Around 40 years ago, Billy Idol released the album that shaped his career. Now an anniversary edition of “Rebel Yell” is being released with music that has never been released before – because of Madonna.
Billy Idol can hardly believe that one of his greatest successes was over 40 years ago. The album “Rebel Yell”, released in November 1983, made the British punk rocker a global star.
“It’s strange,” says Idol in a telephone conversation with the German Press Agency in London. “I know it was a long time ago. But in a strange way it feels like it was yesterday.” On the occasion of the 40th anniversary, an expanded new edition of the cult album is now being released, somewhat late.
“I think we wanted to make a statement with the second album because so many people were gossiping about the 80s,” remembers the 68-year-old. “People from the ’60s and ’70s just didn’t want to believe that the ’80s could be any good. Aside from wanting to establish ourselves in America, we wanted to make a great album to show everyone that There’s still great music coming out. We just didn’t know if we’d be able to do it.”
When Billy Idol speaks in the plural, he also means his companions. He found a congenial partner in US guitarist and songwriter Steve Stevens, with whom he continues to work to this day. In the USA he also continued to hire the British producer Keith Forsey, who was already at the controls for Generation X.
Songs for the moment
“We just continued like we did with the first album,” he says. “Steve and I worked our way through the songs. Every now and then Keith Forsey would come to New York, listen to it, give us a few tips and leave again. We lived for the moment, wrote songs for the moment and not thinking too much about the future.”
The rock veteran with blonde, gelled hair is calling from his adopted home of Los Angeles, where he has lived for more than 30 years. In 1981 he emigrated to the USA – initially to New York City to advance his career. He released several singles with the punk band Generation X, including “Dancing With Myself”. But great success did not materialize.
“It’s just that fashion or music styles change pretty quickly in England,” says Idol, explaining his reasons for the move. “And if you were in a band that broke up, like I was in Generation where I knew there were like-minded people.”
New York, CBGB, MTV
The New York music scene with clubs like the famous CBGB seemed ideal for Idol. The singer already had an American manager in Bill Aucoin, who had previously brought the band Kiss to fame. “He also knew that a 24-hour music channel called MTV would soon be launching on cable television, for which I would be perfect,” he remembers.
The debut album, simply titled “Billy Idol”, was released in 1982 and was commercially successful thanks to the music video for the single “White Wedding”. Now it was time to confirm the success with the second album.
“Rebel Yell”, released on November 10, 1983, actually became a huge success and was seminal for Billy Idol’s career. In addition to the immortal title song of the same name, the LP contains other hits that are now considered rock classics: “Flesh For Fantasy”, Catch My Fall” and the ballad “Eyes Without A Face”. Other album songs such as the fast-paced “Blue Highway” or “(Thur Not) Stand In The Shadows” are in no way inferior to the singles.
From punk to Billy Idol music
“Rebel Yell” is the perfect fusion of hard rock, new wave and danceable pop with a punk attitude. With this, Idol established his own style of music. “I didn’t let punk limit me anymore,” he says. “It became Billy Idol music. And Billy Idol music might as well be ‘Rebel Yell’ as it could be ‘Eyes Without a Face’.”
He was one of the figureheads for the new music channel MTV. He was also popular on the radio and in the discos. “I wanted to bring the music directly to a danceable level,” says Idol. “I said to Bill Aucoin: What we need is a rock ‘n’ roll disco dance producer.”
Aucoin asked Giorgio Moroder. The star producer and disco pioneer waved him off, but recommended his drummer and sound tinkerer colleague Keith Forsey. He played drums in Udo Lindenberg’s Panik-Orchester and with the Krautrockers Amon Düül before he experimented with disco-pop and worked with artists like Boney M. or the Italo-pop icons La Bionda. He was the ideal man for Billy Idol’s vision.
Bonus tracks and first releases
The “40th Anniversary Deluxe Expanded Edition” of “Rebel Yell” includes a second CD or LP with bonus tracks. These include two songs that almost ended up on the album in 1983 and are now being released for the first time – the rock song “Best Way Out Of Here” and a magnificent cover version of the soul ballad “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore” by Rose Royce, who became an idol makes it your own.
The fact that this track lay dormant in the archives for four decades was thanks to Madonna. She recorded the song for her album “Like A Virgin” at the same time. “We already had enough songs for ‘Rebel Yell,’ so we said we’d leave out ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’ and do it later. But that never happened – until today,” says Idol.
For the outro, Steve Stevens had to play something on the guitar. “Otherwise everything was already there,” reveals Idol. The bonus CD also contains early versions and demo recordings of other songs.
Billy Idol is still extremely active today. After two EPs and a concert film, he is currently working on his next album. But “Rebel Yell” remains one of his best and most important.
“We worked really hard to take the second step,” sums up Idol. “We toured for a year. That year we played from clubs to theaters to big halls. You could see how it exploded. It was really fun.”
Billy Idol official website