Billy Idol is back

Like Glasgow Jim, I rep for eyes w/o a face. Love that track.

^^^^

steal a car and go to las vegas

is there any other massive 80s figure with a lower modern profile these days? nobody gives a fuck about this guy, no crit rehab, no "ironic" nostalgia/appreciation

― Οὖτις, Friday, January 22, 2016 5:51 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i think there's still a lot to be said about the weird interzone of punk and top 40 that he blazed the trail for and continues to be trod by Fall Out Boy, 5 Seconds of Summer, etc. but yeah he's pretty much been left behind as a caricature with a few radio staples. i wouldn't say he was as big as Madonna or fell from prominence any more than, like, Pat Benatar or Huey Lewis, though.

i think pat benatar and huey lewis are beloved '80s icons to a degree that idol isn't these days, which is only odd in that i think a) his big songs remain as big as theirs in some ways, and b) he cultivated such a specific personality.

I remember seeing a TRL when the Orgy cover of "Blue Monday" was huge. Carson Daly was asking the crowd outside what '80s hit should get covered next, and this cute girl shouted, ""White Wedding" by Billy Idol!".

I don't know why I remember that.

Bryan Adams? INXS (ignoring the reality show which was 10 years ago anyway)?

I mean you still hear 3 or 4 of Adams' biggest hits on the radio, but in two decades and change I've never come across a single sincere or ironic appreciation or a pop culture allusion to any of them. Never heard anybody sing along with them either, never come across a single self-professed Bryan Adams fan. And he lasted until like 1996.

Did you know that you can't look up Bryan Adams on Allmusic?

He drew a decent crowd on a late-night stage at Bonnaroo a few years ago. With Steve Stevens still in tow. The kids all knew the hits, and he sounded pretty good. It was an oldies act, but not an embarrassing one.

Also, in re Bryan Adams, I bet there are a ton of women in their 40s with a Bryan Adams greatest hits disc that still gets regular play.

I suppose things are different in (continental) Europe. Pat Benatar, Huey Lewis and Bryan Adams are very much forgotten here (at least as of this moment).

Billy's most classic track remains Eyes Without A Face, but his best album is by far Whiplash Smile - the one with To Be A Lover, Sweet Sixteen, and Don't Need A Gun on it. it's daring, arty and darkly engaging as hell. by the same token, the maligned Cyberpunk deserves a thorough rehabilitation as well.

the only albums of his I don't care about are the two latest comeback albums (ten years apart from one another) as I cannot fathom him for a skateboarding punk rock figure.

in two decades and change I've never come across a single sincere or ironic appreciation or a pop culture allusion to any of them

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpRNBA60bJ8

Also, in re Bryan Adams, I bet there are a ton of women in their 40s with a Bryan Adams greatest hits disc that still gets regular play.

― something totally new, it’s the AOR of the twenty first century (tipsy mothra), Friday, January 22, 2016 8:06 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

One of the Voice Media writers did a stunt piece on that album Adams' put out through Wal Mart wherein they listened to it 11 times in a row (the album was called "11"). At some point they noted one of the songs was about an attractive older lady, which inspired the query "Is MILF Rock a thing?".

https://i.imgur.com/5tEqZ1P.jpg

dafuq

love his voice on that new song

Start again