Desmond Child

The Tale of the Tape is a rock album by Billy Squier that was released in May 1980.It was his first solo album, following two albums with the band Piper. The disc spent three months on Billboard '​s album chart, setting Squier's career in motion. Several of its tracks were popular on AOR (Album Oriented Rock) radio.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.'s "Here We Go", Big Daddy Kane's "Ain't No Half Steppin'", Jay-Z's "99 Problems", Dizzee Rascal's "Fix Up, Look Sharp", U.T.F.O's "Roxanne, Roxanne" and Alicia Keys' "Girl on Fire".The song also featured a pre-MTV music video.

Michael Bolton is no fool, and when he broke through to platinum sales with The Hunger, nobody had to tell him to record a follow-up devoted to more of the same. Bolton produced most of the record himself, and he teamed with the cream of the era's romantic rock ballad writers, people like Diane Warren (who gets five co-credits here) and Desmond Child, while the R&B copy this time was Ray Charles' version of "Georgia on My Mind." He also reclaimed "How Am I Supposed to Live Without You" from Laura Branigan. The result was five Top 40 hits and millions of albums sold. Maybe Bolton wasn't the king of the hockey rinks, but his voice was now stoking the romantic fires in bedrooms across America, which is nice work if you can get it.