The Big Beat (song)

The Big Beat is a 1980 song by Billy Squier from his debut album The Tale of the Tape.[1] While it never charted, the song has become a sampling staple in hip-hop music.[2] As of 2020, the song has been sampled in almost 300 recordings.[3] The "big beat" itself was performed by drummer Bobby Chouinard overdubbed with Squier himself beating a snare case with his hands.[4]

"The Big Beat"
Song by Billy Squier
from the album The Tale of the Tape
Released1980
GenreRock
Length3:39
Songwriter(s)Billy Squier
Producer(s)
Music video
"The Big Beat" music video on YouTube

Critical reception

Dantana of Okayplayer.com said The Tale of the Tape begins with "The Big Beat", and in retrospect set Squier's career off to a flying start with the kind of chorus, vocals, and power riffs that made him famous. Much of the playing in this song, from the slide guitar to that big booming sound of Chouinard's drums, would become Squier's trademark sound and it is great to hear it before it became too pop.".[5]

Record World said that "Squier cries, sasses and yells emphatically in the upper ranges while the bulldozer rhythm plows a hard, straight-ahead rock'n'roll path."[6]

Samples

“The Big Beat” has been sampled in:[3]

The track opens The Prodigy's The Dirtchamber Sessions Volume One mix.

References
  1. "The Tale of the Tape - Billy Squier". AllMusic. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  2. Callahan, Maureen (November 16, 2013). "The hip-hop rebirth of Billy Squier". New York Post.
  3. Samples of The Big Beat by Billy Squier | WhoSampled
  4. Billy Squier - The Tale Of The Tape at Discogs
  5. "Billy Squier". Okayplayer.com. Retrieved 12 October 2013.
  6. "Single Picks" (PDF). Record World. July 26, 1980. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-02-20.
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