Billy Idol - To Be A Lover

What this video is

Released in September 1986, 'To Be a Lover' arrived at the apex of Billy Idol's commercial peak and MTV's dominance as a promotional medium. The video encapsulates the mid-decade convergence of punk attitude, dance-floor energy, and arena-rock spectacle that defined Chrysalis Records' strategy for Idol. The song itself is a cross-cultural artifact: a 1968 deep-soul composition by William Bell and Booker T. Jones,…

Why it matters

A defining artifact of mid-1980s dance-rock crossover, demonstrating how punk-derived artists absorbed R&B, gospel, and rockabilly influences for mainstream MTV consumption. The video's theatrical performance format and David Mallet's direction represent the gold standard of the Chrysalis-era…

The director

David Victor Mark Mallet (born 17 December 1945, West Horsley, Surrey, England) is a British director of music videos and concert films. He co-founded the pioneering video production company MGMM with Scott Millaney, Brian Grant, and Russell Mulcahy in the…