As we get set to address a new millennium, science and technology are becoming the new weapons of change, and who better to arm you for the future battle than BILLY IDOL.

—From the 1993 press release for Billy Idol’s Cyberpunk album

I’m bringing cyberpunk back. Well, sort of.

The cyberpunk movement was such an inconsequential niche that even hipsters turned away their fake-eyeglass-clad eyes and sauntered with ironic nonchalance to more lucid forms of early 90’s nostalgia (flannel, leggings, A Tribe Called Quest, etc.). But cyberpunk deserves better. Well, sort of. And not by way of William Gibson, Phillip K. Dick, or hacker/phreaker/Johnny Mnemonic-wannabes. By way of Billy Idol. Yes, this Billy Idol:

[flv:/wp-content/video/rebelyell.flv /wp-content/video/rebelyell.jpg 570 426]

The story of Billy Idol’s 1993 Cyberpunk is an example of what happens when the last sputters of a sinking subculture meet an ill-conceived concept album. You get a battle over “authenticity,” you get minor press coverage, and you get horrendous music. So the album was terrible, and sales were worse. Big deal. There was something prescient about Idol’s foray into the internet world. By 1993, mainstream media hadn’t heard of the cyberpunk subculture—a loosely-defined consortium of hackers, techies, sci-fi nerds, post-apocalyptic fanboys, and dystopian fetishists—so Billy Idol coopted the more marketing-friendly aspects of the cyberpunk movement (man/machine hybrids, urban nihilism, metallic-toned violence) and put his unique Idol-esque stamp on it. By “Idol-esque stamp” I mean guttural screeches, fist pumps, and strange hair. As Billy explains:

[flv:/wp-content/video/cyberpunk.flv /wp-content/video/cyberpunk.jpg 570 428]

Nothing says 1993 better than a chunky font, unnecessarily active camerawork, and shots of Mr. Idol (resembling Corey Haim?) plugging away on a thick keyboard. Toss in references to Mark Frauenfelder and early internet stalwart The Well and I can already hear the Michael Cretu backbeat. Sade, dis-moi….

But before we drown in drippings of irony, let’s give credit where it’s due. Billy released Cyberpunk with a 3.5” floppy containing a Mac-based presskit, and marketed his album via “electronic mail.” Unimpressed? Don’t be. We’re talking about 1993. Bill Clinton began his first term, Czechoslovakia dissolved, and the World Wide Web as we know it—no fees, no more Gopher protocol—launched. And there was Billy Idol, at the forefront of internet marketing. Well, sort of. Just like he was sort of at the beginning of the post-modern zombie craze, as seen in his 1984 video Dancing With Myself:

[flv:/wp-content/video/dancingwithmyself.flv /wp-content/video/dancingwithmyself.jpg 570 428]

Now that’s a video. Zombies, a post-apocalyptic cityscape, a chained shadow-girl, some guy with a straight razor, a Tesla superweapon, and Billy Idol’s infamous “Octobarina” tat. Mr. Idol, your credibility remains secure. Now go give us some more Ikea hip-hop.