Whip in My Valise

Stuart Goddard formed the Ants in London in 1977 and spent the next two years building a punk scene cult that most of the charts ignored. Jordan, the King's Road shop assistant at Malcolm McLaren and Vivienne Westwood's SEX boutique, sang with the band at live shows until May 1978. That same year Goddard appeared in Derek Jarman's film Jubilee. The band's visual language came directly from those circles, where bondage gear had already become fashion and shock was the working vocabulary.

“Whip in My Valise” entered the Ants' live set around August 1977. When Matthew Ashman joined on guitar in June 1978, the song was rearranged from a fast tempo to a slow one, though the middle eight stayed fast. The band demoed it at Decca's Broadhurst Gardens studio in August 1978, then re-recorded it at Roundhouse Studios in London in May 1979. Adam Ant recorded vocals with Ashman on guitar, Dave Barbarossa on drums, and Andy Warren on bass. Released as the B-side to “Zerox” on Do It Records on July 6, 1979, it was the band's second single. “Zerox” reached number one on the UK Indie Chart. “Whip in My Valise” was what played when you flipped it over.

The debut album, Dirk Wears White Sox, came out in November 1979 and reached number one on the UK Independent Albums Chart. It did not last long as a lineup. Malcolm McLaren arrived as their manager and persuaded Dave Barbarossa, Matthew Ashman, and Leigh Gorman to leave in January 1980 and form Bow Wow Wow. Ant rebuilt around guitarist Marco Pirroni and changed everything. The tribal drums and war paint came next. The band that made “Whip in My Valise” was gone before anyone heard it twice.