BILLY IDOL - Whiplash Smile

After the Wedding: Steve Stevens remembers the early days of true international stardom

- BY JOE BOSSO

FOLLOWING THE 1981 breakup of his punk band Generation X, singer Billy Idol left the U.K. and began a solo career in New York City. There, he hooked up with Manhattan's best-kept guitar whiz secret, Steve Stevens, and the two got off to a fast start with the dance rock hit “White Wedding” off 1982's Billy Idol. A year later, things broke wide open with the multi-platinum Rebel Yell, which included a trio of radio and MTV smashes: “Flesh for Fantasy,” “Eyes Without a Face” and the blitzing title cut.

“We were in an enviable position going into our next record,” says Stevens, speaking about Whiplash Smile, the 1986 album that marked his third collaboration with Idol. “We had success behind us, and with that came a fair amount of freedom. We had powerful management and a great relationship with our record company.”

Stevens and Idol agreed they wouldn't try to replicate past hits. “The last thing we wanted to do was make