When William Broad and his brood showed up as second generation punks in 1977, they immediately had a hard time justifying their bonafides. It didn't matter that frontman Broad a.k.a. Billy Idol had been part of the Bromley Contingent, the notorious group of Sex Pistols fans that also counted Siouxsie Sioux among them. The band was too photogenic, their punk rock was too mainstream-ish etc. etc. Of course, the naysayers saw all their prejudices confirmed when, after the end of the band, Billy Idol became an MTV idol, while partner in crime Tony James formed Sigue Sigue Sputnik. So, according to common wisdom, Idol, James and the rest of Generation X where fakers, who just used punk's moment to go ahead, then shamelessly pillaged the mainstream via garish make-up and music videos and the help of MTV when the opportunity presented itself.
Now that the trench wars over who and what was or wasn't punk are long over, nevermind the bollocks, eh? Maybe we can just agree that Generation X was a pretty kick-ass rock band, punk or no punk. They had a bunch of cool songs and the attitude to sell them. That you can't take away from them. "Ready Steady Go" - perfect, energetic opener. "Your Generation" - lots of fun. "Dancing With Myself" - no wonder Idol reused this one to kickstart his solo career. "One Hundred Punks" - pop punk, the origins. And so on. True, songs like "Stars Look Down" and "Triumph" have more than a little pop in them and expansive comp closer "Paradise West" has nothing whatsoever to do with punk. But why the hell not. I ain't fighting no trench wars. "Andy Warhol" reveals another influence on the Gen X crew you wouldn't have bet. But hey, everybody likes Bowie, right?!
My little Generation X compilation also makes room for things that don't usually end up on these types of comps. For example their attempt at an epic, "The Prime Of Kenny Silvers". Punk bands don't do seven minute epics, something not lost on Idol & company. So they basically cut the track in half, dutifully calling the two bits "Part 1" and "Part 2", not realizing maybe how silly that is and that multi-part tracks are also the domain of prog and art rockers. I deleted the useless break, so their not bad attempt at an epic (though whether it really needed to be seven minutes long I'll let you decide) is the single seven-minute track it was always meant to be.
So, 20 kick-ass tracks from Generation X, nothing more, nothing less. And that is a promise you can count on.
