Old Enough to Forget

After a few punk albums with Generation X, Billy Idol stepped out (or sold out  according to the stalwart punk rockers who felt betrayed by his change in direction) and launched his solo career. Billy teamed up with guitarist Steve Stevens and the two of them created a hybrid punk bubble gum genre that was equal parts sneer, attitude and catchy hooks. Billy was one of the cornerstones of the '80s and here in Canada he was a pretty big deal proportionately outselling our neighbours to the south. I always liked the songs on the radio, but aside from hearing one of his later (at the time) albums  Whiplash Smile once at a friends (a cursory listen didn't do much to solidify Mr. Idol as anything warranting a purchase) I never bothered to buy anything. Billy Idol was released in '82 and the song I really remember is "White Wedding (part 1)" a song that still gives me a big grin. The album would go gold in the US and move 100,000 copies here in the Great White North, eh...

A while back while rummaging through the discount bins over at Krazy Bobs I found not one, or two, or three but five albums by Icehouse. This was awesome. Bob had been seeding the bins as I found a lot of records that came home with me that day. Back in the day I had Man of Colours on CD, and I really liked it. The opening one two punch of "Electric Blue" and "Crazy" was so good it almost overshadowed the rest of the album. I was also one of a handful of people who went to the theatre to see "Young Einstein" featuring Yahoo Serious. This was a stinker of a movie my girlfriend, and now wife, has still to forgive me for making her see. The only redeeming part of "Young Einstein" was hearing "Great Southern Land" by Icehouse, and Mental as Anything's version of "Rock and Roll Music" they were both so good. Although if I'm keeping score (she does) it's actually better than "No Holds Barred" Hulk Hogan...

It was 1985 and sixteen year old wunderkind Charlie Sexton was making a run for the brass ring. It boggles my mind the level of maturity in his singing and playing that is here at such an early age. I was in my early 20s when this came out and was leaning toward what was going to be affectionately known as "hair metal" but I liked a lot of new wave, Bryan Adams and even Corey Hart (the last one more a guilty pleasure) and here's young Charlie already a seasoned player making it look easy. I remember hearing "Impressed" (written by Steve Krikorian, also known as Tonio K.) on the radio and thinking it was okay, but it didn't inspire me to run out and lay out my cash. I mean, I was buying a lot of stuff, but it's all relative. What you think is a lot, and what I think is a lot, aren't necessarily in the same ball park. We also didn't have MTV, we had Much Music, and while close, weren't the same. Although they both actually played videos all day...