THE LIFE AND SIGNS OF BILLY SQUIER

THE LIFE AND SIGNS OF BILLY SQUIER

FEATURES

"I don't think the term 'heavy metal' should apply to me."

by Mark J. Norton

So there I was, reduced to begging for Stevie Ray Vaughan tickets at America’s Only, when the Editor ’n’ Cheap asked what I was doing that evening. He needed a scribe to go to Cleveland to interview Billy Squier. What the hell was I gonna do?

Mere hours later, I was on a plane to Clevo without the Christian aid of a fresh change of clothes or toothbrush. I landed at Hopkins, in the land of the Indians, only to be whisked away to the concert—located somewhere outside Akron—by a teenaged couple. Travel first class, you bet! I arrived at Blossom Music Center while our man Squier was still onstage, and the crowd of over 20 thou was going nuts over the man I was to interview. Very obviously, Billy Squier as a major league act had arrived.

The force generated by Squier and his audience attests to the contention he put forth to me later that night: “Rock ’n’ roll is a participation sport. You have to get involved—if you’re an entertainer and if you’re in the audience. One thrives off the other. If the audience isn’t up—and doesn’t react—then my playing reflects that. But if the audience wants to have a good time and participate with my music, then I can really get it on. If the crowd has energy then that’s what makes a great show. The entertainer cannot do it all by himself.”

Squier’s penchant for high energy rock ’n’ roll started when he was in high school. He was a Rolling Stones fan from the first time he heard them. Says he: “The Stones were the original rock ’n’ roll rebels. I could identify with their music, because it reflected my rebelliousness when I was a kid. This is something I kinda figured out looking back on it. At the time all I knew was that I felt the music the Stones played was my kinda music.

Photos by

“When I was growing up the Beatles very quickly established themselves as the mainstream, pop-type band that all the middle-of-the-roaders liked. Even though the Beatles were very inventive in the things they did, musically they had more of a poptype base to their songs, whereas the Stones were the rebels on the outside. They expressed a rebellious nature. If you were varsity football or a cheerleader you were a Beatles fan. But if you were a real rebel, then you went with the Stones. I liked them both, but the Stones said more of what I wanted to say.”

It’s been a long, tough road for Billy Squier, but it’s been worth it—because he got to the top of the veritable slag heap ideals intact, his version of the rock world in focus. No small feat. A clarity of purpose kept Squier on target.

It’s no accident that once Squier had control of his own musical identity and made his solo debut with The Tale Of The Tape, he made the most of it. Though that LP was well received, it was his next album, Don’t Say No, that vaulted him into the platinum stratosphere. Its successor, Emotions In Motion, certified his pre-eminence as a rock artist who’s both commercially and artistically successful.

For the latter LP, Squier left nothing to chance. He commissioned Andy Warhol to do a portrait for the cover. Specific? Rock ’n’ roll wise, yeah: “I told Andy exactly what I wanted this portrait to show. I wanted the portrait to illustrate that kind of emotions my music brings out. I didn’t want just a popportrait of a rock star. I wanted a picture which communicated something of what I’m trying to do. And I think I got what I wanted, I’m very happy with that cover.”

The question of labels often comes up when trying to describe Squier. There are elements of Jeff Beck (check out some of his guitar solos—he’s got it down and then some) and Led Zeppelin (Squier’s voice is reminiscent of Bob Plant’s), but it’s difficult to hang a handle on him that does justice. “I don’t think the term ‘heavy metal’ should apply to me—because I do so many things that have nothing to do with the heavy metal movement,” Squier admits. The scribe notes he doesn’t look like the rest of the metal jerks. Anyhoots, sez Squier: “Also, I don’t like the title of a ‘poor man’s Robert Plant’ because that doesn’t do justice to either of us. Robert Plant is a brilliant lyricist and brilliant guitarist [he’pl], but he writes lyrics that have a much different focus than the ones I write. We are two separate, distinct performers who each has his own individual stamp to his style.”

If pressed for a label in this designer world, he will offer a couple of possible descriptions like “articulate rock” and “generic rock ’n’ roll.” The scribe responds to the concept of “articulate rock” with a meticulously mulled-over huh?

“Articulate rock is something that describes how my music articulates my feelings and emotions,” he continues. “The term doesn’t cover the whole spectrum of my music, but it gives you something to focus on that is significant.” And, doncha know, anything on Billy Squier’s newest album, Signs Of Life, is more significant than the entire lives and work of 95 percent of the swineballs “people” write stories on in America’s Only.

Squier realizes it’s also important to admit his influences. “You don’t create music in a vacuum, you build upon your experience in music. I used to hang out at the Fillmore East when Hendrix was there looking for people to form the Band Of Gypsies. I played with him a few times. He was tremendous. He also was a sweet guy, not the drugged-out crazy that popular myth said he was. He was killed because he was so sensitive, so human. You can’t help but be influenced by someone like that.

“I’ve learned things from a wide variety of sources. Great bands rub off on you. I’ve learned things from groups like Led Zeppelin, the Yardbirds...from Jimi Hendrix to Jeff Beck. I don’t think I could point a finger and name one source, that’s it, that’s where my music comes from. Like I said, once you get your act together, you put your stamp on your style.”

Squier sees how the use of so-called computer music can be effective if it’s the right group, but for his own band he prefers to let “the personality of the drummer shine through. You can’t do that with a computer. I’m a rocker, we have a rock band, and the rock band sound needs the personality of a drummer to carry the song. I believe it’s better to just use the instruments and play them ’til you get it right. You get a richer and more basic sound at the same time.

“I believe some bands can use these devices in a very tasteful way and not depend on them...it’s good. A good example is the Police. They put out a lot of music for just a trio—and one of the reasons they can do it is because they use these devices to enhance their music. The band still uses their own instruments to give the music coloration, to set the tone, the pace. They are a very tasteful band.”

Music is a lot like a painting to Squier. He finds that the language of painting best describes for him what is going on—not only in his own music, but in the music of people he admires.

“Jim Steinman came in and gave us some new subtle brush strokes to allow our music to become what it is. To be Billy Squier with a greater perspective. Painting terms seem best fit to describe my music.

“Because my music lends itself to painting,” Squier continues, “I wanted Andy Warhol to do my portrait for the album cover. I told Andy that I wanted him to show in my face the emotions, the essence of my character and the different components of me that is included in my music. I told him that I didn’t care how he got it done, whether it would mean cutting me up into fractions or using different coloring methods. The important thing was the specific direction I wanted him to go into. He gave me what I wanted. It worked.”

Squier is a restless talent that explores all avenues. Evidence of this is his recent collaboration with Giorgio Moroder for a song for the movie Metropolis. One would expect a talent of Squier’s stature to have ego conflicts with a talent of equal stature, like Moroder. A setup for a death-wrestle—but funny thing is, it never happened. Moroder, being a sharp cookie, cut Squier loose in the studio because he probably knew a chained dog makes for a vicious animal; besides, Moroder is a fan of Squier’s. The famed producer just said, “Do whatever you want, I like your music. I like your records...just do it.” This ain’t minimum wage rock ’n’ roll either, Jack.

TURN TO PAGE 63

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 33

“Moroder got what he wanted from me, and I think that’s part of his genius. He probably spends more time in the studio with Irene Cara or some of the other acts he works with. I don’t know. I think he’s a very clever man who knows how to get the most out of the people that are working for him. Moroder initiates the projects he’s on. He’s a concept person. It allows him to do a lot of things simultaneously.”

Jim Steinman was another story. He likes to do everything. But Squier hired him to produce Signs Of Life so that Steinman could “put in some coloration, add some subtleties to my music. It gave Jim a chance to work with someone in a different way. The end result was my album doesn’t sound like a Jim Steinman album. But his influence is there in subtle ways.

“He has more of an engineering background,” says Squier. He appreciates the fact that while Steinman likes using effects, the artist is more at home with the basics, but they can still use the differing modes in harmony in the studio. “I’m a musician. I can play drums, the bass, the piano, the lead guitar. Our sonic backgrounds are different. But we are similar in our approach to things. We have a lot to offer each other. I thoroughly enjoyed working with Steinman.”

For a guy who survived all the hippie shit and gold (“I saw the best and worst at Max’s Kansas City...the scene was great because I got the chance to play with Clapton, Page and Hendrix.. .it was hard to play because these guys were so awesome...these people were so far out in terms of their creativity that you almost didn’t want to play with them...”), from his band Piper to the onslaught of new wave, to broken contracts and failed dreams, to opening for Queen, to surpassing every asshole new wave of heavy metal group on earth, to going the full 15 rounds and winning by decision, Billy Squier is a true rock ’n’ roll cat with brains ’n’ balls. And he’s gonna be around longer than the Ratt he’ll eat for breakfast, the Queen he’ll have for lunch and the Motley Crue who’ll serve the appetizers—sealed with a Kiss by a Foreigner from Kansas.