Billy in charts at last in his native Britain

Press, 21 April 1986, Page 21

Billy in charts at last in his native Britain

Billy Idol left Britain for America to find fame and fortune and he has sold over four million records there. But now he is climbing the charts in his homeland as well, reports DUO writer Rick Sky.

In 1976 Billy Idol appeared in a dingy London club — and was spat at by hordes of punks. Now he Is one of the biggest rock stars in America, acclaimed by thousands of fans. • Billy had to quit Britain to find fame and fortune. After his first band, Generation X, struggled vainly to make it big in the U.K., he moved to the U.S. in 1981.

And in the four years he has been over there, Billy has become a shooting star. He has finally lived up to his name.

He has sold over four million records in the States. Now Britain is getting in on the action. His last record, the raucous “White Wedding,” was a top ten hit in Britain. So is his new

release, “Rebel Yell,” which is climbing the U.K. charts. “I left Britain for America because I wanted to start afresh,” Billy said. "If I had stayed in Britain after Genera-

tlon X had split up, I know my punk background would have been hard to shake off.

“I would have always been seen as an old punk rocker. In America I knew I could live a new life. Nevertheless, I’m surprised just how successful I’ve become.

“But that first year was horrible and frustrating. I didn’t know whether I’d made a bad move, but I knew one thing — I couldn’t go back and lose face.

That would have meant admitting defeat.” Billy has not only become one of America’s most popular artists but also one of the most controversial. After a sell-out show in Chicago, he paraded nude on the theatre balcony in front of adoring fans. “It was reported as something terribly scandalous, but I didn’t see it as such,” he said. “I did it just for a laugh.” “I was changing out of my stage clothes. It was hot, we had

just done a triumphant gig and I felt great. So why not?” After a show in Rochester, New York, Billy was taken to court by a girl fan who claimed he hit her because she refused to have sex with him.

Billy said it was all lies. She just brought the charges against him because she wanted her name in the papers with his.

“The truth is I didn’t want to have sex with her and that’s what upset her. She thought it

was on the cards because I had been friendly.

"But the trouble with some women is immediately your’re friendly with them, they think they’re your girlfriend.” The big love of Billy’s life has been former Hot Gossip dancer, Perri Lister, with whom he started going out in 1980, but they split up recently. Billy said: “It’s hard to have a single relationship. It’s hard for people you care about to share you, and that’s what people who

go out with me have to do.” Billy was born plain William Broad in Stanmore, Middlesex, on November 30, 1955, and nowadays his irreverence, sexuality and style have got him dubbed the Male Madonna.

He rejected that “She’s disco pop that’s been totally manufactured,” he said. “I’m real rock you can dance to. “What she really .represents is American conformity. I don’t believe in conformity, only controversy.”— DUO copyright