500
1991 169 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1991) 500
1994 472 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1994) 500
1996 199 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1996) 500
1996 408 Q101 Q101 Top 500 Songs of All-Time (1996) 500
1996 448 WOXY 97X WOXY Modern Rock 500 (1996) 498
1998 340 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1998) 488
1999 403 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 1194 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
2000 1195 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 1202 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 1201 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 354 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 1186 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 291 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 1186 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 1186 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2007 1582 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2008 1516 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 1534 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 1565 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2011 1632 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 1599 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 1613 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013

Also listed as: Desperate But Not Serious; Desprate But Not Serious; Desperate but Not Serious.

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