Adam & The Ants - Stand And Deliver (Video)

What this video is

Released May 1981 as the lead single from Prince Charming, Stand And Deliver arrived at the precise moment Adam & The Ants crossed from cult post-punk act to mainstream pop phenomenon. It debuted at UK No. 1 and held that position for five weeks, becoming the third best-selling UK single of 1981 with over 1.03 million copies sold. The video crystallised the band's signature fusion of New Romantic…

Why it matters

A landmark artefact of the UK New Romantic video era, Stand And Deliver demonstrated that music videos could sustain full narrative costume drama within a three-minute format. It helped establish the template of director-as-collaborator with artist-as-auteur (co-directed by Mansfield and Adam Ant…

The director

Mike Mansfield (born 1940) is a British director and producer with an extensive career in UK television music production. He devised and presented the ITV pop series Supersonic (1975–76) for London Weekend Television, and built a prolific music video…