Billy Idol

One of the first concerts I went to was Emerson Lake and Palmer, and my dad had brought home this record called- Is this brain salad surgery?

Exactly, in quad.

But my dad had brought home this record called Moog.

And I thought, wow, what is that sound?

That's really like, oh.

And then when I heard the Nice and all that stuff.

So the advance of keyboards kind of went along at the same time for me as the guitar thing.

So we loved all the new technology and the keyboards and stuff like that.

I never thought it was taking my space or anything.

Well, I think Whiplash Smile, you know, throwing a fair amount of drugs, no communication.

And Whiplash Smile was not the easiest record to do.

To play live.

I had just gotten my first apartment in New York.

I still had family.

And I was courted by Warner Brothers.

I had Ted Templeman sign me to Warner Brothers.

That was a very valuable lesson because they don't give a shit about our partnership.

And, you know, you've got Van Halen's producer saying, oh, you know, if you come over here, you know.

And that was an influence, you know.

And just in hindsight, we never communicated that.