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Guy Albums From the Vault: The Ghosts of Arena Rock
by William S. Repsher

published 3/13/00

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William Repsher is a LeisureSuit.net staff writer based in Queens.



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Subj: Re: World Series of Rock 1981
As I remember it: Triumph,Quaterflash, 38 Special, Foreigner,Jethro Tull. It was a very foggy morning couldn't even see the stage from the warning track. Then right before the concert started started the fog just went away. Sun came out clear skies what a day for an all day concert.

-- Corey
May 19, 2009 at 1:05AM

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Arena Rock: a designation for bands of the late 70's and early 80's who played loud, commercially-successful (and critically-despised) rock music in sports arenas.

Arena . . . rock. One generally associates such bands with fans waving their lighters during the big power ballad or making the devil sign with their fingers when the band "rocked out" on their hit single, which was bound to have a 10-minute drum solo not on the album. I'm picturing skinny kids with shag hair cuts, bad facial hair and wire-frame glasses playing air guitar in the misty pot-smoke haze of a late-night sports arena parking lot.

Arena rockers, if they haven't retired, are now the bar rockers of the millennium. You see their names at county fairs, and small-town bars called Chuckles, slogging through what must be a degrading way of life in light of past glories, playing to their drunken fans 20 years on. It's one thing to see a bunch of 50-year-old's go through the motions onstage; it's another to stand in the audience next to a balding accountant carrying on like he was still 17 and jamming after a bong load in the Econoline. Grown men were not meant to unironically yell, "You guys still rock!" It must be tough, but I imagine that even a shit road like that, and the unconditional love an audience of any size offers, must be preferable to many a 9-to-5'er. They're not getting rich, and the groupies scare them that night (much less the morning after), but, dude: they're rock-and-roll survivors!

If they haven't disappeared completely from the rock-and-roll radar (picture Casey Kasem in a captain's hat, eyes bleary, scanning an air-traffic controller's screen), then they're hanging on by ragged tooth and nail. I've picked ten albums from then that get to the heart of arena rock. Many of these bands are still with us--I don't know if this is a blessing or a curse. For those that aren't, may they be sipping Boone's Farm Strawberry Hill from the rock-and-roll holy grail.

Out of the Blue
Electric Light Orchestra (1977)
A real problem with rock in the 70's was that bands often relied on gimmicks or silly trends too heavily, whether it was KISS with their make-up or the dreaded concept album. One of the worst trends was a fascination with outer space and martians, best exemplified by goofy shit like Styx's "Come Sail Away" or even a European heavy metal band calling themselves UFO.

What does this have to do with ELO? The cover of their hit 1976 album "A New World Record" made their logo look like a massive spaceship hovering over a city at night. (Another trend--branding via logos. Kids thought they were being rebels by wearing band and concert t-shirts; they were really free advertising in a well-constructed marketing plan.) "Out of the Blue" drove the spaceship idea home--the cover was an elaborate design of that massive spaceship, which the band took great financial pains to replicate on their following world tour as an enormous fiberglass roof covering whatever venue they were playing. The inside cover was the band floating around the innards of the spaceship; one could even see the white-boy afro on Jeff Lynne's astronaut.

What in the hell this had to do with one of the better pop bands of the 70's, one that mixed great melodies, hard rock and classical strings, I have no idea, but even as an impressionable teenager, I sensed something was up with "Out of the Blue". It's not a bad album (like most double albums, it would have made a great single), but Lynne seemed overly obsessed with the production. Their creative peak, 1974's "Eldorado", had an amazingly clear, tasteful chamber-pop sound that grew with each album, to the point where "Out of the Blue" sounded like a classical rock machine. It was overkill in a number of ways: too much filler, too much production and too much spaceship silliness. Like a rock-and-roll Napolean, Lynne had conquered much of the pop world and was veering towards his own Waterloo: the soundtrack to Xanadu.

White Hot
Angel (1978)
Angel wasn't all that good, but every now and then, they could come up with a surprisingly good pop song. On this album both "Flying with Broken Wings" and "The Winter Song" were minor Beatlesque hits of the time--hell, I bought both and still stand by them. But, my god, the image--these guys made Freddie Mercury look like a librarian. Spandex tights with no shirts. White platform shoes (as "angels" they always dressed in white). Perfectly-coifed hair that would put Cindy Crawford to shame--and probably more Revlon products on their faces. Their keyboard player, Greg Giuffra, used one of those silly-ass portable keyboards with a strap that were held like guitars--a trend that lasted all of five minutes. These guys were pretty in a frightening way, as if evil rock-and-roll geniuses had designed the perfect telemovie über stars. Hair metal bands of the 80's owe a tremendous debt to Angel--not to mention the makers of Aquanet.

Now that's rock and roll!
Nine Lives
REO Speedwagon (1979)
This band went on to massive success with its next album, 1980's "Hi Infidelity"--believe me, you look in my high-school yearbook two years after the fact, and every other favorite song is their smash, "Keep on Loving You." That song ruined them, made them more of a ballad-pop band than the hard-rocking Midwesterners they had been. The album preceding this, 1978's "You Can Tune a Piano But You Can't Tune a Fish", was their breakthrough, featuring the hits "Roll with the Changes" and "Time for Me to Fly." Lead singer Kevin Cronin deserves bonus points for his rock-star pronunciations--in his mouth, "changes" becomes "chay-ee-ayn-jez" and "fly" becomes "fly-ee-eye-uh."

"Nine Lives" was the band kicking ass one last time before turning into a bunch of pussies. Speaking of pussies, this has to be the one of the best album covers of the 70's: the band, complete with shag hairdo's and goofy rock-star duds, in a red-painted alley, with sexy chicks dolled up in cat outfits hanging all over them. Now, that's rock and roll! There are two rock classics here: "Only the Strong Survive" and "Back on the Road Again," sung by bassist Bruce Hall to his girlfriend(s) with the message that he's on tour again, mama(s), and anything goes on the road! This was 70's midwestern rock at its finest: a musician responsible enough to tell his groupies, in song, that he'd be fooling around on tour. I'm sure they thanked him for his honesty--and made sure Robin Zander and Dennis De Young didn't make a peep while hiding under their beds.

Flirtin' with Disaster
Molly Hatchet (1979)
I can't say much about the band's music--Southern Rock has never been my thing, and "Flirtin' with Disaster" is their only song that sticks with me. There were a lot of Southern bands at the time: .38 Special, Blackfoot, The Outlaws, Atlanta Rhythm Section, the Dixie Dregs and The Marshall Tucker Band, to name a few.

But, man, those Molly Hatchet album covers! Many a van had a Stars-and-Bars bumpersticker and one of their album covers painted on the side: some windswept, gothic depiction of a viking on a horse, or a hairy warrior coming out the mist with a battle axe. This was heavy stuff: Conan Skynyrd! The real trick, though, was turning over the album cover, and seeing these wild-eyed southern boys on the back, three beefy schmoes with straight, shoulder-length hair, standing together at stage's edge and piledriving the audience with their patented three-pronged guitar attack. And they were named after a murderous Southern prostitute! Long live their hickory-smoked brand of southern-fried boogie!

You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic
Ian Hunter (1979)
With Mott the Hoople, Ian Hunter rode the rock rollercoaster ("All the Young Dudes" was their biggest hit, with the help of Bowie), had a nervous breakdown in the mid-70's, then launched a solo career that didn't catch on until this album and tailed off afterwards. He did so with the help of rock's consummate sideman, the late Mick Ronson, who played the same role for Bowie in his Ziggy phase, which was that of a top-notch guitarist and song arranger. Hunter is virtually unknown by younger audiences today, but vestiges of his work pop up here and there--Great White scored a hit in the 80's with his song "Once Bitten, Twice Shy," and "Cleveland Rocks" is the theme for "The Drew Carey Show".

When he performed "Cleveland Rocks" in concert, he'd often break off in the middle and encourage the audience to chant "disco sucks." In retrospect, this seems silly, as his audience had nothing to do with disco, but it was a popular fad at the time for rock fans to mock disco in its entirety. Little did they know the crass marketing, over-saturation and deluge of mediocre talents was as much a staple of rock, then and now. Strange, too, that on his following album, he had the song "We Gotta' Get Out of Here" with a pulsing disco beat. But leave it to Hunter to at least do so with a sense of irony--the song (a duet) was about him dying to get out of a disco while his date (played by Ellen Foley, Meat Loaf's romantic foil in "Paradise by the Dashboard Light") wanted to stay.

Hunter lost it in the '80's, as his core audience got older, younger rock fans went for hair metal, and he never fully adjusted to new wave, but "You're Never Alone with a Schizophrenic" is the one where he put it all together, even with the presence of the sappy "Ships"--later a minor hit for the rock-and-roll antichrist, Barry Manilow.

Breakfast in America
Supertramp (1979)
Supertramp was a gang of gentle hippies who stumbled into stardom on the sheer merits of good taste. No matter what naysayers claim, there was just something undeniably decent and talented about Supertramp in their prime. With songs like "Hide in Your Shell," Give a Little Bit" and "The Logical Song" (recently revived in the movie "Magnolia"), only the most hard-ass of metal fans could find fault with their sound. True, they could get too touchy-feely, and co-lead singer Roger Hodgson looked too much like Jesus for comfort. But in terms of granola heads, Supertramp was leagues above Dan Fogelberg or James Taylor.

"Breakfast in America" spawned four hit singles, and the album stayed high in the charts for well over a year. The band had made a conscious shift from the more prog-rock excesses of earlier albums ("Fools Overture" was over ten minutes long--and really heavy, too, man) and went straight for three-minute glory. Along with Genesis (who underwent a similar change in focus at the time with Phil Collins coming into his own), Supertramp is one of the few prog rock bands I can still listen to. Unless I get on a Yes binge, which means it's time to hide the long knives.

How much more black could it be?
Back in Black
AC/DC (1980)
Everyone thought AC/DC was through when lead singer Bon Scott drank himself to death in early 1980. His lead vocals were an integral part of the band's sound, as was his demented spirit, and there was no way to replace him.

But one should never underestimate a grown man who wears a British school-boy uniform. When faced with his greatest adversity, Angus Young reached way down to kick Bon's ass into the afterworld. "Back in Black" was a rock-and-roll Viking burial at sea. What more could they do for the man who wrote the lyrics for "Highway to Hell"? New lead singer Brian Johnson sounded like Bon's degenerate twin, and the band didn't miss a beat. "You Shook Me All Night Long" stands as one of rock's great singles, and the video went a long way in establishing Johnson as the type of seedy pervert eminently qualified to sing this kind of music.

Much credit should also go to producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who was coming into his own at the time. Along with his work for Def Leppard, he established a sleek hard-rock sound that reached well past its core audience of teenage headbangers and still sounds fresh today. His reward? Getting to see Shania Twain naked on a regular basis. If there is such a thing as rock-and-roll heaven on earth, "Mutt" Lange is surely sitting on a cloud with a halo and a hard-on. Only in rock and roll, or the mafia, could someone with a nickname like that end up in such an enviable position.

Snaz
Nazareth (1981)
"Frampton Comes Alive"? OK. "Live at Budokan"? Yeah, yeah. "Double Live Gonzo"? Fair game.

But if you want to be bludgeoned by a hammering slab of 70's arena rock, look no further than Nazareth's "Snaz", now available as a reasonably-priced import. Nazareth is one of those ghost bands of the 70's: huge in their time, but now playing the rough-trod bar circuit in small towns all over the world. "Snaz" was the culmination of their sound, a two-album live set of their greatest hits. You can find the studio versions of "Hair of the Dog," "Holiday" and "Love Hurts," but they'll feel slight compared to these pumped-up live versions. "Hair of the Dog" is especially potent with one of the best hard-rock riffs to come out the 70's. Halfway through, one of the band does an impromptu version of the Irish standard "Red Is the Rose" on the talk box. This is the same instrument Frampton used to mouth the words "I want to fuck you" on "Do You Feel Like We Do?" from "Frampton Comes Alive". It's a tube positioned next to a microphone and connected to a guitar's amp so a singer mouthing words or sounds into a tube could "bend" them by hitting the guitar's strings. Along with the vocoder (used by ELO on songs like "Mr. Blue Sky"), the talk box is one of the great lost 70's special effects.

The real reason this album still kicks? Lead singer Dan McCafferty's silly Hello Cleveland stage patter. His voice was so hoarse he made Rod Stewart sound like Britney Spears. There's nothing like bogus rock cliches spouted in a thick Scottish brogue by a man who sounds as if he has just had a self-administered tracheotomy.

Freeze Frame
The J. Geils Band (1981)
My first concert. The week I saw them in early 1982 at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, "Freeze Frame" had gone number one on the strength of "Angel Is the Centerfold" and the title track. I wore a navy peacoat, my grandmother's cat-eye shades, and a plastic flower pot on my head to replicate DEVO's look. The band rocked, and so did I, going so far as to imitate Curly of the Three Stooges spinning on the beer-soaked arena floor.

By that point in their career, the J. Geils Band had a decade's experience of touring and knew how to put on a show. Their previous album "Love Stinks", had signaled their move to a more pop-friendly sound. That album did well, but "Freeze Frame" was the perfect mix of their blues/soul background and early-80's synth-pop. The title track is nothing more than a 60's soul workout tarted up with a horn section and synthesizers.

As with many bands, massive success freaked them out, causing a split between the band and lead singer Peter Wolf, who has gone on to minor solo success with material that followed their established new wave/soul formula. The band forged ahead with "You're Getting Even While I'm Getting Odd". Magic Dick, their full-time harmonica player, was still there, but the magic was gone, alas, leaving only dick.

Don't Say No
Billy Squier (1981)
With this album, Billy Squier ruled the rock roost with hit after hit: "The Stroke," "In the Dark" and "Lonely Is the Night." He could do no wrong in 1981. This album was a how-to guide on becoming a superstar, and damn few artists could write it. I wanted to hate "Don't Say No", and when friends first played it, I did as much. But after a few listens, I realized that this guy simply had a great pop sense. Album tracks like "Too Daze Gone," "I Need You" and "Nobody Knows" made this a solid effort and showed he could be more than a flash in a pan.

So why, then, was he? This can be traced to a video he did for his 1984 single "Rock Me Tonight." Not a bad song at all--but the video was Billy prancing around an apartment in a Flashdance-style ripped sweatshirt and tights. The way he danced . . . oh, he looked terrible. All his die-heard fans I knew said: "Man, doesn't Billy look like a fag in the video for 'Rock Me Tonight?" It put his career on a lower trajectory, and signaled a weird change in rock. New wave guys could come off like "fags"--it was expected. But a rock star? No way, man! If you did so, you had to over-compensate with pseudo-macho blathering to offset any hint of androgyny, a la Motley Crue and Poison. Billy Squier was better than that, but his rock-and-roll dice were rolled, and they came up snake eyes.


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Name: Corey
Subject: Re: World Series of Rock 1981
-- May 19, 2009 at 1:05AM
As I remember it: Triumph,Quaterflash, 38 Special, Foreigner,Jethro Tull. It was a very foggy morning couldn't even see the stage from the warning track. Then right before the concert started started the fog just went away. Sun came out clear skies what a day for an all day concert.

Name: An LS.n Reader
Subject: Guy Albums From the Vault: The Ghosts of Arena Rock
-- May 1, 2009 at 5:45AM
BILLY, not BILY

Name: Kim
Subject: stabler
-- May 1, 2009 at 5:40AM
We saw many of the same shows. Did you live in Hellertown? I touched Peter Wolf's zebra fur shoes at the same show. Got Slim Jim Phantom's drum stick from the show at Lafeyette(sp?). Bily Idol? ZZ Top with Loverboy opening. Ring any bells?

Name: gewdygirl
Subject: Billy squier
-- Apr 13, 2009 at 3:44PM
OK--the FACTS!
Caliann has pretty much nailed it--I've heard from a LONG time ago that Squier had many controversial affairs with women, & also have met a couple of girls that, ah... had some freaky three-ways with him so....GAY??? No, i don't think so. If he is, or ever was BI, well, i dunno but I'd doubt it--not from all the crap I heard. The gay crap came up after his REDICULOUS "Rock me Tonite" which, by all accounts, did LOOK gay (ha ha!)but that was definetely NOT Billy's idea, it was his faggy video producer's FAULT, & Billy was prssured HARD in to doing it--he should've listened to his own insticts on that one (sorry Billy--you have NO idea how much)
As for BOB (from Dec.2005)--you're an IDIOT. Squier's previous solo album (TOTT) AND both of his PIPER Lps had ALOT of female references on them--ALL of which were BEFORE "don't say no" & plenty of female references on lps AFTERwards, as well. As for "The Stroke", like MANY artists, there is a double-meaning, & things are NOT always what they seem--it was about the RECORD Co. execs & promo agents trying to F**K you--not a MAN. You people need to get your stories straight.
Squier GAY?? NO. BI?? I dunno, maybe once upon a time, but who knows for sure...
Stands to reason NOW, though, He's married (YES to a WOMAN) & I'm not sure but I think the kid on "Happy Blue" is either his son or Godson.
Hope all this helps to those who are uninformed. MY sources are definetely Close-by to Squier & well-informed.

Name: Shelley
Subject: Billy Squier
-- Jul 8, 2008 at 4:28PM
Great music. This is America-Freedom to choose.

Name: lila
Subject: billy squier
-- May 4, 2008 at 12:48AM
ok caliann what gives? how do you know these intimate details? do tell

Name: Caliann
Subject: Billy Squier
-- May 1, 2008 at 10:46AM
My understanding of that video was that Mr. Squier was pressured into making it and he did not wish to do it. The lean of that video was the producer's fault; a lesson to never underestimate a video producer's ability to ruin a career. As for the lyrics to the "Don't Say No" album, the song "The Stroke" was highly homo-erotic, but then again, it was about being screwed by recording execs. Everything else could be more easily attributed to being sung to a woman than a man.

Mr. Squier had a problem with keeping it in his pants around other people's wives back then. He had a controversial affair with Jim Morrison's lady, and a one-night-stand with Mutt's first wife cost him the opportunity to have Mutt as his producer. He also had a string of different girlfriends through the years before he finally settled down with his wife, who is quite the Viking Beauty. (German lady)

Mr. Squier also has the "straight white man" problem with dancing. Straight white men just tend to look gay when they try to dance to pop. (Oddly enough, gay white men do NOT look gay when dancing to pop.)

Name: Gerald
Subject: Billy Squier
-- Mar 9, 2008 at 6:02PM
Billy is a homo's homo. This weman had more cock shoved up his ass on a concert tour than a $20 whore gets in a lifetime of charity work. So give credit where credit is due Billy pleased a lot of homos.

Name: Mary Lee
Subject: Guy Albums From the Vault: The Ghosts of Arena Rock
-- Jan 28, 2008 at 12:28PM
I don't really care whether he was gay or not, I was just curious! I just saw the "Rock Me Tonight" video, and the way he prances around, well, looks gay! I really like his music. And to Miss Miller, I'm NOT stupid, and you need to learn to type, spell, talk, or to put sentences together!

Name: amy miller
Subject: billy squier pink so
-- Jan 12, 2008 at 10:16AM
ok so he wore a pink shirt if you think pink makes you gay your stupid sex with same sex as you makes you gay and when did it matter who who slept with grow up!

Name: joe
Subject: billy squier
-- Dec 24, 2007 at 2:03AM
i assumed he was a switch hitter way before the rock me tonight video. just listen to the lyrics on "don't say no". and i don't mean just the stroke. he doesn't sound like a flaming heterosexual.

Name: lila
Subject: billy squier
-- Nov 27, 2007 at 2:00AM
he is exceedingly talented, he writes all of his lyrics, music etc and he his songs are quite good...its a shame people cant get past the "rock me tonight" video and give credit where credit is due

Name: HiFi
Subject: Billy Squier
-- Nov 14, 2007 at 6:30AM
Even though I enjoyed it at the time, I didn't realize how talented Billy Squier really was. Unfortunately, the Don't Say No album was his high water mark. Even though the teeny boppers who remember "Emotions in Motion" as his major contribution, let alone those who automatically think "The Stroke" when they think of Squier or In the Dark might suggest otherwise (whether actively or passively ... hee hee hee), that album is really, really good from start to finish. Like many great albums however, the real gems are the songs you never heard on the radio. It's funny how that continues to be the case.

Name: lila
Subject: billy squier
-- Oct 31, 2007 at 1:49AM
his music reminds me of my youth, i think its immaterial whether he is gay or not....but my opinion is that, just as prince plays with the notion and is obvioulsy straight, i think squier was advised to do the same...it just doesnt work as well for rock stars except i guess for mick jaggar and david bowie, who are seen as cool whether or not they are acting gay or straight

Name: Matt
Subject: UFO
-- Oct 4, 2007 at 1:36PM
Even mentioning UFO with the likes of some of these truly suck ass bands (except AC/DC)is cause enough to disregard your opinion on anything musical.

Name: ken
Subject: billy sqiure
-- Sep 14, 2007 at 6:33PM
ya sure, i scratched my featherd haie in the 80's when billy ripped his shirt. then i said to myself "who cares he rocks" and i put my hall and oats record on ,the one where they are wearing all that make-up,and dug the groove , and i dont care what you think .

hetero ken

Name: joann
Subject: billy squier
-- Sep 11, 2007 at 7:55PM
You all are assholes he's a musican not a dancer his music is great and still is. As to being gay he is straight as an arrow and is married. As to the picture on happy blue it's his godson. He is still kicking ass in the field and doing it his way.

Name: Joe
Subject: Billy Squier
-- Aug 18, 2007 at 11:07PM
Tim,

For you and your friend: Billy's keyboarder Alan St. John is happily married for ages and has already a grown up daughter. Billy Squier got married years ago. Sounds like in all of your eyes that if a guy wears a pink shirt these days he must be gay. Look around you and how many of your friends make certain moves that you could, if wanted, pick up on and make your conclusion. A loving hug of your best friend could mean so much more...
They are both into the female side and if you would be a real friend you would know that Alan always has 'funny' moves...

Name: Tim
Subject: Billy Squier
-- Jul 28, 2007 at 9:59PM
During the tour for the "Hear & Now" album, cira 1989-1990, I saw him live at a small venue. All of my friends that were with me, and all those around us, all concluded that he was gay during the show (not that it matters). One reason was that his male keyboardist was acting very "feminine" and kept rolling his index finger in a very feminine way at Billy (i.e. in a feminine motion like "come over here") throughout at least half the show. Everyone there concluded that Billy and the keyboardist had something going on between them...

Name: Jodi
Subject: Billy Squier being gay
-- Jul 13, 2007 at 3:40PM
I just found this site and was trying not to laugh to hard at some comments about Billy Squier, but I have to comment on one. If you are a fan then learn how to read don't just assume something. The song Nobody knows was a trubute to John Lennon after his death it is not a song about Billy being a closet Gay. This man speaks his mind and if he was gay he would tell it like it is.FYI look at the picture on Happy Blue that is his son. Strange way to show your gay by sleeping with women huh ?

Name: Jodi
Subject: Billy Squier being gay
-- Jul 13, 2007 at 3:39PM
I just found this site and was trying not to laugh to hard at some comments about Billy Squier, but I have to comment on one. If you are a fan then learn how to read don't just assume something. The song Nobody knows was a trubute to John Lennon after his death it is not a song about Billy being a closet Gay. This man speaks his mind and if he was gay he would tell it like it is.FYI look at the picture on Happy Blue that is his son. Strange way to show your gay by sleeping with women huh ?

Name: rick
Subject: Billy Squier
-- Jul 5, 2007 at 6:10PM
everyone seems to forget that Billy is also a great guitar player. sad to read people's personal remarks, not knowing the guy at all. beside that, if they write stuff they should do research as he is married and always has had 'relationships' with women. does talking to a gay guy makes you gay ??? and, how come queen has had the success they enjoy over the years with freddie mercury being one kind of a character.
Billy is a great musician and everyone who listens to his music get's it...

Name: rick
Subject: Billy Squier
-- Jul 5, 2007 at 6:10PM
everyone seems to forget that Billy is also a great guitar player. sad to read people's personal remarks, not knowing the guy at all. beside that, if they write stuff they should do research as he is married and always has had 'relationships' with women. does talking to a gay guy makes you gay ??? and, how come queen has had the success they enjoy over the years with freddie mercury being one kind of a character.
Billy is a great musician and everyone who listens to his music get's it...

Name: Melinda
Subject: Billy Squier
-- Mar 12, 2007 at 8:35PM
Ok. Be nice to the man, already. I've heard his music and I've heard him in interviews. The man is well-spoken, very intelligent, and seems like an all-around nice guy. Even in one of the most ill-advised videos in rock history, I still understood what he was going for...I just don't think that some of it translated well to the screen.

Think back to the 80s. How many bands do you not even remember because they were victims of poor management when it came to videos. Some people, like Christopher Cross, who has an awesome voice, just fell victim to the image police (brought on by videos).

And an awful lot of crap music became very popular because of videos when the "artists'" work would have been better off never seeing the light of day.

Give the man a break. And as far as being gay--not that I care either way--but I don't think he is. I do remember him having a long-term relationship in the early- to mid-80s when nobody was worried about his orientation. Guess that got overlooked after the Rock Me Tonite video came out.

I just can't wait for him to tour this summer. He's scheduled to appear at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame benefit concert on May 19 in Cleveland, and I hope he does some touring this summer--preferably on his own instead of as part of an "ensemble" or opening act.

Name: Maria
Subject: Re: Billy Squier, gay?
-- Nov 21, 2006 at 1:28AM
Billy Squier was married a few years back, a german woman named Nicole.

Name: Ben
Subject: Billy Squier, gay?
-- Feb 23, 2006 at 11:13PM
Bob, I must say that although I don't want to believe it, I re-listened to Don't Say No and think you're 100% right. I've even seen Billy Squier at a local night club in the early 90's and would have never guessed it. You have to question songs like "My Kinda Lover" with lines like "You put the magic in me when we do what we do".

Name: Bob
Subject: Billy Squier, gay?
-- Dec 20, 2005 at 9:58PM
I invite all to re-listen to the "Don't Say No" album, knowing that it was COMPLETELY about being a closet homosexual in the macho rock and roll world. "Nobody Knows" "In the Dark"... Try to find a female reference on the album. Great piece of work that he sold to millions of unsuspecting testosterone-driven teenage boys. Touche, Mr Squier!

Name: Hibll
Subject: career killer
-- Oct 19, 2005 at 12:39AM
I took one look at the fag video and i thought to myself "who in there right mind, coming off a multi platinum album would be so stupid to get cast as a fag in a video". Whoever suggested that video should have been shot on the spot by firing squad. And if billy was the one who came up with this idea, then he has to be a really stupid rock star. He had the right mix in his don't say no album, but he decided that type of music wasn't good enough anymore. How stupeeeeeed!!!! Man you deserve to be ignored after that homo disaster.

Name: angelo napolitano
Subject: world series of rock 1982
-- Oct 5, 2005 at 11:03AM
world series of rock was back in milwaukee county stadium for the last time in 1982 it was a all day rock fest the line up was Quarterflash 38 special triumph loverboy & foreigner 11am to 10pm we got lost drivin home man i miss them days

Name: Doug
Subject: W.S.O.R. 81
-- Jul 15, 2005 at 8:40PM
In 81 it was REO Speedwagon, April Wine, Blackfoot, and The Michael Stanley Band. You both are wrong

Name: Guy
Subject: World Series of Rock 1981
-- Jun 3, 2005 at 1:17AM
To Brian (3/11/04):
Just an FYI, you may be confusing the World Series of Rock 1980 at Milwaukee Co Stadium with the 1981 show. In 1980 it was Quarterflash, Blackfoot, April Wine with the headliner Foreigner. In 1981 it was Triumph, Loverboy and headliner REO Speedwagon (promoting the Hi-Infedelity tour). There was one more band in the 1981 show, but I can't remember. Those were the days!!!!

Name: William S. Repsher Responds
Subject: Re: Guy Albums From the Vault: The Ghosts of Arena Rock
-- Feb 15, 2005 at 10:34PM
Throw you in with the band with that challenge! And don't shoot any hairspray in my eyes!

Name: An LS.n Reader
Subject: Guy Albums From the Vault: The Ghosts of Arena Rock
-- Feb 15, 2005 at 8:25PM
tell him yourself asshole

Name: William S. Repsher Responds
Subject: Re: arena rock
-- Feb 15, 2005 at 7:00AM
While you're at it, tell him I'm challening the whole fucking band to a fist fight.

Name: eternalrocker
Subject: arena rock
-- Feb 15, 2005 at 1:34AM
it's funny what you say about Angel. A member of Angel is my good friend. I'll tell him to read this.

Name: Adrian
Subject: Frampton
-- Jul 2, 2004 at 2:50PM
Pete's saying "I wanna thank you" to the audience via the talkbox tube, not "I want to fuck you".
"I wanna thank you...we're gonna have a good time...good time, tonite."
It's all contextual baby.

Name: Brian
Subject: Re: Ghosts of Arena Rock
-- Mar 11, 2004 at 6:07PM
Hey William,
Thanks for the reply.
Another comment on REO-I finally got to see them in 1980 (or was it '81?) when I was 15-16 years old at Milwaukee County Stadium in a show billed the "World Series of Rock" with Loverboy, Blackfoot and April Wine (which I still listen to occasionally). While enjoying the opening acts, I was forced to puke (or maybe it was the combo of weed & T.J. Swann?) when a group of newbies bunny-hopped through the rows of the stadium to the strains of "Keep On Loving You."
It was at that moment that I knew REO was done...

While I am by no means stuck in that era as far as arena rock (I dig hearing anything from the Fleshtones to the Bottlerockets to Queens Of The Stone Age to (gulp) Norah Jones), I still do take advantage of the chance to see Cheap Trick live (Jefferson County (WI) Fair) or BOC (Watertown (WI) Days) when I can, and throughly enjoy myself.

Glad to hear that you own UFO's "Lights Out." "Love To Love" was their "Stairway To Heaven" & Michael Schenker was a great hard rock guitarist, before his ego swelled & he set out on his own.

I do respect Brian Johnson & still enjoy AC/DC (I work as a concert photographer & finally got a chance to shoot them last year) but I truly miss Bon, and never got the chance to see him live. Did see the "Back In Black tour, and thought it was fantastic.
At that time, I was soooo into a lot of the hard rock/metal that was around, but I felt that most of the bands I loved lost it as soon as they became more popular. Just listen to anything from the Scorpions pre-"Lovedrive, " (w/guitarist Ulrich Roth), Judas Priest pre-"British Steel," Iron Maiden pre-"Number of the Beast," and you'll find some true original metal. There are some weeks when I can't get my copy of Judas Priest's "Hell Bent For Leather" or the Scorps "Taken By Force" out of my CD player.

My first real concert was Def Leppard, Scorpions & Ted Nugent-great triple bill, but unfortunately The Nuge was out promoting that damn "Wango Tango" disc, and the Scorps were on their "Animal Magnetism" tour. The only true treat of the show was Def Leppard, which was their first US tour before they started to suck.

I thought J. Geils "Love Stinks" was a fun album as well, but I can find most J. Geils on CD, but that copy of "Even/Odd" still eludes me.

Thanks for the opportunity to yammer on about a great period in hard rock & in my life.
Brian

Name: William S. Repsher Responds
Subject: Re: Ghosts of Arena Rock
-- Mar 11, 2004 at 4:58PM
Yes, missed BOC -- Godzilla, Don't Fear the Rape, This Aint the Summer of Love, etc. Those guys rocked hard. This article could be 10 times the size it is now if I included everything.

Re: the audience. A weird thing to note is that it will be the balding accountant ... AND HIS SON. Trying to imagine going to a concert with my dad in 1982 ...

I was never a huge UFO fan, but I do have Lights Out in my collection and consider it a solid album.

Brian Johnson may be no match for Bon Scott, but then again, he's alive and still rocking like a baby carriage in flames.

I gather that "Getting Odd" Geils band never made it to CD. I had bought the cassette at the time and only remember the single: "Californicatin ." Allow me to point out that while that album may have been fun, Freeze Frame was one of the funnest albums of my teen years and made for some very enjoyable car cruises where none of us guys in the car ever got laid. It wasn't Peter Wolf's fault.

Actually, Jordan Hoffman may want to chime in here, as he's been on a massive 80s metal kick over the past two weeks and has been headbanging to the likes of Iron Maiden and Priest.

Name: Brian
Subject: Ghosts of Arena Rock
-- Mar 11, 2004 at 4:16PM
Hey William,
I dug your article, and REO did turn into pussies after "Nine Lives," but there's no BOC on this list-what gives? And while playing clubs after their heyday may not be the same as the glory days, if they still love to play, it doesn't matter, eh?
Plus, I'd rather be standing next to a "balding accountant" at one of these shows than seeing that same accountant going to a Sarah Brightman show, like most of his contemporaries.
And the slam on UFO was unfair-they put out some of the best metal of the 70's/early 80's.
Couple of other things: While I played the s**t out of "Back In Black" in high school, Brian Johnson is no match for Bon Scott's vocals or playful sense of humor.
And I would give my left nut for a CD copy of J. Geils "You're Getting Even While I'm Getting Odd." It may not have been classic J. Geils, but it was a fun album, and I've done worn my vinyl copy out. If anyone knows where I could find a CD copy, I'd be eternally grateful.
Thanks!
Brian

Name: William S. Repsher Responds
Subject: Re: Guy Albums From the Vault: The Ghosts of Arena Rock
-- Oct 31, 2003 at 1:19PM
Maybe you're a winner, but, babe, you're just a sinner now.

STROKE! STROKE! STROKE!

Name: An LS.n Reader
Subject: Guy Albums From the Vault: The Ghosts of Arena Rock
-- Oct 31, 2003 at 12:14PM
Grand Funk Railroad
always comes to mind .
All arena rockers looked gay,flowing manes,
suspenders with no shirts,carpets of body hair . Like the cast of cats. Makes Billy Squire
look like Ronald Regan.

Name: Zingo
Subject: Rock Me Tonight
-- Aug 18, 2003 at 6:52PM
And Bobbie said in his post the Billy looked AWESOME in it.

He looked gay and lame! And Bobbie you're gay and lame if you like that dumb video! Butt cowboy!!!

HAHAHAHAHA!

Name: Zingo
Subject: Rock Me Tonight
-- Aug 18, 2003 at 6:50PM
Yo, Bobbie! Are you a "metrosexual&qu ot;?

Since you seem so in touch with your swishy feminine side, sweetie!

Billy Squier looked like a big fruit in that Rock Me Tonight video. It was lame then and it is lame now.

Men in touch with their feminine sides are all closet bi curious types. Like Billy! He was the suckiest rock star of the 80's! Hard to believe he was one big.

I never liked his lame azz stuff.

That Rock Me Tonight video killed his career!

And now Billy is a metrosexual. That's what they call these sensitive dudes who wear pink and makeup. Like Bobbie and Billy!

Name: James
Subject: Rock Me Tonight video
-- Aug 15, 2003 at 3:38PM
Does anyone know where this video can be viewed or downloaded. I saw it for the first time on VH1 Classic and laughed my ass off. I can't tell you how many times I've heard it on the radio, but now I can't listen to it without thinking of him prancing around like a teenage girl in a pink tank top. Never would have believed it if I didn't see the video. It was soooooo funny that I need to see it again. Please!!!:) I can't find it on the web anywhere but I know it has to be out there.

Name: Frank
Subject: Rock Me Tonite video
-- Jul 28, 2003 at 10:24PM
your wrap-up of Squier's video was dead-on - I'm in stitches! I forgot how BAD it was, so here I am watching VH1 Classic, and I recognize the music - so I say to my 15 year old "See Kyle, now this is what a real rock star is supposed to be" - then the train wreck which is that video unfolded, I could alomst hear the radio announcer from the Hindenberg crash shouting as my son ROARED with laughter "oh yeah Dad... he's real cool!!!!" - thanks Billy, nice pink shirt!

Name: William S. Repsher Responds
Subject: Re: Angel "White Hot"
-- Oct 1, 2002 at 8:52PM
Sparge, a few years ago, I think you could buy all Angel's stuff on CD -- not sure if the same holds true today, but I wouldn't be surprised if it still did. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go slip into my white satin unitard and blow dry my hair until it's three feet high.

Name: Sparge
Subject: Re: Angel "White Hot"
-- Oct 1, 2002 at 8:24PM
How could you not mention their amazing both-ways-up logo? Shame on you. And their finest moment was of course not "White Hot" but "Sinful", every track a pop-metal masterpiece. My copy is nigh unplayable now - having been left in the sun one day, it's got a higher warp factor than the Starship Enterprise. I wonder if it's been released on CD?

Name: William S. Repsher Responds
Subject: Re: album "touch"
-- Sep 3, 2002 at 12:39PM
!!!! Well, this was too early for the Village People. I'm afraid you stumped me on this one!

Name: cathy mcdonald
Subject: album "touch"
-- Sep 2, 2002 at 12:02AM
i am looking for an album called touch or touch plural that came out circa late 60's and had naked guys holding hands floating in space on cover

Name: William S. Repsher Responds
Subject: Re: BILLY SQUIER
-- Dec 15, 2001 at 9:31AM
Here, here, Bobbie. I suspect those fans who were soured by this video are, indeed, not in touch with their feminine (spelled correctly) side.

Name: Bobbie
Subject: BILLY SQUIER
-- Dec 15, 2001 at 4:13AM
The choreography for the Rock Me Tonite (spelled correctly) video was a mistake for Billy (although I still watch it sometimes and he looks AWESOME in it, and I personally love it). Unfortunately much of the rest of the world couldn't handle someone who does what he wants. Billy is a unique, open and honest guy. He's not afraid to show his whole personality, and he's not gay. You people who think that are so wrong! For the men who say he's gay, maybe you're afraid to show your feminine side (you all have one!) so his candor scares you!

Name: Bobbie
Subject: BILLY SQUIER
-- Dec 15, 2001 at 4:10AM
The choreography for the Rock Me Tonite (spelled correctly) video was a mistake for Billy (although I still watch it sometimes and he looks AWESOME in it, and I personally love it). Unfortunately much of the rest of the world couldn't handle someone who does what he wants. Billy is a unique, open and honest guy. He's not afraid to show his whole personality, and he's not gay. You people who think that are so wrong! For the men who say he's gay, maybe your afraid to show your femine side (you all have one!) so his candor scares you!

Name: William S. Repsher Responds
Subject: Re: J. Geils at Stabler
-- Aug 8, 2001 at 9:07AM
Stabler seemed to get all the big shows going from New York to Philly or Pittsburgh -- don't know if they still do or not, or if it's even still opent. But that was the first place I went to see shows, and it was pretty good -- about a 5,000 seat hall, good sound, traffic nowhere near the nightmare people made it out to be, etc. Holds up much better than many NYC venues I've hit over the past decade.

Name: J
Subject: J. Geils at Stabler
-- Aug 7, 2001 at 9:57PM
I was at the J. Geils concert at Stabler back in 1982. That was a really good show. Actually all the shows during that period at Stabler were fantastic. Stabler is the perfect size for any rock concert and the fans in eastern PA are great.

J
Lower Saucon, PA

Name: William S. Repsher Responds
Subject: Re: Angus Young Workout regimen.
-- May 31, 2001 at 1:16PM
Brian, if Angus Young works out, I'm Jesus shooting thunderblots out his arse. Every interview I've seen him in, he's been smoking. He doesn't drink, and apparently he's one of those lucky people who just stay in good health the rest of his life. He sure ain't hitting the weights. But I agree that he moves around like tasmanian devil on crank onstage -- write it down to the spirit of rock and a charitable god granting him good health. Maybe this is what happens when you dress like an English school boy all your life.

Name: Brian Bennetts
Subject: Angus Young Workout regimen.
-- May 31, 2001 at 12:53PM
Im doing a project for my P.E. class was curious as to how much Angus works out? cardio type stuff any ideas where to find out, i know the guys in shape ive seen him live, he has got to work out.

Name: JZ
Subject: Billy Squier
-- Dec 9, 2000 at 2:27AM
All I have to say is that when I saw that "Rock Me Tonight" video, I was MORTIFIED. Here I am,this teenage chick in love with the CUTEST rock-guy in the world, trying to impress the family by MAKING them watch this video on TV (after all of my rants and raves and posters & pictures I had PLASTERED on my bedroom walls) and he is strutting around like a FREAK on camera. UGH! I still love him anyway. Lonely IS the night...

Name: Carolyn
Subject: Billy Squire
-- Jun 12, 2000 at 9:34AM
Doesn anyone know of a site where you can hear sounds bites of Billy Squire? Particularly the stroke.

Name: William S. Repsher Responds
Subject: Re: Arena Rock
-- Mar 26, 2000 at 9:25AM
Points well taken, Jeff. But I think this stuff is forgotten in some sense. Much of it is never played on radio, and I'd be curious to see how well these albums sell.

Yes, that first Boston album was a doozy -- they even had a white guy with an afro. Other great ones: The Cars first album, (of course) Frampton Comes Alive, Cheap Trick, Van Halen, The Kinks' Low Budget (I'm kicking myself for not getting into that one), Ozzy, Def Leppard, etc.

And I think a few factors went into AC/DC's decline in sales. Well, in one sense, they never really left, although they didn't seel as much through the 80's and 90's. In a lot of senses, they're the metal equivalent of the Ramones -- like Colonoel Sanders, they do one thing right, which is ROCK. But, er, uh, how many albums can you keep constantly rocking on before you a) repeat yourself a few times over, and b) start whittling down your fan base to the true believers? But I really think producers, while known by people who follow the industry, are just as often as vital as the artist in an album's success.

Name: Jeff Blanks
Subject: Arena Rock
-- Mar 26, 2000 at 2:28AM
Really, I don't think for a second that arena rock is as "forgotten" as the media seems to think--it's just not on _their_ menu any more, never having been particularly hip in the first place.

I'm surprised you didn't
mention the _ur_-arena rock album, the first Boston album. Why, it even features a spaceship logo!

BTW, I think the spaceship fixation almost certainly derives from a post-hippie appetite for transcendence--and appetite which I think is actually still there, though dormant through lack of nourishment. But I agree, a lot of acts tried that sort of thing even when it didn't fit them. (NB: Yes is my fave band, and I have no problem with Genesis or ELP, either.)

Note to Josh: If AC/DC stopped selling when Mutt stopped working with them, that sure sounds to me as if Mutt had a lot to do with their success.

Name: William S. Repsher Responds
Subject: Re: ELO
-- Mar 22, 2000 at 8:09AM
If this is the same AB I think it is, you probably thought you were at a Yes show at Mars. Or catching Floyd night at the planetarium.

Name: AB
Subject: ELO
-- Mar 21, 2000 at 11:00AM
That spaceship was incredible man. I caught at the Garden in the early 80's sometime. I can't remember much else.

Out, AB

Name: William S. Repsher Responds
Subject: Re: ArenaRock
-- Mar 18, 2000 at 9:45AM
Lesson to young readers: beware of anyone who has "o" in either his name or false internet nickname. It must be a requirement for readers to knock off a bongload before responding to this article.

Name: TeamoDave
Subject: ArenaRock
-- Mar 18, 2000 at 2:11AM
While it seems we grew up in the same era, I don't think I agree with your choices. There's nothing wrong with that as everyone's got an opinion. But Billy Squier? Oh wait, I must have spelled that wrong, Billy 'sQueer...

Name: William S. Repsher Responds
Subject: Re: Yup, arena rawk
-- Mar 13, 2000 at 8:59PM
Josh, dude, chill. I don't like KISS either. And who would deny Mutt Lange his due? Billy Squier homosexual? I'm afraid that's pure conjecture and more than likely a complete falsehood -- unless you care to divulge yer evidence. Josh, dude, next time post, then Thai sticks. Post, then Thai sticks. Know what I'm saying?

Name: Jsoh
Subject: Yup, arena rawk
-- Mar 13, 2000 at 1:04PM
An exact pinpoint on why Kiss' career is now over. Since the begin, they were a joke. And now they're just finished. No one wants to see their stupid farewell tour.

As for Mutt being able to take credit, I don't think so. His only good rock albums were both with AC/DC. Credit goes to AC/DC. As soon as Mutt was gone, the band stopped selling big. THAT'S rock and roll. Mutt died when he left the chair for the Seedees.

And Billy Squire is a homosexual. Duh. He was acting out a gay fantasy in that video. Ohwell.


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