"Stand and Deliver" is a song by English new wave band Adam and the Ants, released as the lead single from their third studio album, Prince Charming (1981). The song entered the UK Singles Chart at number one on 9 May 1981, and remained there for five weeks. It has sold 1.03 million copies in the UK. On the US Dance chart, "Stand and Deliver" peaked at #38, (along with the B side, "Beat My Guest"). In 2008, it was featured as part of the Burnout Paradise soundtrack. In 2015, the song was voted by the British public as the nation's 15th favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.
Copies of the single "Stand and Deliver" b/w "Beat My Guest" were included as a free bonus item with some vinyl copies of the US version of the album Kings of the Wild Frontier on Epic Records. Epic's cassette edition appended the two tracks to each end of either side of the tape. "Stand and Deliver" was then featured on their follow-up LP, Prince Charming, released in November 1981. The phrase "stand and deliver - your money or your life", used in the lyrics, is commonly associated with highwaymen in 18th century England.
Video Stand and Deliver (Adam and the Ants song)
Music video
The video features Adam Ant dressed as a "dandy highwayman" who threatens his victims with the mirror image of their unfashionable selves and who is captured and escapes being hanged from the gallows with help from his accomplices (his band members). The video's opening sequence of Adam Ant putting on his make-up before going out on a robbery became a defining visual image for Adam Ant in the years that followed; a still from this was used as the sleeve for Ant's next single. The video also has an early appearance by Amanda Donohoe, who at the time was Adam's girlfriend.
Maps Stand and Deliver (Adam and the Ants song)
Beat My Guest
It was fairly common for Ant to record new versions his pre-1980 compositions for the B-side of his singles. For this single, an old Ant song dating back at least to May 1977 was used. "Beat My Guest" was the first song Adam and the Ants played at their official debut gig at the Institute of Contemporary Arts restaurant on 10 May 1977. A full band recording was made in the same 14 July 1977 Chappell Studios recording session that had produced the version of Plastic Surgery featured in Derek Jarman's film Jubilee. The version on the B-Side of this single was recorded in August 1980 during sessions for the Kings of the Wild Frontier album and featured the band's previous bass player Kevin Mooney.
Cover versions
No Doubt version
In 2009, American rock band No Doubt recorded a cover version of "Stand and Deliver". They performed the song while playing a fictional 1980s band, Snowed Out, in the Gossip Girl episode "Valley Girls", airing May 11, 2009, and also performed the song on their 2009 tour during the encore. It was eventually included on the deluxe edition bonus disc of the band's sixth studio album, Push and Shove, released on September 21, 2012.
Parodies
The first episode of the third series of the CBBC historical sketch show Horrible Histories featured a musical segment which spoofs the song and music video for "Stand and Deliver", about the real-life highwayman Dick Turpin.
"Save the Gorilla"
In 2003, Adam Ant embarked upon an ill-fated attempt to raise awareness of the plight of the endangered mountain gorilla in Central Africa by reworking "Stand and Deliver" into "Save the Gorilla." This was to have been the lead track of a five track EP (with the remaining four tracks all being covers chosen for a jungle/primate theme) of which 2000 copies were pressed. Co-writer Marco Pirroni and the original song publishers EMI Publishing blocked its release just days before its intended release on 17 November, and the EP was withdrawn. One EP track, a cover of Jungle Rock, eventually surfaced on collaborator Boz Boorer's 2008 solo album Miss Pearl.
References
External links
- Stand and Deliver by Adam and the Ants on YouTube
- Save the Gorilla by Adam Ant on YouTube
- Dennis Moore by Monty Python on YouTube
- Stand and Deliver (Adam and the Ants song) at Discogs (list of releases)
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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