Billy Squier - The Stroke
Billy Squier - The Stroke
Album - Don't Say No
Released - 1981
Genre - Rock, hard rock
Length - 3:38
Producer - Mack and Billy Squier
"The Stroke" is a single by Billy Squier from the album Don't Say No.
Perhaps his most enduringly popular song, this was Squier's first single, reaching #17 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. It was even bigger hit at rock radio, hitting #3 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Squier's song even dented the British pop charts, rising to #52. It was named #59 best hard rock song of all time by VH1.
The song is a reference to the music industry and how musicians are used by an industry wanting more and bigger hits, and the concept of "strokes" from transactional analysis. It is not, as widely but erroneously believed, about masterbation. The allusion to masterbation is not accidental and is part of the appeal of the song. The comparison of the recording reps as participants in a "circle jerk" is subtext.
Also of note, The drum was accidentally played backwards during the recording of the track. Everyone involved like the sound better than the drum being played forward and the recording was kept intact.
Sample & Cover:
Mr. Bungle frequently covered the song live over the course of their nineteen year career.
Hard rock band Chuckberry cover the song frequently in live concerts.
German hard rock band Bonfire covered the song on their 1991 album entitled Knock Out.
The song was sampled by Nas in his song "Hip Hop Is Dead" from his album Hip Hop Is Dead.
The song was sampled by EI-P (as Company Flow) in the song, "worker ant uprise" from the album Little johhny from the hospitul.
Chart positions:
U.S. Billboard Hot 100: #17
U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks: #3
U.K. Singles: #52
In popular culture:
The song appeared in the films Billy Madison (1995), Let's Go to Prison (2006), Blades of Glory (2007), and Crank: High Voltage (2009).
"The Stroke" along with "Everybody Wants You" and "When She Comes To Me" are available for download as of October, 8, 2009 for Guitar Hero 5.
"The Stroke" was sampled in a song named "Stroke Me" by Mickey Avalon in 2009.
Channel: Music
Uploaded: November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am
Author: Ricardo81595
Length: 03:41
Rating: 4.8636365
Views: 56132
Tags: Billy Squier The Stroke