Billy Squier Sues Himself For Ruining Career With Rock Me Tonite Video

Rocker Billy Squier has filed a lawsuit against himself. Squier states that his career was ruined in 1984 by an ill conceived music video for his song “Rock Me Tonite”. Squier is seeking $70 million in damages. Also named in the suit is his former Managers, MTV, and video director Richard Simmons.

Billy Squier was on top of the world in the 1980s. Squier sold millions of albums and was playing sold out arenas. Billy had five Top 10 Mainstream Rock hits (two of which were number ones), two Top 20 singles, and three consecutive platinum-selling albums. Billy Squier was destined for a long illustrious career, or so it seemed. 

Rock Me Tonite

However, it all came crashing down in 1984 when he released his fourth record “Signs of Life”. Initially, the album seemed to be a huge hit with the lead single “Rock Me Tonite” giving Squier a number-one hit on the rock charts and also proved to be a crossover hit peaking at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

Sweatin’ to the Oldies

If he had stopped there it would have been all good. But what came next was what some would consider a disastrous career move. As MTV was huge at the time, Billy and his team decided to release a video for the song. Unfortunately for “Rock Me Tonite” the video was awful and cringe-worthy. The video would be directed by Richard Simmons who’s best known for directing the Sweating to the Oldies exercise videos. 

The video shows Squier waking up in a bed with satiny, pastel-colored sheets, then prancing around the bed as he gets dressed, ultimately putting on a pink tank top over a white shirt. At the conclusion he leaves the room with a pink guitar to join his band in performing the song.

Squier himself, and other observers, believe the videos fruitiness alienated a significant portion of his fan base (predominantly teenaged boys at the time) and ruined his career. “I liked Billy Squier very much,” says Boy George, ”but then I saw him doing this video in a very terrible way. I couldn’t take the music serious anymore.”

Wake Me Up Before You Go Go

“It was a confusing time” said Squier. “I just watched the video for Wake Me Up Before You Go Go by Wham. I let myself be talked into creating a video based on that and let Richard Simmons direct the video. What was I thinking? I owe myself a lot of money and demand to be compensated. Unfortunately I made a terrible decision back then and must be punished for it. I ruined a man’s career in 1984 and that man was me.”

Squiers career immediately crashed after the MTV world premiere of the video. Billy was forced to hold a press conference and apologize to his fans and the world for unleashing this nonsense on them. Many fans criticized his dancing. Liberace commented, ”Billy’s forearm gyrations look like a gay T-Rex having a seizure”. Squier has vowed to never dance again and has not as much as tapped his foot since 1984.

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