They soon changed their name to The Adicts and became known for their distinctive Clockwork Orange 'Droog' image, which, along with their urgent, uptempo music and light-hearted lyrics, helped set them very much apart from the rest of the genre. Temporary 1980s name changes to ADX and FUN ADICTS, for a children's TV appearance, also occurred.
Their song "Viva La Revolution" was featured in the video game Tony Hawk's Underground.
The band still has all its original members, uncommon for a band with such longevity.
The music of The Adicts proves that punk music is a very broad genre, often featuring extra instruments and sound clips such as carousel music (How Sad), violin played by Derick Cook (Joker in the Pack), gongs and keyboard percussion by Anthony Boyd (Chinese Takeaway), and even completely different songs like the switch to Gain To Lose's Tune #24 at the end of G.I.R.L..
The look of the majority of the bandmates is that of the Droogs from the Stanley Kubrick film A Clockwork Orange based on the book by Anthony Burgess. All white with black combat boots and black bowler hats. The band says that the look appealed to them because of the teenage angst associated with A Clockwork Orange. Singer "Monkey" wears full joker make-up and his clothes are wild, patterned suits, flared trousers, colorful dress shirts, and other such things. His favorites seem to be checkerboard patterns, or polkadots. And of course, there's the obligatory bowler hat and gloves. Along with the look come stage antics involving streamers, confetti, playing cards, joker hats, toy instruments, and glitter just to name a few things.
members:
Keith 'Monkey' Warren - Vocals.
Mel (Spider)Ellis - Bass
Pete Dee Davison - Guitar
Michael 'Kid Dee' Davison - Drums
John 'Scruff' Ellis (Mel’s brother) - Guitar
Dan Gratziani - Violin,Piano,Mandolin
Disco
The Adicts Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
what do you want
hey pete!
can't here you monkey,your music is too loud
don't you wanna go
don't you wanna go
hel mel!
what you talking about
what?
don't you wanna go
go where
don't you wanna go
no mate
tonight,tonight,tonight,tonight,
tonight,tonight,tonight
to the disco (2 times)
hey kid!
shut up monkey i'm talking
hey kidcan't hear mate
don't you wanna go
na na
hey you!
what
i'm talking to you
who, what
don't you wanna go
no
don't you wanna go
no!
tonight,tonight,tonight,tonight
tonight,tonight,tonight
to the disco (2 times)
i don't wanna go
to the disco
The Adicts's song "Disco" is a humorous take on the popular culture of the 1980s in the UK. The song features a conversation between several friends who are trying to convince each other to go to the disco. One friend, Pete, is playing loud music which prohibits his friends from hearing each other clearly. Another friend, Mel, seems uninterested in going to the disco, and yet another friend claims that he doesn't want to go either. Through this conversation, the band members are poking fun at the superficiality and emptiness of disco culture, while also highlighting the difficulty of communication in a noisy and crowded environment.
The lyrics also reflect the fragmented and disjointed nature of modern life, where people struggle to connect with each other and find meaningfulness in their existence. The characters in the song are isolated and seem to lack a sense of purpose, and the only thing they can agree on is going to the disco, which the band implies is a pointless and futile endeavor.
Overall, the song can be interpreted as a critique of consumer culture and the ways in which people are conditioned to pursue meaningless pursuits in order to distract themselves from the emptiness of their lives.
Line by Line Meaning
hey pete!
The singer is addressing someone named Pete.
what do you want
The singer is asking Pete what he wants.
hey pete!
The singer is addressing Pete again.
can't here you monkey, your music is too loud
Pete is playing loud music and the singer cannot hear him because of it. He refers to Pete as a monkey.
don't you wanna go
The singer is asking Pete if he wants to go somewhere.
don't you wanna go
The singer repeats the question.
hey mel!
The singer is addressing someone named Mel.
what you talking about
The singer is asking Mel what he is talking about.
hey mel!
The singer is addressing Mel again.
what?
Mel asks the singer to repeat what he said.
don't you wanna go
The singer is asking Mel if he wants to go somewhere.
go where
Mel asks the singer where they would be going.
don't you wanna go
The singer repeats the question.
no mate
Mel responds by saying he doesn't want to go.
tonight,tonight,tonight,tonight, tonight,tonight,tonight
The singer emphasizes that they want to go out tonight.
to the disco (2 times)
The singer specifies that they want to go to a disco.
hey kid!
The singer addresses someone who is younger than him.
shut up monkey i'm talking
The person the singer is addressing is playing loud music like Pete and he tells him to shut up.
hey kid
The singer ensures that the kid is paying attention to what he's saying.
can't hear mate
The kid responds that he can't hear the singer.
don't you wanna go
The singer asks the kid if he wants to go out.
na na
The kid says no he doesn't want to go.
hey you!
The singer addresses someone else.
what
The person asks what the singer wants.
i'm talking to you
The singer clarifies that he wants to talk to the person.
who, what
The person asks for clarification on who the singer is talking to and what he wants.
don't you wanna go
The singer asks the person if they want to go out.
no
The person says no they don't want to go.
don't you wanna go
The singer repeats the question even though no one wants to go.
no!
Everyone says no to going out.
tonight,tonight,tonight,tonight,tonight,tonight,tonight
The singer emphasizes that they still want to go out tonight.
to the disco (2 times)
The singer still specifies that they want to go to a disco even though no one wants to.
i don't wanna go to the disco
The singer admits that even though he's been pushing to go out, he doesn't actually want to go to the disco anymore.
Contributed by Miles V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.