Album of the Day — July 29
Billy Squier — Don’t Say No
Billy Squier — Don’t Say No
29.July.2020
Billy Squier
Don’t Say No
1981
After their debut album, which one Circus Magazine critic called “the greatest debut album ever produced by a US rock band,” the band Piper was able to squeeze out one more album before throwing in the towel.
Piper guitarist, singer, and songwriter Billy Squier signed a deal with Capitol Records. He recorded and released his debut solo album, The Tale of the Tape in 1980. Like his work with Piper, the album ended up being well-received by critics but not finding much commercial support.
The Tale of the Tape peaked at #169 on the Billboard Album Chart and the songs “You Should Be High Love” and “The Big Beat,” picking up modest FM radio play.
“The Big Beat” would find an afterlife as one of the most sampled drum beats in hop-hop in songs like:
Jay-Z — “99 Problems”
Kanye West and Pusha T — “Looking for Trouble”
Nas featuring Will.i.am — “Hip Hop is Dead”
Puff Daddy — “Can’t Nobody Hold Me Down”
A Tribe Called Quest — “We Can Get Down”
Big Daddy Kane — “Put Your Weight On It,” “Get Down,” “Ain’t No Half Steppin,” “The Beef Is On” and “3 Forties and a Bottle of Moet”
Ice Cube — “Jackin’ for Beats”
Alicia Keys — “Girl on Fire”
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five — “Magic Carpet Ride”
Run-D.M.C — “Here We Go”
When Squier went back into the studio to record his second album, he took German producer Reinhold Mack, who had just produced Queen’s The Game.
The result was Billy Squier’s Don’t Say No, released in April of 1981.
This album was well-received both critically AND commercially — spending over two years on the Billboard Album Chart, peaking at #5, and eventually selling over three million copies.
The albums first single “The Stroke” opened the floodgates for Billy Squier in a big way. While pop radio embraced it, reaching #17 on the Billboard Hot 100, it was FM radio who fully embraced Don’t Say No — “The Stroke” would climb to #3 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart and be omnipresent for the summer of 1981.
You may be thinking you know what the song is about, and while it is about that kind of stroke … have you ever looked at the lyrics? This song isn’t about self-gratification so much as it is a bitter indictment of the music industry.
Yea, there is stroking, it’s just the narrator getting jerked off by the record company:
The Stroke
Now everybody, have you heard, if you’re in the game
Then the stroke’s the word
Don’t take no rhythm,
Don’t take no style
Gotta thirst for killin’,
Grab your vial uh
Put your right hand out, give a firm handshake
Talk to me about that one big break
Spread your ear pollution, both far and wide
Keep your contributions by your side and
Stroke me, stroke me
Could be a winner boy you move mighty well
Stroke me, stroke me (stroke)
Stroke me, stroke me
You got your number down
Stroke me, stroke me
Say you’re a winner but babe, you’re just a sinner now
Put your left foot out, keep it all in place
Work your way right into my face
First you try to bet me, you make my backbone slide
When you find you’ve bled me, slip on by, and
Stroke me, stroke me
Give me the reason this is all night long
Stroke me, stroke me
(Stroke)
Stroke me, stroke me
Get yourself together boy
Stroke me, stroke me
Say you’re a winner but man you’re just a sinner now
(Stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke, stroke)
Better listen now
Said it ain’t no joke
Don’t let your conscience fail ya’
Just do the stroke
Don’t ya’ take no chances
Keep your eye on top
Do your fancy dances
You can’t stop you just
Stroke me, stroke me
(Stroke, stroke) x8
Don’t Say No spawned three singles, “The Stroke,” “In the Dark” (#7 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart), and “My Kind of Lover” (#31 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart).
However, it would be “Lonely is the Night” that would become an FM radio staple, crowd favorite, and minor hit (#28 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart) despite having never been a proper single released by Capitol Records.
“Lonely is the Night” has even been cheekily referred to as “one of the best singles Led Zeppelin ever put out” because of its marginal similarity to “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” off of Presence.
Don’t Say No clocks in at just under 40 minutes with ten songs, almost half of which were in heavy rotation on FM radio for most of 1981 into 1982. That said, it’s the less familiar songs here that are some, of the better ones.
“Whadda Ya Want From Me” isn’t so much a song about insolence or rebellion, but like “The Stroke” it’s another bite at the hand that is feeding Squier.
Whadda Ya Want From Me
Down in the dungeon I’m havin’ a hard time
And I get my love on condition and my Dewar’s without lime
And up in the tower you’re countin’ the fault lines
I say, I am who I am, whadda you want from me?
Long distance warfare from over the phone lines
Terminal airfare, I’m crossin’ the red line
Can’t tell the difference ‘tween a “Wait” and a “Walk” sign
But you know who I am, whadda you want from me?
Nah, yeah
You preach forgiveness but once in a dog’s day
No, but nobody listens to everythin’ you say
You want the business, you have it your own way
But you know who I am, whadda you want from me?
Now, I can’t see no maybe
I can’t see it at all
Now, I seen through you, baby
You wanna have it all
You take me to the wall, ow
Whadda you want from me?
Whadda you want from me?
Whadda you want from me?
Whadda you want from me? (to the outro)
The sweet “Nobody Knows”, a tribute to the recently killed John Lennon.
The title track and “Two Daze Gone” are both straddling the line between rock star behavior and rational thought or maturity.
In particular, “Two Daze Gone”, the story of a guy still in the party game, but beginning to realize adulthood is creeping in.
Two Daze Gone
Walkin’ through the streets just the other day (movin’)
Caught up in the traffic, I can never get away (movin’)
Runnin’ here, runnin’ there
No satisfaction anywhere
I do my work, ain’t enough anymore
It takes the mornin’ after to forget the night before
CHORUS
Too daze gone, too daze gone
I’m broke down, insufferable, my mind is on the blink
It’s later than you think and I’m too daze gone
Went to see a friend just the other day (grovin’)
Had a drink or two and we blew the night away (grovin’)
Takin’ in another show, how we live I’ll never know
I can’t remember the things that we said
Now all I got is this achin’ in my head
CHORUS x1
Gone through the games that you want me to play
Gone past the rules that you put in my way
Racin’ past your limit, ain’t no right and wrong
Past the point of carin’, too daze gone, uh, yeah, yeah
Couldn’t raise my head just to save the day (loosin’)
I do my penance, try to keep the world at bay (loosin’)
Outta sight, outta mind, ills you don’t expect to find
I learned my lesson a thousand times too
Don’t make no impression, one thing I can do
Too daze gone
to the outro
CRITICS:
Eduardo Rivadavia at AllMusic said: “The album is a near-perfect example of early-’80s melodic hard rock, and even less enduring (but hardly inferior rockers) such as ‘You Know What I Like’ and ‘Lonely Is the Night’ keep up the intensity. And Squier also finds time for the occasional ballad, like the disarmingly gentle ‘Nobody Knows’.”
ClassicRockReview.com wrote: “…there is no doubt that he was a very talented vocalist with exception songwriting instincts and pop music instincts. Listening to his 1981 breakthrough, Don’t Say No, leaves one with little doubt that this is a bona fide and legitimate rocker.”
VinylReviews.com reviewed the 2018 anniversary vinyl pressing of Don’t Say No by Intervention Records and said: “What’s surprising is how well Don’t Say No stands up nearly four decades after its release. Squier is, first and foremost, a rocker, and his music carries as much Rolling Stones in its DNA as it does Aerosmith or Led Zeppelin. He’s also a solid and enjoyable songwriter whose hooks grab your ear. And it helps that he fashions killer guitar riffs.”
Billy Squier’s career at the top of arena rock was short-lived. After two platinum and well-received post-Don’t Say No albums, Emotions in Motion and Signs of Life, it would be a video that sank his career.
The video for the Signs of Life single “Rock Me Tonite” had rock star Billy Squier dancing, nay prancing, around in a bedroom in a pink tank top. It wasn’t just absurd; it was borderline offensive. In a matter of days, that one video made his popularity drop like an anvil in a Road Runner cartoon.
“Rock Me Tonite” is often considered one of the worst music videos of all time.
That’s not something a rock star wants to hang their hat on.
Any credibility Billy Squier had accumulated in his career had evaporated in just under five minutes. Billy Squier’s career never quite recovered.
Don’t Say No is the album that must be played the moment after you watch the video for “Rock Me Tonite” — you’ll need the record to cleanse your palate and remind yourself that Billy Squier was not that clown in the video but pretty badass and a bonafide rock star.
In keeping the parlance of the 80’s, Just Say No to believing the “Rock Me Tonite” video is the real Billy Squier — heed the artist’s clarion call and don’t say no to giving Don’t Say No a listen. I suspect you’ll see things clearer.
Don’t Say No
We live in confusing times
My world is a vice
Nobody gets out alive
But you can break through the ice
Don’t say no