No, no, dear reader, I didn’t lose track while writing at 11pm once again and accidentally throw up a Lost in the ’80s post.  By 1990, Adam Ant was pretty much considered washed-up.  His last album, 1985’s, Vive Le Rock, sank without a ripple (despite being a fun, Tony Visconti-produced, glammy blast), and Ant was spending most of his days playing minor parts in b-movies in an attempt to cross over to Hollywood.  That’s why it was such a shock to suddenly see a new Adam Ant album on the racks as the ’90s dawned, much less one produced by Prince bassist Andre Cymone.

“Antmusic meets the Minneapolis sound!” promised the promotional sticker slapped on the longboxes of Manners & Physique, and while the contents within were a little more towards the Minneapolis/crossover funk sound that Cymone and Jody Watley made popular, Adam’s vocals and lyrics provided a little bit of Antmusic flavor.  Longtime Ants guitarist Marco Pirroni was part of the mix too, albeit so buried and watered down, one has to wonder why he bothered to show up.

Lead single “Room At The Top” (download) was a surprise hit, catching the attention of Top 40 radio programmers who sent the song into the Top 20, becoming Adam’s second Top 40 hit.  This was even more unusual since MTV pretty much shunned the video, figuring Adam to be a has-been too representative of their early days.  They gave it a few perfunctory plays here and there – I think I recall seeing it exactly once: (more…)