Billy Squier is frequently regarded as the quintessential figure of early-’80s rock, a time when he and fellow artists fused hard rock’s drive with accessible pop melodies while cultivating the precise visual flair demanded by the fledgling MTV audience, thereby generating a run of arena anthems and power ballads. Overnight triumph, however, never materialized; years of effort and several unsuccessful bands preceded his emergence as a viable solo act. Born May 12, 1950, in Wellesley, Massachusetts, Squier took up piano and guitar in childhood yet only committed fully to music after absorbing Eric Clapton’s work with John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Cream in the late ’60s. Following stints with various Boston-area groups, he shuttled between Boston and New York City throughout the early ’70s, contributing to the music-and-poetry ensemble Magic Terry & the Universe, enrolling at the Berklee College of Music, and performing with N.Y.C.’s Kicks, whose lineup included future New York Dolls drummer Jerry Nolan, as well as Boston’s the Sidewinders.
Only with his subsequent band, Piper, did Squier front a unit that secured a recording deal, releasing the overlooked A&M albums Piper in 1976 and Can’t Wait in 1977 before the group disbanded. Undaunted, he launched a solo career with the 1980 debut Tale of the Tape, which yielded the modest rock-radio success “You Should Be High Love” and paved the way for his commercial ascent. Drawing on the expansive sound of early Led Zeppelin, Squier’s 1981 follow-up, Don’t Say No, achieved massive sales through the near-identical “The Stroke” plus the enduring rock-radio cuts “In the Dark,” “My Kinda Lover,” and “Lonely Is the Night,” all of which received extensive MTV airplay and broadened his reach. Momentum held with 1982’s Emotions in Motion, another strong seller propelled by the further hit “Everybody Wants You”; Squier promoted it by headlining U.S. arenas, supported by a rising Def Leppard.
The 1984 Jim Steinman-produced Signs of Life sustained solid U.S. numbers, yet the accompanying video for “Rock Me Tonite” unsettled portions of his core rock audience by showing Squier prancing flamboyantly through his apartment and, at one exuberant instant, tearing off his shirt—an episode that later earned the clip a reputation as one of the most unintentionally comical videos ever made. Subsequent ’80s releases, including Enough Is Enough in 1986 and Hear & Now in 1989, failed to halt the audience’s migration toward younger acts such as Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe, and the string of hits ceased. Releases continued into the ’90s with Creatures of Habit in 1991, Tell the Truth in 1993, and Happy Blue in 1998, yet the hard-rock constituency, now drawn to the direct approach of Nirvana, had largely dismissed most ’80s rockers as outdated.
