Hot in the City


"Hot in the City" is a 1982 song by Billy Idol, released on his self-titled album. It charted at No. 23 in the US and No. 58 in the UK. A re-release of the song in the UK in 1987 reached No. 13.

Formats and track listings

  1. "Hot in the City"
  2. "Dead On Arrival"
  1. "Hot in the City"
  2. "Dead On Arrival"
  1. "Hot in the City"
  2. "Catch My Fall"
  1. "Hot in the City"
  2. "Catch My Fall"
  3. "Soul Standing By"

    Music video

There are two versions of the video. The first version starts off with a girl walking into a record store. She picks up a Billy Idol record and the song starts to play. The video features scenes from New York City, interspersed with stock footage of nuclear bomb tests. The second version was banned by MTV because it showed Idol's then-girlfriend Perri Lister bound to a cross toward the end of the video. The later version was included on the DVD edition of .

Other versions and covers

Although the released version of the song has Idol shouting "New York!", other versions of the song were recorded for various radio stations, including ones for such cities as "Amarillo", "Boston", "Minneapolis", "New Haven", "Chattanooga", and "Sioux Falls".
In 1986, the Norwegian swing/pop duo Bobbysocks! did a cover on their LP Waiting for the Morning.

Appearances in other media

The song, with a remixed synthesizer intro, was used as the introduction for Booker, the TV series spin-off of 21 Jump Street. It is also featured in the 1988 hit film, Big, starring Tom Hanks.
The song was used by the NBA's Phoenix Suns during the introductions of the visiting team at home games during the team's run to the 1993 NBA Finals.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart Peak
position
Australia58
Belgium26
Canada43
Luxembourg 11
Netherlands32
New Zealand19
Switzerland19
UK13
U.S. Billboard Hot 10048
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks31
U.S. Cash Box Top 10057