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squeeze
Formed in Deptford, London, England in 1974, Squeeze came to
prominence in the late 70s riding on the new wave created by the
punk movement. Original members Chris Difford (guitar, lead
vocals), Glenn Tilbrook (guitar, vocals), and Julian 'Jools'
Holland (keyboards) named the band after a disreputable Velvet
Underground album.
With the addition of Harry Kakoulli (bass), and original
drummer Paul Gunn replaced by session drummer Gilson Lavis,
Squeeze released an EP, Packet Of Three, in 1977 on the Deptford
Fun City label.
It was produced by former Velvet Underground member John Cale.
The EP's title in itself reflected the preoccupation of the band's
main songwriters, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, with England's
social underclass. It led to a major contract with A&M Records
and a UK Top 20 hit in 1978 with Take Me I'm Yours.
Minor success
with Bang Bang and Goodbye Girl that same year was followed in
1979 by two Number 2 hits with Cool For Cats and Up The
Junction.
Difford's lyrics were by now beginning to show an acute talent in
capturing the flavour of contemporary south London life with a
sense of the tragi-comic.
 This
began to flower fully with the release of 1980's Argybargy, which
spawned the singles Another Nail In My Heart (UK Top 20) and the
sublime Pulling Mussels (From The Shell).
The set was Squeeze's
most cohesive album to date, having finally thrown off any
remaining traces of a punk influence, they now displayed some of
the finest kitchen sink lyrics since Ray Davies' peak. The album
also featured the band's new bass player, John Bentley.
In 1980, Holland left for a solo career that included
performing and recording with his band, Jools Holland And The
Millionaires (which displayed his talent for the boogie-woogie
piano style) and hosting the UK television show The Tube. His
replacement was singer/pianist Paul Carrack, formerly with
pub-rock band Ace. He appeared on East Side
Story, which was
co-produced by Elvis Costello.
Carrack stamped his mark on the album with his excellent
performance on Tempted and with the success of Labelled
With Love,
a UK Top 5 hit, the album became the band's most commercial to
date. Carrack departed soon afterwards to join Carlene Carter's
group, and was replaced by Don Snow (ex-Sinceros). The follow-up
LP, Sweets From A Stranger, was an uneven affair, although it did
spawn the superb single Black Coffee In Bed.
 At
the height of their success, amid intense world tours, including
selling out New York's Madison Square Garden, Difford And Tilbrook
dissolved the band.
The duo continued to compose together,
releasing an album in 1984. The following year they re-formed the
band with Lavis, the returning Holland, and a new bass player,
Keith Wilkinson.
Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti was hailed as a return to
form, and although not supplying any hit singles, the tracks King
George Street, I Learnt How To Pray, and Difford/Holland's
Heartbreaking World stood out.
In 1987 Squeeze achieved their highest position in the UK
singles chart for almost six years when Hourglass reached Number
16 and subsequently gave the band their first US Top 40 hit,
climbing one place higher. 853-5937 repeated the transatlantic
success, breaking into the Top 40 a couple of months later. The
accompanying album, Babylon And On, featured contributions from
The Soft Boys' Andy Metcalfe (horns, keyboards).
After the release of 1989's Frank, which contained one of the
most sensitive lyrics ever written by a man about menstruation (She Doesn't Have To
Shave), Holland departed once again to
concentrate on television work. With Matt Irving joining as a
second keyboard player, Squeeze released a live album, A Round And
A Bout, on their old Deptford Fun City label in 1990, before
signing a new recording contract with Warner Brothers Records.
The release of Play confirmed and continued Chris Difford and
Glenn Tilbrook's reputation as one of the UK's finest song writing
teams, with Gone To The Dogs and Wicked And Cruel particularly
resonant of earlier charms. Some Fantastic Place saw them reunited
with A&M Records, although there was some critical carping
about their insistence on a group format that did not always augur
well for their more adroit and sober compositions.
 
Ridiculous was their strongest album in years, showing them
back to writing sharp, humorous yet provocative lyrics on the
up-tempo tracks and poignant love songs on the ballads. The lively
Electric Trains, for example, managed to make the unlikely pairing
of Julie Andrews and Jerry Garcia in one lyric! Grouch Of The Day
cleverly delivered self-deprecating honesty, while the minor hit
This Summer has the wonderful lyric: "nights we spent out of
control like two flags wrapped around a pole".
This was a tremendous set of songs that strangely missed the
record-buying public by a mile, leaving many to wonder if they had
fallen into cult obscurity in the same manner as those other
outstanding craftsmen of the classic English pop single, Andy
Partridge of XTC and Ray Davies of The
Kinks. Like Davies and
Partridge, Difford and Tilbrook were still writing perfect hooks
and middle eights mixed with intelligent, interesting, and often
bitingly accurate observations of life.
Following the demise of A&M Records, Squeeze issued Domino
on their own Quixotic Records label. They displayed the material
to the music market place in Cannes at the annual MIDEM festival
in January 1999 by playing a blistering set. With little fanfare,
the album was issued in the UK, and proved to be yet another gem,
rife with great songs and melody.
Featuring Holland's younger
brother Chris on keyboards, Hilaire Penda (bass) and Ash Soan
(drums), this version of Squeeze sounded as good as any previous
incarnation. Stand-out tracks included the painfully observant
tale of the result of family divorce, To Be A Dad, and the honest
confession of infidelity, Sleeping With A Friend.
Difford and Tilbrook proved they were still capable of writing
top-notch material from their hearts, without pandering to musical
trends. Sadly, these prized upholders of the great English pop
song tradition disbanded Squeeze not long afterwards. Tilbrook
released his solo debut, The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook, in May
2001. Difford followed in 2002 with I Didn't Get Where I Am.
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Chris Difford
Guitar, vocals
Glenn Tilbrook
Guitar, vocals
Jools Holland
Keyboards
Harry Kakoulli
Bass
Paul Gunn
Drums
Gilson Lavis
Drums
John Bentley
Bass
Paul Carrack
Keyboards, vocals
Don Snow
Keyboards
Keith Wilkinson
Bass
Matt Irving
Keyboards
Squeeze get homesick in Australia (1980)
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