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– 1981-01-01 BBC In Concert (Generation X) – BBC Radio 1 –
Heading over to the Paris Theater in London for a half-hour set by Generation X, featuring the inimitable Billy Idol.
In March 1980, Gen X went into Eel Pie Studios in Soho with the lead guitarist Steve New to record a demo session. Idol and James wanted New to be Gen X’s guitarist, but, after recording and rehearsing with him through the early months of 1980, they abandoned the idea over concerns about his professional reliability due to a narcotic habit.
In mid-1980, Gen X went into AIR Studios in Oxford Street to re-record some of the Sweet Revenge material and several new songs for a new long-player. Chrysalis Records, now subject to the influence of Aucoin, had shown reluctance to fund it after the commercial failure of Valley of the Dolls in the previous year, and the debacle at the Olympic Studios a few months before, and to secure the new financing, Idol had to recourse to entering into discussions with the label of the option of a potential solo career signed to it beyond the band’s existence. Also involved in the recording sessions, along with Steve New, was a selection of some of the best lead guitarists in London’s post-punk scene that were looking for new units to team up with, viz., John McGeoch, Steve Jones, and Danny Kustow, who acted as session musicians in what was essentially a tryout for the new band’s guitar slot. In January 1981, a long-player produced by Keith Forsey was released entitled Kiss Me Deadly (1981).
Recorded by The BBC on January 1, 1981 it features the band in top form, starting off the set with their then-new single and soon-to-become hit, Dancin’ With Myself.
And it goes from there.
Good show, meant to be played loud – and it’s Friday tomorrow anyway, so you get the jump on the weekend.
Who says the 80s are dead?
