by Tom Lounges
Billy Idol was easily one of the most recognizable figures of the 1980s,
this side of Boy George.
With his cockatiel-cut, dirty blonde hair, his perpetual snear and his
omni-presence leather jacket, Idol became the poster boy for the music of
that era.
Then like so many of his contemporaries, Idol suddenly vanished from the
musical landscape. Other than playing a parody of his old self in Adam
Sandler’s hit, “The Wedding Singer,” Idol fell out of the public eye.
“I never went under a rock or anything,” laughed Idol, “We were still
out doing it. Some little Christmas tours and some one-off shows here and
there. But we were only running on two cylinders for a long time. I was not
100% happy with the people in my group and what was going on with the music
business. I wanted to wait until things were running on all four cylinders
again with us before trying to do anything.”
Reunited with guitarist Steve Stevens and fronting a brand new band –
bassist Steve McGrath, drummer Brian Tischy and keyboardist Joe Simon – has
been a real source of musical invigoration for Idol.
“People can tell when a group is for real or whether they are just doing
it as a job,” said Idol. “There is a big difference, a massive difference.
The fans are not stupid and you can’t fool them into thinking your spirit is
in the music if it’s not.”
Idol met McGrath while enjoying his other passion, motorcycle riding.
“Steve and I have gone thousands of miles together on our bikes,” he said.
“Now we’re making music together.” Once McGrath was on board the rest fell
together quickly. “We’re more than just a band,” said Idol, “we’re mates,
and that’s very important I think.”
“Billy Idol was never meant to be... ‘Hello... solo artist here!’,”
said the rocker. “Billy Idol was always a band. It was always more than
just me. Steve Stevens is a great guitarist and songwriter and was as much
responsible for our [early] success as I was, maybe more.”
Somewhere along the way, and he is not sure where or how, Billy became
the star attraction. Through record label marketing, the band became
secondary and that Idol feels is what made things deteriorate.
In late June, Idol was the subject of a VH1 Storytellers episode and he
has just released a new Greatest Hits package that resulted in a short summer
tour, which is what landed him in front of this writer’s tape recorder.
“Yes, in some ways it’s a little frightening, but I’ve always loved being
the underdog you know,” said Idol of starting over after so much time away.
“I’d be more worried if there hadn’t been such positive things and such
development the last couple years, musically. See, I’ve never really cared
about the business end and the trends and all that. I’ve always believed if
you’ve got the goods – a great band and great songs – that the business
stuff takes care of itself.”
The middle-aged Idol seems to have rekindled the punk spirit that
thrusted him into music long before becoming the pop star who ignited dance
floors worldwide with hits like “White Wedding,” “Rebel Yell” and his take
on the Tommy James’ oldie, “Mony Mony.”
Idol was the punk era’s answer to Elvis. In fact, his early punk band,
Generation X, paid a snarling homage to the swivel-hipped Memphis boy in
their anthem, “King Rocker.” In fact, one of Idol’s biggest hits,
“Dancing With Myself,” was originally a Gen-X song glorifying the
slam-dance/pogo scene of the late ‘70s punk clubs.
“Punk was supposed to self-destruct,” he said. “It was never meant to
grow old and become bloated [like the rock it had replaced]. When that
happened to Gen X, Idol moved to New York City and became engulfed in the
sub-culture that spawned his musical heroes, The New York Dolls.
The original punk said he has no problems with the second generation of
punks like Green Day, The Ataris and others who have come along to recreate
the sound and scene he helped to forge so many years ago.
“It certainly hasn’t hit us the same, Tom, because you and I were there
the first time around,” he said. “But I can understand young people wanting
to capture that same kind of feeling, because of the immediacy of it. If
you’re wanting to start a band, punk rock is a great place to start, because
anyone can pick up a guitar and more or less hack their way through it. It’s
always been more about attitude than talent. I don’t know it [today’s punk]
is quite a relevant as what we did the first time around, but I’m sure it’s
just as much fun for today’s kids as it was for us.”
Following his brief tour this summer behind the new Greatest Hits CD,
Idol said he and Stevens will buckle down to write new songs together.
“One of the reasons we did this hits tour, was to tighten up the band and
to let people know that we have a kick-ass group again,” said Idol. “It’s
as much about setting the pace for what’s to come as it is about having fun
with the old songs.”
Two of the new songs that have sprung from the creative duo in the last
year – “Walk The Monster” and “The Fire Song” – have been getting
road-tested on the hits tour and are going over very well.
While they are still without a firm record contract, Idol is not
worried. “Like I said, if you have the goods the business stuff falls in
line,” he repeated. “And with this band, we have the goods, I promise you
that.”
Planning to write and record this fall on the new album, tentatively
titled – Walk The Monster – Idol hopes by this time next year to have a new
record on the charts and be touring behind it.
“The idea of getting another chance at rock ‘n’ roll is fantastic,”he
gushed. “I’m so excited to be at this point I can’t tell you.”