If you remember my discussions last week, while at a record show here in Charlotte, I came across that Billy Idol Picture Disc for “Eyes Without A Face”, but that wasn’t all I found. I also found a couple 7″ Singles from Billy Idol as well. First up was “Hot in the City” with the B-Side “Catch My Fall”. The other 7″ Single I found from Billy was for the song “Sweet Sixteen” off the album ‘Whiplash Smile’. The B-Side for the song was also from the album, a song called “Beyond Belief”.
The US release of this single was in April 1987 and this single is from that release. The song did great as it went to #20 on the Top 40 charts helping drive the album to sells of over 1 million copies in the US alone making it go Platinum for Billy. Both songs on the single are strictly the album versions. There are no single mixes or remixes, only the normal released songs. As a result, this is nothing new I don’t already have, but I didn’t have it in single form so I will take it to grow my Billy Idol collection.
The third single from the album was an acoustic guitar heavy ballad called “Sweet Sixteen” with a very nice bass groove added in. It might just be the best song on the album. A nice change of pace and gave you a softer side of Billy. The story behind the song is based on a true story about Edward Leedskalnin who was dumped by his fiancée Agnes Scuffs the day before their wedding. To try and win her back, he built a monument complete with furniture made of coral, in Homestead, Florida called Coral Castle. Sadly, she still didn’t want him. Oh well, it is now a little tourist attraction…although quite weird. Edward’s nickname for Agnes was “Sweet Sixteen”.
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2 Loud 2 Old Music 