MTV has sucked for years, though that wasn’t always the case. There used to be a time between its 1981 beginnings up until the early 1990s that I used to look forward to watching the channel. I discovered a lot of artists as a result of MTV, one of them being Billy Squier.
Squier is a rock musician who wore jeans, t-shirts, had semi-long, curly hair who loved to play music. He wasn’t pop-happy, narcissistic, misogynistic, conflicted or full of angst.
His music was enjoyable and easy to rock out to whether you were at home, driving around or hanging out in a bar. He wrote songs mainly about men, women, relationships, love and sex that had good hooks and strong lyrics. He had a distinctive voice and was handy with a guitar. His big hits included “The Stroke,” “In the Dark,” “Everybody Wants You” and “My Kind of Lover.” He’s one of the artists who helped start me on my ‘inner white boy‘ music journey.
It’s kind of amazing that he was successful during the 1980s given he was in the era of music video stars such as Michael Jackson, Madonna and Duran Duran. Squier’s videos mainly showed him singing with his band live or lip synching with his band. Straight-forward videos for a nothing-too-fancy-up-and-coming rock star. Then came the “Rock Me Tonite” video off of his 1984 Signs of Life album. The one time he attempted to do a stylized dance video and it was a cringe-worthy disaster.
I remember the first time I saw it. I thought he looked ridiculous. His dancing was weird and out of character. The layered pink and white shirt he wore in the video looked like it came from the Flashdance (1983) movie set, which he then proceeded to rip off his body. I’m not sure if David Lee Roth or Mick Jaggar at the height of their strut-worthiness could’ve pulled off that video let alone Squier. The video was a misstep, but I decided to overlook it because I liked Billy Squier. Unfortunately many others didn’t do the same though the song became at that time and still is his biggest hit.
Squier has done several albums since Signs of Life, but his career has never been the same. Squier himself has blamed the “Rock Me Tonite” video (and the video director Kenny Ortega – see music/history section) for his career slide. In a passage from the book “I Want My MTV:The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution” (2011), Squier describes the video and its impact on his career:
“When I saw the video, my jaw dropped. It was diabolical. I looked at it and went, “What the fuck is this?”The video misrepresents who I am as an artist. I was a good-looking, sexy guy. That certainly didn’t hurt in promoting my music. But in this video I’m kind of a pretty boy. And I’m preening around a room. People said “He’s gay.” Or, “He’s on drugs.” It was traumatizing to me. I mean, I had nothing against gays. I have a lot of gay friends.”… “Everything I worked for was crumbling and I couldn’t stop it. How can a four-minute video do that? Ok, it sucked. So?”
Excluding the stereotypical and awkward comment/defense of gay people, Squier obviously was hurt and stunned about the downward trajectory of his career, post-“Rock Me Tonite” video.
Maybe what happened to Squier was just another true-to-life example of The Buggles‘ song “Video Killed the Radio Star.” Then again, maybe it was just the start of another change in the music and cultural landscape, with its apex hitting hit in the the 1990s with alternative rock bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden, along with the rise of rap/hiphop artists such as NWA, Dr. Dre, Notorious B.I.G. and others. These new music genres helped bring about the death knell for Squier’s type of 80s rock music.
When I look at today’s music charts I can’t help but think it would be nice to see another Billy Squier – a rock musician who enjoys playing music without artifice. Luckily Squier still tours–albeit on a much smaller scale–and fans have posted snippets of his live shows and other performances (old and new) on YouTube. He’s still around and looks and sounds great to his old fans; hopefully to be discovered by new ones.
Though Squier is known for bigger hits, my favorite song by him is a 1983 live version of “She’s A Runner” (see below) which he did in Detroit. To me it definitively sums up Billy Squier and his music to his fans. It also shows why he should’ve had a larger, longer and more successful career. Sigh – damn THAT music video.
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