"Rebel Yell" | ||||
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Single by Billy Idol | ||||
from the album Rebel Yell | ||||
Released | 12 January 1984
[1] 2 September 1985 (UK re-issue) [2] | |||
Recorded | 1983 | |||
Studio | Studio A, Electric Lady Studios, New York City | |||
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Label | Chrysalis | |||
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Producer(s) | Keith Forsey | |||
Billy Idol singles chronology | ||||
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"Rebel Yell" on YouTube |
"Rebel Yell" is a song by English-American rock musician Billy Idol. It is the title track of his second album of the same name (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. [3] [4]
In an interview with The Guardian, Billy Idol recounted an incident where he stole the master tapes for the "Rebel Yell" album and gave them to his heroin dealer to force the record company to change the album cover. He stated, "I just thought: 'I’m just not going to let this happen. It’s so silly. They just need to reprint the picture.' So I went down to Electric Lady in the middle of the night and got to where I knew the tape boxes were. I took them and left the studio and gave them to my heroin dealer". [5]
At a televised performance of VH1 Storytellers, Idol said that he had attended an event where Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, and Ronnie Wood of The Rolling Stones were taking swigs from a bottle of " Rebel Yell" bourbon whiskey. He was not familiar with the brand, but he liked the name and decided to write the song. [6]
The song was co-written by guitarist Steve Stevens. The instrumental introduction, which sounds like a combination of electric guitar and electronic keyboard, is performed by Stevens on guitar alone, who intended it to sound this way. Stevens states that he was inspired by acoustic guitarist Leo Kottke's style. [7]
In 1984, music magazine Cash Box wrote that the song "combines the tough swagger and high-powered drive of ' White Wedding' with the decadent dance focus of ' Dancing With Myself.'" [8]
The song was also adopted by English Association football club Worthing FC as an unofficial anthem. Idol went to secondary school in the town of Worthing, with one of Worthing FC's nicknames also being "the Rebels", prompting the decision to affiliate.
♱Recorded live at Hollywood Palladium Los Angeles, California, March 1984.
♱Recorded live at Hollywood Palladium Los Angeles, California, March 1984.
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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United Kingdom ( BPI) [12] | Silver | 200,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
In 1994 Idol released the single " Speed", a song from the box office hit movie of the same name, with a live acoustic version of "Rebel Yell" accompanying the lead song on the UK CD single release.
"Rebel Yell" has been covered by many different bands such as Children of Bodom, HIM, Drowning Pool, Dope, Black Veil Brides, Adrenaline Mob, Bullets and Octane, Otherwise, Blue Stahli, and Queensrÿche.
The song appears in a cassette tape in the videogame Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and can be heard during gameplay. [13]
The music video of "Rebel Yell" appeared in the 1988 film Big starring Tom Hanks.
Idol performed the track with Miley Cyrus at the 2016 iHeart Festival. [14]
"Rebel Yell" | ||||
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Single by Scooter | ||||
from the album Our Happy Hardcore | ||||
B-side | "Euphoria" | |||
Released | 9 May 1996 [15] | |||
Recorded | 1996 | |||
Genre | Happy hardcore | |||
Length | 3:40 | |||
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Scooter singles chronology | ||||
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"Rebel Yell" on YouTube |
In 1996, "Rebel Yell" was covered by German dance music band Scooter, released on 9 May by the labels Club Tools and Scorpio Music as the third single of their second album, Our Happy Hardcore (1996). It was a top-10 hit in Austria, Canada, Finland, Germany and the Netherlands. In the UK, the song reached number 30 on the UK Singles Chart. The B-side was "Euphoria".
Daniel Booth from Melody Maker wrote, "Scooter subvert the reverence of rock and the pomposity of heavy metal, then shatter them in the blink of a maquillaged eye. This, unless you're asleep at the back, you'll realise is Billy Idol's 'Rebel Yell', technofied and amplified into dance oblivion. It is incessant and addictive, exhilarating and infectious, just like those Europopped-up versions of ' Smells Like Teen Spirit', ' Wonderwall' and (sodding) ' Zombie'." [16]
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... Idol explained that he came to use the title 'Rebel Yell' ... not because of any knowledge of the Confederacy but because of his enthusiasm for Rebel Yell bourbon.