"Hot in the City" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Billy Idol | ||||
from the album Billy Idol | ||||
B-side | "Hole in the Wall" | |||
Released | July 1982 [1] | |||
Genre | New wave | |||
Length | 3:38 | |||
Label | Chrysalis | |||
Songwriter(s) | Billy Idol | |||
Producer(s) | Keith Forsey | |||
Billy Idol singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Music video | ||||
"Hot in the City" on YouTube |
"Hot in the City" is a song by Billy Idol, released as the lead single from his 1982 self-titled debut album. It charted at No. 23 in the US [2] and No. 58 in the UK. [3] A remix of the song was released in 1987 and reached No. 13 in the UK. [3]
The Exterminator Mix of the song was released as a single in the UK on 29 December 1987. [4] It charted higher in the UK this time round, peaking at No. 13 in early 1988. [5] This version was first released in 1985 on the remix album Vital Idol .
There are two versions of the video. The first version (the 1982 version) starts off with a girl walking into a record store. She picks up a Billy Idol record and the song starts to play. The video features scenes from New York City, interspersed with stock footage of nuclear bomb tests. The second version (the 1987 version) depicted Idol's girlfriend Perri Lister bound to a cross; it was banned by MTV. [6] The later version was included on the DVD edition of The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself .
Although the released version of the song has Idol shouting "New York!", other versions of the song were recorded for various radio stations, including ones for such cities as "Amarillo", "Boston", "Minneapolis", "New Haven", "Phoenix", "Philly", "Chattanooga", and "Sioux Falls", or none at all with a repeated synthesiser stab instead.
The song, with a remixed synthesizer intro, was used as the introduction [7] for Booker , the TV series spin-off of 21 Jump Street . It is also featured in the 1988 hit film Big , starring Tom Hanks.
The song was used by the NBA's Phoenix Suns during the introductions of the visiting team at home games during the team's run to the 1993 NBA Finals.[ citation needed ]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
"Crying" is a song written by Roy Orbison and Joe Melson for Orbison's third studio album of the same name (1962). Released in 1961, it was a number 2 hit in the US for Orbison and was covered in 1978 by Don McLean, whose version went to number 1 in the UK in 1980.
"Just the Way You Are" is a song by Billy Joel from his fifth studio album The Stranger (1977), released as the album's second single in early November 1977. It became both Joel's first US Top 10 and UK Top 20 single, as well as Joel's first Gold single in the US. The song also topped the Billboard Easy Listening Chart for the entire month of January 1978.
"I Just Can't Stop Loving You" is a 1987 duet ballad by American singers Michael Jackson and Siedah Garrett, and was released as the first single on July 20, 1987, by Epic Records from his seventh album, Bad. The song was written by Jackson, and co-produced by Jackson and Quincy Jones. The presence of Garrett on the track was a last-minute decision by Jackson and Jones, after Jackson's first two choices for the duet both decided against participating. Garrett, a protégé of Jones's who co-wrote another song on Bad, "Man in the Mirror", did not know that she would be singing the song until the day of the recording session. It became her first hit since Dennis Edwards' 1984 song "Don't Look Any Further". Garrett remains known primarily for her work with Jackson to this day.
"You Sexy Thing" is a song by British soul band Hot Chocolate. It was written by lead singer Errol Brown and bass guitarist Tony Wilson, and was produced by Mickie Most. The song was released in October 1975 as the second single from their second album, Hot Chocolate, and reached number two on the UK Singles Chart in November 1975, as well as number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 the following February. Billboard ranked it the number 22 song for 1976. It went on to gain notability by being featured in films, such as The Full Monty (1997).
"Push It" is a song by American hip hop group Salt-N-Pepa. It was first released as the B-side of the "Tramp" single in 1987. Then released by Next Plateau and London Records, it peaked at number 19 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1988 and, after initially peaking at number 41 in the UK, it re-entered the charts after the group performed the track at Nelson Mandela's 70th birthday concert, eventually peaking at number two in the UK in July 1988. The song has also been certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song is ranked number 446 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" and was ranked number nine on VH1's "100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop".
"White Wedding" is a song by Billy Idol that was released as the second single from his self-titled studio album in 1982. Although not Idol's highest-charting hit, it is often considered one of his most recognizable songs. In the US, it peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Bubbling Under the Hot 100 chart on 27 November 1982, then reached No. 36 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 2 July 1983 after it was re-issued. In the UK, it reached No. 6 in the UK Singles Chart upon its re-release there on 1 July 1985, when it was re-issued to promote the Vital Idol remix album.
Vital Idol is a remix album by English rock singer Billy Idol, released on 31 May 1985 by Chrysalis Records. It contains remixed songs from his first two albums and the Don't Stop EP. The album was reissued in the United States with one extra track in September 1987, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard 200. The US release was supported by a non-album live single version of "Mony Mony".
"Here I Go Again" is a song by the British rock band Whitesnake. It was originally released on their 1982 album, Saints & Sinners through Liberty in October 1982. The song was written by David Coverdale and Bernie Marsden, and produced by Martin Birch. The song was written for Coverdale's troubling marriage with his first wife, Julia.
"The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)" is a song written by Bob Crewe and Bob Gaudio.
"Rebel Yell" is a song by English-American rock musician Billy Idol. It is the title track of his second album Rebel Yell (1983), and was released as the album's lead single in January 1984 by Chrysalis Records. Initially, it only reached No. 62 in the UK and No. 46 in the US upon its release. However, a 1985 re-issue proved to be a big hit, peaking at no. 6 in the UK. The song received wide critical acclaim and in 2009 was named the 79th best hard rock song of all time by VH1 based on a public vote.
"(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher" is an R&B song written by Gary Jackson, Raynard Miner, and Carl Smith. It was recorded by Jackie Wilson for his album Higher and Higher (1967), produced by Carl Davis, and became a Top 10 pop and number one R&B hit.
"I Only Want to Be with You" is a song written by Mike Hawker and Ivor Raymonde. The debut solo single released by British singer Dusty Springfield under her long-time producer Johnny Franz, "I Only Want to Be with You" peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles chart in January 1964.
"Dancing with Myself" is a song by the punk rock band Gen X, first commercially released in the United Kingdom in October 1980, where it reached number 62 on the UK Singles Chart. It was remixed and re-released by the band's singer/frontman Billy Idol as a solo artist in the United States in 1981, where the song reached number 27 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. Nouvelle Vague covered the number in 2006 and released it on their album, Bande à Part.
"Moody Blue" is a song made famous by Elvis Presley. The song was written by Mark James who recorded the original version of the song, which reached #15 in South Africa during the summer of 1976. James also penned Elvis' "Suspicious Minds".
"Mony Mony" is a 1968 single by American pop rock band Tommy James and the Shondells, which reached No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 3 in the U.S. Written by Bobby Bloom, Ritchie Cordell, Bo Gentry, and Tommy James, the song has appeared in various film and television works such as the Oliver Stone drama Heaven & Earth. It was also covered by English singer-songwriter Billy Idol in 1981. Idol's version, which took in more of a rock sound, became an international top 40 hit and additionally revived public interest in the original garage rock single. Idol recorded a live version in 1985 which was ultimately released in 1987 where it became an even bigger hit than the Shondells' 1968 original, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Magic" is a song recorded by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for the soundtrack to the 1980 musical fantasy film Xanadu, which starred Newton-John and Gene Kelly. Written and produced by Newton-John's frequent collaborator John Farrar, "Magic" was released as the soundtrack's lead single in May 1980 and topped the US Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks beginning on August 2. On August 30, it was displaced from the top by Christopher Cross's "Sailing".
"Everywhere" is a song by British-American rock band Fleetwood Mac from their 14th studio album, Tango in the Night (1987). The song was written by Christine McVie, who also performed lead vocals, and produced by Lindsey Buckingham and Richard Dashut. In the United States, "Everywhere" was released in November 1987 as the album's fourth single, while in the United Kingdom, it was issued on 21 March 1988 as the album's fifth single.
"Doctor's Orders" is a song written by Roger Cook, Roger Greenaway and Geoff Stephens which, in 1974, was a hit in the UK for Sunny of Sue and Sunny; in the US the song was a hit for Carol Douglas.
"Let's Dance" is a 1987 single by British singer-songwriter Chris Rea. The song first appeared in an early form as a B-side to the "It's All Gone" single in 1986 and was re-recorded for his 1987 album, Dancing with Strangers, serving as its lead single. "Let's Dance" peaked at No. 12 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 81 on the US Billboard Hot 100. In New Zealand, it reached No. 2 for three non-consecutive weeks, and it also peaked within the top 10 in Australia, Ireland, and South Africa.
"To Be a Lover" is a song written by William Bell and Booker T. Jones originally as "I Forgot to Be Your Lover", but best known as a cover by Billy Idol on his third studio album Whiplash Smile (1986). As the album's lead single, it became Idol's second top ten hit in the US, peaking at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart.