This was on Quora: The 1983 Billy Idol song “Eyes Without a Face” is a reference to the French horror film Les Yeux sans visage (1960). That title in French occurs in the lyrics of the song. The film is about a woman whose face was injured in an automobile accident, and her father, a surgeon, who is trying to restore his daughter's face.
1984. Santa Barbara,Ca. Backstage at the Arlington Theater. I was 19. Made out with Billy Idol lol....... Sigh. I'm an old woman now😔 Those were the days my friend~!! I miss the 80s.......!!
Wikipedia-In his memoir, Dancing with Myself, Idol explained he had always been fascinated with the titles of horror films, including the 1960 French movie Les Yeux Sans Visage (Eyes Without a Face). The movie concerns a plastic surgeon who vowed to restore the face of his daughter who had been disfigured in a car accident, and this quest led him to murder victims and graft their facial features onto his daughter in an attempt to restore her beauty. By the end, all that remained of her original face was her eyes, thus making her "eyes without a face". Idol saw some parallel between the movie and the moral decay he experienced living in New York in the 1980s
I'm under the impression its about groupies on the road where the sex is given away freely yet without a solid relationship or any desire for one. In the lyris where he says "you got no human grace" conveys his disgust of sex without feeling (love).
Billy Idol was badass in the 80s. I loved every one of his hits. Before he went solo, he was in the band Generation X back in the late 70s. Any of these songs would be worth a listen: Dancing with Myself Mony Mony Hot in the City White Wedding Rebel Yell Eyes without a Face Flesh for Fantasy Catch My Fall To Be a Lover Don't Need a Gun Sweet Sixteen Cradle of Love L.A. Woman
This song was huge in the eighties, probably Billy's most popular song. Back in the day MTV aired the video all the time. The panty-dropper lip sneer, the pumping fist, the cheek-claps it's all there, all part of Billy's classic iconography. More hits include Flesh for Fantasy, Catch my fall, White Wedding (his first worldwide hit from 1982), Dancing with Myself, Mony Mony, Sweet Sixteen, Hot in the City and dozens more. He is still producing new songs and some of them are actually quite nice.
So I went to see Billy Idol in a smaller venue around 2001 and Steve Stevens, who did MJ's Dirty Diana, was his guitarist. I was about 6 months pregnant and had to use the bathroom so I grabbed a security guy and he led me down a flight of stairs to this kind of darker, quiet area with what looked like private bathrooms and he let me go in and told me when I finished to just come back up to the venue. I did my business and was in the stall getting myself put back together when I heard someone outside in the room where these stalls were. I was nervous because I was clearly not in the bathrooms meant for the public and I peeked out of the crack in the stall and standing maybe three feet away and getting changed was STEVIE STEVENS!!! I went into a complete PANIC because he clearly thought he was by himself and was freely getting undressed! I immediately backed into the corner and tried to stay completely quiet and prayed he didn't hear me, which he didn't, my heart beating out of my chest. In about 2 minutes I heard him leave the room and peeked out to be sure and then I hauled ass out of that bathroom, me and my big belly! I got back to my husband with the WIDEST EYES and had a story to tell about my brush with the ICONIC guitarist. It's crazy even thinking about it now. It could have gone really badly if he'd have realized there was a woman a few feet away in his dressing room. lol
🙋🏼♂️ 🇬🇧 Back in 1990 Billy Idol had a serious motorbike crash . After a night of drink & drugs ( he had his struggles ) to celebrate the finishing of i believe the album was called unironically Charmed Life he went out on his Harley , ran a stop sign & hit a truck . Unsurprisingly the truck won & Idol nearly lost his leg , fearing it would need to be amputated ! I believe this accident cost him a part in Terminator 2 , maybe someone else will know for sure . He recovered & is just a straight up cool dude , who isn't afraid to have fun at his own expense ( a tv advert with golfer Rory Mcilroy 🤷🏼♂️ ) & he is still living a rock stars life .. without the hard drugs !! .... BP day 21 asking for a reaction to Cab Calloway , Jumpin' Jive .. many thanks 🙏🏻✌🏻
Yes, he was cast as the T-1000 in Terminator 2, and a major role in The Doors and when the accident happened. He ended up with just a tiny part in the Doors as a roadie.
I saw him in his first concert tour after the accident. He came out on stage walking with the cane. Once the music started, he threw the cane to the side and rocked out. It was a great concert!
The 1983 Billy Idol song “Eyes Without a Face” is a reference to the French horror film Les Yeux sans visage (1960). That title in French occurs in the lyrics of the song. The film is about a woman whose face was injured in an automobile accident, and her father, a surgeon, who is trying to restore his daughter's face.
I have been in love with Billy idol since I was 16... I am now 55 and still love the man and his music ❤ I don't know if anyone ever really understood what this song meant, but it's ear candy just the same. Back in the day, when MTV actually played music videos and the top 40 and such, his video for Flesh For Fantasy was on every morning and my but was sitting on the floor in front of the TV, lol! Now THAT'S one to check out 😊😊😊
More Billy Idol to check out, "Dancing with Myself", "White Wedding", and "Cradle of Love". Dancing with Myself is faster paced and the video is a trip.
Records companies required @ least 2 power ballads on each album. Didn’t matter if it was rock, pop, punk, etc. it was in their contracts. My favorite band is Aerosmith. They started in mid-70s, then went on a cocaine bender for about ten years. Came back in the 80s, they collaborated with RunDMC, on their 70s hit, Walk This Way. After that everything they touched was golden. I’ve seen them at least twice a year, while they toured. Front row, center, stood in line for hours. Next I have to suggest the band Boston, also started in the 70s. Their first album was full of incredible hits, like not one stinker on the whole album. Bruce Springsteen and BonJovi are my homeys, since I am from NJ originally. Hope you check these folks out. I love music. Each song is a memory in time. Would like to share these memories with you! I love the hunger your generation has for good music. ❤
Flushed for fantasy is a great song, obviously Rebel Yell and white wedding. But I think one of his amazing albums is charmed life give it a listen! Love Billy Idol.
The girls are singing in French. I remember when this video came out and it was more cool than you can imagine. Billy is the king. Had my hair spiked and mom bleached it for me. RIP mom. Met him a few times and always very kind and gracious.
Huge Billy Idol fan, Steve Stevens lead guitar is also incredible, one of the best. Its So Cruel greatest Billy idol song ever, that first solo Album was awesome, Rebel yell was our school dance what you guys call prom anthem, back flip's and crazy dance shit and times were had that night as well as some crazy firsts! All I gotta say.
I love Billy Idol and his guitarist Steve Stevens who also played and was in the video with Michael Jackson -Dirty Diana, an amazing guitarist. Great reaction, thank you.
Songs like this is why Billy left England. He felt we wasn't able to be 'Soft" or 'Sexy". It was all hard punk and nothing else. Been a fan since his first EP 'Don't Stop', Wish I could have seen him in concert in his prime.
I my opinion Billy Idol's most memorable songs for 'White Wedding" and 'Mony Mony', the later of which had some very naughty alternative lyrics which got sung by the crowd at concerts and ion clubs.
You gotta jam this tune with 15" subs and some serious power..!! One of the all time hardest hitting, cleanest, punchiest bass tracks period..!! Made back in the day when all audio equipment was made in Japan with ultra quality components..!!
When I was a teen in the 80's I couldn't figure out a lot of MTV videos. But I think you are right. I saw some singing, a lady being splash, and I taught she lied to him, so he started using drugs. But I had a teen head at that time.
Billy got the title from an old French horror movie but based the song on his anger with his own behaviour and lifstyle on tour that had ruined his relationships. Rap had been in the clubs in New York for a few years so Billy decided to put it in. This came out about three years after Blondie's Rapture.
Love this song. it is based off the old horror Movie Eyes Without a Face. The serius xm live version from a couple of years ago with just the guitarist is pretty cool as well.
Probably my favorite Billy Idol song I've heard. The title comes a French horror movie (that I think is pretty good by the way) Les Yeux Sans Visage. He connected with it on a becoming twisted and breaking down kind of level while in New York. Soundwise if you like this, I've always thought 10cc's 'I'm Not In Love' has a similar "driving at night" feel.
Synthpop came from Punk. The original spark of punk in the UK only lasted about 18 months before the main acts diversified their sounds, adopting elements of Electronic Music, Reggae, Disco, Ska, and Funk - basically, a lot of Postpunk was Punks letting more Black influence on their sounds. Most of the big Synthpop acts (Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, The Human League, Gary Numan, New Order, OMD) emerged from Postpunk or Punk origins. Billy Idol was in the Punk act Generation X before going solo and becoming a New Wave popstar. His genre was really Dance Rock for American radio. He incorporated elements of Punk, Synthpop, Electro, Power Pop, Dance Music, Goth, Glam Rock, Techno, Bubblegum, and as the 80s got later, Metal into an easily sold mish-mash of everything popular for suburban teens in the early 1980s. He had more hits here in the States than most UK acts to emerge from Punk/New Wave, probably only falling behind The Police and Duran Duran for most chart hits.
Billy was big, but he crashed his bike and smacked his melon on a curb. His career was peaking at the time. It took years for him to rehab but he did make a comeback, never got back to the top though. A very good live version of Rebel Yell after his comeback that is worth checking out is with Miley Cyres, I Heart Radio show.
I love alot of billy idol. Of course rebel yell. I really like Sweet sixteen. Also. dancing with myself, catch my fall, hot un the city, flesh for fantasy, to be a lover. Have you did any billy squire? Very underrated.
My personal interpretation off the lyrics, have been this: You know when someone is smiling, or showing an emotion, but you can tell in their eyes that it's not real. Their eyes are revealing the truth. There is a lot of reference in the song to a relationship from distance, where he is always calling her up... and I think in some way she has been lying to him and deceiving him as to what is truly going on between them, and he is starting to realize that her eyes, when they meet, aren't a reflection of the reality between them.... She is eyes, without a face.
Billy Idol is a party legend. He and his band got so out of control busting up a hotel in Bangkok Thailand, that the Thai Army was called in. He was either shot with a tranquillizer dart of drugged by Paramedics, strapped to a gurney, taken to the Airport and flown out of the country. Do you know how our of control you have to be to get banished from Bangkok, Thailand. How he lived to old age is amazing. He is still putting out new music, most of it written by him, reflecting on his life. Bitter Taste is about his motorcycle accident that almost killed him. One of the best is Kings and Queens of the Underground. He literally names off songs from his past and his life story through this song.
White wedding is one of my favorites by him. ❤️👍 The recurring theme is "Les yeux sans visage" (Eyes without a face), symbolizing a lack of humanity. 💔 The lyrics convey spending time believing lies and feeling sad and mad about lost love. 🎶 There's a reference to the seductive allure of music and the temptation to engage in risky behavior.
You might be interested that his guitarist, Steve Stevens did movie score stuff, too. A little movie theme from "Top Gun" was with him and Harold Faltermyer (Axel F).... Old school poppin.. lol
One possible interpretation is that the song is referring to someone he lost through death or breakup that he wants to forget (without a face) but can't (eyes that pierce his soul).
A teach once wrote a note complaining that "William is idle" about doing his schoolwork. He chose Billy Idol as his stage name because of that. One of my favorite Billy Idol songs is "Prodigal Blues". Not too long ago I found this acoustic version. This is dated 1988 so it's probably one of the first times it was done before an audience. It was released on the album "Charmed Life" in 1990. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6td5N0k1jT8.html
There is a movie of the same name from the 60's that is about a Dr. who is a plastic surgeon and does a face transplant on his beautiful daughter who is disfigured in a car accident. The premise of the movie is that he dehumanizes his daughter to make her into some porcelain doll due to his own need for redemption. Billy wrote this song similarly but with it being about relationships and how we can alter someone's life with our own callous ways. The love interest is the eyes without a face, but he is blind to the damage he is causing. Billy has always been an avid reader and is really intelligent. He often times gets lumped into the "dumb rock star" category because he is 1. a rock star 2. did heavy drugs 3. was very sexually driven back then. But his music can be very deep.
"In his memoir, Dancing with Myself, Idol explained he had always been fascinated with the titles of horror films, including the 1960 French movie Les Yeux Sans Visage (Eyes Without a Face). The movie concerns a plastic surgeon who vowed to restore the face of his daughter who had been disfigured in a car accident, and this quest led him to murder victims and graft their facial features onto his daughter in an attempt to restore her beauty. By the end, all that remained of her original face was her eyes, thus making her "eyes without a face". Idol saw some parallel between the movie and the moral decay he experienced living in New York in the 1980s."
Steve Stevens, the guitar player in the video, was the primary person for the soundscape of the early albums. Idol wrote lyrics and had a killer voice, but Stevens was the musician of the pair.
something you might not know but I think was pretty funny when he was younger probably middle school age, his teacher sent home a note that said billy was idle in class, so he changed a few letters and voila!
