1984 Billy Squier – Rock Me Tonite
Billy Squire grew up in Wellesley, Massachusetts. He learned to play the piano and guitar and formed his first band when he was 14 years old. Four years later, he performed in public for the first time at a club in Boston. A few years later, he and a friend formed Magic Terry & the Universe, the first of several short-lived bands he became a member of.
Billy was the main songwriter and frontman for the band Piper, beginning in the mid-seventies. They recorded two albums and opened at Madison Square Garden for Kiss, but the band fell apart by the end of the decade. Capitol Records signed Billy to a solo contract in 1979.
Billy’s first album, The Tale of the Tape, did not produce any hit records. A drum break on his second single, The Big Beat, later became one of the most used samples in hip hop.
In 1981, Billy released his second album, Don’t Say No. The first single from the album, The Stroke, peaked at #17 on the Hot 100 and reached #3 on the Mainstream Rock chart. That recording also was often sampled.
Billy’s first single in 1982, Everybody Wants You, reached #1 on the Mainstream Rock chart. It barely reached the Hot 100, where it peaked at #32.
Billy had planned to use Mutt Lange to produce his 1984 album, but switched to Jim Steinman when Mutt became unavailable. Billy wrote Rock Me Tonite, the lead single from the album. It not only became his biggest hit on the Hot 100 when it reached #15 in 1984, but it also became his second single to top the Mainstream Rock chart.
Billy never again reached the top forty on the Hot 100. By 1993, he had scored 18 top forty singles on the Mainstream Rock chart, seven of which reached the top ten.
Billy has continued to appear live occasionally, including tours with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band in 2006 and 2008. As a volunteer for the Central Park Conservancy, he has maintained 20 acres of Central Park in Manhattan for over 17 years.
Billy has his own website at http://www.billysquier.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Squier
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Squier_discography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rock_Me_Tonite
I have collected older articles about Lost or Forgotten Oldies in my books.
Please visit my author page on Amazon where I sell my paperbacks, eBooks, and audiobooks.
You can even read the books for free if you have Kindle Unlimited!
What Was Left In 