Squeeze: Classic Or Dud

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.

My guitar teacher and I are big fans of secret '80s guitar heroes: Elliot Easton, guy from Squeeze, even Neil Giraldo (solo on "hit me with your best shot" is pretty tricky). Dudes who know how to lay low until just the right spot to show off. Maybe James Honeyman-Scot or Mike Campbell count, too, but plenty of people cite them as an influence. Less so the aforementioned.

how representative is labelled with love because jesus christ that is an awful dirge

I don't think its representative at all - I can't think of another song they did quite like it. but I do think it's one of their best songs so take that how you will

I agree, awful country pastiche, while Tempted is mighty

apols for the link to you know where but..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/event/article-4800220/Squeeze-frontman-Chris-Difford-working-Bryan-Ferry.html

Wow.

Yeah that was one crazy story. Or set of them.

whoa @ John Bentley in the Magma shirt, very nice

Q mag/Marti Pellow was the 0_o bit for me

Sounds like being in the orbit of Bryan Ferry is not for the faint of heart.

Rarely seen video now on Youtube. First US single from Some Fantastic Place in 1993:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjkGuY_EVGE&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjkGuY_EVGE

So they've been on tour over here and last night was pretty sharp -- saw Difford/Tilbrook on their own a couple of years back so it was nice to see them with a full band lineup. My girlfriend's the major fan -- had a great running commentary all night on various deep cuts as a result.

I'm pretty sure this is Glenn TIlbrook singing, but the lyrics are too generic for Google to yield any results.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytMdOWd_WNs

Can anyone ID?

It's definitely not Squeeze, but he does sound like a sped up Tilbrook.

That is a song called "Friends Forever" by Greg Hatwell & Marc Lane.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gb6vxg_guz8
^ Squeeze performing at the recently mentioned My Father's Place as opening act for Blondie.

That whole first album still seems so out of character for them.

Somehow I was never aware (until today) that Squeeze actually named themselves after the Doug Yule VU album:

As teenagers on the South London scene, Squeeze – setting out their stall early on by facetiously naming themselves after a poorly-received Velvet Underground album

stain on my fuckin’ notebook