The blatantly image conscious group soon secured management, fired their first drummer, and auditioned over 50 drummers before settling on Mark Laff of Subway Sect. They were photogenic and signed a worldwide long term deal to Chrysalis (also home of Blondie) and had popsmith Phil Wainman, producer of The Bay City Rollers and Sweet mix their debut album. In September 1977 they became the first punk group to "sell out" and lip synch their debut single Your Generation on TV's Tops of The Pops, and also that month performed on Marc Bolan's TV show just days before the T-Rex frontman's death. Generation X also appeared in films like DOA and in Don Letts' Punk Movie.
In October of 1978, recordings for a second Generation X album produced by Ian Hunter of Mott The Hoople followed, the resulting Valley Of The Dolls hitting the streets in 1979. Guitarist Bob Dagwood Anderson eventually quit the lineup after completing a Japanese tour and the recordings for a third album in 1979.(The final Derwood lineup LP actually doesn't resurface for almost 20 years until 1998, and was finally released on an indie against Idol's wishes as Sweet Revenge).
After a troubling two year period of uncertainty due to legal and financial battles with manager Stewart Joseph, Billy Idol and Tony James re-recruited & re-christened for their re-dubbed Gen X project. Friends, foes, pros and fellow fools then convened and attempted to get another record out. Outside the core Idol/James duo, studio collaborators like ex-Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones, ex-Clash drummer Terry Chimes, Chelsea guitarist James Stevenson, Steve New of Rich Kids, Danny Kustow of Tom Robinson Band, as well as John McGeogh later of Siouxsie & the Banshees.
With renewed spirit and producer Keith Forsey at the helm, Gen X would go on to release one more LP Kiss Me Deadly in 1981. After neither the album nor the singles "Dancing With Myself" and "Kiss Me Deadly" took the charts, the band broke up. Idol joined up with NYC based Kiss manager Bill Aucion, re-releasing "Dancing with Myself" and the rest, as they say, is history.
A one off Generation X reunion occurred in 1993 at London's Astoria. Hopes for future reunions have popped up infrequently, but, with the band members ensconced in their own projects, prospects have seemed unlikely.The group's music remains popular among punk rock, new wave, and power pop revivalists in the U.K. and elsewhere, with a cult following lasting into the new millennium.
Poison
Generation X Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I don't want to watch it
When people look like Japanese cartoons
You've got a product to sell
You should produce it well
Never gonna return it and I don't want to
Been looking everywhere
But nobody seems to care
Where is everybody
Tell me what's happening
Am I supposed to know what to do?
You've got a product to sell
You should produce it well
Never gonna return it and I don't want to
But when I get to the shop they tell me it's not in stock
I guess it's true you get what you're given
With all my problems to date you'd think I would re-arrange
They say it will be back next season
Been looking everywhere
But nobody seems to care
When I'm all alone
The lyrics to Generation X's "Poison" seem to speak to a sense of disillusionment and frustration with consumerism and modern society. The opening lines of "DV's should be in sync / I don't want to watch it / When people look like Japanese cartoons" suggest a distaste for the synthetic and phony nature of mass entertainment, and the desire for authenticity and genuine human experience. The repetition of the line "You've got a product to sell / You should produce it well / Never gonna return it and I don't want to" reinforces this sentiment, implying that the singer is tired of being sold a bill of goods and wants something that is real and worthwhile.
The second half of the song takes on a more introspective and melancholy tone, with the lines "Been looking everywhere / But nobody seems to care / When I'm all alone / Where is everybody / Tell me what's happening / Am I supposed to know what to do?" suggesting a sense of isolation and confusion. The final lines of the song, "With all my problems to date you'd think I would re-arrange / They say it will be back next season / Been looking everywhere / But nobody seems to care / When I'm all alone" seem to express a resignation to the status quo and a feeling of being trapped in a cycle of disappointment and unfulfilled expectations.
Line by Line Meaning
DV's should be in sync
The video equipment should be properly coordinated
I don't want to watch it
I have no interest in witnessing a lack of synchronization
When people look like Japanese cartoons
When people have exaggerated, cartoonish appearances
You've got a product to sell
You are marketing something for profit
You should produce it well
You should manufacture it with high quality standards
Never gonna return it and I don't want to
I do not intend to refund the purchase and have no desire to do so
Been looking everywhere
I have diligently searched every possible location
But nobody seems to care
However, no one appears to be concerned or helpful
When I'm all alone
When I am by myself
Where is everybody
I am wondering where everyone else is
Tell me what's happening
Please inform me of the current situation
Am I supposed to know what to do?
Is it expected of me to have the solution?
But when I get to the shop they tell me it's not in stock
However, when I arrive at the store, I am informed that the product is unavailable
I guess it's true you get what you're given
I realize that I have to accept what is available to me
With all my problems to date you'd think I would re-arrange
Considering all my past struggles, one would expect me to make changes
They say it will be back next season
I have been told that it will be available for purchase in the future
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, BMG Rights Management
Written by: ANTONINA ARMATO, EMMA ANZAI, SHIMON MOORE, TIMOTHY JAMES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind