What can I say? I dig the pirate look!
I have to respect this man purely for the amount of effort and perfectionism he puts into every aspect of his work, from music videos to fashion sense. You can tell he really believes in what he does and puts all of his heart into it. There was no way he could have plunged into this half-heartedly otherwise he would have just looked like an idiot prancing around on stage covered in sparkly coloured rags.
Some could argue that, prancing around like an idiot is exactly what he does. But I think there is an air of class and creative genius behind it that so many performers lack these days. Plus, so many front men in the music scene today always seem to be fearful of what everybody thinks of them, they may not say it out loud but you can tell.
Fair enough, when you're out in the street you don't need to be dressed head-to-toe in a fluorescent Lycra cat suit! But when onstage there should be some kind of presence felt and some of the only times I have seen that is when I've gone to see the Sex Pistols or The Jam.
I'm not disputing the fact that there are some amazingly visual bands out there who don't just play a gig but put on a show. To name just a few: Anti-Flag, My Chemical Romance, Robots In Disguise. And I'm not even saying that there should be some big stage production to back up your band, but there should at least be a little bit of personality behind the performer.
When you see Jimmy Urine - lead singer for Mindless Self Indulgence - strutting around the stage in neon pink and sporting spikes in his hair that could probably do somebody a lot of damage, you know that he is enough of a character to entertain an arena of tens of thousands of people.
But most other bands come out wearing some kind of hideously luminous skinny jeans and have the same amount of personality as a pea discussing carpet samples with Gordon Brown. It's as though they've gone through rigorous training that has completely stripped them of their individuality, coated them with hairspray/hairdye and told them the only phrases they need in life are:
"We're really glad to be here"
"This next song is called..."
"Thankyou and Goodnight"
It's one thing to try and let the music do the talking for you, but that only works if the music actually has something to say and isn't just about how your first girlfriend dumped you when you were six years old.
Okay, so you can probably tell that I don't tend the plan these things. What was supposed to be a commendation of a great front man's work turned into a rant about the music scene today. So to conclude - and to focus everyone's attention where it should be:
Adam Ant - one of the best performers of the 20th century - should start his own clothing line.