Goody Two Shoes (song)

"Goody Two Shoes"
Single by Adam Ant
from the album Friend or Foe
B-side "Red Scab"
Released 7 May 1982
Format 7" single
Genre New wave,[1] dance-rock[2]
Length
  • 3:28 (album version)[3]
  • 3:15 (single version)[4]
Label CBS
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Adam Ant singles chronology
"Goody Two Shoes"
(1982)
"Friend or Foe"
(1982)

"Goody Two Shoes" is a song by Adam Ant, released on 7 May 1982.[5]

History

Following the dissolution of Adam and the Ants in early 1982, Adam Ant pursued a solo career. His début as a solo artist, "Goody Two Shoes" was written by Adam Ant and Marco Pirroni and produced by Ant, Pirroni and Chris Hughes. The song details Ant's frustration with press intrusion, which was reinforced by the video and his clean cut image.

The song was a hit, topping the UK Singles Chart in June 1982 and later repeating the feat in Australia, where it topped the Kent Music Report. Despite the success, this was his third and final number one single. In the United States, the song was his first and biggest hit, peaking at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.

There are two versions of the cover. The first has Adam and the Ants across the top of the sleeve and the later version just Adam Ant. This is probably due to the confusion around the timing of Adam going solo, particularly as the song was performed by three fifths of the band Ant, Pirroni and Hughes.[6]

There are also two different studio versions of the song. The UK 7" single version is notably different from the re-recorded version which appears on Friend or Foe. The single version has a different, more reverberating drum track. The Friend or Foe version, instead of Hughes on drums, features Bogdan Wiczling, drummer on the rest of the album.[7] This version also appeared on the US edition of the single.

Adam Ant performed "Goody Two Shoes" at Top of the Pops on 20 May 1982.[8]

B-side

Ant sometimes recorded new versions of his pre-1980 compositions for the B-side of his singles. For this single, an old Ant song from 1977 called "Red Scab" was used.[6] The song was regularly performed live by the Ants between August 1977 and January 1980 when the original Ants split. In mid-1978, following the recruitment of new guitarist Matthew Ashman, it was heavily rearranged from a mid-tempo song to a slow song (while retaining the fast ending). The new arrangement was demoed by the full band at Decca Studios in August 1978. This particular version was recorded in 1982 by Ant, Pirroni and Hughes. The song was revived for live performance in 1993 and has been a regular fixture of live shows since then.

Track listing

All songs written by Adam Ant except as noted.[4]

  1. "Goody Two Shoes" (Adam Ant, Marco Pirroni) – 3:15
  2. "Red Scab" – 4:06

Chart performance

Music video

The video presents a stylized vision of a day in the life of Adam Ant, from dressing in the morning to performing on stage, to being hounded by the media. At the end of the day, he takes home a woman journalist played by British actress Caroline Munro, in effect answering the song's theme question, "What do you do?" The video also starred veteran actors Graham Stark as the butler and Dandy Nichols.

Other media

Covers

  • Punk band Unwritten Law later covered this song.[26]
  • In 2014, singer-songwriters Jim Boggia and Pete Donnelly released a cover version of the song on the multi-artist compilation album Here Comes The Reign Again: The Second British Invasion.[27]

See also

References

  1. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Adam Ant – Playlist: The Very Best of Adam Ant". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  2. Pollock, Bruce (2005). The 7500 Most Important Songs for the Rock and Roll Era (2nd ed.). Routledge. p. 127. ISBN 0-415-97073-3.
  3. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Adam Ant – Friend or Foe". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  4. 1 2 3 "Ultratop.be – Adam Ant – Goody Two Shoes" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  5. "Goody Two Shoes". Adam-ant.net. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
  6. 1 2 Adam Ant & Marco Pirroni (7 May 1982). "Desperate But Not Serious". Adam-ant.net. EMI Music Publishing Ltd.
  7. "Official Adam Ant website". Adam-ant.net. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  8. "Top of the Pops: 20/05/1982". BBC One. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  9. "Australia No. 1 hits -- 1980's". World Charts. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011.
  10. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 6213." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 4 June 2013.
  11. "Offiziellecharts.de – Adam Ant – Goody Two Shoes". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  12. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Goody Two Shoes". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  13. "Indice per Interprete: A" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Creative Commons. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  14. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Adam Ant - Goody Two Shoes" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  15. "Dutchcharts.nl – Adam Ant – Goody Two Shoes" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  16. "Charts.nz – Adam Ant – Goody Two Shoes". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  17. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  18. 1 2 "Adam Ant – Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  19. "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending FEBRUARY 5, 1983". Cash Box. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012.
  20. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1980s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  21. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1982" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  22. "The Top Singles of 1983". RPM. Vol. 39 no. 17. 24 December 1983. Retrieved 17 May 2016.
  23. "Top 100 Hits for 1983". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
  24. "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1983". Cash Box. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012.
  25. Phares, Heather. "Original Soundtrack – Hot Fuzz [Cherry Tree]". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  26. Egenthal, Mike. "Various Artists – Before You Were Punk [1997]". AllMusic. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  27. Curry, Andrew. "Here Comes The Reign Again: The Second British Invasion". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
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