This week in 2006, Dreamworks released Flushed Away. It was one of those animated films that my son’s loved growing up.
The film opens with Roddy the Rat getting dressed up and ready for a date. The song that plays is Dancing With Myself by Billy Idol.
According to songfacts.com: Idol originally released “Dancing With Myself” as a single in 1980 with his band Gen X (short for Generation X). It was issued only in their native UK, where it went to #62.
The band broke up early in 1981, so Idol used the song to launch his solo career. The song’s producer, Keith Forsey, remixed it, and when Idol landed a deal with Chrysalis Records, they issued it in America as a single, credited to “Billy Idol and Gen X.” It didn’t get much attention, but Idol’s next single, a cover of “Mony Mony” got a smattering of airplay. His self-titled debut album was released in 1982 with “Hot In the City” as the lead single, which gave him his first solo hit thanks to airplay on MTV, which launched in August 1981.
“White Wedding” was the next single, and that one exploded on MTV. In 1983, Chrysalis gave “Dancing With Myself” another try. Idol made a video for the song and it was re-released as a single and added as a bonus track to the Billy Idol album. It finally cracked the chart (barely), coming in at #102 in October. Idol’s next album, Rebel Yell, was released a short time later.
So “Dancing With Myself” was never a big hit for Idol, but it endured as one of his most popular songs, played at most of his concerts. It was never overplayed, so it had a long life on radio playlists as a recurrent, popping in as a familiar favorite with a bit of an edge.
This song is about more than just dancing. Idol told Rolling Stone: “The song really is about people being in a disenfranchised world where they’re left bereft, dancing with their own reflections.”
