Billy Squier
By All Music Guide
By All Music Guide
But it wasnt until Squiers next band, Piper, that the singer/guitarist fronted a group that inked a recording contract, issuing a pair of underappreciated albums for A&M (1976s self-titled debut and 1977s Cant Wait), before splitting up. Undeterred, Squier soldiered on as a solo act, issuing his solo debut, Tale of the Tape, in 1980, which spawned a moderate ock radio hit with You Should Be High Love, setting the stage perfectly for his big commercial breakthrough. Looking to the bombastic ock of early Led Zeppelin for inspiration, Squiers sophomore release, Dont Say No, became a monster hit on the strength of the Zep carbon copy The Stroke, as well as such other ock radio staples as In the Dark, My Kinda Lover, and Lonely Is the Night, all of which enjoyed heavy rotation on the newly founded MTV, helping Squier expand his audience even further.
Squiers hit parade continued with 1982s Emotions in Motion, another big release that spawned an additional monster radio/MTV hit with Everybody Wants You, as Squier supported the album with a tour of U.S. arenas (with an up-and-coming Def Leppard opening). But on his next release, the 1984 Jim Steinman-produced Signs of Life, Squier hit a snag in his career. Although the album was another sizeable U.S. hit, the video for the albums single, Rock Me Tonite, alienated some of Squiers hardcore rock following, as the singer was filmed flamboyantly prancing around his apartment in time to the music (and in a moment of great delight, ripping off his shirt) -- resulting in the clip often being considered one of the most inadvertently hilarious videos of all time.
Squier continued to issue albums throughout the 80s (including such titles as 1986s Enough Is Enough and 1989s Hear & Now), but it wasnt enough to prevent his audience from moving on to such younger, similarly styled acts as Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe, as the hits eventually dried up. Squier continued to release albums in the 90s (1991s Creatures of Habit, 1993s Tell the Truth, and 1998s Happy Blue), but the hard rock audience, who became more interested in such unpretentious rockers as Nirvana, had deemed the majority of 80s rockers passé.
