# Adam & the Ants, pop stardom and Marco Pirroni’s brief spell in the spotlight

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/word-in-your-ear-4162240/adam-the-ants-pop-stardom-and-marco-pirroni-s-brief-spell-in-the-spotlight
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/word-in-your-ear-4162240/adam-the-ants-pop-stardom-and-marco-pirroni-s-brief-spell-in-the-spotlight.md
Podcast: [Word In Your Ear](https://stenobird.com/podcast/word-in-your-ear-4162240)
Published: 2026-07-15T11:53:54+00:00
Episode link: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear
Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/5ff0586154e2a73589267809/e/6a5774d392be37cb7b828492/media.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2287

## Resource

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.

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