Billy Idol “Billy Idol” 1982. Today, November 30th, is Billy Idol’s 65th birthday (!!!) (b. William Broad, 1955) so I’m spinning his first solo LP with the original cover. Billy Idol was re-released in ‘83 with a more snarly-punk photo of Idol and included the single “Dancing With Myself” originally recorded by Idol’s punk band Generation X in 1980 and released in the UK (#62); he remixed it and released it again in ‘81 when it hit #27 in the US on the dance charts.

While this original of Billy Idol does not have “Dancing With Myself” it does have a couple of memorable Idol singles including “Hot In the City” which was released as a the first single in ‘82 when it hit #23 in the US and #58 in the UK; it was re-released in ‘87 when it charted again at #13 UK and #48 US. The other single was “White Wedding (part 1)” which went to #36 in the US and #6 in the UK (in ‘85 with yet another single re-release). I didn’t know there was a “White Wedding (part 2)” but there is – it’s a synth-heavy continuation of part 1 that appears on the “White Wedding (part 1)” 12″ single. I totally remember hearing “White Wedding” in ‘82, mainly because for some reason my parents hated it and thought it was one of the worst things they’d ever heard on the radio. I was 11 years old and just really getting into music in a big way, especially rock and all things British so of course I LOVED it. Though Idol has a solid punk background in Chelsea and Generation X, Billy Idol is rock, and skews pop/new wave in the rock genre, especially on tracks like “Hot in the City,” “Nobody’s Business” and “Love Calling” (which reminds me of Adam Ant’s style) and even some soft-focused new wave like on “It’s So Cruel,” though guitarist Steve Stevens’ shredding helps offset the pop to make it more hard-rocking on tracks like “Come On, Come On” (which Stevens co-wrote) and “Hole In the Wall.”