Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants were an English Rock music, rock band that formed in London in 1977. The band existed in two versions, both fronted by Adam Ant, between 1977 and 1982. The first phase began when the band were founded in May 1977 and were call ...
' stand-alone single written by
Adam Ant
Stuart Leslie Goddard (born 3 November 1954), known professionally as Adam Ant, is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK ...
. It was later included on the 1983 CBS reissue of the band's debut album ''
Dirk Wears White Sox
''Dirk Wears White Sox'' is the debut studio album by English new wave band Adam and the Ants. It was released on 30 November 1979 by record label Do It. It was the first number one album on the UK Independent Albums Chart when the chart debut ...
'' and as part of the bonus material on the 2004 Columbia Records Remaster. The line-up on this track include
Dave Barbarossa
David Barbarossa (born 1961, also known as Dave Barbe) is an English musician and author. As the drummer in both Adam and the Ants and Bow Wow Wow, he was instrumental in creating the highly influential and innovative tribal drumming style that ...
on
drums
The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
,
Matthew Ashman
Matthew James Ashman (3 November 1960 – 21 November 1995) – accessed June 2011 was an English guitarist with on
guitar
The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
bass guitar
The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...
with Ant playing some percussion on the song's coda. The track has been included on the compilations '' Antics in the Forbidden Zone'', '' Antmusic: The Very Best of Adam Ant'', ''The Very Best Of Adam And The Ants'', ''Antbox'', ''The Essential Adam Ant'' & ''Stand & Deliver: The Very Best of Adam & the Ants''.
The cover portrays ''Image in Motion'' (1913), a photograph by the Italian Futurist Anton Bragaglia, with the name of the band and the song superimposed over it.
Lyrics
The title is a reference to the
Xerox
Xerox Holdings Corporation (, ) is an American corporation that sells print and electronic document, digital document products and services in more than 160 countries. Xerox was the pioneer of the photocopier market, beginning with the introduc ...
photocopier
A photocopier (also called copier or copy machine, and formerly Xerox machine, the generic trademark) is a machine that makes copies of documents and other visual images onto paper or plastic film quickly and cheaply. Most modern photocopiers ...
. Whereas Xerox
machine
A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromol ...
s are used to make
paper
Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, Textile, rags, poaceae, grasses, Feces#Other uses, herbivore dung, or other vegetable sources in water. Once the water is dra ...
copies of documents and other visual images, it is used as a
metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...
for
plagiarism
Plagiarism is the representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 ''Random House Dictionary of the English Language, Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close ...
in the song's lyrics (example: I'm never bored, I'll steal your chord).
The title also reference's
David Bowie
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...
's description of himself as "a human Xerox Machine". On some early versions of the song, Ant can be heard singing "David Bowie's a Xerox machine" on the coda. In one such version, a demo recorded August 1978 at
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
's
Broadhurst Gardens
Broadhurst Gardens is a street in the London Borough of Camden running eastwards from West End Lane in West Hampstead and ending near to the Finchley Road. It forms the northern border of South Hampstead, and runs parallel to the Midland Main L ...
studio, this line is sung in a similar high pitched tone to that employed on Bowie's early single "
The Laughing Gnome
"The Laughing Gnome" is a song by the English singer David Bowie, released as a single on 14 April 1967. A pastiche of songs by one of Bowie's early influences, Anthony Newley, it was originally released as a Novelty song, novelty single on Dera ...
".
Promotion
The song was an early favourite among 'Antpeople', and was performed at a
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...
session on 10 July 1978. Adam and the Ants signed with Camden-based
independent record label
An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...
Do It Records
Do It Records was a British independent record label based in London, England. It was an early label of Adam and the Ants, releasing their debut album ''Dirk Wears White Sox'' in November 1979 (which in January 1980 was the first ever number on ...
after leaving
Decca Records
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
. Do It had the band in the studio almost immediately after signing, with "Zerox" being the result.
The band had developed a strong cult following and embarked on a major UK tour prior to the
single
Single may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Single (music), a song release
Songs
* "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004
* "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008
* "Single" (William Wei song), 2016
* "Single", by ...
's release on 6 July 1979. Do It, meanwhile, did a series of UK music press
advertisement
Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a Product (business), product or Service (economics), service. Advertising aims to present a product or service in terms of utility, advantages, and qualities of int ...
s. It was the band's second single. A
music video
A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...
, "Zerox Machine" was partially made in December 1979 and the surviving material, including one complete take of Ant miming the song, represented the song on the 2006 DVD compilation ''Stand and Deliver''.
The song was a number one hit on the
UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the ...
, but failed to chart on the UK Singles Chart upon its initial release. Following the success of their second album, ''
Kings of the Wild Frontier
''Kings of the Wild Frontier'' is the second album by English new wave band Adam and the Ants. It was released on 17 September 1980 by CBS Records in the UK and Epic Records internationally. The album was the UK number 1 selling album in 19 ...
'', it reached number 45 in January 1981 upon re-release.
"Whip in My Valise"
The B-side of the single first appeared in the Ants' set as a fast-tempo song circa August 1977. When
Matthew Ashman
Matthew James Ashman (3 November 1960 – 21 November 1995) – accessed June 2011 was an English guitarist with joined the group in June 1978, it was rearranged to a slow tempo (except for the middle eight which remained fast). This new arrangement was recorded as a demo at
Decca Studios
Decca Studios was a recording facility at 165 Broadhurst Gardens, West Hampstead, North London, England, controlled by Decca Records from 1937 to 1980.
History
The building that housed Decca Studios at 165 Broadhurst Gardens in London was bu ...
in Broadhurst Gardens, London in August 1978 and then re-recorded for the B-side at the Roundhouse session the following May. A new arrangement, at a medium-fast tempo, was unveiled at the final gig of the original Ants at the
Electric Ballroom
The Electric Ballroom is a 1,500-capacity performance venue (primarily for rock and roll, rock bands) and indoor market located at 184 Camden High Street in Camden Town, London, England.
History
The Electric Ballroom started as an Irish ballr ...
, Camden on 31 December 1979 but after this the song did not appear in Ant's live repertoire until 2010, once again using the slow arrangement.
Different versions of the 7" single
Despite the fact that "Whip in My Valise" is credited as the single's
B-side
The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...
, 2000 copies of the single pressed in July 1980 instead have the song "Physical" (a version later featured on '' The B Sides'' single and ''Antmusic EP''). This was done at the instruction of Do It chief Ian Tregoning who liked this recording. His enthusiasm was not shared by Ant, who later that year re-recorded the song and put it out on the B-side of his second single for
CBS Records CBS Records may refer to:
* CBS Records, a former name of Sony Music, a global music company
* CBS/Sony, a former name of Sony Music Entertainment Japan, a Japanese music company division of Sony
* CBS Records International, a label for Columbia Re ...
, " Dog Eat Dog", on which Ant can be heard saying, "Eat your heart out Do It! You can't do it, can ya?"
The song "Zerox" was originally entitled "I'm a Xerox Machine", and was intended to be the second of two singles for Decca Records, with Kick as the B-side. These versions were recorded November 1978 at RAK Studios, produced by
Snips
Snips, also known as shears, are metalworking hand tools used to cut sheet metal and other tough webs. Workers use various types of snips, with the cutting edges being straight or curved to various degrees. The style of edge employed will depend ...
. Ant planned to include the band's "Antmanifesto" as an insert with the single.Ant, Adam. (2007), ''Stand and Deliver: The Autobiography'', London: Pan Books. p135 For the eventual release of "Zerox", these recordings were discarded in favour of the May 1979 Roundhouse recording. A spoof Decca label for the A-side, under the title "Zerox Machine (I'm A)" was printed in issue 3 of Ant fanzine ''Antics in the 90s'' in 1993.
Client version
English
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductors
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic c ...
group
Client
Client(s) or The Client may refer to:
* Client (business)
* Client (computing), hardware or software that accesses a remote service on another computer
* Customer or client, a recipient of goods or services in return for monetary or other valuable ...
cover
Cover or covers may refer to:
Packaging
* Another name for a lid
* Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package
* Album cover, the front of the packaging
* Book cover or magazine cover
** Book design
** Back cover copy, part of c ...
"Zerox" on their third studio album, '' Heartland'' (2007). Released as the album's second single, it is their first release since they parted ways with
Toast Hawaii
Toast Hawaii is an open sandwich consisting of a slice of toast with ham and cheese, and a maraschino cherry in the center of a pineapple slice, baked so that the cheese starts to melt. It was made popular by the West German TV cook Clemens W ...
. Client calls their version of the song "Zerox Machine".
Track listings
UK 7" single (LFS05)
:A. "Zerox Machine" – 4:05
:B. "Zerox Machine" (Jonny Slut/ Atomizermix) – 4:43
UK 12" single (LFSX05)
:A. "Zerox Machine" (
N-Joi
N-Joi are an English production duo from Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, consisting of Nigel Champion and Mark Franklin, (who met at Alleyn Court Prep School) with vocalist/ front person Saffron. Champion went to Framlingham College and Fran ...
Remix) – 7:05
:B. "Zerox Machine" ( IDC Remix) – 5:00
U.S. CD single (MET 470)
#"Zerox Machine"
#"Loosetalking"
#"Zerox Machine" (IDC Mix)
#"Zerox Machine" (Jonny Slut/Atomizermix)
#"Zerox Machine" (
Robert Görl
Robert Görl (born 15 June 1955 in Munich) is a German musician, best known for his work with Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft (D.A.F.) and for his solo recordings, particularly ''Night Full Of Tension'' and "Darling Don't Leave Me" (togethe ...
Strange Pistol Mix) – 3:32
#"Zerox Machine" (Club Mix by
Covenant
Covenant may refer to:
Religion
* Covenant (religion), a formal alliance or agreement made by God with a religious community or with humanity in general
** Covenant (biblical), in the Hebrew Bible
** Covenant in Mormonism, a sacred agreement b ...