Somehow putting it all together was a hell of a love.

If you're a guitarist and you admire the person you're working with,

that's all you need.

You were building a genre of music that didn't exist.

You can't help but be proud of it.

Rock is such an incredible thing and you know it's like a form of playing with fire.

Everybody's got the layout exploded.

Your name was all because of the headline. Ah, ah, ah. Gentlemen, thank you for being here today. I'm very excited. It's a long time fan, I admire. It's awesome to talk to both of you because I'm a guitarist. Of course, first. So I always start with guitarist. I'm going to do you, right? Right. Right.

Because back in the 80s, I'm like, what pedal is he using? Oh, I'm in Billy. Right. Right. Anyway, grads 44 is years of partnership. Yeah. Not a perfect partnership, but certainly a perfect partnership and productivity. And obviously, your connection is strong because you're together. Yeah. And with the documentary, just about to come out here. Right on. It's exciting. So let's start there. Does somebody put you two together? Was it a producer or a record label or how did that? Well, I had a manager, American manager, Bill O'Connor, managed a kiss. And he knew Steve. He'd been following Steve's career in New York around the clubs or whatever with that's right Yeah, band you sort of had a development deal with with the coin at the time and He said I left the band that I was in we we had an ill-fated record that was never released But I stayed with the coin management and they'll called me. I don't know, you know, at some point and said, hey, you ever heard a Billy Idol and by then, that's what myself was being played, you know, five times a night in every club. I went, oh yeah, Generation X. And you said, well, he's moved to New York. We're managing him. You guys should meet. Wow. Yeah. So in the, give me your version. So is Gen X waning or is it breaking up? Or how do you end up in America? Because I mean, there's variations of that story, but of course I want to hear it from you. Well, yeah, just, yeah, generation X was sort of falling apart gradually. And then and Tony was sort of we were carrying on with Gen X. But in the meantime we did get this American manager below coin, we'd manage KISS and stuff. And he was obviously really interested in managing us, but I think he really just wanted to manage me really. Because, you know, yeah, anyway, yeah, so what started to happen was, you know, dancing myself didn't do sweep all in England. you know, you got to number 60 or something when we put it out in England and did do anything so it's a little bit lively I mean yeah things are not really happening here at all and I knew kind of somewhere I knew you know if I stay in England and start a solo thing I I'll probably end up propping up a bar, and that's about it, because it's going through really fast. It's like this, right? It's up and down. A record can be over in three weeks, even if it's quite successful, you know, and a talk can be over in three weeks, you know, it's like, I mean, hence how big you are, but still. Yeah, I could just see that, yeah, I loved what we were trying to do with the dancing with myself, time music, but it just wasn't happening in England and it just sort of made sense. If I start something in England slightly, nothing will happen because they've already felt like they've seen you. And it just happened basically. you know, I just was on top of the pops and punk rock and they really feel like they've you they're already on to something. They're already getting ready for Frank to go to Hollywood as on it. You know what I mean? So it just sort of made sense to me. The best thing I could do if I'm really going to start a solo career is to go somewhere else and what better place? Then New York where I knew there's likely to be other like-minded people because that's what we were following, the CBGBC. So it just made sense to go to New York and I'd already been to New York in 70. I'd lived in America when I was a little child. So I remember New York as a three or four year old, you know. You know, things like that. So I had a kind of, I wasn't a lot of English people, America's daunting because it is fifth, they don't even realize it's 50 countries in a way. But I kind of already, because I'd already lived in America and I liked it. So it was a little bit for me, it was like going, in way, going home to a certain extent. So I was excited to get the idea of starting a fresh and maybe the idea would go to America and then I had no idea that dancing myself was doing really well in the dance chart and in this new wave dance chart that was kind of going on. I had no idea, but once I got to New York after a few months, I started to hang around the clubs and I started to, I started to see that, hey, they're putting on this song that everybody goes crazy to and then when I listened to what it was, it went, me stiff if it isn't dancing with myself, you know, what's it?

I don't have to change a thing. I've already got, I've already got the idea, you know, that was the thing. That was what was great. Did, did, so, cause I'm curious how these things start, cause we have the long lens of a beautiful partnership. But does Bill coin sort of pitch you on his vision of what he thinks Billy will be? Well, by that, you know, went up to the office.

Well, first of all, they sent over a copy

of the Gen X record and there was songs like revenge on it and John McGee who had played guitar on it was doing all this kind of inventive guitar stuff I went I went oh he's looking for someone who can really expand on the guitar create yeah textures and oh, I'm right at home with it. If that's what he wants, I'm your guy. It is what I want. So, so I thought that was really cool. And then I went up to the office and they played me the EP that he had just done with Monimoni on it, which was like the real, you know, merger of, you know, guitar hero stuff, but as well, you know, the dance music thing. And in many ways, like a cross between America and UK at the time. Yeah. And he seems obvious to me in hindsight. There was all these influences that I could hear. Oh, you must like sweet. Because if you tell us, especially as somebody from New York, you know, you know, Tommy James is

You are generation Tommy James is amazing, right? So so like not everybody knows Tommy James But if you know, you're like, okay, that's right, right? Yeah. Yeah, but what did they give you?

Do they say oh, we think this kid's gonna be a star? I'm just curious of those types of conversation I just love that stuff. I mean it was it was you know I've built a coin watch 10 MP.

I've watched it.

I've watched it.

I've watched it.

I've watched it.

I've watched it.

I've watched it.

I've watched it.

I've watched it.

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