Moss Side Story

Adamson's first solo album was presented as the score of a crime film that did not exist. It is almost completely instrumental, apart from occasional screams, vocal samples and a choir, and its song titles read like a film noir plot outline, split into three acts: The Ring's the Thing, Real Deep Cool and The Final Irony. An inner-sleeve short story by Dave Graney added to the concept, and the outer sleeve carried the tag line "In a black and white world, murder brings a touch of colour..." The title plays on West Side Story, The Swinging Detective plays on Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective, and Round Up the Usual Suspects quotes a line made famous by Claude Rains in Casablanca.

Adamson played everything except where credited, arranged the strings with Billy McGee, and handled treatments, samples and sequencing. Paul Kendall engineered, and John Fryer and Kendall mixed. Guests included Diamanda Galas, Marcia Schofield of the Fall, the guitarist Rowland S. Howard and a Freedom Choir that included Anita Lane, Kid Congo Powers and Mick Harvey. CD copies added three bonus tracks, among them Alfred Hitchcock Presents, a reworking of Gounod's Funeral March of a Marionette, and Adamson's version of The Man with the Golden Arm.

Adamson said in 2017 that he made the record as a calling card to send around, in the hope of being hired to write for film. Trouser Press called it an exquisite assemblage of sampled newscasts, period sound effects and a throbbing Golden Arm. A review in NME said it was one of the best soundtracks ever, whether or not a film existed. The Quietus later described its mix of big band jazz, funk, hip hop grooves, Sixties thriller themes, strings and gospel as highly influential. It reached 9 on the UK independent albums chart in 1989, and appears in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.