Who doesn’t love BILLY SQUIER? Too bad he retired from the business, but we have the lagecy of his infectious rock tunes. Someone requested this Capitol Records release “Absolute Hits“, and couldn’t be a more adequate title.
“Absolute Hits” packs the best songs from all Billy Squier 1981-1991 albums, not a bad track here, all goodies. And all are remastered – not all Billy albums received a remastering treatment – so it’s great to have at least his best songs with an updated sound quality – all into one CD.
Additionally, there’s two tracks captured live 1983, and show how good he and his band were!
In his 20-plus years as a solo recording artist, Billy Squier has sold over six million records, producing three Top 20 albums and numerous hit singles. Songs like The Stroke, My Kinda Lover and Everybody Wants You may be decades old, but they’re still vibrant, immediate and world-rocking today, enduring staples of classic radio playlists.
Squier’s journey toward that distinction began in his suburban Boston childhood, where, bribed by his grandfather, he took piano lessons for a few years starting when he was nine. But with inspiration from The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and the starter guitar and amp he bought from a neighbor for $90 in 1963, his focus shifted to Rock and he got serious about making music of his own.
After high school in 1968, Squier became the house act at a popular club called Psychedelic Supermarket, where he had the opportunity to open for the likes of The Grateful Dead, The Moody Blues and Steve Miller. The following year, he moved to New York City to work on the music-poetry project Magic Terry & The Universe, and although that was short-lived, he landed an agent and played with Jimi Hendrix.
Following a brief stint at Boston’s Berklee School of Music, Squier returned to New York and formed Kicks with Jerry Nolan (subsequently of The New York Dolls) in 1972, segueing to Boston Power-Pop band The Sidewinders for a similarly transitory tenure the next year. Squier wanted a band that blended Pop melodies with a harder- edged sound and attitude, and to that end formed Piper with guitarists Alan Nolan and Tommy Gunn, bassist Danny McGary and drummer Richie Fontana.
Piper, signed to A&M Records, released two albums in 1976 and ’77, PIPER and CAN’T WAIT, respectively. But when it came time to record #3, Squier, tired of band democracy and, eager for full control, opted to strike out on his own.
Eventually, he landed a solo deal with Capitol Records and recorded TALE OF THE TAPE with a backup band that included Bruce Kulick, who would go on to play with Kiss. You Should Be High Love made waves at rock radio, and Squier landed an opening slot on the road with Alice Cooper.
But it was the follow-up, 1981’s DON’T SAY NO, that elevated Squier to true Rock stardom. Recorded at New York’s Power Station with a new band, including bassist Mark Clarke, keyboardist Alan St. Jon and TAPE holdover Bobby Chouinard on drums, the album hit all the right notes-and #5 on the BILLBOARD Top 200.
Boasting three hit singles-The Stroke, In The Dark and My Kinda Lover-it spent two years in the Top 10, eventually reaching triple Platinum status as Squier toured with Foreigner, Journey and Pat Benatar before launching his own headlining tour.
EMOTIONS IN MOTION, released in 1982, continued Squier’s winning streak, matching its predecessor’s #5 peak on the BILLBOARD chart and selling two million copies on the strength of singles Everybody Wants You, She’s A Runner (about a friend who’d died in a car accident) and the title track. The album, featuring a cover image of Squier by artist Andy Warhol, earned additional star cachet in the form of Queen vocalist Freddie Mercury, who sings backup on Emotions In Motion. The Queen connection continued on the road before Squier launched another successful headlining tour, with then-unknowns Def Leppard in support.
Squier’s next effort, 1984’s SIGNS OF LIFE, kept him in the limelight, reaching #11 on the BILLBOARD Top 200. The #15 hit Rock Me Tonite, All Night Long and Eye On You, propelled the album past the Platinum mark. Squier and his band – the lineup of Chouinard, St. Jon, guitarist Jeff Golub and basisst Doug Lubahn in place since EMOTIONS – toured Asia for the first time in 1985.
But by then, younger, flashier, MTV-ready hard rock acts like Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi, and Ratt had emerged, stealing Squier’s thunder.
In 1985, Squier began working on ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, collaborating once again with Freddie Mercury, who co-wrote and co-produced Lady With The Tenor Sax and contributed vocals to Love Is The Hero. The song was a Rock radio hit and reached #80 on the BILLBOARD singles chart, but amid declining sales and growing frustration, Squier opted not to tour after its 1986 release and didn’t issue another album for three years.
Squier, who’d previously contributed to the soundtracks of such movies as FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH in 1982 (The Best Years Of Our Lives) and METROPOLIS in 1984 (On Your Own), was represented on the ST. ELMO’S Fire soundtrack via Shake Down in 1987.
He issued the strong LP HEAR & NOW, featuring Don’t Say You Love Me and Tied Up in 1989, but neither it nor the subsequent CREATURES OF HABIT (1991) and TELL THE TRUTH (1993) could match the success of Squier’s early ’80s heyday.
Disenchanted, Squier quit the music business, trying his hand at screenwriting for a while. But the lure of his first love proved too strong to resist, and he resumed recording in 1998, releasing the acoustic album HAPPY BLUE. That year, a remixed version of The Stroke appeared on the SMALL SOLDIERS Soundtrack.
In the summer of 2001, 20 years after the release of DON’T SAY NO, Squier joined forces with Classic Rock cohorts Styx and Bad Company for a 42-city tour, his first full-scale tour in a decade.
Recently Billy released a couple of digital singles, and continue writing songs for others. Whether or not he continues to tour or record, Squier’s place in rock history is assured.
Highly Recommended
01 – The Stroke
02 – In The Dark
03 – My Kinda Lover
04 – She’s A Runner
05 – Emotions In Motion
06 – Everybody Wants You
07 – Rock Me Tonite
08 – All Night Long
09 – Eye On You
10 – Love Is The Hero
11 – Don’t Say You Love Me
12 – She Goes Down
13 – Everybody Wants You (Live)
14 – The Stroke (Live)
BILLY SQUIER – Absolute Hits 2015
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