Adam Ant--Goody Two Shoes (1982)

     Stuart Leslie Goddard had changed his name to Adam Ant in 1977 and put together his own band called Adam and the Ants to explore his fascination with the punk rock movement that was in full swing in the UK at the time. Their debut release, "Dirk Wears White Socks" was a bit of a mix (and a sloppy one at that) of several different styles as they attempted to find a voice. That was pushed along by the meeting of Malcolm McLaren, who at the time was the manager of the Sex Pistols, who was asked to manage Ant's band. This he did, and introduced them to the Burundi sound, which the group perfected, then McLaren stole the band (and renamed them Bow Wow Wow) to back his new find, Annabella Lwin. 

     This began a race between Ant and McLaren to see who could get an album out first. Adam was able to gather a band together who quickly picked up on the new sound, recorded "Kings of the Wild Frontier", and got it released before Bow Wow Wow could. This propelled The Ants to the forefront of what was considered the "new wave" (in US) or "new romantic" (in the UK) movements.
Ant broke up the band in 1981 and went solo. This is where we pick up on him in the states, as "Goody Two Shoes" reached the top 20 in late 1982. Unfortunately, the album, "Friend or Foe" was the last great album Ant would release for years and although he was found on the charts several times over the next 20 years (including a top 20 song with, "Room at the Top" in 1990), he never truly picked up momentum.  If you like this song, I would suggest you pick up "Kings of the Wild Frontier" which has a sound which was truly one of a kind.