Day: April 8, 2021

Sidekicks Week: Atomic PlayboysSidekicks Week: Atomic Playboys

0 Comments 3:52 pm


by Steve Stevens

~ Just to prove he could do it ~

Steve Stevens made his name as Billy Idol’s guitarist, and the punk ethos that Billy brought to his solo work always seemed to leash Steve Stevens from what he could really play when he wanted. The thing is, Stevens never really seemed to mind, and genuinely liked playing with Billy Idol. Still, though, he launched a one-album side project and recruited a whole lot of LA buddies to put together one of the better late-era LA hard rock albums before giving it about half of a tour and then going back to his ‘day job’ with Billy Idol.

Truthfully, this song, the video, the band, and the overall performance doesn’t really stick out from most of what else was being released at the time by the B-list of late-era LA-style hard rock (Law & Order, Savatage, Tyketto, etc) except that it had Stevens’ name attached to it and that gave it a bit of a novelty factor that the other bands didn’t have. Stevens definitely stretches himself more here than he ever did with Billy Idol, but does he really separate from the rest of the crowd?


This week we’re showcasing bands that were founded by guys who made their names as someone else’s sidekick.