Episode
Adam & the Ants, pop stardom and Marco Pirroni’s brief spell in the spotlight
- Podcast
- Word In Your Ear
- Published
- Jul 15, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 2287
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear
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Summary
Marco Pirroni’s moment in the sun was big, lucrative but incredibly short. It was under a year from Adam & the Ants’ first hit to their last and immediate break-up. Adam, he remembers, was the perfect writing partner – driven, intensely competitive and with “a pathological fear of only being Number 2”. He’s got no regrets, hasn’t had to do day’s work since, and looks back here at … … being the first band writing songs for the video age … “you can’t confuse fans buying records with love, it’s nothing personal” … Telstar, Fireball XL5, Roxy Music and the “moon-stomping hits of Slade” … playing covers of songs they didn’t like with Siouxsie at the 100 Club: “punk rock and my part in its downfall” … Adam’s “Shakespearian tirade” at the legal meeting with Rolf Harris when he sued over Prince Charming and War Canoe … Malcolm McLaren’s jukebox: the Flamin’ Groovies, Alice Cooper, the Troggs, “songs that weren’t very good” … “we stopped being a punk band or a pop band or a glam band – or any sort of band at all” … never tour America when you don’t have a bank account. Order ‘Your Money Or Your Life’ here: https://tr.ee/P2_qxNZ6jC Help us to keep The Longest Continuous Conversation In Rock'n'Roll going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.