Released 30 October 1979 Release date 30 October 1979 Producers Adam Ant, Chris Hughes | Length 40:39 Label Do It Records | |
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Recorded 24–29 August 1979 at Sound Development Studios Dirk Wears White Sox
(1979) Kings of the Wild Frontier
(1980) Artists Adam Ant, Adam and the Ants Genres New wave, Post-punk, Gothic rock Similar Adam Ant albums, Gothic rock albums | ||
Dirk Wears White Sox is the debut studio album by English new wave band Adam and the Ants. It was released on 30 October 1979 by record Do It. It holds the distinction of being the very first number one album on the UK Independent Albums Chart when the chart debuted in Record Week in 1980.
Contents
Background
The album was made with an early line-up of Adam and the Ants, which disbanded after the album was released. Guitarist Matthew Ashman and drummer David Barbarossa went on to form Bow Wow Wow with then-Ants bassist Leigh Gorman (who had only played one gig with the Ants and was not involved in any studio recordings). Original bassist Andy Warren had departed shortly after recording the album to join former Ants guitarist Lester Square in The Monochrome Set. Many of the songs, notably "Cleopatra" and "Never Trust a Man (With Egg on his Face)", remained a part of Adam Ant's live repertoire throughout his career, both with the Ants and later as a solo artist.
The "Dirk" of the title refers to classic British film icon Dirk Bogarde.
Release
Dirk Wears White Sox was released on 30 October 1979.
The album was re-released in 1983, featuring a different album cover taken from a December 1979 video for the song "Zerox". "Catholic Day" and "Day I Met God" were dropped and "Cartrouble" appears in its single version. This edition also adds three songs from the same era not on the original LP: a re-recording of "Kick!" (previously on the Antmusic EP, which contained completely different lyrics and featured Jon Moss on drums, who later went on to join Culture Club), "Zerox", and "Whip in My Valise." It was re-issued again in 1995 by Sony, featuring the original black-and-white album art in somewhat cropped form. The lettering on the sleeve was recreated in the style of the original and does not feature the stroke through the letter O in the word "Sox"; it also substitutes a letter "Z" in place of the zig-zagged "S" in the word "Ants" (previously a common practice among unofficial merchandisers around the time of the album's original release).
Reception
In his retrospective review, Chris Woodstra of AllMusic wrote "while the somewhat pretentious, overly arty lyrics and inexperienced playing are a drawback, the album offers a fascinating look at the Ants' formative years, capturing a raw energy that would be sacrificed for more polish on subsequent releases."
Musical style
Chris Woodstra of AllMusic described the album's style as a "sometimes-awkward fusion of punk, glam and minimalist post-punk with bizarre images and disturbing tales of alienation, sex and brutality." Peter Parrish of Stylus wrote "Dirk slips somewhere between The Banshee's [sic] Scream and Gang of Four's Entertainment; all stark, angular and brittle."
Track listings
All tracks written by Adam Ant.
Personnel
Songs
1Car Trouble - Parts 1 & 26:48
2Digital Tenderness3:03
3Nine Plan Failed5:08