"Hot in the City" by Billy Idol

Song#:  3359
Date:  12/12/1987
Debut:  81
Peak:  48
Weeks:  10
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  Idol earned his first and only US #1 hit with a live version of "Mony Mony." With that success, Idol's label thought a follow-up was necessary. Instead of choosing one of the remixes on his Vital Idol collection that was on the chart around this time (and did not include the live "Mony Mony"), a decision was made to just reissue out Idol's 1982 single "Hot in the City," which had originally peaked at #23. Since the tune wasn't a big hit when originally released and Idol was arguably at his peak in the US with "Mony Mony," it was perhaps thought the song might become a bigger hit the second time around. The ploy didn't really work out. While it did pick up some sales and airplay, it wasn't enough to even get the song in the Top 40. It would be Idol's last single to reach the US Pop chart in the 80s.

ReduxReview:  I thought it was a silly idea to just reissue this song. It wasn't a dud on initial release so folks were already familiar with it. If they had taken a moment and developed a good, modern remix on the tune to amp it up for the late 80s, perhaps even make it more of a dance track, then it might have worked better. Instead, they got lazy and just pushed it out and the results were justified. As I said in my earlier post, it was a good song that fit in well with his other hits, but it's not one I clamor to hear.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia:  The 90s started out rough for Idol. In Feburary of 1990, Idol had a motorcycle accident that wrecked up his leg so bad that he almost lost it. But after operations and steel rod, the leg was saved. However, Idol's lengthy recuperation took a bit of a toll on his career. He was to have a good role in Oliver Stone's bio pic The Doors, but due to Idol's condition, his role was cut down. Perhaps worse was that director James Cameron had wanted Idol to be the T-1000 android in Terminator 2: Judgement Day. Because of Idol's accident and recovery, he couldn't do the film. Robert Patrick got the role instead and the film was a major success. Still, Idol went on to record his next album, 1990's Charmed Life, which featured the #2 hit "Cradle of Love." The album would get to #11 and go platinum. After that, Idol's career quickly cooled. His 1993 LP Cyberpunk failed to generate a Pop chart entry and was unable to even go gold. It would be eleven years before he would record another album.

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