Classic Squeeze: The Early Years | Pop Culture Graveyard Ep. 47 | Chris Difford, Glenn Tilbrook
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- čas přidán 2. 08. 2024
- This deep dive on Classic Squeeze focuses on the early years of the British New Wave band Squeeze, from 1977-1984, (including the albums UK Squeeze, Cool For Cats, ArgyBargy, East Side Story, and Sweets From A Stranger, as well as Chis Difford & Glenn Tilbrook's solo album Difford & Tilbrook), an era that features some of the greatest songs Difford and Tilbrook ever wrote! That's my "Classic Squeeze!" What era do you call "Classic Squeeze?" Let me know in the comments...
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Cat On A Wall (1977)
Here is the band's earliest single to get any airplay. Cat On A Wall was the standout from Packet Of Three, and a catchy little burst of energy finding the boys at their young and snottiest!
• Squeeze - Cat on a Wall.
Get Smart (1977)
The LP closer from debut-album UK Squeeze, I'll leave it up to you if you hear Devo's Uncontrollable Urge. No...? Just me...? Devo had been playing the song live for years, but there's no way Squeeze could have heard it in England since the only thing released in the UK at the time was Devo's Be Stiff EP (and Uncontrollable Urge isn't on it). I just think it's a wonderful coincidence.
• Get Smart
Devo: Uncontrollable Urge
I've got the song queued up for you to (possibly) hear the similarity.
• Devo Uncontrollable ...
In Quintessence (1981)
Speaking of songs sounding like each other, here's In Quintessence off East Side Story, which is "inspired by" the great song Time Is Tight by Booker T & The MG's.
• Squeeze - In Quintessence
Time Is Tight (1968)
Here's the original tune upon which In Quintessence is based. As you can hear, Squeeze took the Booker T tune, hooked it up to a nitrous tank, and created another speedy gem of a song.
• Time Is Tight
Chris Difford: If I Didn't Love You (Live, 2006)
Here's Chris Difford playing If I Didn't Love You on acoustic guitar (with Dorie Jackson on vocals and Melvyn Duffy on lap steel guitar) back in 2006. Hearing the song stripped down really illustrates how it's a solidly constructed song.
• Chris Difford - 'If I ...
Squeeze (Live, 1981)
Here is, for my money, the best live Squeeze concert on CZcams. It's a show from Los Angeles, and the band are in their prime. Enjoy!
• Squeeze - The Country ...
00:00 Intro
01:03 Packet Of Three
01:39 UK Squeeze
06:20 Cool For Cats
11:19 ArgyBargy
17:04 East Side Story
23:25 Sweets From A Stranger
26:22 Annie Get Your Gun
26:51 Singles 45's And Under
27:29 Difford & Tilbrook
30:45 Outro
#Squeeze #ChrisDifford #GlennTilbrook - Zábava
Squeeze is CRIMINALLY unrecognized. They are AMAZING. Difford and Tilbrook make MAGIC when they are together. I grew up loving their music, and never thought I’d get to see them. I saw them with my dad and brother in 2015 in Chicago. Best concert ever
Absolutely right! So nice you could share that memory the band with your family. The great thing is they still sound the same live after all these years. Thanks for the comment!
@@PopCultureGraveyard they really do. I closed my eyes during a couple songs, and unmistakably, I was hear Chris and Glenn.
"When the Hangover Strikes" is Glenn's tour de force dawg !!
Cool for cats is one of the horniest records I've ever heard
You were right when you said that Tempted was the song that people who didn't know who Squeeze were knew. When I heard that song in 1981 I became a Squeeze fan for life.
Squeeze had me all the way through Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti, but the real seminal stuff is in the first 5 albums, as you've rightly pointed out. Nobody else sounds like them.
Wore out three cassettes of Singles Collection. Loves Crashing Waves is one of my all time favorite songs. Love Squeeze.
Yes! Squeeze must be among the lead among bands with most underrated/under-heard songs.
cool for cats is my favourite. I think the bonus tracks on East side story - Axe has now fallen and looking for love are so good. I used to think they were part of the album because my version doesn't label them as bonus tracks.If they counted I would put it at number 1. They never had the coolest covers but the the cool for cats music video made them look like the coolest band on the planet for about 3 minutes. Mainly because of the 2 girls in it
And for the post-classic period, the standout is the album Play. Yes the music is a little VH-1y at times, but it’s a really adult album in the best way. The Day I Get Home has an amazing sound - no guitars. And backup vocals from Spinal Tap (seriously). Wicked And Cruel is a scathing kiss-off/breakup song. Walk A Straight Line and The Truth are heartbreaking confessionals, up there with Chris’s best lyrics. If I had any camera presence I might be the person to do the post-classic edition of this.
Haha! I'd definitely subscribe for that! I'll give Play a revisit now. That's great about Spinal Tap! Yeah, as I said they're so good they still had moments on those later albums. They just can't compete with their earlier selves--as no band can, honestly. I think that's why they transitioned into a smoother style of music when they did. It was very smart of them. Those later LPs have a different flavor, and don't try to top their early work.
You are NOT wrong. Cradle to the Grave came out in 2015, so maybe different era, but that’s a solid record also.
A breathtaking album, especially those tracks you listed.
I had the Squeeze 45 singles greatest hits album. I had no idea John Cale was involved with the band.
Vicky Verky and Misadventure are rock solid deep cuts, good call. I always loved Wrong Side Of The Moon. I agree that Argybargy is their best work start to finish but ESS has a bunch of hardcore Squeeze classics, and I’m not even counting Tempted, which is more like their Stairway To Heaven. We’ve all heard it a million times. I adore Picadilly and Is That Love, which might have the greatest opening line in history. Messed Around and Labelled and Vanity Fair were a huge leap forward stylistically. And kudos for propping Glenn’s guitar work. He’s totally underrated.
I can't argue with you, Jim! East Side Story does have plenty of classic cuts, and they did stretch out on others in interesting ways--but I just don't reach for it nearly as often as ArgyBargy. I love the Stairway reference. Would that make Pulling Mussels their Whole Lotta Love? I always knew he was good, but I didn't realize to what extent a great guitarist Glenn was until about fifteen years ago or something, when I saw him do Little Wing acoustic. I was like, WTF? He's amazing; and to do all he does while singing as well as he does is crazy. Thanks for the comment, Jim!
I love Squueze and got reacquainted with the band after a deadly bout of Covid. I live in London and not far from Clapham. I recall sitting in a cafe listening to Up the Junction after learning my ex had a miscarriage. This great song will always have different and moving meanings for me.
Squeeze - Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford were like my neighbours when i worked like a demon in a store at Canary Wharf. Thanks for your excellent deep dive, and broad survey of their early albums, performance style, producers and content. Which is vivid, pointed and lyrical at the same time. They continue to be beloved musicians and songwriters in South London and possibly East London. This really brings back an exceptional era
Great analysis!
Thank you, my friend! Glad you enjoyed it
The name of the first ep, Packet of Three, is a play on the nickname for condoms, sold in threes.
Yes, I've heard that! Such fun!
To me, nothing came close after their first four albums. The Call from UKSqueeze is my guilty pleasure.
Well done review/analysis. Squeeze hooked me in ‘79, and while I enjoy many cuts on subsequent releases, these first few albums are indeed their golden period. Thank you.
Thanks for the kind words! You definitely got hooked at the right time. So glad you enjoyed the video!
00:00 Intro
01:03 Packet Of Three
01:39 UK Squeeze
06:20 Cool For Cats
11:19 ArgyBargy
17:04 East Side Story
23:25 Sweets From A Stranger
26:22 Annie Get Your Gun
26:51 Singles 45's And Under
27:29 Difford & Tilbrook
30:45 Outro
Very nice overview, thanks! Quick 'correction' - the purple Cool for Cats LP sleeve with Harry on the back was actually the original UK release. Also, John Wood worked on Take Me I'm Yours on the first record. Really enjoyed your insights. Cheers.
He there, so glad you enjoyed the episode. The purple sleeve LP I have is the US Indianapolis pressing from 1979 (SP-4759), but thanks to you I did a little digging and found the UK purple sleeve. It has a promo "Not For Sale" stamp on the back, just like mine, so I assume those are the earliest sleeves. Mystery solved. Thanks for the info!
@@PopCultureGraveyard as James has already mentioned, the original UK CFC album was the purple one with Harry on the back cover which is when I bought my copy. Later on (maybe after a few months?), new brightly coloured versions started appearing in UK record shops - not just the blue one but a few others too. All of these versions had John on the back instead of Harry.
Harry appeared on the back cover of the first single Goodbye Girl but John's picture was on Cool for Cats and Up The Junction even though he didn't play on them, so maybe they re-printed the album for continuity(?) All of the Squeeze singles from this period had coloured vinyl as well so I'm also thinking that this was a way of making the package more interesting.
Nice overview. Early Squeeze is the only real Squeeze.
I came across this almost by accident...I must say you grasp Squeeze in the same way I do...very nice..
Glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully one of these days my channel will be easier to find. But until then, I'm grateful for anyone finding me by accident.
wow... well done... thank you for the analysis
Great video, love your passion for Squeeze. Have to say I put East Side Story ahead of Argy Bargy, I’ve been a fan since cool for cats came out and as much as I love the early albums I actually prefer the later stuff now. I see it as the early years they were an amazing singles band, every one absolutely fantastic but now in later years they are an amazing albums band. In fact I would put cradle to the grave as my favourite, every single song is brilliant, I’d also have play and the knowledge in my top 5. Glen is a criminally underrated guitarist and singer. Thanks so much for a great video!
Hey David! I'm so glad my passion for this amazing band came through. You make a really great point about how their later albums are more cohesive, and with respect to that I'll definitely give Cradle to the Grave another go. I appreciate the kind words; thanks for taking the time to comment!
With regard to the album covers, I've got to say that I really think Squeeze's best album cover is from the album Frank! Thanks for the video, it was really informing to myself, as a fairly new fan of Squeeze. I do highly agree with your point about the fact that their album covers have never really been that great.
Ok, I’ve watched many of your videos lately and frankly blown away by the depth of your knowledge and sharp insight and perspective on the music and bands you cover. Squeeze has been one my favorite bands since 80-81 and I have listened to them consistently since then and even saw them live this summer (2021, opening for Hall and Oates). Love them. Argh Bargy and East Side Story are easily two of my favorites of any band. But I stopped in my tracks when you gave no love to When the Hangover Strikes. What!? Flag on the play! This song is one of my absolute favorites. Although I consider it as much of a solo work by Tillbrook as a Squeeze song. It is spot on in its description of the melancholy and misery of a morning after, whatever the “after” may be. And his vocals on this song, kill. Absolutely kill. Perfectly blending with the lyrics, music and mood of this song.
Other than that I was once again totally impressed by your insights and observations. Like the presentation and use of humor in your videos as well. Why you don’t have a ton of viewers or likes is beyond my understanding. Very good work you are doing.
Don! Thank you so much for this wonderful comment! I had responded several days ago, and only noticed now it never went through. Sorry! Anyway, that's so cool that you got to see them so recently--especially with how crazy everything has been. And that's a sweet bill with H&O. I will gladly accept a flag on When the Hangover Strikes. In my defense, we all have our favorites, and that's not one of mine--simply because as GORGEOUS as that Glenn vocal is, the music is just a little too much of a simple blues for me to get into. Not my thing. But as a fellow Squeeze fan, I respect your right to love it! Thanks again for the kind words, and I hope you enjoy my other videos. Have a great 2022!
Just a minor correction - It's Not Cricket is sung by Glenn, not Chris.
THANK YOU! You know I searched high and low for info on this, because it has a vocal effect on it, and I couldn't determine whether they were raising the pitch on Chris's voice or lowering the pitch on Glenn's so I took an educated guess. Now that you've said that, of course, I can hear Glenn clearly. Much appreciated, Rick!
@@PopCultureGraveyard I thought it was a mistake on the sleeve when they credited it to Glenn, but a few years later it popped out to me. It's funny as he does sound a lot like Chris - on that song only. I wonder why it wasn't given to Chris?
I love Squeeze, but I prefer their later albums 1987 to 1999. Frank is my favorite. You are correct about the album covers - painful.
I think ArgyBargy had the best cover of the lot, in my opinion. Great band.
Frank in 1989 is more like early Squeeze..Great songs...Jools last album with the band..
I will have to revisit Frank, as I've been told by at least one other hardcore fan such as yourself that it deserves a re-assessment. Thanks for the comment!
Frank was classic sounding for sure! Saw that tour, it was great. The new lineup, with the fluffers is the closest thing to the classic lineup they’ve had. Fun and energetic on stage!
Excellent review .I have quite a few classic Squeeze singles in my collection but will now have to listen to their albums after your comprehensive track by track appraisal... .and can I also award you with a gold star for not saying the word trope(s) anywhere in your analysis 🙄
Haha, thanks a lot, Jonno! The word trope has become such a trope, I wouldn't dare use it! Squeeze are such a genius band, and they're always due for a new appraisal. Happy listening!
Hey Hollis, thanks for this. Similar to the Bunnymen, I considered Squeeze to be a singles band and had never explored the albums. I have their greatest hits album, not the wonderful “45s and under” but the one with the terrible sleeve (a pattern emerges) with the pun about the cheese grater 😭.
I haven’t followed the later part of their career but on recent re~watch, was delighted to see that Difford co~wrote the songs to the wonderful “Still Crazy” soundtrack.
Can’t believe you were listening to Squeeze when you were a kid. You must have either been the nerdiest kid in the States or the coolest kid, or maybe both...
You know I've never seen Still Crazy. I definitely have to check it out, since I love Bill Nighy. Had no idea about Difford cowriting the soundtrack songs, though--thanks for that! As for my early Squeeze awakening, I was very lucky to have older sisters who only listened to the new wave station WLIR (later renamed WDRE), which was the NYC station that played Elvis Costello, Squeeze, REM, Siouxsie, etc. So I was very cool outside my house; but inside my house I was nerding out for sure! Thanks for the comment, John!
@@PopCultureGraveyard ah, the power of radio!
Still Crazy is a gem, I think you would enjoy it. Bill Nighy is wonderful (as always), it has a cast brimming with great character actors, including Bruce (Withnail and I) Robinson. However the film only works because the songs by its fictional band, Strange Fruit, work. Your main man, Mick Jones, also contributes to their songs.
Thanks for your work on the episode. Must take you ages to put these together for us.
@@johnnada7568 Nice! Can't wait to see it!
@@johnnada7568 Finally someone understands! Haha, it's true, these are pretty arduous to put together. I appreciate your appreciation.!
And Jools Holland plays the killer piano solo in uncertain smile-The The.
YES! Love that song BTW. Jools is such a playful (clownish) figure, he doesn't get enough credit for his solid musicianship. And he can play any genre of music. He accompanied the White Stripes on Doorbell on his TV show and it was just delightful.
I think I love this channel hahaha
Ha! Thanks, Jason. Welcome aboard!
Its called South London humour 😂
third time rewatching this! they’re my favorite band and there’s not enough talk about squeeze on youtube so thank u for that. the way you talk is really engaging, fun and i can really hear how much you love the band 🤞I don’t know what era of squeeze I’d call “classic” because I love their 90s work just as much as their 80s work, but would love to hear your thoughts on late-era squeeze 🤩
Wow, thanks a lot! So glad you enjoyed the episode! I completely agree there isn't enough Squeeze talk on CZcams, which is why I decided to do something about that. Glad my love for the band came through. I totally understand that "classic" is a relative term, especially for a brilliant band with the longevity and discography of Squeeze. I do like some later stuff; I especially think the album Frank is strong. I think If It’s Love is very underrated that has some of that old Squeeze magic. The Last Time is another under-appreciated gem. I only like one or two songs off of Play (Crying in my Sleep is one of them). I also like Third Rail off of SFP (as well as the title track). I don't really go farther than that. In general, I feel like the Squeeze that speaks to me is the one I covered in the episode. That said, all Squeeze is high quality, it's just a matter of which era we're each drawn to. Thanks again for the kind words, and welcome to the channel!
@@PopCultureGraveyard Thank you for replying omg !! I’ve been planning to make a video on squeeze as well in terms of their songwriting because Chris’s lyrics are so fun to analyze. Hoping to see more squeeze videos because honestly they’re interesting to discuss. I agree, for me I can’t really pin point a classic period for the band because they’ve put out solid stuff even later (I also didn’t grow up with Squeeze, so maybe me being exposed to all their albums at once on spotify made me see each album equally and didn’t expect one sound, Frank and Babylon and On were some of the first albums I’ve listened to by them!) Speaking of, Frank is definitely one of my favorites and surprisingly Play as well, but the latter took plenty of relistening because it grows on you. Sweets from a Stranger is my favorite album from them, despite people saying it’s a mixed bag so It’s really interesting to hear your perspective by the way as a young fan. Seeing their early output as their golden era is definitely valid because there’s that youth and energy that later albums would lack. Anyways thank you too and I’ll be looking forward to your new uploads !! :))
Squeeze albums are great right through Some fantastic place. After that the albums have many songs I like it don't feel as thorough. I have many musical tastes and the fact that squeeze covered so many of them through their history is really a tribute to how amazing they are. I just saw them at Radio City and they put on an amazing show.
Really well done. I was a “greatest hits” fan until I went to see them in concert last year and decided to do a deep dive. I 100% agree on their lousy album covers. It’s a shame they kind of ran out of gas after ESS, but they still continued to have some flashes of greatness well into the 90’s
Thanks Adam! So glad you enjoyed the episode. You're not alone; I've heard from plenty of folks who were 45s & Under people until they saw the band live and became full-blown Squeeze fans. They're such a brilliant underrated band, who really have an album for everyone. Thanks for the comment!
Love Squeeze and your channel. The t-shirt is great! Do a BJM vid!
Thanks so much! I'll put them on the list!
Love your channel. I wouldn’t mind an overview of Talk Talk. Fascinating band.
Hey there, thanks for the kind words! I'll put Talk Talk on the list.
I actually thought (still do) that ARGYBARGY is the best cover. I agree that they were usually bad to awful bad. But Cool For Cats and this one were okay. LOVE your channel, looking forward to your posts!
Thank you, my friend! Appreciate you taking the time to comment. And I'd choose being a brilliant band with lackluster covers like Squeeze rather than being a piss-poor band with cool sleeves. If I had my way, though, I'd repackage all their stuff with really cool 40th anniversary presses.
@@PopCultureGraveyard that's a fine idea. Maybe all based off of classic 1960s covers from all genres. Jazz, pop, everything. LOL anything would be good!
Wow, Squeeze are considered to be New Wave.
But if you look at the Packet of Three album cover and listen to cat on the wall, it sounds like Punk a good couple of years before Punk was a thing.
Also, as bad as it is, the Squeeze muscle man album with the pint background is evocative of The Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks cover.
I like your focus on the early Squeeze era which is when I first heard them and grooved on, rather than beyond the early 80's, and of your analysis of the songs on each of the albums. But I most certainly do not agree with your comment that the album Argybargy should have a "more American friendly title". Why should it?? Squeeze are a London band and argybargy is a common London (and British) slang phrase, and that is exactly what early Squeeze was all about with Chris writing lyrics which were personal and typical of London. London is also where I am from so I have been bough up with the saying "argybargy" as common place. It is like suggesting Bruce Springsteen's album Born In The USA should have a more "English friendly title" - it is out of context. BTW just for clarification the Deptford area of London is pronounced "Detf'd". Other than that, an interesting account of their classic era.
First drummer was actually Paul Gunn, not Gilson..
Great overview and really interesting to hear an American's point of view. Just quickly, some minor points/mistakes:
- It's pronounced 'Depp-Ford'. You don't pronounce the 't'
- You didn't mention 'the call' from Squeeze. Is it not on the US version of the album?
- Glenn sings 'It's Not Cricket', not Chris
- You didn't mention 'Hop, Skip and Jump' from Cool For Cats. Is it not on the US version of the album?
- From14:40 you seemed to have transitioned from 'I Think I'm Go Go' to 'If I Didn't Love You' with no mention of it, like you got the 2 songs confused. On the UK version 'If I...' is between 'Vicky Verky' and 'Wrong Side...'
- Vicky Verky doesn't mean vice versa, it means a sense of queasiness
- It's 'Elephant Ride', not 'Elephant Song'
It's rewarding to see you have the same kind of take as I do, I can't stand anything they have done post 'Frank' and the new direction seemed to lack any kind of passion or experimentation. Rather than what you said about the AOR type style being where they seemed to fit, I think the new wave sound was their true calling and as soon as they drifted from that they should have just stopped and restarted as something else.
You have the 'classic' era exactly right in my opinion, although I did love 'Babylon and On' (except for the awful 'Some Americans') but cringe at most of 'Cost Tan...' and 'Difford and Tilbrook'.
Great job though!
If you haven't heard some of the B-Sides they are good too; Going Crazy and All Fed Up being 2 that spring to mind. I like the 'Christmas Day' single too, but most people don't. There's a video for it on here.
Hey there, thanks for the detailed comment. Very quickly:
I appreciate the correction on Deptford and the transition. Somehow the title of If I Didn't Love You got cut off (nothing to be done about that at this stage, sadly). And as for certain songs I "missed," I never meant to discuss every single song. Occasionally I do, but mostly just the ones that speak to me. Speaking of which, these take a long time to record and I get punchy, so sometimes I misspeak, and get a title or two wrong. (Again, sadly nothing to be done.) I'll definitely check out those B-side. Thanks for watching, and welcome to the channel!
"Has any good ever come from Rolling Stone magazine?" Beautifully said (or asked!). That magazine has proven itself to be so far off the mark on so many bands on so many occasions over the years, it's not funny. Arrogant reviewers who think cutting things down is somehow 'cool with the kids'. It's not.....and they've been wrong so often, they should be embarrassed.
Great reviews, I love (UK) Squeeze and have albums 2 and 3 but I must check out Eastside Story, that one has somehow escaped my attention!
Thanks, Steve! So glad you enjoyed the episode. You're so right on Rolling Stone being repeatedly off the mark. The biggest cop-out is they've been trying to rewrite their history with something called the "contemporary review." So whenever you find any reviews of bands they consistently gave scathing reviews to (Led Zeppelin for example), you don't find their original negative review; you find a contemporary review that speaks of their albums in glowing terms. I'd respect them being perennially out of touch if they stood by their myopic reviews, but instead they have no backbone. PS: You're in for a real treat with East Side Story!
Very interesting. A band that completely went underneath my cultural radar. Those record covers are ugly indeed, especially that pink one with the muscle man.
Yeah, those covers are not pretty--but I vouch for the music within them wholeheartedly! I recommend starting with ArgyBargy; if you don't like that one, you won't like Squeeze. Hope you enjoy them!
Pronounced 'Depford'