I’ve seen some strange things in my time in Hollywood, but few stranger than the sight of rocker Billy Idol using an Automated Teller Machine.

It was on Sunset Boulevard, sometime in the early 1990s. I had just finished up at the Bank of America ATM and had gotten back into my vehicle, when a tiny, convertible sports car (something on the order of a MG Midget) zipped into the parking spot just ahead of mine.

I looked at the driver as he leaped out of the car without opening the door. He was mid-thirties with spiky, bleached hair, wearing a worn leather jacket, impossibly tight pants and Fluevog jackboots. I thought to myself, “Man, that guy looks like Billy Idol” and, sure enough, it was.

Billy, bankcard in hand, stiff-legged it over to the ATM. He stared at the machine for many, many seconds, before awkwardly inserting his card. When the card was sucked into its slot, Billy leaped back, as if confronted by black magic. Recovering, he tentatively poked some numbers into the keypad. Billy cocked his head, eyeing the machine warily. Suddenly, the ATM spat out Billy’s money, causing him to leap back once again in stunned stupefication. Billy grabbed the money and turned his head sideways once more. Out came his card and receipt. Billy grabbed them and then glowered at the machine, as if daring it to pull some hijinks.

All during this spectacle, I had one eye on Billy and the other in my glove box, as I rummaged around for my tape of the 1990 movie soundtrack, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane. By the time Billy had broken free of the ATM’s spell, I’d slipped the tape into my car stereo and begun blasting the first track, “Cradle of Love” by one Billy Idol.

On his way back to his tiny car, Billy suddenly became aware of his song booming out across Sunset Boulevard. Billy stopped and looked around, searching for the source of his own voice. When he finally trained his gaze on me and my car, I cranked up the sound.

Billy Idol raised his eyebrows, curled his lip, pumped his fist (still holding his ATM card) into the air and jumped into his MG, driving off in the direction of the nearest strip club.

That encounter is just one of the reasons I’ve chosen The Adventures of Ford Fairlane as the very first Cyclops Central Soundtrack of the Week. The other reasons would include Sheila E (”Funky Attitude”), Queensryche (”Last Time in Paris”), Tone Loc (”Can’t Get Enough”), Mötley Crüe, Richie Sambora and others, including Ford Fairlane star Andrew Dice Clay on “I Ain’t Got You” and the megamix mashup “Unbelievable”, produced by Yello.

As a movie, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane is something of a misfire but, as a soundtrack, it fires on all cylinders. Snag it from Amazon and have it at the ready. You never know when Billy Idol might run out of cash again…