← Behind The Song: Classic Rock Chronicles
Behind The Song: Classic Rock Chronicles
A Nice Day To Start Again: Billy Idol's "White Wedding"
00:10:49
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- [00:00]
Host 1
The what's your Mount Rushmore? Podcast there's two things that I think I am almost always it's hungry and tired. I spend. I seriously probably spend 80% of my life, my waking life, being either hungry or tired or both. I will mirror that, but I will add a third one.
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Janda
I'm always also gassy.
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Host 1
Yes you are. There is no doubt about that. What's your Mount Rushmore?
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Janda
I don't know.
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Host 1
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Janda
Welcome to the behind the Song podcast, powered by Chick Fil A. I'm Janda. The year was 1982 and Billy Idol was at a crossroads. He had broken with his punk band Generation X the year before. After interest in his native England trailed off the punk trend, he was ready to shake things up. So he packed up and moved to the States to get his solo career going, and his breakthrough hit Here ended up being a catchy tune about a wedding from hell, partly inspired by his sister. Let's get into the story of White Wedding in this episode of the behind the Song podcast and if you like it hit, subscribe and let us know in the comments. As the frontman for Generation X, Billy Idol caught hold of the punk rock movement that was sweeping the UK when the band formed in 1976. He was about 21 years old, a university dropout who was part of the scene that included the Sex Pistols on their short lived but very impactful foray into culture at large. And Generation X did have some success in the UK. They had six singles that made the UK singles chart and released three albums. But by 1981, neither the music press nor what remained of the punk scene were fully embracing the band. So Idol headed for New York with his girlfriend, Perry Lister. The Big Apple was no sure thing in those days. There was a kind of proprietorial attitude on the part of fans who tended to really dislike it when anyone left England to seek a bigger slice of the pie elsewhere. Hardcore Generation X fans labeled him a sellout back home, and his band had not gotten any real love from the press in the US either. Overall, his look was too punk for the media here in 1982, and radio stations didn't play artists who looked like Billy Idol. This is the year that Michael Jackson's Thriller reigned and Olivia Newton John was riding high with Physical. A punk rocker from Bromley wasn't really fitting the bill, so he was going to have to come up with something special in order to make it work here. So he got to work at vrbo.
- [03:22]
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- [03:49]
Janda
Everything really started to go Billy Idol's way when he teamed up with New York based Steve Stephens, who became his writing partner, and guitarist producer Keith Forsey. They were the key players with Idol's unique vocal style, Steven's blazing metal guitar riffs and Forsey's love of pop synthesizers. Together they hit on a sound. Forsey, among other things, went on to co write Flashdance, sung by Irene Cara and Steve Stevens won a Grammy for his guitar work on the theme for Top Gun. He and Idol became longtime collaborators and were nominated together for induction into the Rock and Roll hall of fame in 20. But anyway, back to the early 80s when Idol was trying to build his solo career, he released an EP Don't Stop in 1981 which included the Generation X song Dancing With Myself and his cover of Tommy James and the Shondel song Mony Moni, which he also had a hit with much later in the decade after MTV made him a star. The EP came out in October of 1981 and then it was on to putting together his solo debut released in July of 82. The genesis of the song White Wedding came from Billy Idol's sister Jane, who was having a shotgun wedding in real life. She had gotten pregnant by her boyfriend and they were getting married. Idol, who was writing songs in New York at the time, has said that he wrote the words White Wedding down on his yellow pad and looking at the words and thinking about his sister started to conjure up a storyline. Everything was alright with his sister and the baby and the marriage. It wasn't really A terrible scand or anything like that. But he started thinking about what would have happened if this shotgun wedding had happened years before, the taboo around it and the outcry that it would have caused. Going off of that, he began writing lyrics that would give it a little more drama. He said he turned it around as if there was a crazed brother who was like Clint Eastwood coming back to murder whoever had defiled his sister, written around a real thing and then embellished. He said it was both the dramatized concept of an unplanned pregnancy and his own sense of starting over in his career that gave him the lyrics that he wanted. White Wedding goes like hey little sister, what have you done? Hey little sister, who's the only one? Hey little sister, who's your Superman? Hey little sister, who's the one you want? Hey little sister, shotgun It's a nice day to start again It's a nice day for a white wedding. This is so sarcastic since in traditional weddings the virgin bride wears white. The Clint Eastwood like brother character Billy Idol dreamed up is gunning for vengeance, just like in the spaghetti westerns that he admits to being a fan of. The song goes on. Hey little sister, who is it you're with? Hey little sister, what's your vice or wish? Hey little sister, shotgun It's a nice day to start again It's a nice day for a white wedding. You can hear the snarl in Idol's voice when he sings the words white wedding, the danger that made this song a hit and him so unforgettable as a rock star. The song goes on with this outlaw character addressing his own part in the downfall of his sister's reputation. When he gets into the next part. Hey little sister, what have you done? Hey little sister, who's the only one? I've been away for so long I let you go for so long It's a nice day to start again It's a nice day for a white wedding. And then, with lyrics that surely must have reflected the uncertainty of his own career at that point in time, he sings, there is nothing fair in this world There is nothing safe in this world and there's nothing sure in this world and there's nothing pure in this world Looking for something left in this world Come on, It's a nice day for a white wedding It's a nice day to start again by the time the song is done, you almost feel sorry for the poor guy his sister is about to marry. Under the Gun Billy Idol's self titled debut solo album was released in the summer of 1982. Hot in the City from that album actually charted and got decent airplay for a reason that's pretty wild to think about now. It was because his image wasn't pictured on the sleeve. He was just too hard edged, too punk rock, looking for the decision makers at radio at the time to take a chance on. So the label shipped it with a picture of a city street on it to sell it. The second single from his solo debut, White Wedding, was released in a sleeve that did feature an image of Idol in all his snarling glory. And as a result, it had a slower climb at radio. But this coincided with the newly launched mtv, a network hungry for music videos and new fabulous faces. And a video was shot for White Wedding. That visual component that made Billy Idol seem like a risk to radio programmers in 1982 was welcomed with open arms by executives at MTV, and White Wedding cracked the top 40 in the U.S. the song became his real breakthrough because people could see him. Who could forget the video for White Wedding directed by David Mallett, who also did Bowie's Ashes to Ashes and Let's Dance videos? It was a goth wedding gone wild starring Idol and his girlfriend, Perry Lister. Mallett said in the book I Want My mtv, that in those days he was the greatest looker and mover since Elvis. One look at the White Wedding video and they got him. Billy Idol said that he had some idea that the song was gonna be a classic when he was writing it, he said he just had that feeling, and it turned out he was right. He never got married, but he does have children, including a son with Lister. They split up in the late 80s, and while marriage has eluded Idol, his song about a shotgun ceremony has been featured in plenty of scenes in movies, including most notably in the Wedding Singer with Adam Sandler. He's come a long way from his punk rock days in England and lived to tell the tale. It was a good move for Billy Idol, no matter the naysayers at the time, to take a leap of faith and come to the States. In the years since coming here to cobble together his solo career, he's had major hits, major highs and major lows, including overcoming addictions that landed him in the press more than once. But that's all behind him now. For the second year in a row, he's been nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll hall of fame in 2026. Billy Idol has sold over 40 million albums worldwide. His story is really one of resilience, picking up and moving on to something better, like the song A Nice Day Start again. How many times have you started over or thought about starting over in your life or career? Something to think about until next time. I'm Janda and this has been behind the song. If you like this episode, give it a like and subscribe to the channel. Or better yet, tell a friend. Special thanks as always to Christian Lane for the music you hear on these podcast episodes. You can find me on the air at 9701 FM the Drive in Chicago and at wdrv.com on the way. Much more Classic Rock and Roll hey, did you know Chick Fil? A helps you save time and earn rewards Every time you order with the Chick Fil? A app, it's easier than ever to get your favorites fast. Whether you're craving a crispy Chick Fil? A chicken sandwich, fresh made salads, or those golden waffle fries, it's all just a few taps away. 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