Summer In Stereo #37

"Antmusic" was originally released the UK just before Christmas Day 1980.  In April 1981, it debuted on Billboard's Top Tracks chart, "a compilation of Rock Radio Airplay as indicated by the nations leading Album oriented and Top Tracks stations."  HERC saw Adam & the Ants perform "Antmusic" on American Bandstand on the morning of May 16, 1981 though the show was more than likely filmed weeks or months before.  HERC rode his bike to the BX later that Saturday and picked up a copy of the parent album Kings Of The Wild Frontier and thus began fifteen-year old HERC's first music artist obsession.  He spent hundreds of dollars ordering Ant merchandise including t-shirts, posters, books and import 45s through mail-order.  Eighteen months later, HERC had moved on to another obsession but Adam & the Ants/Adam Ant music remains a staple of HERC's listening library and no matter when he hears them, he thinks back to the Summer of 1981 when it was all so new.

One of those import 45s HERC acquired during that time was the UK single "Stand & Deliver" b/w "Beat My Guest". The A-side had been released a week before the group appeared on Bandstand and it is a great song with a fun video.  But it was the B-side which HERC listened to over and over again.  He even bought a thirty minute cassette and recorded the song five times on each side.  The song was instrumental in unlocking HERC's ongoing curiosity with both older and newer punk music.  How much does HERC love "Beat My Guest"?  First, he wants to stress it is the music and attitude of the song he likes NOT the subject matter and second, it's been HERC's default ringtone for the last four years now, first on his LG Chocolate Touch (still the best named-phone ever) and now on his iPhone 5.