The Stroke

"The Stroke" is a song written and recorded by American rock artist Billy Squier. It was released in 1981 as the debut single from his Triple Platinum album Don't Say No.

This was Squier's first single to chart, reaching No. 17 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It was a bigger hit on rock radio, reaching No. 3 on the Top Tracks chart. It also reached the UK Singles Chart, rising to No. 52. It was named the 59th best hard rock song of all time by VH1.

In popular culture

 * The song appeared in the films Billy Madison (1995), The Hot Spot (1990), Small Soldiers (1998), Let's Go to Prison (2006), The Curiosity of Chance (2006), Blades of Glory (2007), Crank: High Voltage (2009), Larry Crowne (2011), 'Jobs' (2013), and in the teaser trailer for The Expendables 3 (2014)
 * It was used in the denouément of episode 30, "Streaks and Tips" of The Shield in season three, as the Decoy Team honors its bet as losers to the Strike Team in the race to arrest a carjacking murderer.
 * "The Stroke" was sampled in the song "Stroke Me" by Mickey Avalon in 2009, which was also featured in the advertisements for the game Duke Nukem Forever and the film We're the Millers.
 * The song was sampled in the song "Berzerk" by Eminem on his 2013 album The Marshall Mathers LP 2.