Is Billy Idol a couple of hits and not much else? Is his career more than the peak “Rebel Yell”, “White Wedding”, and “Dancing With Myself”?
Surprises? I found some. The hits? Fewer than you might think.
He did have four top ten songs, but even they aren’t what you might think initially. But he had some tunes that weren’t big but did rock. We dig into a couple of those.
Was he a pioneer in blending punk attitude with mainstream rock and pop appeal, bringing a sneering, rebellious edge of punk to MTV? Or was he a jump-on-the-bandwagon pop-punker?
Some might argue that his music was more about style and image than deep artistic innovation, especially compared to more groundbreaking punk and new wave artists. If someone values raw, underground punk over polished rock, they might see him as more of a commercialized version of the genre.
I’m not so sure.
Embrace the sneer. Let’s go.
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email: rockpoprollpodcast@gmail.com
website: www.rockpopandroll.com