Billy Idol | Club Random with Bill Maher

Summary

Club Random with Bill Maher – Billy Idol Episode Summary

Episode Date: March 2, 2026
Host: Bill Maher
Guest: Billy Idol

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Main Theme and Purpose

This episode of Club Random is a wide-ranging, freewheeling conversation between Bill Maher and rock icon Billy Idol. The pair reminisce about music history, the wild years of rock and roll, the unique energy of musicians, the art of songwriting, run-ins with drugs, and reflections on aging, all delivered with wit, candor, and the irreverence typical of Maher’s one-on-one podcast style.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Film References and Cultural Touchstones

• Kubrick and "Clockwork Orange":
  Early on, Maher brings up the film A Clockwork Orange and its influence, with Idol confirming its impact on his generation (02:01). Idol discusses Stanley Kubrick’s unrealized Napoleon film and dives deep into the complexity of classic movies and actors' anecdotes.

  "Yeah, it was kind of fantastic." — Billy Idol on watching A Clockwork Orange (02:06)

• Sinatra Stories: Idol shares a tale involving Sam Kinison, ending with an impromptu night seeing Frank Sinatra perform in Vegas—where Sinatra’s son conducted and was subject to onstage humiliation (07:34).

  "He was always doing stuff like that all the way through. It was fantastic. It was really funny." — Billy Idol (07:46)

• The Power of Music and Musicianship:
  Maher muses on the irreplaceable, intoxicating effect of musicians on culture and their frequent disconnect from “normal” society (10:42).

2. Billy Idol’s Wild Years

• The Height of Fame:
  Idol reflects on the heady days of chart-topping success, being described as “rock royalty” and living the wild life, including run-ins with drugs and brushes with death.

  "Yeah, it was very wild... You must have lived a life that is—I mean, you obviously survived it." — Billy Idol (11:22)

• The Documentary "Billy Idol Should Be Dead": Discussion turns to Idol’s documentary, which candidly references his near-death experiences from the '70s through the '90s (28:22, 71:39).

3. Deep Dives into Songwriting, Lyrics, and Rock History

• Pop Lyrics and Meaninglessness:
  Maher and Idol laugh about how some of the most enduring pop songs have meaningless lyrics, e.g., “Mony Mony” and “Crimson and Clover.”

  "You can get away with 'Mony Mony.' You can just do it, you know, and if it doesn’t make sense... well, are you dancing? Then shut the fuck up." — Bill Maher (14:11)

• Reviving the Classics:
  Idol recounts his renditions and covers of classic songs and unpacks why certain pop records feel timeless (16:29).

• The Beatles: Interplay and Innovation:
  The pair explore the creative rivalry between Lennon and McCartney—how each responded to the other’s work, sometimes directly (19:35). They also dissect some “mediocre” lyrics that endure due to sound and personality.

  "It’s the inflection you put on the notes... it’s your personality working the note." — Billy Idol (39:35)

• Songwriting Process:
  Idol describes his method—waiting for the muse, finding evocative titles, jamming on guitar until something sparks (40:08).

4. Drugs, Addiction, and Sobriety

• Heroin and Near-Death:
  Idol tells a harrowing story of nearly dying from heroin, snorting (not injecting) it—while Maher offers his outsider perspective as a lifelong pot user (29:56–34:09).

• Withdrawal and Quitting:
  Idol and Maher delve into the brutal reality of withdrawal, referencing Boy George’s description (“like a skeleton trying to get out of your body,” 35:28) and John Lennon’s “Cold Turkey” (35:43).

• Addiction Phases and Substitution:
  Idol shares honestly about moving from heroin to crack (66:08) and eventually toward a “California sober” lifestyle (pot, but no hard drugs or much alcohol, 71:11).

  "To be a junkie, you need energy to be a drug addict." — Billy Idol (65:28)

• Reflections and Regret:
  Both reflect on surviving excess and the wisdom that comes with age (74:31).

5. Sustaining Creativity and Aging in Rock

• Staying Young at Heart:
  Despite advancing age, both men feel youthful, especially compared to their staid, non-rockstar peers. Idol credits his ongoing creativity and passion for keeping him young (59:09, 60:07).

• Legacy and Timeless Music:
  Idol expresses pride in making songs that aren’t just “80s” but hold up in any era (77:45).

• Family and Background:
  Idol opens up about his working-class, Irish background and the musicality present in his heritage, as well as childhood years split between England and America (46:06).

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Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• On Early Music Memory:
  "My grandmother could play 14 instruments. Not that I can. I'm not that musical." — Billy Idol (46:14)

• On Classic Records:
  "If you really want to get panties wet... just the opening note of ‘Crimson and Clover’..." — Bill Maher (17:05)

• On the Lifespan of a Rocker:
  "It takes a little while getting to this stage in life... when you do fun, childish things like we do, it's weird not to be young." — Bill Maher (59:00)

• On Surviving Rock Excess:
  "I'm glad I did [drugs] back then, not now... You need energy to be a drug addict, and I don’t have that kind of energy." — Billy Idol (65:16)

• On Addiction’s Grip:
  "Charlie Parker said: they can take it out of your body. They can't take it out of your mind." — Bill Maher quoting Parker (74:13)

• On Timeless Songs:
  "We weren't trying to do something for that decade... we hoped what we were doing was going to resonate into the future." — Billy Idol (77:49)

• On Songwriting While Being Intimate:
  "Did you ever write a song or even play an instrument while getting blown?" — Bill Maher (43:01)
  "I don’t think so." — Billy Idol (43:22)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Opening banter and Kubrick film talk: 01:07–03:51
• Sinatra, Kinison, and the Vegas story: 05:28–08:48
• The musician lifestyle & excitement vs. other entertainment: 10:42–11:22
• Discussion about "Mony Mony," pop lyrics, and covers: 12:12–16:46
• Crimson & Clover and the power of sound: 16:29–18:07
• Beatles’ songcraft, inspiration, and rivalry: 19:16–24:20
• Reflections on John Lennon solo work: 24:20–27:50
• "Billy Idol Should Be Dead" documentary + brushes with death: 28:20–29:56, 71:39–72:49
• Heroin stories and health impacts: 29:56–34:09
• Addiction, withdrawal, and sobriety: 35:25–37:44, 65:16–71:32
• Songwriting process and experience: 39:35–40:47
• Rock and roll aging, staying young at heart: 59:00–60:07, 76:02–77:49
• Discussion about the British Invasion and Billy's childhood: 48:42–50:49
• Legacy, music streaming, and timeless hits: 76:41–79:02
• Plug for Billy Idol’s documentary: 79:20–80:39

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Takeaways and Final Thoughts

• Candid, humorous, and deeply informed: Maher and Idol’s rapport makes for both nostalgic and insightful listening, with enough rock history and "inside baseball" to please music nerds and casual fans alike.
• Addiction’s double edge: Idol’s unvarnished honesty about substance abuse and its aftermath is both cautionary and (for him, at least) redemptive.
• Art and aging: Both host and guest embrace their survivor status, grateful for lessons learned and the privilege of still being active and vital in their craft. Their mutual respect is palpable and underscores the wisdom (and folly) of a life lived in pursuit of art.

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Closing plug:
Billy Idol’s documentary, Billy Idol Should Be Dead, will feature testimonials not only from Idol but also collaborators and friends, promising an unfiltered view of his storied life (79:20–80:39).

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Club Random delivers again: pure, unfiltered conversation that is both riotous and illuminating.

Transcript

[Host]

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[Billy Idol]

Well, 70s, 80s, 90s, all those decades. Yeah.

[Host]

Oh, Club Random. Do you know a guy I hear

[Billy Idol]

you know, I wouldn't start now.

[Host]

Oh, I wouldn't love Club Random. Billy. Hi. Rock royalty in the house. Rock and roll royalty. You look the. You look like east London badass. You look like you're ready to kick some ass. You do, and I'm sure you could. Yeah. You and your droogies.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

Remember that?

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, of course.

[Host]

That movie. That must have affected you.

[Billy Idol]

Eclip orange. Yeah.

[Host]

Because it was like something you could. Could relate to. No.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, it was kind of fantastic.

[Host]

Yeah. What year was that?

[Billy Idol]

69, I think.

[Host]

No, I think early 70s. Oh. I think more like 72. I mean, are you a fan of all Kubrick's movies?

[Billy Idol]

A lot of them, yes. Yeah. You know, I wish he'd done that Napoleon movie. I've got the script.

[Host]

He was supposed to.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, he was going to do that, I think, after 2001. And then they did this film, Waterloo, and it. It did terrible business. It was great, though. Rod Steiger as Napoleon and I saw it. Christopher. Yeah, it's a great movie, but it did terrible business.

[Host]

That was a TV movie.

[Billy Idol]

It was worse. There was like a Russian, what they

[Host]

used to call a miniseries.

[Billy Idol]

Oh, was it?

[Host]

Yeah. And I forget who the Sergey Bondichuk was the director. Oh, I don't know that. But the. The other star was not Maximilian Shell. Some. I forget. He was a. He was kind of a big actor at the time, I think British. And he had a. It went over time, you know, like the movie went over and they had, they didn't have him and they had to shoot like parts of it. You could see it if you watch it, like long shots. It's just his voice, he's not on camera. Just, you know, you shoot a long shot, him in the shadows, you know. But it's amazing. They can actually. Not the whole movie, but enough of it where the guy isn't even in the scene. Actors have done it when they like hate the other actor they're working with. You know, like, I can't stand to be in the same room with this guy.

[Billy Idol]

So I'll just act without anybody. Be like Brando and Rod Steiger in the back of the cab where Brando left before Rod Steiger did his.

[Host]

Is that right?

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, he went to his psychiatrist or something. So Rod Steiger had to act his bits without Brando being there.

[Host]

On the Waterfront.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. The Charlie was you Charlie, you know.

[Host]

But you see them together in a two shot, don't you?

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, but you know, when he did his lines, Rod Saiga did his lines. Brando wasn't there.

[Host]

Oh, see who's whose close up is just.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, it's his close up.

[Host]

Talking to a piece of cardboard. Well, Brando famously used to, you know, write the lines, his lines on the other actor's head.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

I mean, can you imagine I should

[Billy Idol]

do that with Steve Stevens if I don't know the lyrics? Steve, can I just put it them on your, your forehead?

[Host]

I, I, I never, I never understand.

[Billy Idol]

I've got a teleprompter, you know, you have to.

[Host]

But like you didn't always.

[Billy Idol]

No, no, only more than, only recently.

[Host]

But I mean, I never understand how, how you musicians could remember so many. I mean, if you're doing a show that's has 25 songs in it, how do you remember all those lyrics?

[Billy Idol]

And yes, just from doing them a lot really. And then. But it's really handy having the teleprompter. If we want to do a song we haven't done for ages, it means I can read the lyrics if I don't know it so well anymore, you know. But in majority of things I can remember them.

[Host]

You know, I remember seeing Sinatra at

[Billy Idol]

the end and Yeah, I was lucky. I saw him in the 80s. Yeah. Actually went to.

[Host]

That was near the end.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. Went to. We were, I was friends with Sam Kinison.

[Host]

Whoa.

[Billy Idol]

And we went to do a show with him where, you know. Cause he always did wild thing. You know, his head is rock band, so.

[Host]

Oh, he fancied himself A rock star. Yeah.

[Billy Idol]

Oh, yeah. Well, he played louder than anybody else's guitar.

[Host]

He was. He was one of the few comedians who did sort of get into that rock star vibe. I mean, Eddie Murphy did it for a minute. Andrew Dice Clay.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

There have been a few who, like, Almost. Almost like a rock star, you know, like, there's the kind of excitement, that music. Yeah.

[Billy Idol]

We kind of came to do this show with him, and then I got. He had his. He had these two twins. He ended up marrying one of them. And he was doing Wild Thing, and I got in between these two girls that he always had dressed up as Las Vegas showgirls. And I was just kind of playing around because it's not my song, you know. But he got upset and he punched my guitarist. My guitarist was on the stage and he punched. So we said, that's it. We're not going for the second. This was the early show. We're going to do the second one. So we said, we're not. It. Let's. We even tried to leave Vegas and. And then we couldn't leave because it wasn't a plane. So on the way back, we were staying at the Sands, you know. So on the way back, I saw. Whoa, Frank Sinatra's playing. Oh, we've got to. So we saw Frank Sinatra instead. Instead of doing the show with Sam. But it was fantastic because I wouldn't have seen Frank Sinatra otherwise. It was. And he was fantastic. I mean, you didn't notice his voice was a bit ragged or anything when he was, you know. And it was kind of fantastic. He had this. His son was, you know, directing the.

[Host]

That's what I saw. The son was the director of the orchestra. And Frank would humiliate him. He did.

[Billy Idol]

At one point, he was getting sweaty and he went to take his own handkerchief out of his pocket and then thought better of it, took his sons and mopped his brow and put it back. He was always doing. It was like, stuff like that all the way through. It was fantastic. It was really funny. It was great.

[Host]

Okay. I saw him in 1995 at Radio City Musical. I took my mother. My parents were from New Jersey, and saw Frank Santra perform when he was starting out.

[Billy Idol]

Wow.

[Host]

Yeah. Like in a little late 30s, even, like 1939, in a place called the Rustic Cabin is the first place he sang at. So it was very sentimental for my mother. And my father had just died, so it was just like, you know, there was a lot of emotion in that room. And Frank took it all away. No, I'm Kidding. I mean. Well, I mean, he just was such a dick. He was a dick to his son. He was drunk. He had seven large prints, telehealth properties all around him. I mean, you couldn't miss it. Everyone that's. I mean, I could have sang those songs. And yet when he was singing a song that he hadn't sung for 50 fucking years, he still couldn't get through it. He tried to do Mack the Knife, you know, Mack the Knife. Okay. Which is Bobby Darin's song.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, a ton of lyrics.

[Host]

And he had done it on one of his later albums. I have it. I liked it. I like. I'm a huge Frank Sinatra fan, you know, for the music. Not the early music, but not the early crooner shit. But like when he 50s, it's gotta be swing. That whole, you know, Fly Me to the Moon. That record is great. Cause Frank was either like super depressed, he was polar, right? Maybe not officially, but like he was either super depressed. Caught it a three.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, true. Yeah.

[Host]

Now in the play, my favorite song, David Gardner left me. I'm gonna kill myself right now. Cause love, who gives a. And what are you looking at, you punk? Or Fly me to the moon. Everything's groovy up here in space everything's cool in 1958 if you're white. You know, that was. There was. There was no middle ground. But it's all great. But he. He did. I mean, I just could not forget how he was mean to his kid. So all the artistry, you know, and like, I forgive him for. He couldn't get through Mack the Knife. It wasn't his song. He like started it three times, you know. Oh, the shark bites. And then he would blame the kid for this fucking kid. He must. It's not the kid, Frank. You know, you're drunk and 80. So, you know, you musicians, you just live in a completely different universe than normal people. You do. Even among show business, there's an excitement that music gets to in people.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, it's true.

[Host]

That just is. Nothing else is quite like it in the arts and its effect on people, which allows the musicians themselves to live in a bubble, very often an information bubble. They very often don't know what's going on and don't need to. They have all sorts of people. I mean, you must have lived a life that is. I mean, you obviously survived it, but you know, come on, when you were king of shit on the charts, I mean, you must have, you know, had that certainly thrown at you.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, it was very wild. I Mean, I was so watching Youngblood, you know, it reminds me of me.

[Host]

He was here when.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. No, he loved him. When he was breaking. He's breaking through. I just. I remember what that was.

[Host]

Yes.

[Billy Idol]

You know, it's pretty incredible.

[Host]

You could have been named Youngblood. He could have been Billy Idol. No, really,

[Billy Idol]

it was really incredible. It was incredible time and was watching him a little bit. I remember.

[Host]

Do you know him? Have you talked?

[Billy Idol]

I sang with him. I did White Wedding with him on his. You know, in his young blood. He's got that festival he puts on, the Young Blood Festival. Blood fest. So I sang with him. Do. We did White Wedding together.

[Host]

Eight minutes. Right. The song. Well, my version is.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, the dance version. Yeah. So it's a long version. Yeah.

[Host]

And. And. And it's still too short.

[Billy Idol]

Great.

[Host]

It's such a great record.

[Billy Idol]

Great.

[Host]

Oh, so many of yours are. I always wanted to ask you. You did Mony Moni, which was like, even a little before my time. Like, I started listening to music in 1968. I was 12, I think Mony Moni was 66 or something.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, it's kind of.

[Host]

So it was like a song I would occasionally hear because they would, you know, on the radio I listened to in the late 60s was the top 20. They kept playing. They played the number one song every hour on the hour. Like once an hour, you heard that if you were number one, which is pretty amazing. And then the rest of it was the other songs in the top 20. But every once in a while they'd be like, here's a golden oldie. And it'll be like, from last year, you know, to kids. That's like a thousand years ago, way back. And that was one of the songs. Here she come down T Mooney, Moni. And you killed it. I mean, you. You. I mean, I. The original was good, but it was. I mean, Tommy James has done better, but it was. It was a good pop record, but it was a little bubblegum. And your version was.

[Billy Idol]

Amped it up a bit. Yeah, yeah.

[Host]

And what do we imagine the song means? Mony Moane, Billy Idol, what does Mony Moane mean to you?

[Billy Idol]

Well, I know how the song was written, so I know it's that building in. In New York that has M O N y on that. They were looking at that.

[Host]

What's the building?

[Billy Idol]

There's a building in New York, the Mony building as m O N y money building or mony. They were looking at that when they were writing the song. So they. They were looking for A title. And they kind of. They were trying to think sort of a girl's name or then they kind of looked at that, the top of the building and said, what about Mony Moni? And then that's.

[Host]

Yeah, I mean, I had, you know, I interviewed. Interviewed. Not like this is an interview, but I got high, as I'm doing with you, with Billy Joel in Boca last year. And we were. I was complimenting on his great lyrics and stuff and. But also mentioning that lyrics in pop music, they don't have to be good. It's better if they are. But you can get away with Mony Moani. You can just do it, you know, and if. And if it doesn't make sense to people. Well, are you dancing then? Shut the fuck up.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, that's what that song is really all about. It's about that. It's actually a drum loop. The original song was a drum loop. Because I was. I was always thinking how. Why is it so. Why is it so. What is it about it that makes you, you know, want to move or something? And then she's coming down. When we did Here She Comes Down Monimony. Yeah, she did our version now.

[Host]

Shotgun Turnaround. Yeah, I mean, that doesn't say at all.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, but yeah, it's a drum loop. So we. We did it with a real drummer though we didn't. Because they just took a four bar loop. And that's why it doesn't stop. The original record doesn't stop.

[Host]

But Tommy James is to me, a very unheralded pop star.

[Billy Idol]

Massive hits.

[Host]

Massive hits and good ones. I mean, some of them that are not as well known to the public. I mean, people know. I think we're Alone now.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

Which is a great record. Just a great pop record. And redone in the 80s, a massive hit for Debbie Gibson. Somebody.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, yeah, it was what's Her Name.

[Host]

Somebody. What's her name. What's her name was good so that

[Billy Idol]

she did all those. She was kind of did all those malls. She opened up all those malls. Well, that's how she.

[Host]

Not sure that's what you want to be remembered as.

[Billy Idol]

You know, I think she had a number one with. Yeah, one of. One of Tommy James songs. But then same time, Joan Jett did Crimson and Clover and I did Mony Moni. So there's this kind of Tommy James, Crimson and Clover. It's fantastic.

[Host]

But again, what does it mean? What does. Have you ever thought about it? Crimson and Clover.

[Billy Idol]

Really? I think it's a psychedelic. Psychedelic to this day. Rolling in Clover, I suppose to this

[Host]

day, I would say, I mean, I have some sexy music in my ipod. I use the old ipod. I feel like it's suited to my needs. I have some sexy time music. But if you really want to get panties wet, and I know you do. Just the opening note of Crimson and Clover. Just put the.

[Billy Idol]

That's true. That would do it.

[Host]

Just. I mean, it's.

[Billy Idol]

That's true.

[Host]

It's the sexiest thing on record, I think. I mean, they are just that. Ah. And that. Oh, you come walking over. But again, I'm waiting to show her Crimson and Clover, you know. You're anticipating it. What are you going to show her? This is awesome. We're going to get to really know you, Crimson and Glover. But, you know, it's just a sound collage.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. You know, it sounds good to write lyrics. They sing good.

[Host]

Also. One of the first records to put that shaky reverb.

[Billy Idol]

That's right. Yeah.

[Host]

Right.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

I mean. And then the end, which just goes in. He was great with just an electric guitar. He's one of the few guys who, like. He just sounded like a kid in the neighborhood who you could hear from your bedroom window, who got a little amp and a little fucking electric guitar and was just doing it and no frills. And he just had a way. That song. All. All of his songs just, just, just he. He understood sound, you know, it's just. It's a sound medium. Yeah. I mean, some of the Beatles songs are, to me, just same thing, like very forgettable lyrics, but it just sounds great.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

You know, I mean, Paperback Writer just sounds great. It's like a good. Like a bass lead almost.

[Billy Idol]

You know? Yeah.

[Host]

I mean, hello, Goodbye. It just sounds.

[Billy Idol]

And John Lennon always said it's Day Tripper again or something. Or Ticket to Ride. He said. You know, he's always. He said it. Paul's just ripped me off again, you know.

[Host]

He said what?

[Billy Idol]

Well, because the bottle loading, the riff in Paperback Writer, it's very similar to. To something like Tickets to Ride, you know. He said his ball's just taken my ticket to Ride. And.

[Host]

And that's what I gotta listen. I never heard that story.

[Billy Idol]

He doesn't mean it like he's. He just means he's replying to my song with a similar thing. Because they always replying to each other's songs. You think John Lennon does money on one album, and then next minute Paul McCartney does can't buy Me Love, you know, so he's kind of answering. They're always answering each other.

[Host]

Of course, money was a cover.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, but still, you know, he's saying, money's what I want, and then Paul McCartney does, but. Yeah, but it can't buy any love. So.

[Host]

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[Billy Idol]

No, it kind of goes on into even John Lennon's solo stuff, wherein one of those songs in it on the last album that Double Fantasy sings about, things are getting better and better. And you can't tell us that he's not thinking about the song getting better on. On sergeant Peppers and stuff like. Stuff like that, you know.

[Host]

What song is that on Double Fantasy Woman?

[Billy Idol]

I don't know if it's Beautiful Boy or Beautiful Boy. It's one of those songs where he says, and it's getting better and better and you kind of go, there has to be a retort.

[Host]

One of my all time favorite just single records is Starting Over.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, it's great.

[Host]

The one that was on the charts when he was killed, the lead single off that album that he made, hadn't made an album in five years. I mean, it's got the Phil Spector, full Phil Spector genius on it. I mean, okay, you shouldn't shoot your dates in the head. We know that, okay. We're not forgiving that. But that doesn't take away from the sound of that record. That record never shot anybody, okay? That record is just a great record. Our life together is so special. The way it just builds, you know, and the, you know, the backing vocals, it's almost like a 50s, you know, it's like Elvis.

[Billy Idol]

A bit of an Elvis touch to

[Host]

it, but it showed that John Lennon still could do it on his own.

[Billy Idol]

Oh, yeah.

[Host]

I mean, he certainly did not do it as much as McCartney by far. First of all, he was just very. First of all, he died, okay. He only had 10 years, but even that 10 years, from 70 to 80, when they were their first decade, when the group was split up. Right. I mean, McCartney probably had, you know, 10 hits on the charts or more. You know, my. My love does it. Good memory, you know, like, not always like genius, but like reliable pop hits.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

Listen to what the man said. Silly Love Songs, never one of my favorites, but giant hit, you know what I'm saying?

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

I mean, he just did a lot of stuff.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

And kept doing it in the 80s and the 90s. I mean, he's Band on the Run. I mean, that. Just that one album. Just that one album.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. It's what, bro, that's what brought everybody's faith in Paul McCartney back again when he did Band on the Run.

[Host]

Oh, you think?

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, a lot of people slagging him off and everything with Ram or the first McCartney. And I like that a lot.

[Host]

First McCartney had maybe I'm amazed on it.

[Billy Idol]

It's fantastic.

[Host]

I mean, that's. Even if it was just that song.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, it's huge.

[Host]

But.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

I mean, was there other stuff? You know, it's funny. There's a song on that first one every night.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. Like that.

[Host]

I just want to wake up. And then. But the sort of. The chorus. Do do do do do do. Every time I hear it, I think, wow, that's. You never give me your money.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. You never give me your money.

[Host]

It does sound very. That one part of it is almost a direct. Cause my ear goes right to do do, do, do do your money. Okay, so we busted him on that. Other than that, he's the Mozart of our day. But, you know, other than that. Yeah. But John Lennon, he was obviously doing other things and taking care of issues bigger than music. But it was nice to see that right before he went, he still had the capacity on his own without Paul McCartney. Because I think that was an issue that did hang over his head. Can I do it without the guy who we all kind of know is just even more gifted as far as this, like, being prolific and being. He's just a musical prodigy on a level that I think even John Lennon is not on. But John Lennon could still. I mean, he certainly was the spirit of the Beatles when they started. And he still, on his own, wrote so many great records. But I do think he worried when they split up, like, oh, wow, if I don't have this guy. Cause this guy I can go in there with, like. Because he wasn't. You know, Even by his own admission, he could be quite lazy.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

So he could go in there with something that was good but not great. It's like this guy I picked up when I was 15, he is some sort of fucking player. And he's gonna. He's gonna bring this one up to band standards. You know what I mean? And I think he did worry. And by the way, sometimes the stuff John Lennon did put out in the 70s, mind games. Not a great album.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

Not really up to band standards. And I'm wondering if. I'm sure the collaboration would always been better on both ends, but it was just great to see that at that final moment, he could make a record like Starting over, which is as much as a favorite of mine as any Beatles record. It's just a great record.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

So.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. And Woman and stuff.

[Host]

There's Woman, Yes. Another classic.

[Billy Idol]

It's a great, great song.

[Host]

But I wouldn't have wanted to see him singing in Vegas when he was no. You know, I mean, there's some good things about dying young and leaving a pretty corpse. You know, you sort of have the best of both worlds. Like you're a guy who should have died. Isn't that the name of your documentary?

[Billy Idol]

Yes.

[Host]

What is it called?

[Billy Idol]

Billy Idol should be Dead.

[Host]

Billy Idol Should Be Dead. So when you were bouncing titles around, was there ever a moment where. Phil, you had an idea, something about Billy Idol, big star? No, we're gonna go with the dead. Okay. Tom, run that by me again, that thing you thought of a couple of days ago. No. So what is the closest that you ever came to being deaf? Look at me acting like a real

[Billy Idol]

host A few times. Yeah.

[Host]

Like what?

[Billy Idol]

Well, we kind of went. I went back in to England in Triumph with the album Rebel Yell. I'd done Rebel Yell, and the biggest.

[Host]

I would think that was the biggest of that year.

[Billy Idol]

I was going to do it on Top of the Pops in England. You know, kind of returning to England. I've had this big record in America, Conquering Hero, kind of coming back to.

[Host]

Yes.

[Billy Idol]

So a load of friends of us met us at the airport, and they had a bunch of heroin on them. So, of course, somehow everybody else in the room passed out, except for me and the other guy, you know, who's chopping the lines out. So we kept doing lines and then

[Host]

doing lines of heroin. Snorting at you.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, yeah. I don't know how everyone else had passed out, but me and him didn't.

[Host]

So you were not shooting it?

[Billy Idol]

No, we just snorted.

[Host]

You never shot it?

[Billy Idol]

A few times, but I just. I didn't like that idea of it. My mother was a nurse, I think something about that.

[Host]

So there we learned something. You did not shoot heroin. You snorted it.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

Go ahead.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, no, just. I'm glad I did that because. Yeah. But, yeah, anyway, I kind of. Eventually, we did pass out. And then when people. Other people in the room came, too, I was going blue, you know, So I don't know. They put me in a box, they walked me about on the.

[Host]

Wait, go back to blue. Why do you go. You would go blue on heroin?

[Billy Idol]

Well, if you're dying. Yeah. You go, oh, if you're dying, you're gonna start turning blue.

[Host]

Why? But why would it kill you? Oh, I guess I shouldn't ask that question. I know it does. I just don't know how.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, no, nor do I. Suppose it just overwhelms your system.

[Host]

Right?

[Billy Idol]

And I suppose it stops you breathing or something.

[Host]

Yeah, yeah. You know, look, I'm not an advocate for heroin by any means, but I survived. It is important to note that there are very rare, very rare, but there are people who, like, actually did it in a managed way. William S. Burroughs, I believe, was doing it at 80.

[Billy Idol]

Wow.

[Host]

Like, you know, some people just have a. I mean, I wouldn't recommend it. Don't try it at home, kids. Because I've also heard that somebody once described doing heroin the first time as the best orgasm you ever had times a thousand.

[Billy Idol]

Well, it is really great. It's just the worst thing. It's getting off it.

[Host]

We'll be right back.

[Billy Idol]

It's just getting off it is terrible. And that's what stops me going back to doing it, is the thought of getting off it's so terrible.

[Host]

Help a pot smoker who has done every drug bet heroin. Like, when I was in college, I was a dealer. I mean, there's no other word for it. Like, I sold drugs to other people, you know, and we were at the lowest level, me and my partner. I did have. We have a partner. We're like Abbott and Costello, except Abbott and Costello had no specific business. And yet they described each other as my partner. Whatever. In my case, I had a partner. And we would sell on the lowest level, like, you know, the ounce of pot, whatever our dealer had, like the guy above us, like the guy who bought like five pounds of pot, and then he would sell it to his low level Steelers, you know, one pound, and we would sell ounces. So whatever he had. Speed was very big at the time and very good. Cocaine, opium, LSD or whatever. It probably wasn't really lsd, but whatever he had, we would sell to other college kids, allegedly heroin. I never did it. So every drug I ever have done or would talk about, I relate to as good or bad pot. That's like my benchmark. Like, ask me about any drug and I say, oh, yeah, I did that drug. And it was just like. It was like pot, but I was more low key. Or, you know, it was like pot, but much sloppier. Or it was like pot, but whatever, Hornier, whatever. Heroin, I don't know.

[Billy Idol]

So it's not like pot.

[Host]

It's not. It's not like pot at all? No. So what is it then? What is it? Why is it so good? And where can I get some? No, why is it so good? I don't get it. What kind of feeling?

[Billy Idol]

Well, in my case. Well, it knocks me out, you know, I kind of like that because I'm quite sort of active or I'm Quite sort of. So I quite like something putting me to sleep, you know.

[Host]

Well, that's a really expensive, dangerous sleeping pill. I mean, if that's all, it must do something more than that.

[Billy Idol]

Well, yeah, I mean, but.

[Host]

But people do nod out, right? No.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

Yeah. Why? What is that? That's because. Because you're. You're so relaxed or you're just. You want to be. When you're not knotted out, are you like still in your head having a good time?

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. You're having some sort of like. Some sort of like almost like a dream. Dreams. But you know, I actually dream. I don't know if you feel like

[Host]

you're dreaming something, you know, I remember buying something. I think it was here in la, but it might not have. I've been on the road a lot my whole life, so could have been somewhere and it was like a thrift store, I feel like some sort of like. No, it was definitely not Macy's. And I was at the cash register making this transaction and the person behind the cash register just. You know, it was just like power off.

[Billy Idol]

And just right there in the middle

[Host]

of a cash transaction.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. People usually nodded out. It'd be about to scratch themselves and then they. You know, their hand would be in the air because they passed out.

[Host]

Are you fucking with me? Really?

[Billy Idol]

They'd be like that because they're going to itch themselves and then they.

[Host]

Because it makes you itch.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, it makes you itchy.

[Host]

You know, that's really funny. It makes you itch. But then you're too up to scratch.

[Billy Idol]

Scratch. You go into scratch and you passed out as you go.

[Host]

That should be.

[Billy Idol]

But it's awful getting off here. And that Boy George actually said he was here.

[Host]

I love him. He's so funny.

[Billy Idol]

It's like a skeleton is trying to get out of your body. That's how he described coming off heroin. I've got to say, that's what it feels like, a skeleton. Like your skeleton's trying to get out of your body. That's the. So you've. You know, that's how uncomfortable. Yes, it's horrible.

[Host]

Right? And John Lennon, speaking of him. Cold Turkey.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

Remember the record?

[Billy Idol]

I bought that record. Yeah.

[Host]

What?

[Billy Idol]

I bought Cold Turkey.

[Host]

You bought it. You can remember that?

[Billy Idol]

Oh, yeah. Yes. GOSSIP PLASTIC OWNER BAND Records what'd you

[Host]

think of this song?

[Billy Idol]

Oh, I liked it. I thought it was great. I thought. I thought it's great. I didn't going in that direction. I thought it was interesting.

[Host]

It's not a good song. It's just not a good song.

[Billy Idol]

I kind of liked. I kind of like the moaning and I just liked, you know. I suppose I like the fact he was branching out a bit. I like the Fizz. First solo album I thought was incredible.

[Host]

Plastic on a Bun. Yeah. Oh, with God.

[Billy Idol]

Kind of incredible.

[Host]

God is a concept by which we measure our pain.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, let's try to understand that.

[Host]

Well, that's a pretty awesome deep pop lyric. Yeah, right. God is a concept by which we measure our pain. I wish he wrote more like that. Yeah, he was kind of lazy, cuz. Like, you know the song. I'm sure you do. Of course. Across the universe.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, of course.

[Host]

I mean, the poetry in that song is sublime.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

You know. Shining on me like a million suns. Suns they shine across. Whatever it is. I'm not remembering it right now, but all the way through. It's so poetic. The wind inside a letter box, you know, and he just didn't write like that enough. I mean, there's stuff that's, like, not certainly typical, like I Am the Walrus, but he's just gobbledygook. What the fuck?

[Billy Idol]

Well, he deliberately wrote that as Gobbled in a. He said Bob Dylan was getting away with doing that and people were taking him. So he said, I'm gonna. I'm gonna do. I want to confuse the critics as well. I want to confuse the fans to make them. Make them what? What you make of this?

[Host]

Right.

[Billy Idol]

Kind of what he was. So he said. Said to his mate Pete Shotton or something.

[Host]

No, that.

[Billy Idol]

Let's write the most ridiculous song. And then he remembered that nursery rhyme that they learned at school. The Dead Dog's Eye nursery rhyme.

[Host]

I didn't know. But is that where. Yellow matted custard dripping from a dead dog's eye.

[Billy Idol]

Oh, but the. The ambulance. The ambulance or the police in those days. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I am he as you are. Because I think he heard a ambulance and he got the idea for the beginning.

[Host]

It does sound like an ambulance.

[Billy Idol]

No, no, no. Yeah.

[Host]

I mean. Okay, bad example, because that. That's one of his awesomest songs. I mean, it's just amazing. And you're right, and that does come through that he is having you on. The walrus was Paul.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, yeah. That's okay.

[Host]

We get it. You know that. Here's another clue. Oh, no, that's the Glass Onion. Yeah. Okay, so he's referring to Walrus on another song. I mean, it's. Same idea. Very cheeky. But, yes, he's Deliberately doing that. But I wish he had written more songs like across the Universe that were like. Because he had that gift. He could do it.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

And he settled for a lot of pop lyrics and, you know, sort of easy stuff, I thought. I mean, instant karma. I liked it. But, you know, somebody accused him once of writing Three Blind Mice over and over again. Three blind mice.

[Billy Idol]

All you need is love is a bit the same. Thinks the same chords as.

[Host]

And we all. But like again, you musicians, you songwriters, how can you. There's can't be anything new. There's been a zillion gazillion songs. There's only so many notes, so many chords.

[Billy Idol]

It's amazing. People have got all, you know, all these that you can get more songs of, as you say, just. There's only a few notes. There's only. And you know, you add some sharps and flats, but really there's only a few notes. It's the, it's the inflection you put on the notes that. That makes. Makes the tune or the song. So it's. It's your personality working the note is. Makes. Makes the.

[Host]

What is your process? Well, are you a craftsman or are you a. Let the muse strike me?

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, I suppose so. I'm a bit. Yes, I suppose I have to. I do sort of let the muse strike a little bit. I look for song titles. That's. That helps a lot to have a really good tit and bowl or. And then sometimes you just sit with the guitar and over just by playing, you know, playing around. Eventually something. Something makes you get an ooh feeling, you know, as you're trying something, you get.

[Host]

It's not the guitar.

[Billy Idol]

You get a kind of, you know. And you kind of know, oh, this is a good idea, you know, or this, this. This is making me react in a good way, you know, to my own ideas.

[Host]

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[Billy Idol]

pickup back home to meal prep. Time for my fire station shift.

[Host]

One more Celsius. Gotta keep the lights on when the three alarm hits. I'm ready.

[Billy Idol]

Celsius Live Fit. Go grab a cold refreshing Celsius at your local retailer or locate [e-mail].

[Host]

close your eyes. Exhale. Feel your body relax and let go

[Billy Idol]

of whatever you're carrying today.

[Host]

Well, I'm letting go of the worry that I wouldn't get my new contacts in time for this class. I got them delivered free from 1-800-contacts. Oh, my gosh, they're so fast.

[Billy Idol]

And breathe. Oh, sorry.

[Host]

I almost couldn't breathe when I saw the discount they gave me on my first order. Oh, sorry. Namaste. Visit 1-800-contacts.com today to save on your first order. 1-800-contacts. Answer me honestly. Did you ever write a song or just even be playing an instrument while getting blown?

[Billy Idol]

I don't think so.

[Host]

I bet you you did.

[Billy Idol]

That'd be a new I should have done. I should have done that.

[Host]

I'm very disappointed you haven't.

[Billy Idol]

I mean, I don't think I've done that. Wow. I can still do that, though.

[Host]

I only bring it up because there was this book by this lady. I forget the name. It was like 25 years ago. 20. I don't know, something like that. And you know, it was one of those tell all books about rock stars and stuff and movie stars and famous people she'd fucked. You know, needless to say, a bestseller. The title escapes me, but among the rock stars she talks about was George Harrison. Now, maybe this is not true. This is her version. I'm not endorsing it, I'm just saying her version was. He played the ukulele while she was blowing him.

[Billy Idol]

He probably did do that. He did play the ukulele.

[Host]

I hope he did.

[Billy Idol]

That's bad enough.

[Host]

You haven't. Don't take that away from me, too.

[Billy Idol]

Still got things to achieve.

[Host]

I mean, it could yield creativity.

[Billy Idol]

It could.

[Host]

It could. I think it needs exploring. Let's put our best man on it.

[Billy Idol]

Gonna be writing more songs. So.

[Host]

No, you're. So you've never married.

[Billy Idol]

Right now I've avoided it.

[Host]

Me too.

[Billy Idol]

Somehow.

[Host]

Somehow.

[Billy Idol]

And just as well, because I need to be divorced a million times.

[Host]

We. We are in a very exclusive club.

[Billy Idol]

Wow.

[Host]

Right? People. Guys who have not gotten married. And. I mean, I'm 70. I'm. I'm guessing you're.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, I'm 70.

[Host]

Oh, really?

[Billy Idol]

Yes.

[Host]

You're 56. 1956.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. 55. November.

[Host]

No, I'm January 56.

[Billy Idol]

Wow. Oh, John. John Lydon. John Rotten. Same.

[Host]

Oh, really?

[Billy Idol]

He's January 56th.

[Host]

Our mothers were pregnant at the same time.

[Billy Idol]

Yes. Yes.

[Host]

What if we had gotten switched at birth? What if I sang White Wedding and you were, like, doing this and talking to the governor? It would be terrible. You'd be terrible at my job. I'd be terrible at yours.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. No. Yes. I think I'm better at that.

[Host]

I'm so glad. Our mothers. My mother was in England during the war. She a nurse in World War II.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, my mom was a nurse. That's why she came to England. She's Irish, and she came to England become a nurse.

[Host]

You feel like that Irish heritage helps you with your poetic side? Because the Irish. I'm Irish also.

[Billy Idol]

I would think so. Yeah. You know, my. My grandmother could play 14 instruments. Not that I can. I'm on what. That musical.

[Host]

14 instruments.

[Billy Idol]

She could write music and she could play. Yeah. I mean, a lot of it was the piano, the accordion, the viola that, you know, she'd play a number of instruments. She could write music, I think. And although she wasn't doing much of that when I.

[Host]

Did you grow up? Were you poor when you grew up? We were.

[Billy Idol]

We were. Okay. I mean, dad. Dad worked really hard.

[Host]

So what do you do?

[Billy Idol]

He was a salesman. Really? Sold different. He started off selling typewriters, then he sold medical equipment.

[Host]

In what town is this?

[Billy Idol]

Well, we actually came to America. I lived in America when I was a. On Long island, when I was a child. For. I got. We came to America. I was about two and a half, and we stayed for about three years.

[Host]

But you kept the accent.

[Billy Idol]

Well, my first accent was because you're

[Host]

around the father who talked like that.

[Billy Idol]

The parents who did well, my first accent was American. My first memories are of Long island and of having an American accent. And, you know, it was sneakers, not plimsolls. And it was sound American. No, no. We went back to England.

[Host]

Ice. No, you have a great accent because it's like a Cary Grant accent. It's not quite a British accent, but it has hints of it. And so it just strikes us all as just charming.

[Billy Idol]

And I've tried to hold onto it because I do think, oh, you should. I do think it has a certain effect.

[Host]

I bet you it's great with the ladies. Chicks love an accent.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

That's how dumb they are. Am I right? No, cut that out.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, it's worth holding onto. I've deliberately held on to. Try to hold on to an element of my British accent.

[Host]

It's also good for the music. I mean, we here in America of a certain age, like me, really, I came of age right with the British Invasion, right? A little. I mean, some of it happened before I was interested. I mean, in 1964 when the Beatles came here, that's really the beginning of it. I mean, I was eight. I was not interested in music. I was interested in baseball. But they were still together and still. I mean, the first album I really listened to was sergeant Pepper. Even though it had been out a year, but it was still current and we had it in the house and I mean, so. But, you know. Oh, fuck. I forgot what I was gonna say.

[Billy Idol]

Well, I fell in love with the bill. I went back to around, you know, 60, late 62. We went back to England, you see. So I was right there when the Beatles kicked off. And so I wanted to buy the British Invasion. I wanted to buy from me to you. But it was going down the charts and I didn't have quite enough pocket money, so I. I've already believed in John and Paul already. I really believed in them already. I don't know why you just. Just, just believed in him and just knew the next record would be great. It was she loves you. I bought that six shillings and thrums apnea. That's what it cost.

[Host]

Wait, so you were in England?

[Billy Idol]

We went back in, like, late 62, you know.

[Host]

You went back?

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, we went by. My dad wanted to go back to England and then.

[Host]

How long were you in England for?

[Billy Idol]

About 25 years, I suppose. Oh, to 81.

[Host]

25 years. That may explain the accident.

[Billy Idol]

Yes, of course.

[Host]

Okay, I see.

[Billy Idol]

I was American king.

[Host]

Oh, I see. Because I was going to say, from me to you.

[Billy Idol]

Give the ball to The American kid. So we can cut them down. That's what they were shouting. Give the soccer ball to that American kid.

[Host]

For me, you is the third single. The first single was Love Me Do, Love Me do, which I've never liked. Didn't like it then, didn't like it now. It has the unmistakable, I mean, joy of the Beatles and how much joy

[Billy Idol]

they took in making that music thing is great.

[Host]

I never been a big fan of the harmonica. I never.

[Billy Idol]

That harmonica thing is.

[Host]

Well, it's called a mouth organ, bill.

[Billy Idol]

Anyway.

[Host]

Yeah, it always makes me want to put an organ in my mouth. No, it's just. I just never been a fan of that particular instrument. And also, they wrote it when they were like, 15. Talk about childish lyrics, you know. Love, love me, do I know I love you Please be true and that's okay. As a historical artifact. I like it as that. Do I want to hear it? No. Okay. The next single was Please, Please Me, which is still a great record.

[Billy Idol]

It's fantastic.

[Host]

So even between the first and the second, they made a record that I want to hear forever. Okay. So they were moving quickly. Third single is From Me to youo. I think.

[Billy Idol]

Yes.

[Host]

Fourth single is she Loves yous. Fifth one that broke America was I Wanna hold you'd Hand. So we're talking about From Me to youo, which is like, you know, again, a very respectable record of the early period. Not, again, a profound lyric. But, you know, we're talking about teenagers playing for teenagers.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

You know, on that level. And it's still got their unmistakable joie de vivre.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

You know, but. Yeah, I mean, if you had the choice of playing either From Me to you or A Day in the Life.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. I mean, that's what's so fantastic about it.

[Host]

When you play A Day in the Life three times in a row.

[Billy Idol]

How they were able to morph into such, you know, change their music up so drastically and still take the audience with them. Unlike the Beach Boys, where they kind of lost their audience.

[Host]

Well, Albert Goldman, who wrote the John Lennon biography, took a lot of shit for it, but I happen to think he's an amazing writer. But he made the point that the Beatles always kept ahead of their audience.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, they did.

[Host]

Which is kind of what you're getting at. And the example he gave was the lead song on Revolver was Taxman. And he said, can you imagine a subject less interesting to teenagers than taxes? Which is such an awesome observation.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, let's think of that.

[Host]

You know what, kids? We're talking about taxes now. Me to you. That was two years ago. Yeah, we're just different. And you know what? You want to enjoy us? Get on, you catch up.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, and we did.

[Host]

And we did.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, this one was great. They kept. You just believe. I believed in them. And they kept on so. Proving you right. That's what was fantastic.

[Host]

So you were in what city in 1963. No, 1963. When from me to youo came out?

[Billy Idol]

Well, I was living in Southern England, you know, Dorking, I suppose, for a year. We lived. Then we lived in.

[Host]

Okay, so you were very, you know, you were in the country where it was happening. Yeah, I mean, obviously they were in the north. Cause that's Liverpool.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, but they would come. They'd come down to London.

[Host]

They play everywhere.

[Billy Idol]

They were living in London.

[Host]

You look at that. I mean, they've.

[Billy Idol]

You know, the London scene was taken off. Cause the Stones are in London. There's Dave Clark 5. And then there's all those bands in.

[Host]

Well, 1963 is the year the Beatles went crazy, you know. Went crazy big. But only in England.

[Billy Idol]

In England, yeah.

[Host]

We didn't know who the fuck they were. No, I mean, they said Ed Sullivan, like, saw them.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. They were coming back from Sweden or something.

[Host]

And he saw the crowd at the airport.

[Billy Idol]

And. So who's this for? And they said, it's for this group. The Beatles. Yeah.

[Host]

Right.

[Billy Idol]

And then he said, well, they're this popular. Why don't we have them on. On my program? Well, I always wondered, how the hell did you know the other three songs? Do nothing, you know me to you did nothing. Please. Yeah, she loves you and then suddenly I want to hold your hand goes to number one. Suddenly behind us.

[Host]

They didn't have a record label. That's part of the reason she Loves you was issued on BJ or something. Swan.

[Billy Idol]

A swan, that's right. Yeah.

[Host]

Swan record. You know, like a guy with a fax machine in his mother's basement. It was, you know, nothing.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

So, you know, there was no press behind it.

[Billy Idol]

No, no.

[Host]

Very often what happened in America was a disc jockey would love a song and start playing it. And then the crowd would, you know, the people in the audience would write in and say, oh, we love that. I mean, many singles like that have been broken that way.

[Billy Idol]

I think maybe it was Murray the Kay then Murray the Kay in New York side playing I want to hold your hand.

[Host]

I suppose I don't know if that's how it happened or it was just the noise from overseas was finally capital.

[Billy Idol]

Put money behind I suppose they put money behind it.

[Host]

Right. Finally, Capitol Records, which EMI owned, you know, at that point, they were with

[Billy Idol]

emi, they must have told them, you got to do it. The EMI who owned Capital, must have told them, you've got to put money into this band.

[Host]

But they always said they didn't want to go to America until they had a number one.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, that's right.

[Host]

And then they did.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

You know, it's funny, they were in, I think, Paris when they heard, like, Jack, they came here. Oh, this is February. So they came here.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, they're playing the Olympia or something

[Host]

in Paris and not enjoying it. The only place in the world. It's so, so indicative of the French. The only place in the world that stuck their nose up at Beatlemania was France. Like, they were like, we don't know what this phenomenon is all about. They are a bit talented, I suppose, but are they Charles House Navoir? I do not think so. I mean, they had like a long engagement there and it was. None of it was like a disaster. And I'm sure they got laid. It was France and there were the Beatles. But I mean, for fuck's sake. Like, they were just not like the crowds everywhere else in the world that went nuts. They just did not. And. But I think that's where they got the telegram, which we barely remember as a child that, you know, you have a number one in America. They were like, oh, well, this is very handy since we're going to do Ed Sullivan and Must have been so much. It must be so much fun like that upward climb when you're. You know, when your rocket gets shot to the moon.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. And it was just. It was really exciting for us in England seeing that happening, because it really meant. Oh, man.

[Host]

No, I mean, for you, if you

[Billy Idol]

can get into a band and it'll take you around the world.

[Host]

But you had that experience, you know, when the world is at your feet.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, I did. I did.

[Host]

And once you get that high, you know, you're good. You're stamped for life. I mean, there'll always be people who want to keep up with you, you know, because you. You meant a lot to that especially. It's usually that formative part of your life that you remember so fondly. I mean, you know, everybody remembers the song they first got laid to.

[Billy Idol]

Yes.

[Host]

And for most people, it is White Wedding. That's the. The interesting statistical part of that. It's just.

[Billy Idol]

It's just good today.

[Host]

It says, wedd chicks are gonna get. They're gonna cream about that just hearing the word wedding is, like. Is, you know, but. So what do you think about, like, the next decade? How old are you now?

[Billy Idol]

I'm 70.

[Host]

70. Yeah. Right. So we're 70. Okay. We, you know, we hung onto.

[Billy Idol]

Make the most of the next 10 years.

[Host]

We hung on pretty good. I think we both. I mean, you are. Some people are, like, almost unrecognizable. Like, really. You know what I mean?

[Billy Idol]

I know.

[Host]

You're eminently recognizable.

[Billy Idol]

It's a little scary when you see it.

[Host]

You look exactly like Billy Idol. There's no. The hair. Just everything is like. It's like, instantly easy, able to say, oh, that's Billy Idol, you know. Oh, is he a little older? Hey, looks great, you know, that's it. Me, I feel like I basically look like who I did. I mean, yeah. I mean, probably a little worse, but we're all worse for the wear, but 70 to 80, you know. All I'm saying is, AI, get on it.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. It's a little while getting to this stage in life, isn't it? Because. Yeah. You really. It's getting. We're getting near. I don't know.

[Host]

Especially when you do fun, childish things like we do.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

It's just. It just becomes kind of weird then to not be young. You know what I mean? It's like, wait, we never. We're not. We're the people who didn't grow up

[Billy Idol]

anyway, you know, you can't ride a motorcycle.

[Host]

Yeah. It's not like we worked in an office all our life. Like, we did weird, you know, fun, you know, not job like things. And so we're supposed to be young always. You know, and then you're like, no, but you're not. Yeah, it's that. That's a. You know, how long can you, like, act young? And I guess forever. I guess it's in your mind, right?

[Billy Idol]

Well, I hope so. Yeah. I hope that. I mean, I'm sort of lucky I'm doing something I really like. So that.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Billy Idol]

Keeps you young because, you know. Yeah. I'm doing something that I enjoy. And so on your penis.

[Host]

Is that healthy?

[Billy Idol]

It seems to be all right. Yeah.

[Host]

I hope that wasn't too personal a question.

[Billy Idol]

Does seem to be all right.

[Host]

Well, only because Sigmund Freud said, you know, there's only two things in life that determine whether you're happy or not. Your career and your love life.

[Billy Idol]

I see.

[Host]

What, you never heard that?

[Billy Idol]

No, no.

[Host]

That or Freud. Well, you know what I think? Don't sue me if he didn't Say that, You know, I don't know. Maybe. Maybe it was Rocky who said that. I don't know, but I think it was Freud who said that. Even if he didn't. I think it's tr. Like, aren't they the two things that. I mean, it's either your career or your love life that determine whether you're happy. There's not. I mean, do I feel better when I have something great to watch at night, like, you know, like on tv? Yeah, but that's not what, like, actually determines my happiness. My happiness is determined by my career and my love life. I'm pretty sure Freud did say that.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

So anyway, that's why I asked about

[Billy Idol]

your penis, where it seems to be in good nick.

[Host]

Well, that's. That's awesome.

[Billy Idol]

Rather woe has been rather proud of it, so. And it seems to have gone through whatever I put it through and come out the other side, so.

[Host]

Right. How does heroin affect your dick?

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, it doesn't really make it work. Although you can forever. If it's his work. You can fucking forever. That's the thing.

[Host]

What is it?

[Billy Idol]

If it is working, you can forever on it. That's the thing.

[Host]

Is that right, Heroin, you say? And what brand would you recommend? No. Well, I mean, I don't know. I. I can't look away because, you know, the next landmark is 80 and 80 just seems like a crazy number. Yeah, But I thought 60 was crazy.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, exactly. I would. Thought 70 would be, but it seems somehow sliding through. Yeah, but I don't know, I just wonder at some point it's gotta get us when at some point it's gotta get. I just don't like that idea, though.

[Host]

Exactly. I don't. I don't. Let's put it this way. I think I hear the footsteps. I don't feel the breath on my. My neck yet.

[Billy Idol]

Okay.

[Host]

But I know that's. But I know that's next. I know that's next because you don't really avoid any, you know, in life. Life is a series of phases and, you know, passages. You don't avoid any of them.

[Billy Idol]

I suppose not. No. It's going to happen, but. Yeah, I just got to try and put that day off.

[Host]

Exactly. You just try to put that day off. So I assume you. You must. I can tell by looking at you, you must live healthy people. You're gonna see in people's faces.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, you can. You can see what they.

[Host]

Absolutely. I can see at our age, you just. You're on a very short leash of what you can get away with that. Fucks with your health. Sleep, drugs, liquor, whatever it is. You don't drink?

[Billy Idol]

Not anymore. Not really. I mean, I used to just have a glass of wine. If I was at a restaurant, I would have a couple of glasses wine. But they kind of stopped me doing that, you know, a couple years ago, the doctor, you know, or the doctor sort of said, can you not do that? Even, you know, like, come off it sort of thing. But. But I still, you know, I take, you know, pot pills and stuff like that. So I'm not.

[Host]

You pop pills?

[Billy Idol]

Pot.

[Host]

Oh, pot.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, pot pills. You know, instead of vaping. I stopped vaping a couple of years ago because I used to vape all the time. And then. Then I sort of realized all the time I could just take these. Well, a little bit, yeah. But it was more. I realized I could take the pills and I didn't. Once I was taking the pills, I sort of noticed that I didn't feel that vaping, so I carried on doing that. And so, yeah, it was a couple years now I haven't really vaped. So I just take the. Take some summer night and stuff like

[Host]

that, you know, I took one today.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. Or in the daytime. Yes.

[Host]

And yet I still smoke. You know, it's just.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

I mean, I don't want to be the skunk at the garden party, but I think I need to go up to heroin. Do you know a guy, I hear, you know.

[Billy Idol]

Well, I wouldn't start now.

[Host]

Oh, I wouldn't.

[Billy Idol]

No, we've done. You're doing really well. Don't.

[Host]

Can you imagine it?

[Billy Idol]

Well, actually, you know, that's the most scary thing, I think, when people start taking drugs and they're old, you know, that's really. I don't know, I think that's really, like. Whoa, man. That's why I'm glad I did it when I was in my 20s or when I was a teenager in my 20s. I'm glad I did it back then, not now.

[Host]

You know, there was some.

[Billy Idol]

You need energy to be a drug addict, and I don't have that kind of energy.

[Host]

That's a great. You ought to write a song around that. No, really, that's a great idea. And it's so true, because it's such a truism. Yeah.

[Billy Idol]

To be a junkie, you need energy

[Host]

to be a drug addict.

[Billy Idol]

To stand on a corner and possibly

[Host]

get beat sometimes to score. Yes. To get the drugs, to keep doing the drugs. You know, it's amazing what a great product drugs are because they have this diminishing set of returns. And mostly what they do is make you want to do more of the product, even though it's working less. I mean, the classic one of this is cocaine.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

He said knowingly. Why? You had a brief cocaine period.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

Did you?

[Billy Idol]

Once you're trying to get off heroin, what do you go to? You go to something else that. I started smoking crack to get off heroin, you know?

[Host]

Did you really?

[Billy Idol]

It worked. It worked.

[Host]

There you have it, kids.

[Billy Idol]

And I did want to get off heroin. Probably the worst advert for Step up

[Host]

to Crack, but it worked.

[Billy Idol]

I got off there. I got off there.

[Host]

I have to spell it out for you little pricks.

[Billy Idol]

It worked six years ago.

[Host]

But don't do drugs, kids. If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times.

[Billy Idol]

Glad I got away.

[Host]

That's actually the worst drug there is, the liquor.

[Billy Idol]

In a way. Yeah. Because it's. It's kind of nasty, the legal.

[Host]

The legal one. But it does make things so much fun.

[Billy Idol]

It was. It was a lot.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Billy Idol]

I like taking drugs back. Back then, I'd really. I like. But also it took me a long time to put them in the rear view mirror, but at some point I realized you had to do that or.

[Host]

I feel when people who are not rock stars like us don't quite understand is that it's the combination of the drugs.

[Billy Idol]

Well, that's what I liked. I liked. I like the. Yeah, I like the synergy. Yeah. The. The combination of a number of things. And.

[Host]

Yes.

[Billy Idol]

You can't get that on with one thing on its own. It was really the combination.

[Host]

No, you got to be a rock cocktail. And that's the point. You got to be a rock.

[Billy Idol]

That's what I liked.

[Host]

Rock stars get this.

[Billy Idol]

And you're just tickling.

[Host]

Yes, yes, yes. I used to always wonder, you know, like, why, you know, to so many rock stars who, you know, you think they have everything and they do, you know, like, all the women want them and the money and the adulation and the creativity and the outlet and blah, blah, blah. Why are they destroying themselves on drugs? Because the drugs they get access to are so good. That's what it is when you're a rock star. Everyone wants to court favor with you.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. It was like that. I still like that.

[Host]

I love your. Yeah. I'm gonna put together. I'm gonna put together a reel just of you speaking.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

To show how right I am about shit. Okay. Billy Idol, he goes. Yeah, every time. But that's what it Is, it's like, yes, this will fuck up your life and your career and your erection and everything else, but these drugs are just so good. You just, you know, you just gave me the, you know, the creme de la creme. Because illicit drugs are just, what it's a, it's a, you know, it's a crapshoot. You know, there's no standards. Whoever your dealer is. When I was a pot dealer, did anybody ever get a full ounce? No. I would get a pound, which is 16 ounces, and then split it evenly 17 ways. You know, there's no control here. So we don't know what's in the drugs?

[Billy Idol]

No, no, they're gonna cut it with

[Host]

fuck whatever they want to make more, you know, if you're given, I don't know, an ounce of coke, okay, now you're gonna sell it to hundreds of people, right? So you're gonna split it into grams. It was sold by the grams, right?

[Billy Idol]

Yes, yes.

[Host]

Okay. So, you know, are you gonna give them a pure gram if there's nobody to say, hey, what are you doing? No, you're gonna cut it with baby laxative and what anybody put in. How, how I managed to survive my brief two year cocaine period. I don't know. It's such a bad drug.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

How long were you on it?

[Billy Idol]

I don't know. A few years in a way because, you know, gone and off, you know, like I was, I was trying to get off drugs and then I. Then I would have a sort of

[Host]

a, you know, memory of how good they are.

[Billy Idol]

Yes. And then, you know, but I would never. I never went back to heroin after a certain point.

[Host]

Good for you.

[Billy Idol]

Definitely. I had a motorcycle accident. I was in, I was in hospital where I had one of those pain boxes, you know, and it was like a 12 minute lockout because otherwise I would have. So I thought about that. I thought, when would you ever be on something? I was as high as a kite in that, you know, with my leg all up. But I was as high as a guy in that hospital room, you know, And I just thought, well, when are you ever really gonna have stuff like that? It's never as pure as that again, you know. So I really said to myself, that's it, man. You know, you've also look it your leg up, you know, well, this is. Yeah, it's time to start. So I did start sort of trying to ease off. It took me a long time though, to really get control of myself. And. And of course, the AA people say there's no control. And there probably isn't, but. But I think you have to sort of tell.

[Host]

How long would you say you've been really sober?

[Billy Idol]

Well, not really. I mean, I'm a California sober, aren't I? You know. Yeah, because I.

[Host]

Well, that's.

[Billy Idol]

I did used to drink a little bit and I do take, you know, pot and stuff. Pot, pills and stuff. So what.

[Host]

How long that.

[Billy Idol]

Well, well, I don't know. When did I. It's probably 20 years ago or something. I lost. Did Lion.

[Host]

So what period are we talking about? What years are we talking about that the documentary refers to? When you should be dead?

[Billy Idol]

Well, 70s, 80s, 90s.

[Host]

All those decades.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah.

[Host]

Well. Oh my. That is a lot of dying. Well, I'll say.

[Billy Idol]

Dying to live. Yeah.

[Host]

Not that we need to give anybody any more reason not to do drugs. You just should not do drugs, kids. Take it from me. But one reason, a good reason not to do drugs is people who do a lot of drugs when they then need a lot of drugs, like when they're in the hospital in pain from an accident, you can't pump up the volume enough because they have built such a tolerance. Having fun with the drugs.

[Billy Idol]

Well, that's what the doctor said to me. He said, Mr. Broad, I've got to ask you something. I mean, the pain medication, you're drinking it in. That's what he said. It's okay. I was a heroin that. We're just worried that you won't get off it when we need you to go. And I said, I will. And I did, you know.

[Host]

Oh, you did.

[Billy Idol]

Well, that's the perfect place to come off it is in hospital because, I mean, there's a nurse changing his sheets every hour. So if you're gonna do it, that's the place to get off it.

[Host]

And John Lennon quit cold turkey in the back of a limousine. You know that story?

[Billy Idol]

No, I didn't know.

[Host]

No, they. Yeah, they. He. They got a limousine and I think they drove across the country.

[Billy Idol]

Oh, I have read. I read about that, but I didn't know that.

[Host]

Where he was getting off heroin.

[Billy Idol]

Oh, so that's what they were doing when they did that 3,000 mile journey. They ended up.

[Host]

It was like, where can we do this? Where no one will know we're doing it except the limo driver, because I'm assuming there was a lot of pull over. I have to throw up. Right?

[Billy Idol]

You just feel terrible.

[Host]

But don't you feel so uncomfortable when you're getting off heroin?

[Billy Idol]

Well, I don't know about that. It's more like just. You're just, you know, whatever.

[Host]

You.

[Billy Idol]

You can't get comfortable because you're just sweating. It's more that you're sweating. Your bones are hurt, you know, your whole body, everything's hurting. Like the flu, but like a terrible version of it. And it goes on forever. Because it goes on. Yeah,

[Host]

it goes on forever.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. It doesn't end. You know, even when it ends, it doesn't end. It's like, you know, you're still feeling. You're still jonesing somewhere. Somewhere you're jonesing for it. You know, even. Even right now, some. Well, jones.

[Host]

You know what Charlie Parker said about it? He said, they can take it out of your body. They can't take it out of your mind.

[Billy Idol]

Right. That's the point. Yeah. But it does make me want to do it, though. Then the next thing I think about is getting off. That's so terrible that it keeps me from doing it.

[Host]

See, as much as we lament, and we certainly should and have every right to lament being 70, there is also the great, which is you're just smarter so you don't do these stupid things you did when you were younger. And there's almost nothing as good as

[Billy Idol]

that as, like, just doing all that stupid stuff was fun.

[Host]

Yeah, it was fun. But, like, when you think about the pain it put you through.

[Billy Idol]

Well, exactly. Yeah.

[Host]

And then you're like, now. I mean, I don't. You know, we have so little respect for the elderly in this country. It's just not our culture. When it's like the culture of most of the rest of the world. Venerate the elders. For obvious reasons. They've been here longer. They learned more, like, shut the fuck up for a second and learn something from somebody who has been down the path before you that eludes the geniuses that are Americans. But okay. In my personal life, it's just always a joy. It's just always a joy to come upon something where I go, oh, well, you know what? I seen that before, and I saw how it fucked me before, and I'm just gonna sidestep it. Like Dick Van Dyke, the year he didn't trip over the Ottoman. You know, I'm just gonna miss that one. And it's not as good as being 35, perhaps, but in some ways it's better.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. I've got to say. I mean, well, I'm obviously in the same boat.

[Host]

Would you go back to 35 if you could?

[Billy Idol]

Part of me would like to, of course. Big parts of me who's who. But. But there again. Yeah. You know, I'm glad. I'm glad I've got here and I'm in a fairly good state. I'm enjoying what I do and. Yeah, you know, all that kind of stuff I like the records are making and enjoy the band I'm playing with. Well, it's fantastically good fun. Still, the songs don't get old. I don't know what it is. I would have thought by now, but they don't. No, they don't seem to get old, so don't get it.

[Host]

I mentioned before I used the ipod. One reason I use the ipod, as opposed to, like. I mean, I have, you know, the Spotify and the. It's like their philosophy is sort of, here's music you like, here's some other stuff you might like. And it's like, okay, I can. I want to be suggested to things. But basically, I've been listening since 1968. I have thousands of songs already. I know what I like and what I like. The songs I like are songs that would have been a hit in any decade. You know, I mean, there's stuff by the Weeknd, it's only a couple of years old, that definitely would have been a hit in the 80s, the 70s. I mean, it sounds just like Michael Jackson, the 90s, whatever. I mean, your stuff, like, it stands the test of time. It's like. It's not an 80s song. It's just a good song. Yeah.

[Billy Idol]

You know, that's. That's what we were trying to do.

[Host]

Yeah.

[Billy Idol]

We weren't trying to do something for that decade. We were thinking. Obviously, we were thinking of the moment, but we were hoping that what we were doing was gonna have, you know, it was gonna resonate into the future, especially so you have a long career or something.

[Host]

See what Spotify can't do or. What's the other one?

[Billy Idol]

Yeah. Anyway, I'm 70 as well.

[Host]

I know you know this. It's so embarrassing to get stoned and not remember, like, basic words. It's like, you know, saying the word for hospital, you know, that place you go when you're sick. But you can suggest a playlist to them, and all they can do is, like, put it together by picking songs that kind of sound alike to the algorithm, that are kind of from the same period. Whereas I can put a song from the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, and today, put them all in a row on a playlist, and they're from totally different decades, but you understand why they all fit together. It's a certain sound, right? Spotify can't do that.

[Billy Idol]

No, I suppose not.

[Host]

Pandora. That's who I was thinking. Pandora can't do it either. And that's why I'm firing them tomorrow. Well, I'm glad you're still at it and your fans are. Do we have anything to plug before I set you back into the wild?

[Billy Idol]

Well, apart from, yeah, we're gonna flood. So I do have a documentary coming out.

[Host]

Well, I have a list. I keep a list of things I want to see this I want to see. You participated in it.

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Host]

And you were happy to do that. So you wanted. You were like, let me tell my own story as opposed to somebody else, right?

[Billy Idol]

Well, yeah, although it was kind of good. We got different people. Like Tony James, my sort of Generation X partner kind of thing. He did a lot of the punk sign of years. And then, you know, it wasn't just me telling my story, which was kind of quite good in a way. You sort of got other people's.

[Host]

That's how they all are.

[Billy Idol]

Well, yeah, it's difficult for me to tell my own story exactly. Well, you need both, but it really helps.

[Host]

Can you see the Beatles Anthology?

[Billy Idol]

Yeah, exactly. It's not just them, okay.

[Host]

It's them. John was not alive for it, but, you know, they use archival tapes and stuff, but it's them on camera. But then it's also, you know, Neil and Mal and the people around them and the publicist and the record company

[Billy Idol]

need that sort of out of view point in. That's kind of. That's what's kind of good about it, I think, is that you do get that. And at the same time it's. Yeah, it's my crazy story.

[Host]

It's something they only do for icons. And you are. Thank you. Cheers.

[Billy Idol]

Cheers. Bill Clove. Random. You're sitting in the wrong thing and sort of signaling the wrong thing. I didn't want to.

[Host]

Are you kidding? Paranoid Club Random.

[Billy Idol]

Martha listens to her favorite band all the time.

[Host]

In the car, gym, even sleeping. So when they finally went on tour,

[Billy Idol]

Martha bundled her flight and hotel on

[Host]

Expedia to see them live. She saved so much, she got her

[Billy Idol]

seat close enough to actually see and

[Host]

hear them, sort of. You were made to scream from the front row. We were made to quietly save you. More Expedia made to travel Savings vary and subject to availability. Flight inclusive packages are atoll protected.

[Billy Idol]

At vrbo, we understand that even the best of plans sometimes need a little support. So we planned for the plot twists. Every booking is automatically backed by our VRBO Care Guarantee, giving you confidence from the very start. Whenever you need help, it's ready before your stay, through the moments in between and after your trip. Because a great trip starts with peace of mind and maybe a good playlist, but we've got the peace of mind part covered.