Speed (song)
| speed | |
|---|---|
| Billy Idol | |
| publication | June 1994 United States August 29, 1994 European Union 
|
| length | 4:22 (single) 5:22 (extended version) |
| Genre (s) | skirt |
| Author (s) | Billy Idol, Steve Stevens |
| Producer (s) | Billy Idol, Ralph Sall, Steve Stevens |
| Label | Fox Records Inc. |
Speed is the title of a song by British singer Billy Idol from 1994, which he wrote and recorded for the soundtrack of the film of the same name . It was his first collaboration with guitarist Steve Stevens since 1986 .
background
|
Chart positions Explanation of the data |
||||||||||||
| Singles | ||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
Billy Idol had released the commercially unsuccessful album Cyberpunk , produced by Robin Hancock in June 1993 , whose single - heroin and Shock to the System - was not listed in the music charts in the USA , Great Britain and Germany . Cyberpunk was the last album Idol released for a period of 12 years.
In late 1993, Billy Idol got the offer to write the theme song for the film Speed . The film with Dennis Hopper and Keanu Reeves , directed by Jan de Bont , is about a blackmailer who demands payment of 3.7 million US dollars by 11 a.m. at the latest. A public bus was prepared by the perpetrator with a bomb, which is automatically armed as soon as the bus goes faster than 50 miles per hour (approx. 80 km / h) and explodes if the bus then falls below 50 miles per hour again. No passenger is allowed to leave the bus. Reeves plays an LAPD bomb specialist who is responsible for rescuing the hostages.
Since it was a requirement that the song to be written should be in the style of Idol's earlier successes, he turned to Steve Stevens for the songwriting - the guitarist who had already appeared on Idol's debut album (1982) as well as on Rebel Yell (1983) and Whiplash Smile (1986) played lead guitar and wrote the majority of the songs with him. After the Whiplash Smile tour , Stevens broke up with Idol. For Idol, the reason for a renewed collaboration was obvious:
“Steve is a massive part of the Billy Idol sound and, quite simply, he's a virtuoso with staggering proficient technical skill. (...) no one can hold a candle to the incomparable Steve Stevens ”
“Steve is a massive part of the Billy Idol sound and quite simply a virtuoso with amazing technical skills. (...) nobody can hold a candle to the incomparable Steve Stevens. "
Stevens accepted the offer and the song was written in Stevens' apartment within hours. Idol enjoyed working together and hoped they would go a step further and have the song produced by Keith Forsey, who had been responsible for the successful albums of their previous collaboration. Instead, Ralph Sell took over the production, assisted by Idol and Stevens.
The joint songwriting of the two musicians bore further fruit, and numerous demos were created that were not developed further.
The music video for the song shows scenes from the film that are cut into what appears to be a live performance of the song in a club .
reception
The hoped for chart success did not materialize, only in Great Britain Speed reached number 47 in the charts.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Charts UK
- ↑ a b c d e Billy Idol: Dancing With Myself ; Autobiography, Simon & Schuster 2014, ISBN 978-1-4516-2850-0 , pages 293-294
- ↑ Interview with Steve Stevens on earofnewt.com , accessed June 29, 2020
- ↑ Billy Idol: Dancing With Myself ; Autobiography, Simon & Schuster 2014, ISBN 978-1-4516-2850-0 , page 293