Adam Ant - Vive Le Rock (1985)

Vive Le Rock is the third solo album by Adam Ant, released in September 1985, which contained two versions of Ant's 1984 song "Apollo 9". 

Producer Tony Visconti, famous for his 1970s work with Ant's heroes Marc Bolan and David Bowie, commented on his work with Ant on Vive Le Rock: "What a creative ball of energy! 

He was great to work with. He's very opinionated and knows what he wants. We didn't quite agree during the mixes, he kind of wanted everything very trebly and I'm a bassey kind of producer."

Adam Ant adopted a '50s-style rock & roll sound for his third solo album, achieving a pastiche with some of the effervescence, but none of the definition (or popularity), of Elton John's "Crocodile Rock." 

Producer Tony Visconti tried to give him some of the plastic rock legitimacy of Ziggy Stardust-era David Bowie, but Ant was even goofier, and especially with his vocals smothered in harmony and echo and buried in the mix, he wasn't so much transformed into a rocker manque as rendered anonymous on his own record. 

The best track was the year-old U.K. Top 40 hit "Apollo 9," which had some of the manic energy of the Adam and the Ants hits. 

If the rest of the album had recreated its dizzy spirit, Ant might have made the comeback he needed with Vive Le Rock. Or maybe not--it's possible that his moment simply had passed. 

In any case, the album flopped on both sides of the Atlantic, Ant was dropped by his record label, and he didn't make another album for more than four years. 

Tracklist

1.  Vive Le Rock - 3:39 

2.  Miss Thing - 3:08 

3.  Razor Keen - 3:49 

4.  Rip Down - 3:23 

5.  Scorpio Rising - 4:04 

6.  Apollo 9 - 3:22 

7.  Hell's Eight Acres - 3:51 

8.  Mohair Lockeroom Pin-Up Boys - 3:14 

9.  No Zap - 3:14 

10.  P.O.E. - 3:24 

11.  Apollo 9 (A cappella Reprise) - 1:32 

All tracks are written by Adam Ant & Marco Pirroni

Personnel

• Adam Ant – lead vocals, piano
• Marco Pirroni – guitars
• Chris Constantinou (as Chris De Niro) – bass, backing vocals
• "Count" Bogdan Wiczling – drums, percussion

Technical

• Tony Visconti – producer, engineer
• Sven Taits – assistant engineer
• Francois Kevorkian – mixing (track 11)
• Ray Staff – mastering
• Adam Ant, Rob O'Connor - sleeve concept
• Nick Knight - photography

Notes

Released: 2 September 1985 

Recorded:  January–March 1985 Studio Good Earth Studios, Soho, London 

Genre:  Rock 

Length: 36:40 

Producer: Tony Visconti 

Label - CBS Records