In 1982, he disbanded his group for a solo career retaining only Marco Pirroni as a bandmember and co-songwriter for later solo albums. His first solo album was "Friend or Foe" (1982), which the debut single "Goody Two Shoes" reached number one in the UK and Australia in 1982 and became his first top 20 hit in the United States. The album reached number five on the UK Albums Chart and number 16 on the US Billboard Album Chart, becoming his most successful solo album. His next two solo albums "Strip" (1983) and "Vive Le Rock" (1985) were less commercially successful in the UK and US and were a noted stylistic departure of his earlier rock albums; being more grounded in pop and dance. During this time, Ant also began to focus on an acting career performing on stage and in television and movie roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He released his fourth solo album "Manners & Physique" (1990) which was produced by André Cymone and featured a Minneapolis sound. Despite the US Top 20 success of the single "Room at the Top" from that album, Ant was dropped from MCA Records and the fully recorded "Persuasion" (1991) was shelved and never officially released. He signed with Capitol Records to release "Wonderful" (1995), which featured more acoustic songs than his previous albums. The single "Wonderful" became Ant's third US Top 40 hit single.