Idol released four singles from Rebel Yell: the title track (which reached #46 in the US, #6 in the UK), “Eyes Without a Face” (#4 US, #18 UK) which I still listen to quite a bit as it works well in yoga flow playlists, “Flesh for Fantasy” (#29 US, #54 UK – I’m pretty sure it was this song that did my parents in) and “Catch My Fall” (#50 US, #63 UK) and all of the videos were on heavy rotation on MTV. The other tracks on Rebel Yell are just OK but there is lots of very competent shredding via guitarist Steve Stevens. (Side note: this post is a rework of a blog I did on Rebel Yell  back on its anniversary in 2017. I guess Wiki has edited its page entry on Stevens and sadly removed the punch line from this part of the bio: “Stevens has played for Michael Jackson, Ric Ocasek, Robert Palmer, and many others. Sometimes he smokes a cigarette while playing a song.”)

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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.”

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While Idol’s look was stereotypical punk, Rebel Yell is only vaguely punk in attitude but is very slick heavy metal/new wave pop in delivery, with the guitar playing prowess and writing contribution of Steve Stevens a heavy influence. (Steve Stevens Wiki entry made me laugh: after listing his various work with artists like Billy Idol, Michael Jackson, Robert Palmer, etc. etc., it says “Sometimes he smokes a cigarette while playing a song” like this is some hugely unique talent.)

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Two of Billy Idol’s best-known songs appear on Don’t Stop: “Mony Mony,” a cover of Tommy James and the Shondells’ hit from 1968, and “Dancing With Myself,” which Idol has previously released with his former band, Generation X. The track was not re-recorded, simply remixed and edited to a shorter length for this EP.  The track “Untouchables” is also a Gen X song that appeared on their album Kiss Me Deadly, though Idol did rerecord it for his EP.

“Mony Mony” holds a particularly dear spot in my heart. It was still quite popular in the mid-to-late 80′s and would inevitably be included on junior high and high school dance mixes where everyone would gleefully sing along, interjecting between lyrical lines the chant “Hey hey you! Get laid, get fucked!” I did a bit of digging and found that of course we were not unique youth developing naughty lyrics, but rather participating in a pre-internet meme. The chant varied slightly by geography: Southern Ontario/New York state/Ohio/Pennsylvania: “Hey, motherfucker!  Get laid, get fucked!” Wisconsin/Colorado/British Columbia:  “Hey, what’s that?  Get laid, get fucked!” Texas:  “Come on, everybody!  Get laid, get fucked!”
Some university campuses:  “Hey, hey, slut! Get laid, get fucked!” Elsewhere:  “Hey, hey what? Get laid, get fucked!”and “Hey, get drunk, get laid, get fucked!” – “get fucked” the great common denominator –  and its origin is unknown (the article linked has several theories, including its origin was back in ‘68 with the original release, a bad (?) lip-reading of an Idol performance, or mid-1980′s English frat boys).

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Unabashedly glammy pop-punk, the album is rocking melodic with lyrical “whoo-wee-oohs” liberally sprinkled throughout, a decidedly more New York Dolls meets Buzzcock-ish punk sound than The Clash or Sex Pistols. They even give a tease to future 80′s hair metal bands (with a very British punk sneer) on the power ballad “Kiss Me Deadly.” Generation X reached #29 on the UK charts, the single “Ready Steady Go” made it to #47 in March of ‘78. “One Hundred Punks” is a great power-pop track, probably one of my favorite songs on the album. This is the US release which has a different track listing than the UK version, including a cover of John Lennon’s “Gimme Some Truth.”

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