Billy Idol
31 articles
Audio interviews
Generation X's Billy Idol (1978)
Interview by Howie Klein, Rock's Backpages audio, May 1978
The Generation X frontman talks about the evolution and nature of the band, and extemporises about the nature of punk rock and the power of rock'n'roll.
File format: mp3; file size: 46.6mb, interview length: 50' 54" sound quality: ***
Interview by Mat Snow, Rock's Backpages audio, 1990
A press conference in which our William chats about the Oliver Stone Doors movie, breaking his leg, becoming a father and much more. Some of the questions are clipped, inaudible or missing entirely, but the answers make up for it!
File format: mp3; file size: 26.1mb; Interview length: 28' 33"; sound quality: **
Interview by David A. Keeps, Rock's Backpages audio, Summer 1993
Billy Idol talks about first getting his hair dyed; his itinerant upbringing; moving to America, and how he feels about it; William Broad vs. Billy Idol, and his beliefs; his motorcycle crash; the sacrifices of celebrity; his conviction for hitting a woman; being attacked, and his scars; his L.A. social life, and awards ceremonies; his appearance, and how he dresses; getting into acting... and what would be the ideal Billy Idol sandwich.
File format: mp3; file size: 70.2mb, interview length: 1h 13' 06" sound quality: ***
List of articles in the library
Billy Idol Is A Star: live at the Stone, San Francisco
Live Review by Barney Hoskyns, New Musical Express, 4 September 1982
"BILLY IDOL IS A STAR": a startling revelation that emerged at The Stone in San Francisco last week. Sure, it's yer old Billy alright, but ...
Live Review by Graham K. Smith, New Musical Express, 2 October 1982
FALLEN IDOL ...
Billy Idol: Rebel Yell (Chrysalis)
Review by David Quantick, New Musical Express, 28 January 1984
WHOOPS! ...
Billy Idol: Rebel Yell (Chrysalis)
Review by Richard Riegel, Creem, March 1984
BILLY IDOL has designated the respective sides of the single-pocket Rebel Yell as "3" and "4," in the same big numerals he used for "1" ...
Revolution, American Style: Billy Idol Battles the Band
Interview by Toby Goldstein, Creem, April 1984
NEVER MIND the decline and fall of the Roman Empire...Billy Idol is about to introduce fear and trembling into one of the Bronx's few remaining ...
Billy Idol: Rebel Without a Cause
Interview by Howard Johnson, Kerrang!, 12 July 1984
An eyeball to IDOL interview by HOWARD JOHNSON ...
Interview by Neil Tennant, Smash Hits, 19 July 1984
Billy Idol was the typical punk back in the late '70s — tough, rude, a bit mental. In 1984 he's exactly the same (only more ...
Billy Idol: Whatever Happened To Bloated Rock Stars
Profile and Interview by Mat Snow, New Musical Express, 11 August 1984
THERE WAS a time when the idea of Billy Idol one day becoming a megaplatinum punk-rock superstar would have made me choke on my nutburger. ...
Interview by Betty Page, Record Mirror, 22 September 1984
Billy Idol introduces Betty Page to an exciting new phenomenon called 'punk rawk' ...
Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Musician, July 1985
Billy Idol's Six-Strinq Sidekick Fortifies the Image with Proto-Punk Musical Muscle. ...
Billy Idol: I was the clean punk
Interview by Graham K. Smith, Record Mirror, 6 July 1985
So pleads Billy Idol, latest bad boy of yank rock. Graham K. Smith listens to the curled lip and reckons the man is sincere ...
Reel American: Keith Forsey's Disco Snarl
Interview by Rob Tannenbaum, Musician, November 1985
From Donna Summer to Billy Idol, from Psy-Furs to Simple Minds, the union of style and raunch. ...
Billy Idol: Nice Day for a New Album
Interview by Kris Needs, Creem, August 1986
LONDON: IT'S three in the morning and a rampant telephone slices the night silence. The caller is in New York, but the line is crystal ...
Billy Idol: An Englishman Abroad
Report and Interview by Tom Hibbert, Smash Hits, 8 October 1986
Where does the man with the biggest sneer in rock'n'roll go for his summer hols? The Caribbean? St. Tropez? Los Angeles? No — Majorca, that's ...
Review by Lucy O'Brien, New Musical Express, 25 October 1986
THIS IS an ode to peroxide. Bottle Blonde spikes and matted hair. Gel by the ton. A sneer, a whiplash smile, a surly pout. The ...
Billy Idol: Whiplash Smile (Chrysalis)
Review by Rob Tannenbaum, Rolling Stone, 4 December 1986
Billy Idol's only human ...
Billy Idol: Whiplash Smile (Chrysalis)
Review by Jon Young, Musician, January 1987
BILLY BABY! What happened? Just when he seemed destined for a multi-platinum rut, with that frozen sneer and perpetually raised fist, the punk-turned superstar has ...
Billy Idol: Billy Then, Idol Now
Profile by Kris Needs, Creem, March 1987
"I HOPE IF I get it right, it'll be a great record. If I get it wrong, it'll be in the trash-bin. I wouldn't be ...
Billy Idol, The Cult: Forum, Los Angeles
Live Review by Bill Holdship, Creem, September 1987
Dr. Freud, I Presume ...
I Am Still the Greatest Says Billy Idol
Interview by Chris Bourke, Rip It Up (New Zealand), September 1987
"At the age of 14, Johnny Angelo was a heartthrob. He had three-inch sideboards and he wore his hair swept high in a golden quiff. ...
Interview by Steven Wells, New Musical Express, 28 April 1990
BILLY IDOL has got plastered! He's got God! He's got dead! Rumours about the blond Bromley bombshell blast through the ether of Transatlantic rockgossip! Is ...
Review by Mat Snow, Q, May 1990
HIS STANDING AS the Greatest Living Englishman only jeopardised by that nasty prang on the old Harley, Sir William Idol has in fact reinforced his ...
Interview by Tom Hibbert, Q, June 1990
IN THE SUITE of a hotel just off Sunset Boulevard, Billy Idol is sitting with leg encased in a cast resting upon a pile of ...
Interview by Mark Rowland, Musician, August 1990
I KNOW you're still in rehab [note: Idol's left leg was severely injured in a motorcycle accident several months ago]. But with Charmed Life flying ...
Mobile sneer and ultimate throb makes Idol rich
Profile and Interview by David Toop, The Times, 20 August 1990
Fame in America but indifference at home: the strange fate of the textbook rock 'n' roller Billy Idol told by David Toop. ...
Billy Idol: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Paul Elliott, Sounds, 5 January 1991
Billy the Kid ...
Crockabilly!: Billy Idol: Wembley Arena, London
Live Review by Dele Fadele, New Musical Express, 5 January 1991
THE HEADY STRAINS of pulsating drums and long-forgotten African chants fill the cavernous room: "Zumbayeh, Aikobayeh". Billy Idol's intro tape is 'Cult Of Snap' by ...
Retrospective and Interview by Adrian Deevoy, Event Magazine, 11 October 2014
THE SIGNATURE sneer is nowhere to be seen, the rebellious fist, so often raised and pumping, rests limply in his lap. Billy Idol, the wild ...
see also Chelsea
see also Generation X
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