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.
Too Personal
Generation X Lyrics
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You're to to to too personal
Well you keep talking about love,
Well what do you want
We have fun alright, so what do you want
The idea of fate its all in the mind
We are the ones who control our own time
Look don't get me wrong
But if you keep on I'm gonna go
You're to to to too personal
You're to to to too personal
You say everyone's lonely and insecure
All because of living in hate and fear
Well if love is possession baby you better change
No one's gonna keep me in those chains
Look don't get me wrong
But if you keep on I'm gonna go
Forget your personal problems
Think about somebody else
I'm gonna think about them, right now
You're to to to too personal
You're to to to too personal
You're to to to too personal
You're to to to too personal
The song "Too Personal" by Generation X is a commentary on the idea of love and how it can become suffocating to some individuals. The lyrics suggest that the singer is enjoying their time with someone, but that person is becoming too personal in their discussions about love. The singer is questioning the other person's intentions, asking them what they really want, and making the point that fate is a concept that people control in their own lives.
The chorus repeats the phrase "You're too personal" over and over, indicating that the singer feels smothered by the other person's focus on love and relationships. The second verse references loneliness and insecurity, but the singer asserts that love is not about possession or being controlled by someone else. The song ends with a call to forget personal problems and think about others, rather than focusing so much on oneself.
Line by Line Meaning
You're to to to too personal
The person is being too intrusive and overstepping personal boundaries
Well you keep talking about love,
The person is talking about love too much and it's becoming annoying
Well what do you want
The person being addressed is being asked what they want
We have fun alright, so what do you want
Fun is being had, so the person being addressed is wondering what more is desired
The idea of fate its all in the mind
The concept of fate is a subjective one that people have the power to control in their minds
We are the ones who control our own time
We are responsible for managing and deciding how we use our time
Look don't get me wrong
The person wants to make sure they are not misunderstood
But if you keep on I'm gonna go
If the person being addressed continues to be too personal, the artist will leave
You say everyone's lonely and insecure
The person being addressed is stating that everyone is lonely and has low self-esteem
All because of living in hate and fear
The reasons for everyone's loneliness and insecurity are attributed to living in a state of fear and hatred
Well if love is possession baby you better change
If love means possessing and controlling someone else, the person being addressed is urged to change their viewpoint
No one's gonna keep me in those chains
The artist will not let themselves be controlled by someone else's idea of love
Forget your personal problems
The person being addressed is being told to stop dwelling on their own personal problems
Think about somebody else
The person being addressed is being urged to think about others, not just themselves
I'm gonna think about them, right now
The singer is making the conscious decision to focus on others instead of their own personal problems
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: BILLY IDOL, TONY JAMES
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind