Dancing With Myself, or Full of Myself? I have had the pleasure of seeing Idol in concert twice and would see him again in a heart beat, so it's safe to say my review might not be the most objective of them all.
Idol is a surprisingly enjoyable writer and while at times it is very much Sex and Drugs and Rock'n'Roll (hardly surprising really) with some added Drugs and Sex, there's a lot to interest the reader here, particularly if you're interested in the emergence of Punk as told by someone on the inside, it's a slight shame that the latter part of the book skips large chunks of his more recent life as he only seems to want to talk about when he was actually writing music ("I didn't write another album for twelve years") it does come right up to date with a bittersweet chapter regarding his father's terminal illness from which he died in August of this year, which I don't mind admitting brought a tear to my eye.Billy Idol will always have a piece of my heart. I'm dancing with myself When there's no-one else in sight In the crowded lonely night Well I wait so long For my love vibration And I'm dancing with myself Oh oh dancing with myself Oh oh dancing with myself Well there's nothing to lose And there's nothing to prove I'll be dancing with myself Oh, oh, oh oh If I looked all over the world I loved Billy Idol in high school and college (80s), and this was like a backstage pass to those concerts.
He tells so many great stories from this era. There's also a lot of information about his childhood and his movie career that is truly interesting!
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Yes, as expected, there are stories of sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll. But still, if you love/loved Billy Idol and you enjoy rock autobiographies, put this on your I totally enjoyed reading this. His early years, living in dive rooms, his euphoric naiveté felt very authentic, and I appreciated that he didn't graze over those formative years, but rather shared the hard road to fame with his readers. (Hint: peroxide, leather, and the famous sneer.) At that time, only my grandparents had MTV, so it was such a treat to go spend the night at their house and get to watch the videos for White Wedding, Rebel Yell and Eyes Without a Face.
Idol also discusses his musical influences, and how he went from William Broad to Billy Idol. Billy lays out every regret and misstep with as much detail and humility as he does his accolades. Search, discover and share your favorite Dancing With Myself GIFs. ;) But that being said I think this book was very enjoyable, honest and raw. An enjoyable read from start to finish. No. That story, in and of itself, is a great one.
Suffice it to say that Billy rocks and his book is a more than decent addition to the growing pantheon of rock autobiographies, a genre which I’d mostly avoided till I read Miles Davis’s great example about five years back, but which I now enjoy more with each one I read.I had expected a flimsy recounting of the MTV years, because somewhere in the haze of the eighties (my teen years) I had pegged this guy as kind of a fake. ;) But that being said I think this book was very enjoyable, honest and raw. Dancing With Myself
I must admit.
His fantastic personality shines right through. He admits to things that he should be embarrassed of, but he is honest with his readers.
The first half was amazing, a great introduction to the history of how punk, turned into new wave and how Billy Idol became pop-punk, with his London Caribbean and (hippie) rock influences. By my late teens, I had moved onto other types of music but since those days, I still had a fondness for him.I was in my teens during Billy's MTV days, and was an avid fan. Overall, a read for any Billy fan, even though I don't think you'll learn anything that wasn't covered by VH1's Behind the Music. By my late teens, I had moved onto other types of music but since those days, I still had a fondness for him.In 1984, when I was 8 years old, my sister bought an album called Rebel Yell, and proceeded to play the heck out of that album, night and day.