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
Tango
The Adicts Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Put on my bowler
Looked in mirror
Ready for the tango
I phoned a taxi
For me and Maxine
She looked fantastic
We danced the tango
We danced again
We had laughter
And then after
Face to face we danced
the tango
Cheek to cheek we danced
the tango
In the song "Tango" by The Adicts, the lyrics are a playful description of a night out dancing the Tango. The singer prepares themselves physically and mentally for the Tango by donning a bowler and picking up an umbrella. Immediately thereafter, he phones a taxi to pick up his partner Maxine. When he sees her dressed up, he says "she looked fantastic." They have a fun-filled night out, with champagne and lots of dancing, which creates a feeling of laughter and joyfulness. In the end, they dance the Tango face to face and cheek to cheek, which is the epitome of intimacy in the dance.
There are a few different interpretations to this song. Some people believe that the singer is ultimately grateful for this one night of happiness and dancing with Maxine, as he describes the event so vividly. There is another interpretation that people could be reading into, where the singer may be experiencing a sense of vulnerability by expressing his feelings for Maxine through dance. The Tango is known for being a seductive dance and is about seduction, with a lot of pronounced contact in the dance moves. This sense of vulnerability could be alluded to since the singer calls the taxi himself, and not Maxine, suggesting that he is in control of setting the stage for the night.
Interesting facts about the song "Tango" by The Adicts include that the song is from their studio album "Sound of Music," which was released on November 13, 1982. It was written by Pete Dee Davison, who was the guitarist of the band during that time. Another fun fact is that The Adicts are a British punk rock band from Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They formed in the year 1975 and recorded their first demo tape in the following year. It is also interesting to note that the band's image is based on a stylized version of the characters from the movie "A Clockwork Orange." The Adicts have also been described as a clown punk band because of their distinctive image, which features the band members in flamboyant outfits with clownish makeup.
Here are the chords to "Tango" by The Adicts if known:
Verse: E - A - F# - B - E - A - B
Chorus: A - E - A - E - B - F#
Note: There might be variations to this depending on the version of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Picked up umbrella
I grabbed my trusty umbrella
Put on my bowler
I donned my favorite hat
Looked in mirror
I checked my appearance in the mirror
Ready for the tango
I was fully prepared for dancing the tango
I phoned a taxi
I called for a taxi to take me to my destination
For me and Maxine
I was accompanied by my dance partner Maxine
She looked fantastic
Maxine was stunningly beautiful
We danced the tango
Maxine and I danced the passionate and elegant tango
We drank champagne
We indulged in some sparkling champagne
We danced again
Maxine and I enjoyed another round of tango dancing
We had laughter
We shared in some laughter and joy
And then after
Following our delightful experience
Face to face we danced
We danced with intimate face-to-face contact
the tango
The beautiful and passionate tango dance continues
Cheek to cheek we danced
Our dance became even more close and intimate
the tango
The sensual and passionate dance of the tango continued to captivate us
Lyrics © Budde Music Publishing GmbH, Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KEITH WARREN, MELVIN LEROY ELLIS, MICHAEL DAVISON, PETER JONNATHAN DAVISON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ronin JoLin
i've explored so many types of rock music and I can say The Adicts is at the top of my favorite... It's Punk but it's so positive and uplifting...lets bring back this type of punk rock!
CartoonMan!
it's Oi! Early Oi! was less serious, more fun and could be quite poppy.
Paul 21
Überall hin
isko rotul
Its called Punk Pathetique, the fun Punk. Listen to Toy Dolls too. They are hilarious.
The Rinja
check out toy dolls
wormfarmer420
It is a crime that this album is not on Spotify for me to endlessly stream
Rinse 420
thanks to the adicts i have never walked alone since my teenage years
Michel Motoboy SP !!!
Pqp, adicts é do caralho 🤘🤘🤘
Bruno Hermetica
bailemos tango que grande The adicts!!!
Miguel Vasquez
My favorite track by the Adicts, along with in the Background