More Ant Rap and A.N.T.S

Was there ever a demo of Antrap?
No

What was Adam listening to at the time- ie what influenced Antrap?
Prince Charles (the proto rapper)

Where did he get the idea for it from? Or did he just decide "I want to do a rap!"?
Rap didn't really exist then as we know it now.

Were you suprised that it went to number 3 in the charts?
Not particularly

Did you get more recognised in the street after that came out, seeing as you were name checked in the song and in the video?
It did give men in vans something to shout out and its still very popular with drunks in nightclubs

Where did the ideas for the drums come from for it? Who thought up the rhythm?
Adam and Chris

Bonus q's about A.N.T.S: Adam did this with the old Ants- did you like it?
Never heard it by the old ants

Why was it given away to Flexi disc magazine and not used as a b side?
Why not?

Did you know it STILL appears on ebay as "rare hard to find", yet I saw about 4 of them on ebay the other day!

No I didn't and it does give me sleepless nights wondering whether its on ebay or not, thank you so much for clearing that up for me.

Ant Rap/ Friends

Me normal text, Marco italics.

Ok, Antrap:
Which came first, the album version or the single version?
The Album version.

How much did you have to do with Antrap writing wise?
Well I thought it was a good idea at the time.

What was the idea behind it?
Does the word "rap' ring any bells?

Who's idea was it to release it as a single?
Maurice obersteins .

Did you enjoy pretending to be Liberace in the video?
Not particularly

Why is the album version different to the single version?
We just wanted to make it a bit different

Friends- any thoughts on that song?
I always loved that song it was weird, funny, catchy and fun.

Why is the live version so different and how did that come about?
It just developed that way in rehearshals and we all liked it.

What's the real story behind it being chosen as a single? At the
time Adam claimed it was his choice to see how such a strange single would
do (to see if he could get away with releasing anything).. But in later
years it was claimed that it was CBS's choice.

There was a feeling that releasing "Picasso" was a bit of a cop out, which I agreed with at the time.

Ok, I am guessing you didn't have very much to do writing wise?
Strangely although I don't like it I'm loath to admit I didnt have that much to do with it (typical guitar players ego).

What DID you contribute if anything, or was it just Adam's baby?
I did write some music for it which became the live version, but it got ditched (once Adam's got an idea in his head...)

Did you feel pretty lucky in that Adam already had a load of songs that could be used as B sides, you never had to purposely write a b side?
I guess so, I never thought of it like that, I just really really liked those songs, at one point Adam was thinking of ditching them entirely!

Was B Side Babies (the US cd) the album Adam said in the early 80s he always wanted to make (of all the old Ant songs) or was it "just" a compilation cd?
Nah it was compilation suggested by Sony US.