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William Haislip Squier grew up in Massachusets and was
interested in piano and guitar at a very young age. Influence
heavily by the sounds of Eric Clapton, Billy Squier performed his
professional gig in 1968. Before his solo career, Squier was a
member of bands like Piper, The Sidewinders, and Magic Terry and the
Universe. Piper released two albums in the late 1970's, and the
band toured with Kiss in 1977.
After signing with Capitol records, Billy Squire's first
release,
Tale of the Tape, hit shelves in 1980. Some of you may
remember the songs "You Should Be High in Love" and "Big Beat" from this
album. Don't Say No was released in 1981, and contained the
hits "The Stroke", "In the Dark", and "My Kind of Lover". This
album reached no. 5 on the Billboard Charts and stayed on the charts for
2 years. Billy Squier's videos also received heavy rotation on
MTV. Almost equally as successful was Squier's 1982 release,
Emotions in Motion, which also charted at no. 5 and featured the hit
songs "Everybody Wants You" and the title track. Around this time,
Squire introduced the USA to Def Leppard by inviting them to open for
him on his 1982 tour.
Billy Squire's released Signs of Life in 1984.
This album featured the hit song "Rock Me Tonite" that became Squire's
biggest pop hit to date. However, a reportedly lame video for the
song, which had Squire dancing around in a bedroom in a pink tank top,
has been credited by some as the beginning of the end for Squire.
The rest of the decade found Billy Squire playing at smaller venues and
selling less records. Still, later releases did feature some songs
you may remember, such as "Love is the Hero", "Lady With a Tenor Sax",
"She Goes Down", and "Don't Say You Love Me".
As the years have passed, Billy Squier could be found
both in the studio and on stage, but not nearly as active as he was in
his heyday. At the time of this writing, Billy was living in Long
Island and volunteering his time for various charities, including
picking up trash at Central Park. The Billy Squier Discography is
currently as follows:1980: Tale of the Tape
1981: Don't Say No
1982: Emotions in Motion
1984: Signs of Life
1986: Enough is Enough
1989: Hear & Now
1991: Creatures of Habit
1993: Tell the Truth
1995: Sixteen Strokes: The Best of Billy Squier
1996: Reach for the Sky: The Anthology
1996: King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents Billy Squier
1998: Happy Blue
2002: Classic Masters
2005: Absolute Hits
2012: Don't Say No: 30th Anniversary Edition |
