Hard-rock guitarist Billy Squier seemed to be an overnight success story with his 1981 breakthrough album Don't Say No, but he had actually spent nearly a decade struggling as a musician. He had been a member of the Boston-based band Piper during the mid-'70s, who had released a pair of albums on Capitol Records to relatively little interest. When Piper broke up, Squier opted for a solo career, issuing Tale Of The Tape in 1980 with minimal success.

However, everything clicked for Squier the following year with Don't Say No. MTV, having just gone on the air, quickly embraced the album's initial single, "The Stroke." With its crunchy guitar riffs, martial cadence, and sexually-charged lyric, "The Stroke" was also an immediate hit at album rock radio, where the song would eventually reached #3.

Pop radio found the song's melodic nature irresistible as well and the song cracked the US Top 40 in late June. During a nearly three-month stay in the Top 40, "The Stroke" would climb as high as #17. The momentum propelled Don't Say No to #5 on the album charts as it sold in excess of three million copies, setting the stage for Squier as a staple on rock radio for the next half decade.

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