Stand and Deliver (Adam and the Ants song)

"Stand and Deliver"
Single by Adam and the Ants
from the album Prince Charming
B-side "Beat My Guest"
Released 27 April 1981
Format 7" single
Recorded 1980
Genre
Length 3:34
Label CBS Records
Writer(s)
Producer(s) Chris Hughes
Adam and the Ants singles chronology
"Antmusic"
(1981)		 "Stand and Deliver"
(1981)		 "Prince Charming"
(1981)

"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.[1] It has sold 1.03 million copies in the UK.[2] On the US Dance chart, "Stand and Deliver" peaked at #38, (along with the track, "Beat My Guest").[3] In 2015 the song was voted by the British public as the nation's 15th favourite 1980s number one in a poll for ITV.[4]

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 lyric "stand and deliver - your money or your life" was a phrase commonly used by highwaymen in 18th century England during robberies.

Music video

The costume, general plot arc, etc. of the video all seem based on the 1973 Monty Python sketch Dennis Moore. It features Adam Ant dressed as a "dandy highwayman" 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. The video also has an early appearance by Amanda Donohoe, who at the time was Adam's girlfriend.

Cover versions

No Doubt version

"Stand and Deliver"
Promotional single by No Doubt from the album Push and Shove
Released 2009
Format Digital download
Recorded 2009
Genre
Length 3:22
Label Interscope
Writer
  • Adam Ant
  • Marco Pirroni
Producer No Doubt

In 2009, American rock band No Doubt recorded a cover version of "Stand and Deliver".[5] 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.[6]

"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."[7] Co-writer Marco Pirroni and EMI Records blocked its release just days before its intended release on 17 November, and it never saw the light of day.[8]

References

  1. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 393–4. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. ↑ Ami Sedghi (4 November 2012). "UK's million-selling singles: the full list". Guardian. Retrieved 4 November 2012.
  3. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 22.
  4. ↑ Westbrook, Caroline (25 July 2015). "The Nation’s Favourite 80s Number One: 12 more classic 80s chart-toppers which didn’t make the cut". Metro. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  5. ↑ Daniel Kreps (April 8, 2009). "No Doubt Go New Wave With "Stand And Deliver" Cover". Rolling Stone.
  6. ↑ "Target and No Doubt Team Up for Exclusive Deluxe Edition of "Push And Shove"". Target.com. August 30, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Adam Ant Save the Gorilla". Wildlight Limited. August 30, 2012.
  8. ↑ "EMI 'blocks' Adam Ant charity CD". BBC News. 17 November 2003.

External links

Preceded by
"Making Your Mind Up" by Bucks Fizz		 UK number-one single
9 May 1981 - 6 June 1981 		Succeeded by
"Being with You" by Smokey Robinson
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