People reluctantly admit listening to any artist in this section of the CD reviews, and this artist is no exception. Billy Squier is on the guilty pleasure list of many, with good reason. He said he wanted to be stroked. He is a brave man for saying this in public. What’s so great about it is that he said it and people bought it. Besides that, Squier helped bring 70s arena rock to the 80s. Don’t Say No, Squier’s sophomore effort, has sold 3,000,000 copies to date. Somebody out there is listening.
Naturally you can’t talk about Billy Squier without mentioning the one song that made him famous, “The Stroke.” It one of those songs that you repeat the chorus to when bored, drunk, or both. The beat of the song is paced to that of a swaggering man. The song went to number 17 on the singles in 1981 and has brought the word “stoke” outside of crew in into bedrooms nationwide.
“The Stroke” is one of the greatest guilty pleasure songs ever. Right up there with “Achy Breaky Heart” by Billy Ray Cyrus and “I’m too Sexy” by Right Said Fred. It has all the makings of a guilty pleasure song. One, it is sung in sport stadiums nationwide. Two, it has shameless lyrics (not terrible a la Shifty) about masturbating. Three, a memorable beat that just sticks in your head for days. Finally four, it was featured in a VH1 countdown for “50 Most Awesomely Bad Dirty Songs Ever.” If that doesn’t make a guilty pleasure I don’t know what does.
Even though “The Stroke” is by far the most known of the songs on Don’t Say No (or in general), other songs like “The Dark” and “My Kind of Lover” can also hold its own on the album and as singles. Both of those songs became 80s rock staples. Don’t Say No is the best Billy Squier album released. It’s more than just a coincidence that it’s the only one of his albums from the 80’s still in print. The only downside to the fact that Don’t Say No was his best album was that all of his others before and after it lacked luster. However, no matter how much his other works paled in comparison, Squier has already stroked his way into music history.
-Samantha Nwaoshai
