Whiplash smile

Whiplash smile
Studio album by Billy Idol
Publication (s)	October 20, 1986
admission	1985-1986
Label (s)	Chrysalis Records
Format (s)	LP , CD
Genre (s)	Hard rock , punk rock , new wave
Title (number)	10
running time	45:29
occupation	Vocals , guitar, bass: Billy Idol Guitar , bass , keyboards : Steve Stevens Bass : John Regan, Marcus Miller Keyboards: Harold Faltermeyer , David Frank, Richard Tee , Phil Ashley
production	Keith Forsey
Studio (s)	Right Track Studios, New York City
chronology Rebel Yell (1983) Whiplash smile Charmed Life (1990)

Whiplash Smile is the title of the third album by Billy Idol , released in 1986 . It contained the single hits To Be a Lover , Don't Need a Gun and Sweet Sixteen . Whiplash Smile was also the last album that was created with the participation of guitarist Steve Stevens . Idol and Stevens only resumed their collaboration in the early 2000s.

background

Billy Idol had released his most successful album to date, Rebel Yell, in November 1983 , which was awarded double platinum in the USA , a gold record in Germany and a silver record in Great Britain . Four successful singles had been released from the album, and it was awarded double platinum on January 14, 1985 . The tour for this album lasted ten months.

With the success, Idol's drug use also increased. He regularly took cocaine that he had never been able to afford before. Things didn't go particularly well for him in his private life either after his partner, Perri Lister, broke up with him. Besides the fact that his bad mood had an impact on the songwriting, the singer decided to write the material for his album alone. He also decided to change direction in terms of music:

Whiplash Smile had a lot of potential. It should have been a worthy successor of Rebel Yell , an album featuring a real band working, rehearsing, and recording songs collaboratively. But I insisted that I should be the only one writing songs, and in true punk fashion, I insisted on doing something completely different, making this album a synthesizer album.

“ Whiplash Smile had a lot of potential. It should have been a worthy successor to Rebel Yell , the album of a real band that works on, rehearses and records songs together. But I insisted that I be the only one who writes songs, and in true punk fashion, insisted on doing something completely different and making it a synthesizer album. "

- Billy Idol : Dancing With Myself , page 216

For the recordings for the album he used his long-time songwriting partner and guitarist Steve Stevens, and various studio musicians were also involved. In addition to Phil Ashley and Richard Tee, they also included Harold Faltermeyer , with whom Steve Stevens wrote the later Grammy- winning title Top Gun Anthem for the soundtrack to the film Top Gun . The production was in the hands of Keith Forsey.

For the album, a cover version of the song I Forgot to Be a Lover by Booker T. Jones and William Bell was recorded, which Idol had first heard in a reggae version on an album by George Faith . It was released as the first single from the album under the title To Be a Lover . At a party, Steve Cropper praised Idol's version of the song, on the original recording of which he played guitar in 1968.

→ Main article : To Be a Lover

This song was closest to the taste of guitarist Steve Stevens because the song had a relatively high tempo and was kept in the style of rockabilly. Idol specifically praised Stevens' guitar work on this song in his autobiography. But the guitarist was dissatisfied with the direction that was being taken musically:

“(...) But then the decision was made to use a lot of drum machines and sequencers on the next album. Already, I didn't think we had tunes that were as good as the older ones and it was hard to fit in aggressive guitars - which was my thing - to a drum machine. There was a fair amount of drugs and alcohol, too, which didn't help either. I kind of lost interest. "

“(...) But then it was decided that a lot of drum machines and sequencers should be used on the next album . I didn't think we had songs that were as good as the older ones anyway, and it was difficult to mix aggressive guitars - which were my thing - with a drum machine. There was also a lot of drugs and alcohol going around, which didn't help either. Somehow I lost interest. "

- Steve Stevens : Interview in the booklet of the CD Atomic Playboys (Remastered), 2013

Although at this point the opportunity for a change arose because Ted Templeman asked Stevens if he was interested in working with David Lee Roth , Stevens initially decided to stay with Idol because Whiplash Smile was already three-quarters of the way through and a tour was booked. However, Warner Bros. offered him a recording contract for a solo career shortly thereafter.

Nevertheless, he got involved in the production process: four of the songs on the album, Worlds Forgotten Boy, Man for all Seasons, Fatal Charm and One Night, One Chance were created with his participation. All other songs with the exception of To Be a Lover were written by Idol, and all singles released were also Idol compositions.

The last single released was Sweet Sixteen, which is inspired by the true story of Edward Leedskalnin , a Latvian émigré who single- handedly built Coral Castle in Florida . The song was written during the creation of Idol's 1983 album Rebel Yell . In 2014, Idol described it as a “lament from the heart”. He added that Leedskalnins Castle was the "coral memorial " to his past love, while Sweet Sixteen was Idol's memorial to Perri Lister.

→ Main article : Sweet Sixteen (song)

The album was released in October 1986, Steve Stevens still completed the tour, then he left the Billy Idol company.

Track list

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Whiplash smile   US 6th 12/13/1986 (47 weeks)   UK 8th 11/01/1986 (20 weeks)   DE 9 03/11/1986 (39 weeks)

Singles

To be a lover   US 6th December 20, 1986 (18 weeks)   UK 22nd 04/10/1986 (8 weeks)   DE 28 10/20/1986 (14 weeks) Don't need a gun   US 37 07.03.1987 (9 weeks)   UK 26th 07.03.1987 (5 weeks)   DE 36 02/02/1987 (11 weeks) Sweet Sixteen   US 20th 06/27/1987 (14 weeks)   UK 17th 07/13/1987 (9 weeks)   DE 2 05/25/1987 (21 weeks)

Whiplash smile
No.	title	Songwriter	length
1.	Worlds Forgotten Boy	Billy Idol , Steve Stevens	5:40
2.	To be a lover	Booker T. Jones , William Bell	3:41
3.	Soul Standing By	idol	4:35
4th	Sweet Sixteen	idol	4:14
5.	Man for all seasons	Idol, Stevens	4:38
6th	Don't need a gun	idol	6:15
7th	Beyond Belief	idol	4:00
8th.	Fatal charm	Idol, Keith Forsey , Stevens	3:51
9.	All summer single	idol	4:33
10.	One night, one chance	Idol, Stevens	3:52
Overall length:			45:29

reception

Whiplash Smile was awarded a gold record in the United States on January 13, 1987, and went platinum on the same day for 1 million albums sold.

literature

• Billy Idol: Dancing With Myself ; Autobiography, Simon & Schuster 2014, ISBN 978-1-4516-2850-0 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ award database of the RIAA , accessed on June 30, 2020
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Interview in the booklet of the CD Atomic Playboys (Remastered), 2013
3. ^ Dancing With Myself, 208
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Dancing With Myself
5. ↑ ^{a b} Rolling Stone: Preview Billy Idol's Candid Memoir 'Dancing With Myself' . Rolling Stone. September 25, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2017.
6. ↑ Interview with Steve Stevens on earofnewt.com , accessed June 29, 2020
7. ↑ Chart sources: UK US DE
8. ↑ award database of the RIAA , accessed on June 29, 2020

Web links

• Whiplash Smile at Discogs
• To Be a Lover on YouTube , accessed June 29, 2020.
• Don't Need a Gun on YouTube , accessed June 29, 2020.
• Sweet Sixteen on YouTube , accessed June 29, 2020.