# The Strange Magic of: Billy Idol



## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

On another thread, while discussing the Velvet Underground, I remarked that I am someone of simple tastes in rock and pop. Billy Idol perfectly fulfills the requirement for simplicity. His musical moment was the 1980s, when, with one of the tightest bands around, fronted by whiplash guitarist Steve Stevens, Idol owned the MTV and dance scenes. His music is pure surface--a shining, dense, shimmering, impenetrable metallic carapace. _White Wedding_ was Idol's signature song. As the Rough Guide to Rock phrases it, "...Idol pioneered a seamless marriage of techno and metal. 'White Wedding' (1982) was a quintessential example, with Idol's vocals oscillating between purrs and roars, while synths and guitar riffs rose and fell from the pulsing bassline." I am a big fan, though nowhere near as enthusiastic as one woman seen in one of Idol's concert videos--she wears a large hand-lettered sign saying "Billy Idol, You Make Me Come!" Everybody loves a blonde, and you will too.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Can't contribute too much here, sadly. I thought Generation X's three albums were great examples of punchy power-pop but I was much cooler towards Billy Idol's solo stuff. Coming as it did at the onset of the MTV era his timing and image was spot on and I'm glad he did well but the music itself, although catchy, absorbed too many elements which epitomised that side of the 80s which turned me off - glassy, too many keyboards and over-produced. And, as with much 80s music, it's aged badly.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

Now that is a blast from the past !
Didn't really stand the test of time, but was fun while it lasted. (Like many from that time, Adam Ant anyone ?) I had white hair for a short while in the eighties and everybody said I looked like him. Especially with my bikerjacket. I took it as a compliment at the time, but now I'm not so sure.....


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

He had the best upper lip since Elvis. I like White Wedding. And I liked his guitar player, Steve Stevens.


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

Jos said:


> Now that is a blast from the past !
> Didn't really stand the test of time, but was fun while it lasted. (Like many from that time, Adam Ant anyone ?)


Interesting to speculate on what will stand the test of time when discussing rock and pop, and whether that matters at all when it comes to one's current enjoyment. There's that ever-present whiff of nostalgia for lost youth in the air again...... _Carpe Diem!_


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## Strange Magic (Sep 14, 2015)

In recognition of my recent designation as possessor of the TC title of Lowest Common Denominator, I resurrect yet another fave performer, my man Billy Idol . He does indeed have a classic Elvis upper lip curl, quite evident in this rousing performance of _Pumping on Steel_, from the Charmed Life album. The lead guitarist is Mark Younger-Smith, as Idol and Steve Stevens had a falling-out (long since mended) for the period covered by both that album and Cyberpunks. I used to include Pumping on Steel along with things like L7's American Society, Judas Priest's You Got Another Thing Coming, etc., as mind-clearers for the drive home after a bad day at work--worked like a charm! Remember, Billy Idol especially is to be played LOUD. Enjoy! I do.....


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

Haha, going through this old thread again.

The lady quoted in the OP is on another level, but I wil interupt Zacharias playing Scarlatti as we speak, for some good old Billy streaming through Youtube right now !


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