Found in the bargain bin - One DVD of Billy Squier Hit Videos. Once a household word, now a "Where Are They Now?" VH1 special, this Billy Squier video collection was a rather fun trip back to the eighties.

The DVD is short, (like Billies career) and only consisted of six videos.

The first three are standard concert videos with Billy Squier performing his hits on stage with his band. The Stroke, In the Dark and My Kind of Lover reminded me that at one point in the 1980s Billy Squier had a pretty good reputation and quite a few hits. His punchy songs with catchy guitar hooks and melodies still sounded good, and made me happy that I had spent the few bucks on his bargain bin DVD video collection. The band definitely rocks in the hair band style of the day.

Everybody Wants You is a cheesy first generation music video. The band appears in scene transitions of slanted rectangles that slide in and out of screen. Posterized images of the band are mixed with regular shots of the band. High tech stuff back then, but showing its age now.

Rock Me Tonite As a kid, did you ever bounce on your bed doing a wailing air guitar while listening to your favorite song, and get caught? Thats what this song reminds me of. The song sounds fine, but the video is hilarious and I'm laughing at him, not with him. He starts in his big rock star studio apartment with his huge abstract self portrait above his bed. Soon he is putting on his muscle T shirt and sweat pants to dance around his room in a fashion that I wouldn't want put on any sort of archival media. (including crawling around on his floor while lip sinking the song and ripping off his muscle T-Shirt) It ends in typical fashion with him walking out of his room and into the studio to finish the song with his band.

Love is the Hero Well, I guess Billy must have had only 5 big hits in the 80s, because I had never heard of this song, but it was a pretty decent sounding song, and was mainly Squier on stage belting the tune out mixed with black and white shots of a steady cam journey through a street and building. It also featured opening shots of the now sadly gone World Trade Towers.


Video Quality - The video quality on this DVD is poor, it is all of a low VHS quality. Details in many of the videos are fuzzy and a bit washed out. The videos are all shot in the 4:3 (1 to 1.33) aspect ratio, that is, they are formatted to fit a standard TV.

Audio Quality - Its a good stereo mix. Music is clear, but it is available only in a stereo mix. The bass was good and tight, lyrics were clear, the band sounded well mixed. The sound stage was also well done with clearly defined left and right and center. Since even the concert videos were shot as music videos, all the videos have a very studio sound to them, and I question if they were recorded live. (plus no audience was shown in the "concert" videos)

Final Thoughts What else can I say? Billy Squier was from Wellesley, Massachusetts, I had both his albums (on LP) and even saw him in concert once. He wasn't the worst of the eighties, but he wasn't the best either. However, if you were a child of the 80s, and happen to see this DVD in the bargain bin, it's worth saving! But don't let anyone catch you doing the air guitar and rock star posturing while you listen to it.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD