The Addicts

The Adicts
The Adicts in Chicago, 2011
Background information
Also known as	Fun Adicts, ADX
Origin	Ipswich, Suffolk, England, UK
Genres	Punk rock, punk pathetique, new wave
Years active	1975–present
Labels	Dining Out, Dwed Wecords, Razor Records, Fallout Records, Sire, SL Records, Cleopatra, Anagram Records, Captain Oi!, SOS, People Like You Records, DC-Jam Records, Nuclear Blast Records
Website	http://www.adicts.us/
Members	Keith "Monkey" Warren (vocals) Pete "Pete Dee" Davison (guitar) Michael "Kid Dee" Davison (drums) John "Scruff" Ellis (guitar) Davey "Bastard" Menza (bass)
Past members	Tim Hocking (bass) James Harding (keyboards) Mel "Spider" Ellis (bass) David "Pretty Boy" Arnold Dan "Fiddle Dan" Graziani (fiddle) Cody "12" Farwell (bass) Shahen Hagobian (bass)

The Adicts are a British punk band from Ipswich, Suffolk, England. One of the most popular punk rock bands in the 1980s, they were often in the indie charts during that decade.

The Adicts originated as Afterbirth & the Pinz in late 1975. 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 apart from other punk bands. In the 1980s, they temporarily changed their name to Fun Adicts (for a children's TV appearance) and then ADX (after signing to a major label).

Their music has catchy melodies and lyrics, and often features extra instruments and sound clips, such as carousel music in "How Sad", violin played by Derick Cook in "Joker in the Pack", and gongs and keyboard percussion by Anthony Boyd in "Chinese Takeaway".

The musicians wear all-white clothing with black boots and black bowler hats. The singer, Keith "Monkey" Warren, wears joker makeup, wildly patterned suits (such as checkerboard or polka dot), flared trousers, colorful dress shirts, bowler hat and gloves. The band's visual look is complemented by their stage shows, involving items such as streamers, confetti, playing cards, beach balls, joker hats, toy instruments, bubbles and glitter.

Still an active and popular live act, the Adicts appeared at the 2012 Punk Rock Bowling music festival in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The band debuted with the 1979 EP Lunch with the Adicts, the first release on the Dining Out label. In 1980 the band recorded the songs "Sympathy" and "Sheer Enjoyment" for an intended single, but they weren't released until the 1984 compilation album This Is Your Life. The band released their debut album, Songs of Praise, in 1981 on their own Dwed Wecords, funded by the band's then-manager Geordie Davison. In 1982, the album was re-released on Fallout Records, who also issued their first single "Viva la Revolution", which became one of the band's most iconic songs. That same year, the band began their relationship with Razor Records and released their second album, Sound of Music, featuring the single "Chinese Takeaway".