Billy Idol on the song that changed his life

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

NPR

Society & Culture

4.7 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 4 November 2022

⏱️ 17 minutes

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Summary

The Song That Changed My Life is a segment that gives us the chance to talk with some of our favorite artists about the music that made them who they are today. Billy Idol throws us back to 1954, to one of the first songs Elvis Presley ever recorded: That's All Right. He first heard the song at an Elvis convention with his sister in the '70s. At the time he was playing in punk rock bands and a lot of punk rockers disliked Elvis. Idol defends Elvis, and explains how the song changed how he approached his craft when he was first starting out.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.
0:07.0	It's Bullseye, I'm Jesse Thorn. It's time down for the song that changed my life. Some of our favorite artists talking about the music that made them who they are.
0:37.0	Up next is Billy Idol. Yes, that Billy Idol, Rebel Yel, White Wedding, Dancing With Myself.
0:44.0	Too HOME
0:46.0	Idle is a showman and a hardworking one.
1:08.3	He tours all the time, all around the world.
1:11.0	He's also a prolific recording artist.
1:13.8	This past September, he released a brand new EP called Cage.
1:43.8	When we asked Billy Idle about the song that changed his life, we didn't really know
1:55.1	what to expect.
1:57.2	Maybe something by the Ramones or the Stooges or James Brown?
2:01.3	Instead, Idle took us back to 1954, one of the first songs Elvis Presley ever recorded.
2:08.6	That's all right.
2:09.6	I'll let Billy Idle take it from here.
2:11.8	Hi, this is Billy Idle and this is the song that changed my life.
2:15.6	Well, that's all right, Mama.
2:18.8	That's all right for you.
2:21.8	That's all right, Mama.
2:23.8	Just any way you'd do to that's all right.
2:27.8	That's all right.
2:28.8	That's all right.
2:30.8	The first time I heard Elvis's, that's all right, Mama was probably in the early 70s.
	...

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