SQUIER TRIES TO SHED AN IMAGE AS A VIDEO WIMP

Billy Squier sent word that he didn’t want to talk about it. But of course, when you talk to the hard-rock singer these days you can’t ignore it.

The touchy subject is the Video.

Back in 1984, when videos could make or break careers, Squier’s “Rock Me Tonite” was, many observers say, almost his undoing. It was, to put it mildly, ill-conceived. For a hard rocker, a video has to be tough. This one was soft and frilly and wimpy. With only a few changes, it would make a good satin-sheet commercial.

It wasn’t inept, just wildly inappropriate for his image--like Clint Eastwood doing a cold-cream commercial. Hard-rock fans referred to it as Squier’s “sissy” video.

In his Bel-Air hotel suite one evening, Squier, 36, in town to promote his new album, “Enough Is Enough,” was true to his word. Though he didn’t talk directly about it, he did clear up some misconceptions about its consequences.

“People have the wrong impression about it,” said Squier. “The video didn’t do anything. It didn’t ruin me. It didn’t come close to that. They forget there were some good things that happened, too. There was no catastrophe.”

Actually, “Rock Me Tonite” was the biggest single of his career, reaching No. 12 on the Billboard pop chart. What’s surprising is that Squier has never had a Top 10 single. His most famous, “The Stroke,” climbed only as high as No. 17.

But Squier’s fans buy his albums and tapes. Since his second album, “Don’t Say No” (1981), he’s had nothing but million-sellers. “Signs of Life,” the album featuring the “Rock Me Tonite” single, was considered a disappointment because it only sold 1.5 million copies. The others are multimillion sellers.

“When an album (“Signs of Life”) sells over a million you can’t be too unhappy about it,” Squier said.

But he did admit having artistic reservations about it: “OK, so I don’t consider it a high point. There’s this raw, basic quality people expect in my music. That was perhaps glossed over a bit on this album. We were experimenting more. We did three or four songs which were slower, more down--the more majestic kind of ballads. Maybe we shouldn’t have done so many of this kind of song.”

That’s an understatement. Partly because of an excess of that kind of song, “Signs of Life” is by far his worst album. It’s Squier turning prissy and pulling punches, going for contrived melodrama instead of gutsy rock.

On the “Signs of Life” concert tour, Squier said he saw signs that it wasn’t his most popular. “Business was down a bit but not as much as people think,” said Squier, who’s planning another tour next year. “On the previous tour we had all these sellouts. But on this tour we did about 85% business. I didn’t like that. I want to sell out all the time.”

Supposedly “Signs of Life,” his fourth album, was going to make Squier a superstar. His two previous albums, “Don’t Say No” (1981) and “Emotions in Motion” (1982), sold a combined total of 5 million copies. “This was going to be my ‘Thriller’ (the album that put Michael Jackson on top),” he said. “It was hard to accept that it wasn’t going to happen.”

Whose fault was the failure of “Signs of Life”? “I didn’t have the support from my management,” Squier said with an angry tone. “Even my record company (Capitol) didn’t support me enough.”

He’s still with Capitol but he did fire his management.

The “Signs of Life” project was in trouble from the start. Squier’s problems began when he hired producer Jim Steinman. Not that he’s a bad producer; he’s just wrong for Squier. Steinman is good with grandiose ballads. He’s also constantly exploring the operatic possibilities of rock ‘n’ roll. That’s where he went wrong with Squier, steering the hard-rocker into an unfortunate musical detour.

Recalling the experience with Steinman, Squier said: “I guess he really didn’t capture me on that album. He didn’t push me enough. He wasn’t around enough. He kept telling me everything I did was great. Maybe that’s what he really thought. Maybe it sounded like he wanted it to sound. But it wasn’t so great.”

Steinman wasn’t Squier’s first choice. He really wanted Robert (Mutt) Lange, one of the best rock ‘n’ roll producers in the business. “But he got tied up with the Cars and was running overtime,” Squier said. “He kept me waiting three months and then he had a nervous breakdown and couldn’t do it. I didn’t want to but I had to find somebody else.”

Squier seems to have problems with all his producers. But they know what they’re in for. The word around the business is that, in the studio, he’s very temperamental. But when the pressure’s off and he’s relaxed--as he apparently was that evening in Bel Air--he’s quite affable.

Squier’s most famous battle was with Mack, the German producer who uses only one name. He co-produced Squier’s two best albums, “Don’t Say No” and “Emotions in Motion.” The second project ended in warfare.

“I salvaged the album at the end,” Squier said, recalling his artistic battles with Mack. “Ultimately he didn’t understand what I wanted.”

The sessions for his new album, “Enough Is Enough,” didn’t go smoothly either. The producer/adversary this time is Englishman Peter Collins. Squier knew he was in trouble when Collins wanted to replace his drummer, Bobby Chouinard, with a drum machine. “We wasted six weeks straightening that out,” Squier said. “In the end we used Bobby’s stuff.”

These were probably the most difficult, nerve-wracking sessions of Squier’s career, which stretches back to 1976 in Boston with an ill-fated A&M; Records band called Piper. “There were a couple of times during the making of this record when I thought I was going to have a nervous breakdown,” he said.

According to Squier, who’s usually involved in his productions, he backed off and let Collins be mostly in charge. But Squier didn’t like Collins’ version of the LP. “I needed some solid, impartial feedback on the record,” Squier said. “My manager took it to England and played it for a guy at Capitol there.”

He agreed with Squier. The album was unfit for release and needed considerable revision. “I just needed some confirmation,” Squier said. “So then I took the project over and finished it the way I wanted.”

The result is a rather good, rocking Squier album, certainly much better than “Signs of Life.” Incidentally, the video for the new single, “Love Is the Hero,” isn’t bad either. It’s macho enough--as hard-rock fans prefer their videos--without careening into excess. It has a brawny feeling--the opposite of the impression left by that namby-pamby “Rock Me Tonite” video.

Though Squier is the co-producer of “Enough Is Enough,” he isn’t credited because at the beginning of the project he agreed to give Collins sole credit. But you need a magnifying glass to find Collins’ name, which is in small print on the album’s inner sleeve, lost in a forest of other credits.

The solution to all this is obvious--Squier should produce his own albums. He doesn’t agree: “I like having another producer. It’s nice to have that person I can bounce ideas off of. I know I end up fighting with these guys. I don’t know why that is. I don’t really like fighting.”

“I don’t try to be difficult,” he said. “I just care so much about these albums that I get crazed sometimes when I’m making them. I’m basically a nice guy. I really am.”