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At the same time they were all reasonably
good looking and with a sort of unthreatening punky image
boded well for the future. Billy had discovered hair gel and peroxide
and an Elvis sneer
and was obviously a star. Appearing in teen girls magazines like Pink
and Fab 208 may have killed their street cred but improved record
sales!
"Generation X may well be the "punk
rock" group
that many people have been waiting for; lyrics about
change and revolution, but with melodies cute enough for
"boy meets girl".
Tony
Parsons NME Jan 30th 1977.
"Pop may
not fit the new wave image which is why Generation X are
so important and impressive, They MAKE it fit and
complement it in return...they'll just as likely appear
on the cover of 19 as Sniffin Glue...."
Sniffing
Glue 12 Aug/Sep 77
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"Generation X
were a revelation ! I've only seen them once before and I
was really impressed then, but they're even tighter now !
They looked menacing...short hair, aggressive stances, and
they move so fast. Short catchy songs like 'Ready Steady
Go', 'Your Generation', 'Youth Youth Youth' and 'Day By
Day'. One of the few groups who haven't really sold
out." Nag and Ade from New Wave
fanzine 77 |
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Unfortunately
they never really lived up to this billing. The band
released a string of catchy classy punky poppy singles and
notched up a sizeable hit with 'King Rocker' but didn't
really make it as far as expected...After they split in 1981 only
Idol carried through taking his punky elvis through to America where
he became a big star.
Opinion
is divided over them and a lot of people hated them and
thought them posers but you can't argue with their records. When they
were good they were shit hot.
"Its just
the way the songs came out; we don't write them to be poppy. You realise
when we first came out as a group there were a lot of pressures and we weren't
completely honest with ourselves. That pose that snarling look. I think
we've realised we should just be ourselves." Tony
James Sounds 16.7.77
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I
went straight into a band from the front of a mirror
where I posed rock'n'roll star style'
'Everyone
expects the singer to be an idol, you know always be in
the centre of the photo. I'm an idol - I go home by bus'
Billy
Idol |
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"Little William Broad was a big
tosser even then, before he started calling himself Billy
Idol. We used to call him the punk Cliff Richard, because
that's what we thought he looked like... When Generation
X were playing, (in fact they were the first band to play
the Roxy), we'd all be throwing shit at them, because
even then, Billy Idol was a wanker." Gareth
Holder from The Shapes |
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"I
feel we are aggressive, but in our playing...We want to convince through our songs. We're just a soft fist
really'...Tony James.
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Pictures
Denis O'Regan, Erica Echenberg & Ray Stevenson.
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