Released in April of that year, "The Stroke" was Squier's first song to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, where it peaked at #17, and it went all the way to #3 on the Top Tracks chart. That was only the tip of the iceberg for Don't Say No, which also produced the hits "Lonely Is the Night," "My Kinda Lover" and "In the Dark." It even stayed on the Billboard album chart for two years.
Most people assume "The Stroke" is a sexual song in nature, which makes sense, given the chorus:
But as American Songwriter reported, the song is actually meant to be a cautionary tale about the often-exploitative music business:
Spread your ear-pollutionBoth far and wideKeep your contributionsBy your side
Billy SquierPhoto by Paul Natkin on Getty Images
“Plenty of people saw sexual connotations in [‘The Stroke’] but to me, it was about what goes on in the business world,” he continued, adding, “I mean, I’m happy if people get something sexual out of it, but that was not its original intent or purpose.”
"I’ll come up with a riff, and when you integrate it with my pop background, you can hear I’m pretty good with melodies," Squier admitted in in a 2025 interview with Goldmine.
In the decades since its release, "The Stroke" has remained a radio staple; in 2008, the song was ranked #59 by VH1 viewers on a list of the 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs of All Time. And fans are still listening: At the time of this writing, "The Stroke" has 228,765,043 streams on Spotify alone.
Related: 1969 Hard Rock Hit With 'Greatest Guitar Riff of All Time' Went Gold 56 Years Ago Today
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