Hot in the City
Released 27 May 1982
Format 7″, 12″
Recorded January 1, 1982
Genre New wave
Length 3:38
Label Chrysalis
Songwriter(s) Billy Idol
Producer(s) Keith Forsey
“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
(1982) UK 7″ vinyl single
“Hot in the City”
“Dead On Arrival”
(1982) UK 12″ vinyl single
“Hot in the City” (Extended Version)
“Dead On Arrival”
(1987) UK 7″ vinyl single
“Hot in the City”
“Catch My Fall” (Remix Fix)
(1987) UK 12″ vinyl single
“Hot in the City” (Exterminator Mix)
“Catch My Fall” (Remix Fix)
“Soul Standing By”
Music video
There are two versions of the video. The first version (the 1982 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 (the 1987 version) was banned by MTV because it showed Idol’s girlfriend Perri Lister bound to a cross toward the end of the video. The later version was included on the DVD edition of The Very Best of Billy Idol: Idolize Yourself.