Billy Idol and Tony James have songwriting credits on The Strokes' Bad Decisions single
9 March 2020, 14:51 | Updated: 10 March 2020, 18:15
The Strokes - Bad Decisions (Official Video)
Find out why the Gen X icon and his bandmate Tony James are added as composers on the New York band's single.
The Strokes' Bad Decisions single saw the New York rockers return to form with a mournful and hypnotic indie anthem.
But many fans of Julian Casablancas and co have remarked upon its similarity to a popular eighties ear worm, Dancing With Myself.
Watch the video for Bad Decisions above.
When most people think of Dancing With Myself, they think of Billy Idol, but the song's history dates back a bit further than Idol's solo career.
Get the history behind the track and hear the similarities between the two songs here.
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Dancing With Myself was originally written and recorded by the British post-punk band Generation X, which included Billy Idol and bassist Tony James.
The pair's inspiration for the song apparently came about during the band's tour of Japan, when they were struck by the sight of young club-goers dancing with their own reflections in the mirrored walls.
"On the floors of Tokyo/A-down in London town's a go go/A-with the record selection/And the mirror's reflection/I'm a dancin' with myself"
Though it was first recorded by the band as part of their demo sessions in mid 1979, the band split later that year.
Fontman Idol and bassist James stuck together, recruited Terry Chimes as a replacement drummer, and rebranded themselves as New Wave outfit Gen X.
Together with the new band name, they gave the track its first commercial release in October 1980, acting as the lead track for their 1981 Kiss Me Deadly album.
However, Gen X also wasn't long for this world and Idol - whose real name is William Broad - went it alone as a solo artist, gaining his own contract with Chrysalis Records (who had just dropped the band) and moved out to the States.
Giving it another spin, Dancing With Myself was released in the United States in 1981, this time with a poppier remix by producer Keith Forsey - catapulting Idol to success.
The video, which featured on the newly-launched MTV and saw him perform on dystopian set as zombie-like figures followed in hot pursuit.
Billy Idol - Dancing With Myself (Official Music Video)
Listening to any iteration of the song, it's not hard to see why Billy Idol and Tony James were credited as composers of The Strokes' new single.
It's likely that the band realised they had borrowed heavily from the main melody of the track, and plenty of their fans noticed too.
The Strokes are doing a Billy Idol in Bad Decisions. Imagine New Order singing Dancing with Myself. I like it anyhows.
— RM Topacio-Aplaon (@mityardbirds) February 27, 2020
I like the new Strokes song Bad Decisions and I also liked the first time I heard it when it was called Dancing With Myself by Billy Idol
— Cold Wrecks // Bernie 2020 (@ColdWrecks) February 24, 2020
I hear the chorus of Bad Decisions by The Strokes and all I can hear is Dancing with Myself...
— Jess (@jess_vro) March 5, 2020
One YouTuber even merged the two songs in a cover along with I Melt With You by Modern English - which fans have also compared with The Strokes' song.
Watch Patrick McDermott's rendition below:
Bad Decisions/Melt With You/Dancing With Myself (The Strokes, Modern English, Billy Idol)
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