Billy Squier
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Billy Squier (born May 12, 1950, in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts) is a Rock musician. Squier had a string of Arena rock and Power ballad hits in the early 1980s. He is probably best known for the song "The Stroke" on his 1981 album release Don't Say No. Other hits include "In The Dark", "Rock Me Tonite", "Lonely Is The Night", "My Kinda Lover", "Everybody Wants You" and "All Night Long".
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[edit] Career
Squier originally performed with The Sidewinders, a band that premiered during the early 1970s. He played with members including Mike Reed, Alex Phillips, Henry Stern, Dead and Bloated, and Bryan Chase. Squier left the group to form the band Piper, which released a couple of albums in the mid '70s, Piper and Can't Wait, but broke off soon after. Upon reviewing the debut Piper, Circus Magazine touted it as the greatest debut album ever produced by an American rock band. Piper was managed by the same management company as Kiss, and opened for Kiss for some of their most memorable performances during their 1977 tour, including a three-night, sold-out run at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Squier signed with Capitol Records to release his solo debut in 1980. "Tale of the Tape" was a minor hit, partly because Squier played a mixture of pop and rock, which earned him a large crossover audience. The song "You Should Be High Love" received a fair amount of play on album rock stations, but no single cracked the pop charts. Years later, the song "The Big Beat" was sampled in rap songs.
Squier asked Brian May to produce his album Don't Say No. Unfortunately, May had to decline due to scheduling conflicts, but he recommended instead Reinhold Mack who had produced Queen's 1980 smash hit album The Game. Squier agreed, and Mack went on to produce Don't Say No. The album became a smash, with many of its songs scoring heavy FM airplay. "The Stroke," "My Kinda Lover," "Lonely Is The Night," and "In The Dark" still receive recognition on "classic rock" radio stations.
Squier is also known for his collaborations with Freddie Mercury on Squier's 1986 release Enough Is Enough ("Love Is The Hero", "Lady With A Tenor Sax"). Mercury also sang background vocal's on Squier's hit single "Emotions in Motion."
Squier's career as a chart-topping rocker came to a stunningly rapid and sudden end with the release of the music video for "Rock Me Tonite", universally derided by his fans for its effeminate set (a bedroom dressed in soft, pastel fabrics) and Squier's bizarre, vaguely homoerotic prancing and ripping of his clothing, reminiscent of Jennifer Beals' performance in the film "Flashdance". The video was a demolishing blow to Squier's image among his fans, who deserted him virtually overnight.
[edit] Recent activity and influence
Squier played a special acoustic show at BB King's in NYC on November 30, 2005. Highlights of the show were acoustic versions of "Everybody Wants You", "Nobody Knows", "Learn How to Live", "The Stroke", "Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You", and most of the 1998 Happy Blue CD. VH1 Classic and New York classic rock icon introduced Squier that night, describing him as "one of the great singer/songwriters in the history of rock."
Squier now lives in New York's Upper West Side. Sampling of "The Big Beat" continues. The late Jam Master Jay's reference to the song as a classic beat in the early days of hip hop has paid great dividends for Squier. Jay Z's "99 Problems," a massive hit in 2004, is based on that beat, as well as British grime/hip-hop MC Dizzee Rascal's "Fix Up, Look Sharp".
Squier's hobbies include such disparate activities as mountain climbing and gardening. He also has written an award-winning screenplay (Sundance Film Festival).
In 2006, Squier joined Rod Argent, Richard Marx, Edgar Winter, and Sheila E touring with Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band.
"The Stroke" can be heard in the film Billy Madison.
RZA referenced Billy on Masta Killa's "Iron God Chamber." On the 2006 song, RZA said: "I got a 'big'ger 'beat' than Billy Squier" at about 1:22. The song appeared on Masta Killa's Made In Brooklyn.
Hard rock band Buckcherry cover "the Stroke" frequently in live concerts, while Damone have recorded a version of "Everybody Wants You" for the CW Network.
[edit] Discography
- Tale Of The Tape (1980) #169 US
- Don't Say No (1981) #5 US
- Emotions In Motion (1982) #5 US
- Signs Of Life (1984) #11 US
- Enough Is Enough (1986) #61 US
- Hear & Now (1989) #64 US
- Creatures Of Habit (1991) #117 US
- Tell The Truth (1993)
- 16 Strokes: The Best Of Billy Squier (1995)
- King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Billy Squier (1996)
- Reach For The Sky: The Anthology (1996)
- Happy Blue (1998)
[edit] Singles
- "The Stroke" (1981) #17 US
- "In The Dark" (1981) #35 US
- "My Kinda Lover" (1982) #45 US
- "Everybody Wants You" (1982) #32 US
- "Emotions In Motion" (1982) #68 US
- "She's A Runner" (1983) #75 US
- "Rock Me Tonite" (1984) #15 US
- "All Night Long" (1984) #75 US
- "Eye On You" (1984) #71 US
- "Love Is The Hero" (1986) #80 US
- "Don't Say You Love Me" (1989) #58 US
