''The Tale of the Tape'' is the debut studio album by American rock musician Billy Squier. It was his first solo album, following two albums with the band Piper. Despite not being a huge success, the disc spent three months on '' Billboard''s album chart and helped to kickstart Squier's solo career. Although no songs from the album reached the charts, the song "The Big Beat" has been notably sampled by hip hop artists, including

Run-D.M.C. Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

's "Here We Go", Big Daddy Kane's "Ain't No Half Steppin'", Jay-Z's "

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's "

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's " Roxanne, Roxanne" and

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' " Girl on Fire".Samples of The Big Beat by Billy Squier
,

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The song also featured a pre- MTV music video.

Critical reception

In a May 10, 1980 ''Billboard'' review, the writer expressed a hope that Billy Squier would be able to realize his potential with this album, which he did not fulfill with Piper. It quantified that it "fits nicely in a set with

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and Styx."

Track listing

Personnel

* Billy Squier - Vocals, Guitar, Percussion * Bruce Kulick - Guitar *

David Sancious David Sancious (born November 30, 1953) is an American musician. He was an early member of Bruce Springsteen's backing group, the E Street Band, and contributed to the first three Springsteen albums, and again on ''Human Touch'' (1992), '' Trac ...

- Keyboards, Synthesizers * Richard T. Bear - Keyboards * Bucky Ballard - Bass * Bobby Chouinard - Drums * Ernest Carter - Percussion * Woodstock Children's Chorus - Ellen Todd, Conductor

Production

*Produced by Billy Squier & Eddie Offord *Engineered and mixed by Eddy Offord & Rob Davis *Mastered by Wally Traugott *All songs published by Songs Of The Knight ( BMI), except "Who's Your Boyfriend" (Songs Of The Knight/Bomass Music Corp.), "Who Knows What A Love Can Do" (Songs Of The Knight/Hostel Music), and "You Should Be High, Love" (Songs Of The Knight/Desmobile Music Company).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tale of the Tape 1980 debut albums Billy Squier albums Albums produced by Eddy Offord Capitol Records albums