If you remember a couple months back, I bought about 21 7″ Singles and in that were a couple of Billy Idol Singles. The first one is for the single, “Cradle of Love”, which was the first single off his 1990 album, ‘Charmed Life’. The second one was “Eyes Without a Face” which was off the 1983 album ‘Rebel Yell’ and was one we did not too long ago with the 12″ Picture Disc. This time around it is the 7″ Single. The song “Eyes Without A Face” was released in 1984 and went all the way to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 giving Billy one of his highest charting songs. It also helped boost the album to over 2,000,000 sold giving it a double platinum certification.
My Copy isn’t in the best of shape as someone scribbled a little over Billy’s face and there is the “30” written in on the back cover which explains why this one was so cheap. I went with it anyway until I can find a better copy down the road.
A-Side:
“Eyes Without A Face” is one of my favorite Idol songs. The hand clap, the groove, the slow ballady feel all worked gloriously against a darker feel from the lyrics. The song builds up in tempo and you get a fantastic little riff from Stevens and then some beautiful backing vocals by Billy’s girlfriend, at the time, Perri Lister. She is singing in french “Les yeux sans visage” which means eyes with a face. The phrase was also the title of a movie directed by Georges Franju which was the inspiration for the song. Being this is the 7″ Single, the song is actually the single mix which is about 50 seconds less than the album version. Like they do with a lot of single mixes, the trim off the fat and keep it shorter for radio play.
B-Side:
With an opening growl, you get “Blue Highway”, a catchy, uptempo song that really chugs along with lyrics I have no idea what the hell he is talking about. The lyrics I am going to assume are heavily influenced by his drug use at the time. Maybe it was a potential overdose the song is about, but not real sure. Whatever the reason, a great rock song that is top notch in my book.
And there you have it, another “Eyes Without A Face” Single…we could eventually talk about it again if I can ever find the 4 Song EP from the UK. I will keep my eyes out for that one as well. Until then, Have a wonderful day!
Now, if you want to check out the full reviews and the entire Billy Idol Series, click on any and all of the links below…
- Generation X – ‘Generation X’
- Generation X – ‘Valley of the Dolls’
- Gen X – ‘Kiss Me Deadly’
- Gen X – “Dancing With Myself” 12″ Single (Bonus Edition)
- Generation X – ‘The BBC Transcription Disc Series No. 126 1978’ (Bootleg)
- Billy Idol – Don’t Stop E.P.
- Billy Idol – Billy Idol
- Billy Idol – Rebel Yell
- Billy Idol – “Eyes Without A Face” – 12″ Picture Disc (Bonus Edition)
- Billy Idol – “Eyes Without A Face” – 7″ Single (Bonus Edition)
- Billy Idol – Whiplash Smile
- Billy Idol – “Sweet Sixteen” – 7″ Single (Bonus Edition)
- Billy Idol – To Be A Lover – Single Review
- Billy Idol – Vital Idol
- Billy Idol – “Hot In the City” – 7″ Single (Bonus Edition)
- Billy Idol – Charmed Life
- Billy Idol – “Cradle of Love” – 7″ Single (Bonus Edition)
- Billy Idol – Cyberpunk
- Billy Idol – “Speed” (song from the Speed Soundtrack)
- Generation X – K.M.D. Sweet Revenge
- Billy Idol – VH1 Storytellers (Live)
- Billy Idol – Devil’s Playground
- Billy Idol – Happy Holidays
- Billy Idol – The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself
- Billy Idol – Kings & Queens of the Underground
- Billy Idol – BFI Live (#RSD 2019)
- Billy Idol – Revitalized
- Generation X – Your Generation (7″ Record Store Day Release)
- Generation X – Generation X Deluxe Edition
- Billy Idol – Rebel Waltz: Live (Bootleg)
- Billy Idol – Rebel Calling: Live (Bootleg)
- Billy Idol – The Albums Ranked From Worst to First
2 Loud 2 Old Music 
So you’ve got the 12 inches and 7 inches editions. That’s a lot of inches. I know I’ve got a couple of Idol 7 inches, and will dig em for my record vault reviews.
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Nice. Can’t wait for that!
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Your right Blue Highway is a great track. Who knows what Idol is going on about lol
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I wonder if he even knew!! He was heavy in to drugs so he might not have known either.
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“Eyes Without a Face” is far and away my favorite of his many songs. And all these years, I thought Perri Lister was singing “precious are these eyes” in the background.
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Glad you learned something new…assuming I’m correct.
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Being one to liberally throw the ‘sell out ‘ label around back in the 1980s, “Eyes Without a Face” was the song which got Billy that brand back then. I am warming to the song these days. Still much prefer “Blue Highway.”
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Yeah, he was, but I really like his music so I was good with it.
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Me too, perhaps I was too quick to break out the ‘sell out’ branding iron back then.
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That’s one of my favorite Idol tracks. And Blue Highway sounds intriguing, I’ll have to give it spin sometime.
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Blue Highway is a good track. The Rebel Yell album was really solid.
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Are there any dud’s on Rebel Yell, think not.
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Yeah, actually. I’m not a fan of Dead Next Door or Daytime Drama.
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watching this now
Billy Idol – Live Austin City Limits Music Festival 2015
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Cool. Thanks for posting. I’ll have to check it out.
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Love that tune. Another score!
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I scored a lot this Summer with the Singles…that sounds bad though doesn’t it!! LOL!!
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Haha local singles in your area can’t wait to come home with YOU! 😉
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LOL!!! Don’t tell the wife!!
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ha it’s OK, my lovely wife knows my other women are my guitars. In fact, it was her who coined the phrase.
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Nice find! Billy Idol is a wonder, still going strong after all these years. He could still school many bands with his live shows. I still can’t listen to Mony Mony though. I just hate that song!
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Listening to his new E.P. right now. He will always be a favorite of mine. And yeah, Mony, Mony got played a lot, but still a fun song for me especially when he does it live.
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