Billy Squier (born May 12, 1950, in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts) is a rock musician. He had a string of arena rock and power ballad type hits in the 80s. He's probably best known for the song 'The Stroke', on his 1981 album 'Don't Say No'. Said album has been RIAA certified as triple-platinum. Other hits include 'Lonely Is The Night', 'Everybody Wants You', 'In The Dark', 'My Kinda Lover', and 'Rock Me Tonite'. Squier left the music industry in the mid-90s, due in part to issues with his label as well as changing musical trends.He has been active in the 00s and since, touring both as a single artist and as a member of the rotating supergroup 'Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band'. Before fronting the band titled in his name, Squire was the frontman of the power pop group Piper. Said band had some underground fame in the 70s before Squire left for bigger things.Squier started off his solo career with May 1980's 'The Tale of the Tape'. Although a commercial breakthrough eluded him, the release spent three months on Billboard's album chart and gained a large fan response. Working with songwriter impresario Desmond Child and Kiss co-guitarist Bruce Kulick, his album also brought him praising critical reviews, noting his talent for meeting catchy pop hooks with aggressive guitars and vocals.His 1981 follow-up, 'Don't Say No', shot his career into the stratosphere. It hit the Top Five on the Billboard album chart and remained on the chart for over two years (a total of 111 weeks). Getting RIAA certified as triple-platinum, singles such as 'Lonely Is The Night' and 'The Stroke' became staples of arena rock radio. His music from this album has popped up in variety of places such as in the comedy film 'Blades of Glory' and in the popular Guitar Hero video game series.Squier's third album, 'Emotions in Motion', also picked up both critical praise, with Allmusic calling it a 'slice of AOR heaven', and commercial acclaim. The album itself peaked at #5 on the Billboard 200 chart while singles such as 'Everybody Wants You' and 'Learn How To Live' achieved top 40 rock stardom. Squier also achieved notability both for his album cover, devised by famous artist Andy Warhol, and for his popular music videos, played often on MTV.Massively successful touring with artists such as Queen had Squier labeled as one of the best hard rock artists of the decade. Still, 'what goes up, must come down', as the saying goes, and his next album would spell his downfall. 1984's 'Signs of Life' came out with initial good press, viewed as perhaps lacking the rock crunch of his previous affairs but still involving some catchy tunes. Single 'Rock Me Tonite', released in June 1984 as the lead single, became his highest charting U.S. song, peaking at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 and hitting the Top 10 on the Cash Box singles chart. It also returned him to #1 on the Top Rock Tracks chart in August of 1984.Nevertheless, the music video for the song was the beginning of the end for this part of Squier's career. Popularly regarded as one of the worst ever music videos ever made, if not the worst, it shows Squier putting on a pink tank top and making effeminate dance moves around a bed with pastel-colored satin sheets while badly miming to the song, rolling around on the floor in several parts. Many viewers who saw it thought that it depicted the singer on drugs or pretending to be flamboyantly gay. It was directed by Kenny Ortega, who was the third director to be considered for the job.After an acrimonious break from his label and also making other changes, Squier re-grouped and released 'Enough Is Enough' on September 27, 1986. Signed to Capitol Records, he achieved some success, with the album having peaked at #61 on the Billboard album chart, but failed to meet expectations. Some critics charged that the stress that he had been put under took its toll on his songwriting. Future releases over the next few years failed to change things as his popularity slid downwards, and he ultimately quit the music industry for several years in the 90s.As stated before, he has been active in the 00s and since, touring both as a single artist and as a member of the rotating supergroup 'Ringo Starr & His All Starr Band'. More recently, a few live albums have come out featuring his music. He also has had several low-key tours. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
![Squier Squier](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126466110/544448335.jpg)
Continued touring
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LoverboySammy HagarSep 04, 2007 'Tale of the Tape' amazes me. For one thing this is the FIRST time I've seen the entire album on CD. This set is from 2004 so it was first-I know that Tale of the Tape is on CD by itself with Bonus Demos in 2006 and 2007 Squire's 'Best of' Collections don't give it enough credit. Thanks to BGO (Beat Goes On) Records for giving us this 2. The Capitol collection Essential Billy Squier compiles various hits from the '80s pop/rocker's albums. Taking up the 'essential' part of Squier's catalog here are tracks from 1981's Don't Say No, 1982's Emotions in Motion, and 1984's Signs of Life, including 'Everybody Wants You,' 'The Stroke,' 'In the Dark,' and 'My Kinda Lover.'
Birth name | William Haislip Squier |
---|---|
Born | May 12, 1950 (age 69) Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States |
Genres | Rock, hard rock |
Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
Instruments | Vocals, guitar, keyboards, bass guitar |
Years active | 1968–present |
Labels | Capitol |
Associated acts | Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band Eminem Magic Terry and The Universe Kicks The Sidewinders Piper Humble Pie |
Website | www.billysquier.com |
William Haislip Squier (/ˈskwaɪ.ər/, born May 12, 1950) is an American rock musician and singer, who had a string of arena rock hits in the 1980's. He is best known for the songs 'The Stroke' and 'Lonely Is the Night' from his 1981 album Don't Say No. Other popular tracks include 'My Kinda Lover', 'In the Dark', 'Rock Me Tonite', 'Everybody Wants You', 'Emotions in Motion' and 'The Big Beat'.
- 7Discography
Early life[edit]
Squier was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He is a 1968 graduate of Wellesley High School. While growing up, he began playing piano and guitar, but did not become serious with music until discovering John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (with Eric Clapton). When Squier was nine, he took piano lessons for two years and his grandfather bribed him to continue for a third. After he stopped taking piano lessons, he became interested in guitar and bought one from a neighbor for $95. Squier never took guitar lessons.[citation needed] He briefly attended Berklee College of Music in 1971.
Piper and solo debut[edit]
Billy Squier's first public performances were at a Boston nightclub in Kenmore Square called the Psychedelic Supermarket in 1968, which was where he saw Eric Clapton and the band Cream. Squier's first original effort was with the band Magic Terry & the Universe in 1969. In the early 1970s, he formed Kicks, which included future New York Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan. He then joined The Sidewinders. Squier left the group to form the band Piper in 1976, which released two albums, Piper and Can't Wait. However, he left soon after. Upon reviewing the debut Piper,Circus Magazine touted it as 'the greatest debut album ever produced by a US rock band.'[1] Piper were managed by the same management company as Kiss, and indeed, they opened for Kiss during their 1977 tour, including two nights of a sold-out run at New York's Madison Square Garden.
Squier signed with Capitol Records and released his solo debut in 1980. The Tale of the Tape - which included work by Bruce Kulick, later of Kiss - provided Billy with strong momentum, spending three months on Billboard's album chart. The single 'You Should Be High Love' got moderate radio play, but the album became subsequently best known for including 'The Big Beat', a song which features one of the most sampled drum beats of all time.[citation needed]
Commercial breakthrough[edit]
Squier asked Brian May of Queen to produce his second album, Don't Say No. May declined due to scheduling conflicts, but he recommended Reinhold Mack who had produced one of Queen's albums, The Game. Squier and Mack went on to produce Don't Say No. The album became a smash, with the lead single, 'The Stroke,' becoming a hit all around the world, hitting the Top 20 in the US and reaching top 5 in Australia. 'In The Dark' and 'My Kinda Lover' were successful follow-up singles. Squier became popular on the new MTV cable channel as well as on Album Rock radio. Don't Say No reached the Top Five and lasted well over two years on Billboard's album chart, eventually selling over 4 million copies in the US alone.[citation needed] Squier noted in an In the Studio interview that aired the week of July 27, 1992 that 'the label didn't even want 'The Stroke' on the album.'
Billy Squier's third album for Capitol, Emotions in Motion, was released in 1982 and became nearly as successful as Don't Say No. The album also climbed into Billboard's Top Five and sold just under 3 million copies in the United States. The cover art was by Andy Warhol. The title track of the album, on which Squier shared vocals with Queen's frontman Freddie Mercury and drummer Roger Taylor, was a popular MTV video, but the album's biggest hit was 'Everybody Wants You,' which held the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks for 6 weeks and reached No. 32 on the Hot 100. Squier was the opening act for the North American leg of Queen's 1982 Hot Space Tour.[2] That same year he recorded a song, 'Fast Times (The Best Years of Our Lives)' for the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
In the early 1980s Squier did several headlining arena tours—most notably with Foreigner and The Who—with a backing band that included Jeff Golub on guitar, Bobby Chouinard on drums, Alan St. Jon on keyboards and Doug Lubahn on bass. Squier brought Def Leppard to the United States and broke them on the Emotions tour, in conjunction with the release of their Pyromania LP.
Squier's fourth album Signs of Life came in 1984, along with a third consecutive platinum certification. Its first single, 'Rock Me Tonite,' reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100, hit the Top 10 of the Cash Box singles chart, and became his second #1 hit on the Mainstream Rock charts. Co-produced by a veteran songwriter Jim Steinman, Signs of Life saw Squier melting synth-pop into his guitar-based hard rock. Despite 'Rock Me Tonite' being his highest charting US single, the video has been considered by some to be the reason for his career downfall; Squier says it misrepresents his identity.[3]
Career decline[edit]
His next album Enough is Enough (1986) was a critical and commercial disappointment, selling approximately 300,000 copies and breaking his platinum album streak. The album's most notable track, 'Love Is The Hero', featured Freddie Mercury on backing vocals. Mercury also co-wrote the song 'Lady With a Tenor Sax' with Squier.
In 1989, Squier released Hear & Now, which featured the singles 'Don't Say You Love Me' (which hit #58 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went Top 10 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart) and 'Don't Let Me Go'. The album partly restored Squier success by harking back to his early 80's hard rock. 'Don't Say You Love Me' became Squier's last song to chart on the Billboard. However, despite a promising newfound success, Squier's popularity continued to descend.
![Squier Squier](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126466110/544448335.jpg)
1991's Creatures of Habit was criticized for sounding too much like his early material and peaked only at #117 in US, becoming his lowest charting album since Tale of the Tape. It did feature Squier's only 90's single to hit Mainstream Rock's Top 5, 'She Goes Down'.
Squier released his final album with Capitol Records in 1993, Tell the Truth, which featured different sets of musicians performing the various tracks and was his final comeback attempt. Despite Squier comparing it favourably to Don't Say No, Capitol did little to nothing to promote the product and it became his first album not to chart at all. Feeling betrayed, he walked away from Capitol and music business for good.
In 1994, Squier's original screenplay Run To Daylight was short-listed at the Sundance Film Festival. The film itself was never produced.
On February 17, 1998, during the initial run of Mercury: The Afterlife and Times of a Rock God–-a monodrama about the life of Freddie Mercury-–Squier debuted a song that he wrote in memory of his friend titled 'I Have Watched You Fly' on stage before a performance of the play. He introduced the song by saying, 'I was privileged to know Freddie as a friend. I'm honored to share the stage with him in the afterlife.'[4]
In 1998, Squier released independently his last studio album to date, a solo acoustic blues effort entitled Happy Blue. He embarked on a mini-tour to showcase songs from the album, which included a stripped-down acoustic version of his classic rock mega-hit, 'The Stroke'.
2000s[edit]
As time passed, his albums went out of print, except for Don't Say No and some greatest hits compilations; however, many of these would later be re-released.
The year 2001 marked the 20th anniversary of Don't Say No. In the same year, Squier joined Bad Company and Styx on a nationwide summer tour.
In 2004, 'Everybody Wants You' was remixed with the group Fischerspooner's song 'Emerge' and included on the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy soundtrack. In 2006, Squier joined Richard Marx, Edgar Winter, Rod Argent, Hamish Stuart, and Sheila E touring with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band. A documentary of the tour, including a full-length concert performance, was subsequently made available on DVD. In 2007, Squier appeared at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with Ronnie Spector, Mitch Ryder, Tone Loc, Deniece Williams, Dr. Hook, and Tom Cochrane. In 2008, Squier joined Colin Hay, Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, Hamish Stuart and Gregg Bissonette touring with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band. In 2009, Squier launched a nationwide summer/fall tour with a band that included drummer Nir Z, guitarist Marc Copely, long-time bassist Mark Clarke and keyboard player Alan St. Jon.
Squier played a special acoustic show at B.B. King's in New York on November 30, 2005. Highlights of the show were acoustic versions of 'Everybody Wants You,' 'Nobody Knows,' 'Learn How to Live,' 'Christmas is the Time to Say I Love You,' and most of the Happy Blue project. VH1 Classic and New York hard rock radio icon Eddie Trunk introduced Squier that night as 'one of the greatest singer/songwriters in the history of rock.'
Sampling of 'The Big Beat' continued as of 2016. The late Jam Master Jay's reference to the song as a classic beat in the early days of hip hop paid great dividends for Squier. The three-piece hip hop group Run DMC performed a track live at The Funhouse entitled 'Here We Go,' using the song's backbeat. Jay-Z's '99 Problems,' a massive hit in 2003, was on that beat, as were British grime/hip-hop MC Dizzee Rascal's 'Fix Up, Look Sharp' Kanye West's 'Addiction' and, in 2012, the Alicia Keys selection 'Girl on Fire.'
Continued touring
In May 2010, Squier was part of the Boston Legends Tribute to James Cotton including Magic Dick (J. Geils Band), the James Montgomery Band, Jon Butcher, Sib Hashian (Boston), Michael Carabello (Santana), the Uptown Horns and James Cotton. Squier accepted Cotton's invitation in June to join him at the 'James Cotton's Blues Summit' at Lincoln Center in NYC, along with the legendary Pinetop Perkins, Hubert Sumlin (Howlin' Wolf's band), Taj Mahal and many more. In November, Squier appeared at the Iridium in New York and played a double set that night, 'Blues Deluxe,' that showcased songs from his blues upbringing and new versions of several of his hits.
Shout! Factory released Don't Say No: 30th Anniversary Edition on July 27, 2010, marking the first time that this album had been remastered in over 20 years. It was released in collaboration with Squier, who provided two live bonus cuts from his personal collection.[5] Also in that same year, all his album's except Tell the Truth (which joined in 2014) and Happy Blue, became available on digital.
In October 2011, Squier performed at the third annual 'Right to Rock' Celebration at the Edison Ballroom in New York (including Steven van Zandt and Lady Gaga) in support of the Little Kids Rock charity and performed 'Lonely Is The Night' with a group of Jersey City students.[6]
In May 2012, Squier joined the Li'l Band O' Gold for several shows at the New Orleans Jazzfest. During Memorial Day weekend, Squier made a surprise appearance at the John Varvatos store in Easthampton, NY in support of his friend, rock photographer Rob Shanahan and his new book, 'Volume One.' In June, Squier performed at the 'Industrial Hedgefund Awards Dinner' in New York, in another fundraising effort for 'Little Kids Rock.' In September, Squier appeared as a guest during the set of the James Montgomery Band at the Westport Blues Festival. In December, Squier headlined a fund-raising concert for 'The American Revolution,' a documentary on legendary rock FM station WBCN at the House Of Blues in Boston.
In the summer of 2013, Squier performed his 'Electric Man' show at the Patchogue Music Festival on Long Island. In November, he played the Voodoo Festival in New Orleans. The Stooges, a local brass band (not to be confused with Iggy Pop's band), joined Squier on 'The Stroke.' At the same time, Eminem released 'Berzerk' which makes use of various samples from 'The Stroke.' Later, on his 2014 effort, 'Shady XV,' he sampled 'My Kinda Lover.'
In September 2014, Squier took his 'Electric Man' show to the 9th Jack Show in Anaheim, CA.
Personal life[edit]
In 2002, Squier married Nicole Schoen, a professional German soccer player. They divided their time between a home in Bridgehampton, Long Island and an apartment in The San Remo on Central Park West in Manhattan, New York City. Squier had been, as of 2016, an active volunteer for the Central Park Conservancy for more than 17 years, physically maintaining 20 acres (81,000 m2) of the park, as well as promoting the Conservancy in articles and interviews. He also supported the Group for the East End and its native planting programs on eastern Long Island.[7][8]
Discography[edit]
- The Tale of the Tape (1980)
- Don't Say No (1981)
- Emotions in Motion (1982)
- Signs of Life (1984)
- Enough Is Enough (1986)
- Hear & Now (1989)
- Creatures of Habit (1991)
- Tell the Truth (1993)
- Happy Blue (1998)
Non-album soundtrack contributions[edit]
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- Fast Times (The Best Years Of Our Lives) 1982 - from the Motion Picture Soundtrack Fast Times At Ridgemont High
- On Your Own 1984 - from the Motion Picture Soundtrack Metropolis
- Shake Down 1985 - from the Motion Picture Soundtrack St. Elmo's Fire
References[edit]
- ^'Exclusive Magazine'. Anne Carlini. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
- ^'Queen's Flashy Rock'. The Washington Post. July 27, 1982.
- ^Marks, Craig; Tannenbaum, Rob (2011). '21'. I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution. New York, NY: Dutton. pp. 250–55. ISBN978-0-525-95230-5.
- ^Barron, James; Martin, Douglas (February 18, 1998). 'PUBLIC LIVES; Theater Records'. The New York Times.
- ^'Shout! Factory Re-Issuing Concrete Blonde & Billy Squier'. Retrieved June 24, 2010.[permanent dead link]
- ^'Billy Squier'. Little Kids Rock. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2014.
- ^'Rocker Billy's A Country 'Squier''. The New York Post. May 14, 2000.
- ^'End of Summer Doings at Madoo'. New York Social Diary. September 2, 2015.
External links[edit]
- Billy Squier at VH1.com
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