Damon Albarn on “the first and only pop star I wanted to be”
Growing up in Essex, Blur frontman Damon Albarn didn’t have to look too far afield for musical inspiration during his younger years, as London was only a stone’s throw away from his hometown. His parents were also loosely involved with the music business and passed on their love of sounds to their son at an early age.
During the 1960s, his father, Keith, managed Soft Machine, and his parents both later shared a flat with Cat Stevens, who was an early hero to Damon. However, Adam Ant was the first pop star to capture his attention. Coincidentally, he also had a familial connection to Ant, as Keith taught him at the North East London Polytechnic.
Ant rose to prominence in Britain at the back end of the 1970s, as the punk movement had crashed and burned. While he had a striking image which wasn’t dissimilar from the bands which came before his group, Adam & The Ants, they were firmly part of the new wave revolution and helped to usher in a fresh era.
Despite only being an active outfit for five years, they left their mark on the industry during their short time, and it was their final album, Prince Charming, which struck a chord with Albarn. Released in 1981, when Albarn was an early teenager, it spoke to him on a level that no record had previously had and showed him pop could be carried out in a refreshingly new manner.
During an interview with the Melody Maker in 1998, Albarn listed a series of songs that have changed his life, naming ‘Ant Music’ from Prince Charming before detailing his love for the Londoner and expressing why he vividly seized his imagination.
Albarn told the publication: “Adam was the first and only pop star I wanted to be. This was the only time I was susceptible to things like that. It was the first record I played over and over again in front of the mirror. I liked all of his stuff but I suppose everything went wrong with ‘Prince Charming’. It was a strange moment in pop. The full stop after punk.”
Decades after Albarn’s obsession, he was finally allowed to tell Ant about his adoration for the record while filming Jools Holland’s Hootenanny in 2012. Much to his delight, the respect was reciprocal, and the new wave star was a fan of his work with Blur.
Ant explained to The Quietus in 2014: “When you’re making a living out of music and writing, there’s such a lot to learn from what’s already been recorded. It’d take you a lifetime to appreciate what’s been done. But it’s great when something is out on its own, and you hit on something new; when someone’s hit on a pulse, and it’s not derivative.”
He continued: “Very early Blur were really good, and the first Supergrass EP was fabulous. That was the last time it got exciting for me. Damon [Albarn] gave me a cuddle at the Hootenanny recently and told me he loved me.”
Listen to ‘Ant Music’ below.
