Squeeze: Classic Or Dud

Just listened to that live set (I always had it, just never really bothered with it for some reason), you're right, this is really fun

I mean these guys have nothing on XTC or whoever they're usually compared to, but they are one of the most likeable bands ever, so there's that

I listen to Another Nail in my Heart on repeat sometimes.

Squeeze are a fucking class act, man. so much excellence.

I LOVE SQUEEZE.

I listen to Another Nail in my Heart on repeat sometimes.

― Trip Maker, Friday, May 25, 2012 11:29 AM (12 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I do that too, sometimes.

Oh and guess what? I'm going to see them in July! :D

I was just going to say something about Up the Junction being one of the best songs ever but thought to C&P myself first and, well:

Heard Up the Junction in the car today and god damn that is one of the best songs ever, no question. <3 <3 <3

― ★彡☆ ★彡 (ENBB), Wednesday, December 30, 2009 9:59 PM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

they're pretty killer live. i mean they did that album a couple years back where they did virtually identical re-recordings of old songs, they can play everything perfectly and Tilbrook's voice hasn't really aged any.

Awesome. I'm really excited. They're opening for the B-52s who will be fun to see and all but I bought the (fairly expensive) tickets pretty much for Squeeze alone.

Up The Junction is my all-time favorite Squeeze song, no joke.

i'm like the only person who likes Squeeze that doesn't really get the song. I appreciate the craft of it but I prefer the big shameless chorus stuff.

Saw them play several times in the Argybargy/E Side Story period.

Alfred, I have an autographed Difford-Tillbrook solo album if you want to make me an offer!

I haven't listened to anything past Argybargy but right now I don't think they've topped "Goodbye Girl", such a cool, wonky tune

"Vicky Verky" is the classic for me

^Yeah, I love that one, too.

ok this Hammersmith Odeon set is good but jesus Difford singing "Mess Around" stfu

Tempted is a very, very bad song.

I really love Cool For Cats, Argybargy and East Side Story, and a few selections here and there from what came after. I remember quite liking Glenn Tilbrook's solo record Transatlantic Ping Pong, too.

The first album is quite interesting though, and some of the stories surrounding its making are quite funny. John Cale apparently was so off his face he passed out during the sessions, so Jools Holland wrote "I am a cunt" on his forehead in marker. Apparently Mr. Cale was none the wiser and came into the studio STILL wearing the same slogan on his head the next day. Once he found out what the band were laughing at, he was understandably not amused and apparently he made life hell for the band for the rest of the studio time they had.

Tempted is a very, very bad song.

It's not their greatest, but it's not terrible when Tilbrook sings it. Paul Carrack always felt like an invader in this band, and that's the reason I have issues with both East Side Story and Some Fantastic Place.

I'd rather Carrack had sang the whole thing, he's a far superior singer to Tilbrook. Tilbrook's strengths is in the way he puts his chord sequences together. Stuff like 'King George Street' features a maddening amount of chords.

Guess who I'm gonna see tonight? :D

i saw them open for the b-52's two weeks ago and they were both so so good

just gonna warn you now tho: glenn tillbrook's facial hair is really unfortunate

They are opening for the B-52s tonight! I'm excited about both but a little more so about Squeeze tbh. LOL re Tillbrook's facial hair. I checked out a recent clip on youtube and noticed that myself. NAGL!

They are playing for free in Coney Island on the 20th, with The Romantics opening.

aforementioned UFH:

http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2012/07/2012_seaside_su.html

band I was in opened for Squeeze in 1982.

That is assume doo dah! Ok so that was awesome. They sounded great but a) donna r otm that beard is so so bad and b) middle aged white people cutting loose is sort of horrifying to watch.

Like really cringe worthy and the worst part is that I AK not sure how to avoid turning into that or if it is even possible. :/

I am not I AK.

Poor Glen, one he had the good fortune to have John Lennon's looks and way with a pop song. Now he looks like Col Sanders on a bad beard day

that Docu was great on the bbc over the weekend. they had some MENTAL issues though.

The beard is gone now btw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=pYUOJxXdrXM

Youtube link for the documentary

i thought chris difford looked great considering all his past indulgences.

Here's the legit link, higher quality and with the correct aspect ratio -

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01n8kmq

New single 'Tommy' is streaming, now:
http://soundcloud.com/squeezeofficial-1/01-tommy

My favourite Squeeze story is still the one where Jools Holland wrote 'I am a cunt' on the forehead of a passed-out John Cale during the first album sessions. I noticed THAT story was absent from the recent documentary! Hehehehe!

Every so often (like tonight) I'll find myself digging out Cosi Fan Tutti Fruitti in an attempt to listen to it with fresh ears and see if I manage to catch anything I've missed or possibly find something in it that I never have before, but I always end up coming to the same conclusion: 'King George Street' and 'Last Time Forever' = keepers, rest of the album = does nothing for me.

I also really am not too keen on the production on Cosi, either - which is strange because Laurie Latham (who produced Cosi) worked on The Stranglers' Aural Sculpture only the year before, and I think that album sounds absolutely fine!

the solo on "Another Nail in My Heart" is some virtuoso shit. still can't figure it out after three years. amazing song

Yeah, Tilbrook has always been quite an underrated guitarist. Always love the way he manages 2 pack so many chords in2 his songs, 2.

That one's got some real Dire Straits shit going on.

What do Squeeze fans think of their first EP, Packet of Three? Is it well known at all? It wasn't on Single 45's and Under presumably because it was on Deptford Fun City not A&M. I can imagine it being dismissed since it's got a punkier, or at least pub-rockier, sound to it, but I quite like it, Night Ride in particular.

It's alright, Squeeze were never entirely convincing during their brief 'punk' phase. I'd love to hear more recordings of the band prior to their debut, or what was rejected by John Cale - assuming Cool For Cats was all new stuff. There was a first draft of that album which was rejected by the label, though the (not great) song 'Blood And Guts' was released on a compilation.

A new pressing of Packet Of Three was bundled with vinyl copies of A Round And A Bout. The was a live 'Annie Get Your Gun' CD single which may be the one way to get those tracks on CD

I think it's funny that Squeeze blocked Bang Bang - which was a bigger hit chart-wise in the UK than many of their better known songs - from absolutely all future singles/hits albums, due to Tilbrook hating it. I went to see them in 2012 and they OPENED with it. I tweeted Difford to ask what made them bring it back and he said he didn't know

Eye'm pretty sure that the material on Cool For Cats was drawn from a huge backlog 'o' stuff Difford/Tilbrook had mostly built up prior 2 the first LP. The first LP was mostly written in the studio 2 please John Cale. They had a habit 'o' stockpiling songs and pulling them out years later. Eye think there's one or 2 tracks on later albums which were earlier songs dusted off.

Tilbrook particularly hates 'Get Smart' on that first LP.

whoah I had no idea Cale produced that first record, that's nuts.

I like Backtrack. I mean, it's a pub-rock ramalama number which really sounds like it wants to be a Nick Lowe record but which I think suits the scruffy production the best. The other two don't do much for me. This didn't seem obscure back in the day though - Deptford Fun City kept issuing it during their later success so it was a pretty common single. I picked up a copy of it from a guy in my high school class and used to see it second hand a lot.

Some great stories about the first album sessions. Cale made them bin most of their songs and instructed them to write more on new subjects at his request (Strong In Reason), instrumentals (Wild Sewerage Tickles Brazil) and supposedly he had them cover 'Amazing Grace' and play it for several hours. And he told them to title the album 'Gay Guys'. Seems like he got more hardline after he discovered Jools Holland had written "I am a cunt" on his forehead while he was passed out and failed to notice for a couple of days

(on Cale, not himself)

Yeah, he wanted 2 de-pop everything and demanded the band wrote songs about muscle men.