"When you come 'round I never get down, I fly across the floor / I can see you coming on me, and I can't ask for more"
Is Billy Squier gay?
I ask not because it matters in any way, (I mean, really, it is 2009), but because I swear I read/saw an interview with him about five or six years ago where he quietly came out, and now I'm unable to find any evidence of such. So I just want to make sure I'm not going completely senile just yet.
I mean if he isn't, that's okay. I won't reject him or love him any less. After all, this is the guy who gave us "The Stroke", perhaps the beefiest song about whackin' it ever. And "The Big Beat", whose, um, big beat has been sampled too many times to count, most notably in Jay Z's "99 Problems". But let's review the evidence:
• "The Stroke" (duh) - includes lines such as: Stroke me, stroke me could be a winner boy, you move mighty well
and
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 (oh dear!) slip on by
Life isn't easy from the singular side Down in the hole some emotions are hard to hide
and
Can you break away from your alibis Can you make a play, will you meet me In the dark
• "My Kinda Lover" - which, besides being totally friggin' awesome, no irony whatseover in that statement - contains these little tidbits:
YOU PUT THE MAGIC IN ME I feel the magic when we do what we do
and some very damning evidence in the bridge:
When you come 'round I never get down, I fly across the floor I can see you COMING ON ME, and I can't ask for more Rock me, sock me, baby you got me RIDING TO THE END Rake me, shake me, baby you make me, turn me on again
...I need a cigarette after typing that.
• Commissioned Andy Warhol to paint his portrait for the cover of his third album, Emotions In Motion - check.
• The video for "Rock Me Tonight" - the "Flashdance" wardrobe, the mincing, Ed Grimley-esque choreography, the...well, just watch the damn thing:
Particularly this moment:
...that's the sight of a man ripping his career in two. And, to quote a very witty YouTube commenter, Billy rips off his gayish shirt only to replace it with an ever gayisher one (yes, it's pink!). Oh, Billy.
In all seriousness, I love these songs - sure, they're ear candy, but every once in awhile we all get a craving for something sweet and bad for our health. And do I really care if Billy is gay? Sure! Why? Anyone who can whip up tasty hooks like these I want to be able to point at with pride and say, "Hey! He's ours." Let me put it this way - I'd rather have Billy on my softball team than Elton.
"In The Dark" peaked at #35 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart and at #7 on the Mainstream Rock Chart in 1981. "My Kinda Lover" peaked at #45 on the Billboard Pop Singles Chart and at #31 on the Mainstream Rock Chart that same year.
* All songs are for sampling purposes only. If the album is currently in print, you'll see an Amazon link to purchase it. Supporting artists is a good thing, since labels are run by soulless whores. I KEED! Sorta. Look, if you like it, and it's in print, support 'em. If you're the artist or copyright holder, a quick e-mail to me will bring the song down ASAP. But compliment my writing first.
* Don't e-mail me asking me to repost dead links or to send you a song you can't find. Believe it or not, I have a life outside my blogging. I KEED! But don't do it.
* One more, and this is a biggie -- do NOT hotlink directly to my audio files and post them on your site, big shot. That's just disrespectful, rude, and a theft of my hard-earned bandwith.
Now, get readin', get downloadiN', and play nice. I loves me some comments. Bring it!
• "In The Dark" - includes such couplets as:
or on 
