Single of the Week - Cradle of Love OOP CD single

Brand new post for Idol fans ! Incredible Out Of Print CD single of Cradle Of Love featuring two Dub versions of Cradle Love not available anymore on any commercial CD anywhere. Because this CD is impossible to find, I included the tracks in apple loosless format. Happy Listening !

Cradle of Love OOP CD single


✓ Cradle Of Love [Edit] 4:09 Billy Idol Cradle Of Love (CD Single)
✓ Cradle Of Dub (Extended Mix) 6:28 Billy Idol Cradle Of Love (CD Single)
✓ Rob The Cradle Of Dub (Extended Mix) 5:10 Billy Idol Cradle Of Love (CD Single)
✓ 311 Man 3:54 Billy Idol Cradle Of Love (CD Single)
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Generation X - Chiswick Demos speed corrected

This interesting set of rare 1977 demos from Generation X surfaced a few months ago on the web via the great Music Ruined My Life blog. Date given as February 77, presumably done for Chiswick Records, the set sounds very much like the demos that would eventually appear on the Perfect Hits single in 1977 (a fake boot single done by the band itself), only in a much rougher state. I'm assuming that this was a first mix of the demos, and that they were remixed a few months later for the fake boot release. As great as this initial leak was, it had a few problems, the major one being it played too slow, and second, that some heavy background noise could be heard between the tracks. So I removed all dead filler (nothing was happening in those anyway), and speed-corrected it using the Perfect Hits single running times as reference. It might not be exactly like the real deal, but come close enough, and makes them much more listenable than hearing it in slow motion. Previously never heard before, the demo version of Kleenex is much more sinister than the final version, with Billy referencing Northern Ireland and the National Front, giving the song a much edgier feel. I also included a much nicer sleeve art to boot. Enjoy this fine piece of Generation X history.


Generation X - Chiswick Demos speed corrected.


1 Kleenex
2 Listen
3 Ready Steady Go !
4 Your Generation
5 Save My Life


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30 years of Bollocks - Live at the Roxy, L.A. 25/03/2005

Put Steve Jones and Billy Idol in the same room, and a beautiful big brother-little brother thing happens. Never mind that they were born less than three months apart in 1955 in the suburbs of London. And never mind that Idol is the more recognizable star by far. Idol’s admiration for Jones, the former Sex Pistols guitarist, shines through every word and gesture.

Idol was part of the so-called Bromley Contingent, a group of fans, including Siouxsie Sioux and Steve Severin, who followed the Pistols around. Many of the Contingent went on to form bands of their own. Jones recalls Idol’s band, Generation X, had trouble being taken seriously in the punk world. Idol auditioned in front of Malcolm McLaren, manager of the Pistols, only to be told he’d never make it. “I think he said that to motivate me,”says Idol.
Either way, he proved Mc Laren wrong.

After the Pistols fell apart, Jones and Idol found their paths cross ed again. Both were in New York, junkies. As Jones struggled with addiction, Idol shot to fame on MTV, with tracks like “White Wedding” and “Rebel Yell” making him a household name across the globe.

In the early ‘80s, both drifted to Los Angeles, rode motorcycles and had enough sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll experiences to last a lifetime. 

Back in 2005, while Jonesy was enjoying a stint as a deejay on L.A.’s Indie 103.1 radio station and Idol was promoting his new album, Devil’s Playground, they both teamed up together for a live transmission of an Idol gig, at the Roxy in L.A.. Jonesy guested and got on stage to rip thru Ready Steady Go ! & Dancing with Myself. Earlier in the day, both Idol and Steve Stevens had dropped by at the radio station, and jammed together with Jonesy on drum on acoustic renditions of Dancing with Myself and Cherie, both which are included here as bonus tracks.

I recorded the show and the radio jam straight from the web in wav format, then recut all the tracks for a homemade 2 CDR set. This is the 320kpbs version of the 2 discs. Excellent grade A sounds apart from the first few seconds of Super Overdrive, due to the Indie radio tech being slow to push all the faders. Artwork is original and home-made, hope you enjoy this set which I have never seen online since the original transmission.

30 YEARS OF BOLLOCKS with Billy Idol & Steve Jones 2 CD set

CD 1

1 Super Overdrive

2 Blue Highway

3 Flesh for Fantasy

4 Body Snatcher

5 White Wedding

6 Scream

7 Eyes without a Face

8 Sweet Sixteen

9 Cherie

10 Steve's solo

11 Rat Race

12 World coming Down

CD 2

1 Ready Steady Go ! (w Steve Jones)

2 Dancing with Myself (w Steve Jones)

3 Rebel Yell

4 Hot in the City

5 Money Money

6 Dancing with Myself (unplugged w Steve Jones) - bonus track

7 Cherie (unplugged w Steve Jones) - bonus track

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Single of the week - Rebel Yell 7" version

For our first Billy Fuckin' Idol solo post, here's a  treat : the original, 7" version of Rebel Yell. In these revisionist days, when record companies are run and filled with stupid idiots pricks with no knowledge of music history, it's easy to forget that the version of Rebel Yell that became a hit was NOT the album version, which clocks in at 4:48, but the single one, which is 3:42 long, more than a minute shorter ! Basically, this version speed through the intro, and zaps  the extended bridge after the solo.
This edit should be on Billy Idol singles compilations that supposely offers only the singles edits / mixes, but never did end up on any one of them. I guess those idiots at EMI didn't even check their library for variant versions. Lucky for us, a cheesy 80's compilation did somehow end up snatching this version for their tracklist, you can find it in iTunes by doing a Rebel Yell search and looking at the timing.
For those who don't want to bother buying the whole comp, here's the single version of Rebel Yell remastered and iTunes ready, in VBR mp3 format.

BILLY IDOL - REBEL YELL 7" VERSION

1 Rebel Yell single mix (3:42 instead of the full lenght 4:48 version)
2 Crank Call

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Generation X - US CD version

Although Generation X had secured a recording contract with Chrysalis Records in July 1977, their first album wasn’t released until March 1978.  By that time the initial punk movement that had began in small dingy clubs of London two years prior was becoming the very thing it had a reputation for hating.  Established.  Inevitably, punks’ original casts had surpassed their developmental stage and were now left to determine the course of their future careers in the music biz.  Some chose to venture off into realm of dissonant noise while others pretended they were Nosferatu.  For Generation X it was ‘superstar-rock-n-roll-pin-up-boys’ or bust. Billy Idol and bassist, Tony James, had been upfront with their aspirations of pop stardom from the get-go.  They openly praised Elvis Presley, the Who and Mott the Hoople.  Their live set included songs by John Lennon and Gary Glitter.  Hell, they even had t-shirts that boasted “Generation X have sold out to a record company”.  But in September 1977 their proud debut as the first punk band to appear on Top of the Pops conflicted with the narrow ideals that were already plaguing the once “anything goes” mentality of punks and they were quickly disowned (somehow the Buzzcocks were able to pull off Top of the Pops without negative retribution).  However, it’s doubtful that the lack of credibility from a few Mark Perry fans disturbed Billy and co. as concert halls jammed packed with screaming girls was a welcome change after playing to 300 blokes spitting at them. 

Generation X’s self-titled debut, is ripping-roaring UK punk rock at its best. If Generation X hadn’t been slanderously dubbed ‘pretty punks’ by the English press they now would be held in the same regard as esteemed peers the Sex Pistols, The Clash and the Damned.  Their songs are among the fastest of performed by any of the original UK punk groups.  The Billy Idol/Tony James song writing duo produced some of the catchiest melodies of the late 70’s.  There is no anarchy, social politics or stupid profanity here.  Tony James lyrics celebrate Rock & Roll and youth culture.  Drummer Mark Laff takes the prize for best the Keith Moon performance not performed by Keith Moon.  Guitarist Robert ‘Derwood’ Andrews’ does little to hide his flashy Mick Ronson influenced chops at a time when guitar heroes were generally frowned upon.  Arguably, Generation X were the best musicians of the UK punk movement.  Martin Rushent’s production is sharp as always. 

Upon its release, ‘Generation X’ received a cool response.  It was too pop for the punks, too punk for the metal crowd and too heavy for the teenyboppers.  But time has aloud ‘Generation X’ to win its way into the hearts of lovers all things Rock & Roll. 

Now, where it gets interesting is that the USA LP release actually was different from the UK one, and was a compilation of most of the UK vinyl tracks (minus "Listen" "Invisible Man" and "Too Personal") with a cover of "Gimme Some Truth", and a couple of singles ("Your Generation" and "Wild Youth") and one B-side ("Wild Dub") tacked on. This is identical to what transpired with the first The Clash album - and to address it Epic has reissued both versions of The Clash on CD. But The Clash is a well respected band by old punkers and punk historians, (even if they were dissed as sell out by the punk's not dead crowd back in the days) whereas Generation X is still regarded by those now fat, old, bald, toothless idiots as a "poseur" band... 

Case in point : Virgin never ever deemed fit to reissue the alternate US debut album of Generation X on CD. Duh. A big opportunity was missed with the Generation X box set.

Lucky for us, the original US debut was issued once on a now out of print CD by Chrysalis back in the 80's. Apart from it's novelty, it's interest is two-fold. First, the studio version of "Gimme Some Truth" which was the first track on the original vinyl release in the USA. One might note that the 2002 CD reissue of 'Valley of the Dolls' lists "Gimme Some Truth" as a bonus track but this an inferior version recorded live at the BBC. Here you get the original studio version which starts with the thumping bass drum and is way superior.

Second, some of the tracks plays at a slower tempo than on the original UK release. This might be a hint that those tracks were recorded at a slower speed by the band, and sightly varispeeded for the UK master, probably 1/ to make them sound more punk and 2/ save some space on the sides for making the record sound better. The US master having not been compiled under the control of the band, therefore probably offer those songs in the pitch and speed they were originally recorded. Tracks playing at a slower speed / pitch I noticed are marked by an *.

Generation X - US CD version

1. Gimme some truth (diff. version)

2. Wild Youth

3. From the Heart

4. Ready Steady Go * (3:08 instead of 2:57, diff. pitch)

5. Kleenex

6. Promises Promises

7. Day by Day

8. One Hundred Punks

9. Your Generation

10. Kiss me Deadly * (4:42 instead of 4:24, diff. pitch)

11. Wild Dub

12. Youth Youth Youth * (6:28 instead of 6:07, diff. pitch)

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The Idol Generation - rare Castle CD

The Idol Generation is kind of a strange compilation.  It comes close to serving as a collection of Generation X’s singles but is a few tracks shy of completion.  Oddly, a couple random tracks taken from the LP’s Generation X and Kiss Me Deadly have been included. I imagine Castle Communications’ original intention for issuing The Idol Generation back in 1993 was to put as many of Generation X’s  discontinued singles back in print, and on CD for the first time. 

During their brief career, Generation X released seven singles.  Five of the a-sides are present on this disc but the omission of ‘Wild Youth’ and, more questionably, ‘Dancing With Myself’, obviously disqualify The Idol Generation from being any sort of quote-unquote greatest hits package.

With the exception of ‘Loopy Dub’ and ‘Ugly Dub’ (from the ‘Dancing With Myself’ EP), ‘Wild Dub’ (from the ‘Wild Youth’ single), and the original version ‘Day by Day’ (from the single ‘Your Generation’), all of the b-side material is present.  So it is not quite a collection of the bands’ singles either.

While The Idol Generation is currently out of print, it remains to be the only CD issued to include the single versions ‘Rock On’ and ‘No No No’.  EMI Records could have rectified that when they remastered Generation X's catalogue in 2000, but they decided to fuck up like they always do.  

The Idol Generation Castle CD

1. Untouchables (taken from the LP Kiss Me Deadly)

2. Rock On (taken from the EP Dancing With Myself / Untouchables / Rock On / King Rocker)

3. Friday's Angels (taken from the LP Valley of the Dolls also released as an a-side)

4. King Rocker (taken from the LP Valley of the Dolls also released as an a-side)

5. Valley of the Dolls (taken from the LP Valley of the Dolls also released as an a-side)

6. Ready Steady Go (taken from the LP Generation X also released as an a-side)

7. Your Generation (single a-side)

8. Happy People (taken from the LP Kiss Me Deadly)

9. Ugly Rash (b-side of the single Dancing with Myself)

10. Trying For Kicks (b-side taken from the single Friday's Angels / Trying For Kicks / This Heat)

11. This Heat (b-side taken from the single Friday's Angels / Trying For Kicks / This Heat)

12. Gimme Some Truth (John Peel BBC Session recorded July 12, 1977; available on Radio 1 Sessions/also issued as the b-side of the ‘King Rocker’ single)

13. No No No (b-side taken from the single Ready Steady Go / No No No)

14. Shaking All Over (David Jensen BBC Session recorded June 12, 1978; available on Radio 1 Sessions/also issued as the b-side of the ‘Valley of the Dolls’ single)

15. Day By Day (taken from the LP Generation X)

16. One Hundred Punks (taken from the LP Generation X)

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