Billy Idol Bio
‘The Very Best Of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself’ is a new
career-spanning CD, Deluxe Edition CD/DVD and digital collection
from EMI and includes two stunning brand new songs, ‘John Wayne’
and ‘New Future Weapon’ which prove in no uncertain terms that
Billy Idol is back to superb form.
The new tracks find the man still at the peak of his powers, working with longtime partner and guitar great Steve Stevens and his other current band members, drummer and songwriting collaborator Brian Tichy and keyboardist Derek Sherinian. Of his new song ‘John Wayne’, Idol says, “When I’m singing it, I’m thinking about the characters John Wayne played. They were usually men with a flaw in their character or something dark in their past they’re trying to rise above before the end of the movie. So it’s not about the kick-in-the-door John Wayne or the barroom fight John Wayne -- it’s more the man who overcomes.”
Of the collection’s other new track, ‘New Future Weapon’, Idol says, “I was reading about the new stealth fighter plane the Raptor, and I was struck by the ambivalence of the pilot talking about the enemy. Musically, it’s got a bit of the Spaghetti Western about it. It’s a sick song, as you might expect.”
The two new songs are produced by Josh Abraham, whose production discography includes Velvet Revolver’s double platinum, Grammy Award-winning Contraband, 30 Seconds To Mars’ platinum A Beautiful Lie, Staind’s eight-times platinum Break The Cycle and double platinum 14 Shades of Grey, Limp Bizkit’s seven-times platinum Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, and Courtney Love's America's Sweetheart, among many others.
The Deluxe Edition CD/DVD adds 13 music videos that helped forever define Idol as a rock icon, and launch MTV to a new music/visual-hungry generation. However, the featured uncensored video for ‘Hot In The City’ was banned by MTV for the use of its imagery which included Idol’s then-girlfriend Perri Lister tied to a cross. ‘White Wedding’ also sparked controversy over the razor sharp wedding ring that draws blood when placed on Lister’s finger.
Idol is justifiably proud of his video legacy: “We worked hard so there would be some consistency to the videos and so we wouldn’t have to be embarrassed one day. We sweated over them - video hell, we would call it.” As with his vital music, Idol liked to use his videos to shake things up as much as possible. “That was a pretty bland time of corporate rock and afternoon television music, and we wanted to bring in a little more danger and after hours fun into it,” he explains. “Maybe that’s why we looked like vampires.”
Part of the infamous Bromley Contingent and a fan of the Sex Pistols, Billy Idol was inspired to front the popular British punk band Generation X from 1976 until the band’s break-up in 1981. From there, he decided to try his luck in America. “I definitely took punk with me wherever I’ve gone,” Idol says. “That was the whole idea really. I wanted to transform my music, but I didn’t want to ever lose sight of that punk rock attitude. Whether we turned to hard rock or disco or whatever the hell else we did over the years, that helped give the music a spirit it would not have had if I hadn’t come out of the punk movement.”
His manager then hooked Idol up with guitar genius Steve Stevens and a crucial musical partnership was forged. Idol’s first solo album was released by Chrysalis in 1982, but it didn’t hit its chart peak in the UK until 1985 when the self-titled album’s ‘White Wedding’ was a major club hit and hit No.6 in the UK, fueled by heavy video play on MTV. ‘White Wedding’ also crossed over to the Top 5 of the Mainstream US Rock chart, while ‘Hot In the City’ made the Top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100, and ‘Billy Idol’ was certified gold with U.S. sales totaling more than 500,000 units.
Previously however, Idol really smashed through with singles from his follow-up 1984 double platinum album, ‘Rebel Yell’, which included the exhilarating rock title track ‘Rebel Yell’, the gorgeous lushly-produced ballad ‘Eyes Without a Face’ and the pulsing slow sleaze-rock of ‘Flesh For Fantasy’.
1987’s platinum-selling ‘Vital Idol’ collection presented his hits in brilliantly executed expanded remixes and was the UK’s highest charting album at. No.7, staying in the charts for 34 weeks and including the Top 10 cover version ‘Mony, Mony’. That following year, Idol released a new album, the platinum Top 10 ‘Whiplash Smile’, with its standout singles ‘To Be A Lover’ and ‘Don’t Need A Gun’. The platinum-certified ‘Charmed Life’ album followed in 1990 with ‘Cradle Of Love’ and ‘L.A. Woman’. 1993’s ‘Cyberpunk’ proved that Billy’s fans were still going strong in the UK, hitting No.20. A platinum-selling Greatest Hits collection, released in 2000, re-charged Idol’s catalog, and 12 years after his last new album release, he returned with ‘Devil’s Playground’ in 2005 (Sanctuary). The album’s ‘World Comin’ Down’ is included in the new collection’s tracks.
“It’s funny what you have to do to carve out your own niche,” Idol says with a laugh when asked about the new collection’s Idolize Yourself title. “But everyone should idolize themselves, shouldn’t they?” The niche that Billy Idol has created over these past few decades is impressive. Beyond the platinum sound and the platinum hair, Idol is respected as the original punk rocker who long ago found a way to take that sneering punk attitude into the pop and rock mainstream, carving out songs that have lasted a lifetime.
Listening back to ‘The Very Best Of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself’, the man himself felt a real sense of pride. “I was knocked out,” Idol says. “For all the up and downs, there’s some quality there. So I feel like I can walk into my house justified. The highs were very high -- sometimes too high -- and the lows were low, but somehow it still holds up.”
The new tracks find the man still at the peak of his powers, working with longtime partner and guitar great Steve Stevens and his other current band members, drummer and songwriting collaborator Brian Tichy and keyboardist Derek Sherinian. Of his new song ‘John Wayne’, Idol says, “When I’m singing it, I’m thinking about the characters John Wayne played. They were usually men with a flaw in their character or something dark in their past they’re trying to rise above before the end of the movie. So it’s not about the kick-in-the-door John Wayne or the barroom fight John Wayne -- it’s more the man who overcomes.”
Of the collection’s other new track, ‘New Future Weapon’, Idol says, “I was reading about the new stealth fighter plane the Raptor, and I was struck by the ambivalence of the pilot talking about the enemy. Musically, it’s got a bit of the Spaghetti Western about it. It’s a sick song, as you might expect.”
The two new songs are produced by Josh Abraham, whose production discography includes Velvet Revolver’s double platinum, Grammy Award-winning Contraband, 30 Seconds To Mars’ platinum A Beautiful Lie, Staind’s eight-times platinum Break The Cycle and double platinum 14 Shades of Grey, Limp Bizkit’s seven-times platinum Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, and Courtney Love's America's Sweetheart, among many others.
The Deluxe Edition CD/DVD adds 13 music videos that helped forever define Idol as a rock icon, and launch MTV to a new music/visual-hungry generation. However, the featured uncensored video for ‘Hot In The City’ was banned by MTV for the use of its imagery which included Idol’s then-girlfriend Perri Lister tied to a cross. ‘White Wedding’ also sparked controversy over the razor sharp wedding ring that draws blood when placed on Lister’s finger.
Idol is justifiably proud of his video legacy: “We worked hard so there would be some consistency to the videos and so we wouldn’t have to be embarrassed one day. We sweated over them - video hell, we would call it.” As with his vital music, Idol liked to use his videos to shake things up as much as possible. “That was a pretty bland time of corporate rock and afternoon television music, and we wanted to bring in a little more danger and after hours fun into it,” he explains. “Maybe that’s why we looked like vampires.”
Part of the infamous Bromley Contingent and a fan of the Sex Pistols, Billy Idol was inspired to front the popular British punk band Generation X from 1976 until the band’s break-up in 1981. From there, he decided to try his luck in America. “I definitely took punk with me wherever I’ve gone,” Idol says. “That was the whole idea really. I wanted to transform my music, but I didn’t want to ever lose sight of that punk rock attitude. Whether we turned to hard rock or disco or whatever the hell else we did over the years, that helped give the music a spirit it would not have had if I hadn’t come out of the punk movement.”
His manager then hooked Idol up with guitar genius Steve Stevens and a crucial musical partnership was forged. Idol’s first solo album was released by Chrysalis in 1982, but it didn’t hit its chart peak in the UK until 1985 when the self-titled album’s ‘White Wedding’ was a major club hit and hit No.6 in the UK, fueled by heavy video play on MTV. ‘White Wedding’ also crossed over to the Top 5 of the Mainstream US Rock chart, while ‘Hot In the City’ made the Top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100, and ‘Billy Idol’ was certified gold with U.S. sales totaling more than 500,000 units.
Previously however, Idol really smashed through with singles from his follow-up 1984 double platinum album, ‘Rebel Yell’, which included the exhilarating rock title track ‘Rebel Yell’, the gorgeous lushly-produced ballad ‘Eyes Without a Face’ and the pulsing slow sleaze-rock of ‘Flesh For Fantasy’.
1987’s platinum-selling ‘Vital Idol’ collection presented his hits in brilliantly executed expanded remixes and was the UK’s highest charting album at. No.7, staying in the charts for 34 weeks and including the Top 10 cover version ‘Mony, Mony’. That following year, Idol released a new album, the platinum Top 10 ‘Whiplash Smile’, with its standout singles ‘To Be A Lover’ and ‘Don’t Need A Gun’. The platinum-certified ‘Charmed Life’ album followed in 1990 with ‘Cradle Of Love’ and ‘L.A. Woman’. 1993’s ‘Cyberpunk’ proved that Billy’s fans were still going strong in the UK, hitting No.20. A platinum-selling Greatest Hits collection, released in 2000, re-charged Idol’s catalog, and 12 years after his last new album release, he returned with ‘Devil’s Playground’ in 2005 (Sanctuary). The album’s ‘World Comin’ Down’ is included in the new collection’s tracks.
“It’s funny what you have to do to carve out your own niche,” Idol says with a laugh when asked about the new collection’s Idolize Yourself title. “But everyone should idolize themselves, shouldn’t they?” The niche that Billy Idol has created over these past few decades is impressive. Beyond the platinum sound and the platinum hair, Idol is respected as the original punk rocker who long ago found a way to take that sneering punk attitude into the pop and rock mainstream, carving out songs that have lasted a lifetime.
Listening back to ‘The Very Best Of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself’, the man himself felt a real sense of pride. “I was knocked out,” Idol says. “For all the up and downs, there’s some quality there. So I feel like I can walk into my house justified. The highs were very high -- sometimes too high -- and the lows were low, but somehow it still holds up.”
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