| "Cradle of Love" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byBilly Idol | ||||
| from the albumCharmed Life | ||||
| B-side | "311 Man" | |||
| Released | 16 April 1990 (1990-4-16)[1] | |||
| Genre | Hard rock | |||
| Length | 4:39 | |||
| Label | Chrysalis | |||
| Songwriter(s) |
| |||
| Producer(s) | Keith Forsey | |||
| Billy Idol singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Cradle of Love" onYouTube | ||||
"Cradle of Love" is a song by Englishrock musicianBilly Idol, released in 1990 as the first single from his fourth albumCharmed Life. The song became Idol's last top-10 hit in the United States, where it reachedNo. 2 on theBillboardHot 100. It was also Idol's first and only No. 1 hit on theBillboardMainstream Rock Tracks chart. On theUK Single Chart, it stalled at No. 34.
"Cradle of Love" is ahard rock song[2] withdoo-wop influences.[3] It's composed incommon time and in the key ofB♭ major.[4] The song title is supposedly based on the saying "robbing the cradle".
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The video, directed byDavid Fincher, features footage of Idol singing in large painting frames throughout an apartment. The director made the decision to film Idol from the waist up as he was unable to walk due to injuries from a February 1990 motorcycle crash.[5] The video also features Betsy Lynn George as Devon, a teenager who tries to seduce a modest and mild-mannered businessman (played by Joshua Townshend-Zellner). The film makes use of clips fromThe Adventures of Ford Fairlane, but asAndrew Dice Clay (who played Fairlane) had been banned from MTV, he is not shown in any of the clips. The video was a huge hit and was placed in heavy rotation on MTV. Idol and George recreated the opening of the video for the 1991Grammys. An alternative version of the video does not feature the movie's footage, instead depicting a man playing the guitar as heard in the track.
At the 1990MTVVideo Music Awards, the video was nominated forBest Male Video andBest Special Effects and won the award forBest Video from a Film.[6]
This video was voted #33 onVH1's 50 Sexiest Video Moments.
Upon its release as a single, Gary Crossing ofRecord Mirror commented that Idol "sneers, growls and rebel yells his way through another laughable, leatherclad anthem".[7] Phil Wilding ofKerrang! concluded, "Getting hit off his bike has obviously caused Billy to slip into regression and convince himself that he'sMarc Bolan. He's dead, Billy. Wake up and smell the earth."[8] In the US,Billboard remarked that "Idol fans will relish in the singer's familiar, quick-paced, guitar-driven pop".[9]
7-inch: Chrysalis – IDOL 14 (UK)
12-inch: Chrysalis – IDOLX 14 (UK)
CD: Chrysalis – IDOLCD 14 (UK)
Idol's live performance of the song at the1991 Grammy Awards was released on the 1994 albumGrammy's Greatest Moments Volume I.[10]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[28] | Gold | 35,000^ |
| United States (RIAA)[29] | Gold | 500,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
Alvin and the Chipmunks covered this song as the opening track to their 1991 albumThe Chipmunks Rock the House. In 1992,"Weird Al" Yankovic included the chorus as the first song in his polka medley "Polka Your Eyes Out" from his albumOff the Deep End.
