📮 Postal Playlist #2 – Postcards from the Past
If you read Signed, Sealed, Delivered and Set to Music or Postal Play List # 1, then you already know I’ve developed a teeny-tiny obsession with songs that mention postcards, letters, and anything that can be stamped, sealed, and sent with love—or lust.
And while I do love me some Elvis (the man could curl a lip like nobody’s business), let’s be honest…
Billy Idol didn’t just curl his lip—he snarled it.
Spiky peroxide hair. Leather pants so tight they probably had their own zip code. That look in his eyes that said, “I’ve done things you’re not old enough to Google yet.” And his music? It vibrated throughout my entire being.
I was possessed.
Like Linda Blair in The Exorcist—if Linda had better taste in eyeliner and a backstage pass.
👩🎤 October 22, 1990 – The Night It All Went Down
I was 26. My sister Cheryl, my bestie Jennifer, and I piled into a car and road-tripped 2.5 hours to Costa Mesa to see Billy Idol in concert. Faith No More opened, but we were there for the main event. The venue was outdoors, and we had the cheap seats, but our ambitions were VIP-level.
We spotted the roped-off section near the stage, guarded by security and meant for high-dollar ticket holders. Did that stop us? Absolutely not. The second Faith No More wrapped, we slithered, sashayed, and no doubt about it, we straight-up trespassed our way to the front of the stage.
We danced. We screamed. We flirted shamelessly. And we melted into puddles every time Billy so much as breathed near a mic.
It wasn’t just a concert.
It was a life event.
🧨 Flashbacks, Fingerless Gloves & Fabulous Mistakes
The 1980s were my golden era.
New wave music. Fingerless gloves. Pretty in Pink. Dirty Dancing. Boom boxes. Mixtapes. All-night danceathons. After-hours parties that should’ve come with a court date. I was living my best eyeliner-smudged life and making questionable decisions with fabulous people.
And Billy Idol? He was the soundtrack to all of it.
📬 Postcards from the Past — A Song That Time-Traveled to Find Me
Fast-forward to October 22, 2014—24 years and 5 days after that unforgettable night—and what does Billy do?
He releases a song called Postcards from the Past.
I mean, come ON. The universe was clearly trying to tell me something. Probably:
“Hey, remember that time you almost lost your voice screaming Flesh for Fantasy in a leather mini? You’re gonna want to hear this.”
“These are postcards from the past / Years and years of my life gone by fast…”
It’s moody. It’s gritty. It’s a midlife gut-punch wrapped in guitar. And listening to it made me feel every inch of the years I’ve danced, loved, lived—and mailed the occasional breakup letter with red lipstick kisses.
🌴 That Time I Waded Through a Concert Like a Groupie Mermaid
Years later, I saw Billy again—this time in Vegas, at the Beach at Mandalay Bay.
Yes, the stage was on water.
My friend Andrea and I kicked off our sandals and waded into the shallow end like groupies on a mission. Our husbands trailed behind, probably calculating how much therapy this moment would eventually cost them. But we didn’t care.
It was summer. It was sweaty. It was Billy Freakin’ Idol, and I was not going to let a little chlorinated beach stop me from getting closer.
🎶 My Forever Favorites
If it has Billy’s name on it, I’ve played it. But here are the tracks I’ll never skip:
- Blue Highway
- Catch My Fall
- Eyes Without a Face
- Cradle of Love
- Flesh for Fantasy
- Daytime Drama
- Endless Sleep
- John Wayne
- White Wedding
- Prodigal Blues
- Hot in the City
And let’s not forget his Generation X days–before he was Billy Freakin’ Idol because English Dream and Valley of the Dolls still rock in my soul.
📺 Go Get Your Flashback Fix
💬 Spill It:
What’s your favorite Billy Idol song?
Tell me in the comments and let’s talk snarls, eyeliner, and excellent musical decisions.
Until next time—
Stay loud, stay postmarked, and keep on rockin’
~ JarieLyn ~
You Might Also Like …
Signed, Sealed, Delivered and Set to Music
“You know when I first started out, they shut all the doors, But I laughed at all the doors, and I kicked em’ down”