signed to Decca Records

Touring extensively around the UK, often with Siouxsie and the Banshees, Adam and the Ants were unpopular with much of the British music press, who disliked their fetishistic lyrics and imagery. In response, the group formed a strong – and at times ideological – rapport with amateur punk fanzines such as Ripped and Torn , which gave them more favourable coverage. The band built up a strong cult following but struggled to find mainstream success and sign a record deal – apart from the two Jubilee soundtrack songs – until 1978, when they were signed to Decca Records . Al Spicer described this first incarnation of the band as “a fairly standard black-leather, sour-puss punk image, with songs that had a habit of building slowly towards a full-volume ‘ sturm-und-drang ‘ climax”.