"Cradle of Love" is a rock song written by

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

and

David Werner David B. Werner (born 26 August, 1934) is author of the book ''Donde No Hay Doctor'' (''Where There is No Doctor''), co-founder and co-director of HealthWrights (based in Palo Alto, California) and Adjunct Associate Professor at Boston University ...

for Idol's 1990 fourth studio album '' Charmed Life''. The song is the album's sixth track and was released as its first single. "Cradle of Love" became one of Idol's biggest hits and his last major hit in the United States, where it reached 2 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

. It was also Idol's first and only No. 1 hit on the ''

Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in ...

chart. On the

UK Single Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, it stalled at No. 34.

Music and lyrics

"Cradle of Love" is a rock song composed in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...

and in the key of

B major B major (or the key of B) is a major scale based on B. The pitches B, C, D, E, F, G, and A are all part of the B major scale. Its key signature has five sharps. Its relative minor is G-sharp minor, its parallel minor is B minor, and ...

.Sheet music for "Cradle of Love".

Hal Leonard Publishing HAL may refer to: Aviation * Halali Airport (IATA airport code: HAL) Halali, Oshikoto, Namibia * Hawaiian Airlines (ICAO airline code: HAL) * HAL Airport, Bangalore, India * Hindustan Aeronautics Limited an Indian aerospace manufacturer of fig ...

. 1990. The song title is supposedly based on the saying " robbing the cradle". However, this title appears to have been inspired directly from the John Lennon penned song, "Cookin' (In the Kitchen of Love) which he performed piano and sung back up vocals with his former Beatles band mate, Ringo Starr on Ringo's album "Ringo's Rotogravure." So it's extremely likely, and highly possible that Billy Idol's "Rockin' the Cradle of Love" was actually inspired by the Ringo Starr song, "Cookin' (In the Kitchen of Love)" ."

Music video

The video, directed by

David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, mostly psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. F ...

, 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. The video also features Betsy Lynn George as Devin, a teenager who tries to seduce a modest and mild-mannered businessman (played by Joshua Townshend-Zellner). The film makes use of clips from ''

The Adventures of Ford Fairlane ''The Adventures of Ford Fairlane'' is a 1990 American action comedy mystery film directed by Renny Harlin and written by David Arnott, James Cappe, and Daniel Waters based on a story by Arnott and Cappe. The film stars comedian Andrew Di ...

'', but as

Andrew Dice Clay Andrew Dice Clay (born Andrew Clay Silverstein; September 29, 1957) is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He rose to prominence in the late 1980s with a brash, deliberately offensive persona known as "The Diceman". In 1990, he became the fi ...

(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 1991 Grammys. 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 1990

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

Video Music Awards, the video was nominated for

Best Male Video The MTV Video Music Award for Best Male Video was one of four original general awards that have been handed out every year since the first MTV Video Music Awards in 1984. In 2007, though, the award was briefly renamed Male Artist of the Year, and ...

and Best Special Effects and won the award for

Best Video from a Film The MTV Video Music Award for Best Video from a Film was first awarded in 1987, recognizing the best videos whose songs were a part of a movie soundtrack or featured in a film. As time went on, though, music videos taken from movie soundtracks beca ...

. This video was voted #33 on VH1's 50 Sexiest Video Moments. Billy-idol-cradle-of-love-tour

Formats and track listings

7-inch: Chrysalis – IDOL 14 (UK) # "Cradle of Love" (4:39) # "311 Man" (3:51) 12-inch: Chrysalis – IDOLX 14 (UK) # "Cradle of Dub" (extended remix) (6:27) # "Cradle of Love" (LP version) (4:39) # "Rob the Cradle of Dub" (extended mix) (5:07) # "311 Man" (3:51) * Also released as 12-inch picture disc (IDOLXP 14) CD: Chrysalis – IDOLCD 14 (UK) # "Cradle of Love" (edit) (4:09) # "Cradle of Dub" (extended remix) (6:27) # "Rob the Cradle of Dub" (extended mix) (5:07) # "311 Man" (3:51) Idol's live performance of the song at the

1991 Grammy Awards The 33rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 20, 1991. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Quincy Jones was the night's biggest winner winning a total of six awards including Album of the Year. Performers ...

was released on the 1994 album ''Grammy's Greatest Moments Volume I''.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Cover versions

Alvin and the Chipmunks Alvin and the Chipmunks, originally David Seville and the Chipmunks or simply The Chipmunks, are an American animated virtual band and media franchise first created by Ross Bagdasarian for novelty records in 1958. The group consists of three s ...

covered this song as the opening track to their 1991 album ''

The Chipmunks Rock the House ''The Chipmunks Rock the House'' is a music album by Alvin and the Chipmunks, released in 1991 by Quality Special Products. Track listing Side one # " Cradle of Love" ''(Billy Idol)'' - The Chipmunks # "Freedom! '90" ''( George Michael)'' - ...

''. In 1992,

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...

included the chorus as the first song in his polka medley " Polka Your Eyes Out" from his album ''

Off the Deep End ''Off the Deep End'' is the seventh studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released in 1992. This album was the first album self-produced by Yankovic, after six albums with Rick Derringer. Recorded between June 1990 and January 1992, the album was a ...

''.

References

External links

Billy Idol's official site
{{Authority control 1990 singles 1990 songs Billy Idol songs Chrysalis Records singles Music videos directed by David Fincher Songs written by Billy Idol