Squeeze (band)


Squeeze are an English rock band that came to prominence in the United Kingdom during the new wave period of the late 1970s, and continued recording in the 1980s, 1990s and 2010s. In the UK, their singles "Cool for Cats", "Up the Junction", and "Labelled with Love" were top-ten chart hits. Though not as commercially successful in the United States, Squeeze had American hits with "Tempted", "Black Coffee in Bed", and "Hourglass", and were considered a part of the Second British Invasion.
In the vast majority of their material, lyrics are written by Chris Difford and music by Glenn Tilbrook, who are guitarists and vocalists in the band. The duo were hailed as "the heirs to Lennon and McCartney's throne" during the band's initial popularity in the late 1970s. The group formed in Deptford, London, in 1974, and first broke up in 1982. Squeeze then reformed in 1985, and disbanded again in 1999. The band were also noted as a launchpad for the successful careers of their keyboard players, Jools Holland and Paul Carrack.
The band reunited for tours through the United States and United Kingdom in 2007. In 2010, they issued Spot the Difference, an album of newly recorded versions of older material. The band's first album of all-new material since 1998, Cradle to the Grave, was released in October 2015, followed by another album, The Knowledge, in October 2017.

Career

First incarnation: 1974–1982

The band's founding members in March 1974 were Chris Difford, and Glenn Tilbrook. Difford claims that in 1973, he stole 50p from his mother's purse to put a card in a local sweetshop window to advertise for a guitarist to join his band, although he was not actually in a band at the time. Tilbrook was the only person who responded to the advertisement. Difford and Tilbrook began writing songs together, and soon added Jools Holland and Paul Gunn to form an actual band. The group performed under several names, most frequently "Captain Trundlow's Sky Company" or "Skyco", before selecting the band name "Squeeze" as a facetious tribute to the Velvet Underground's oft-derided 1973 album Squeeze.
Gilson Lavis replaced Gunn on drums, and Harri Kakoulli joined on bass in 1975.
Squeeze's early career was spent around Deptford in south-east London, where they were part of a lively local music scene which included Alternative TV and Dire Straits. Though the group was initially signed to Miles Copeland III's BTM Records, the label went under in late 1976, and so their early singles and debut EP, 1977's Packet of Three, were released on the Deptford Fun City label.
Squeeze's first EP and most of their self-titled debut album were produced by John Cale for A&M Records. Cale had been a member of Velvet Underground from whose album Squeeze took their name. However, the debut album's two hit singles were produced by the band themselves, as the label found Cale's recordings uncommercial.
In the United States and Canada, the band and album were dubbed UK Squeeze owing to legal conflicts arising from a contemporary American band called "Tight Squeeze". The "UK" was dropped for all subsequent releases. In Australia, the same name change was used due to legal conflicts arising from an existing Sydney-based band also called "Squeeze". Albums in Australia were credited to UK Squeeze up to and including 1985's Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti.
The band's second album, Cool for Cats, contained the band's two highest charting UK singles in "Cool For Cats" and "Up The Junction", both of which peaked at No. 2. John Bentley replaced Harry Kakoulli on bass in 1979 following the release of the LP.
Argybargy, the band's third album, was also a UK hit. It was additionally a mild breakthrough in North America, as the single "Another Nail in My Heart" was a No. 56 hit in Canada, and second single "Pulling Mussels " received airplay on US rock radio stations. The video for the former was frequently shown on independent video music shows in the US.
Holland left for a solo career in 1980. He was replaced by Paul Carrack, formerly of the rock band Ace and the art rock band Roxy Music.
In 1981, the band released East Side Story. It was produced by Elvis Costello and Roger Bechirian, and featured Carrack's lead vocals on the radio hit "Tempted". Carrack himself left after the release of East Side Story, and was replaced by Don Snow. It also spawned another top 5 hit, the country influenced "Labelled with Love", which reached No.4 in the UK, and No.2 in Ireland. This line-up recorded the Sweets from a Stranger LP in 1982. Negative reviews, the stresses of touring, and conflict between band members led Difford and Tilbrook to break up the band later that year, after releasing a final single, "Annie Get Your Gun".

Difford & Tilbrook duo: 1983–1984

Difford and Tilbrook continued to work together, and released one self-titled album as the duo Difford & Tilbrook in 1984. Although it is not officially a Squeeze album, to many fans Difford & Tilbrook is considered a "lost" Squeeze LP because Difford and Tilbrook were themselves the only constant members of Squeeze. Several Difford & Tilbrook tracks have been featured on officially sanctioned Squeeze compilations, and Tilbrook's official site lists Difford & Tilbrook as a Squeeze album.
The duo also contributed to a musical written and staged in Deptford during this period, entitled Labelled with Love and based in large part on the music of Squeeze.

Second incarnation: 1985–1999

Squeeze re-formed to play a one night charity gig in 1985, with all five members from the 1980 Argybargy period—Difford, Tilbrook, Holland, Lavis, and Bentley. The performance was such a success that the band unanimously agreed to resume recording and touring as Squeeze. Searching for a different sound, the band replaced Bentley with bassist Keith Wilkinson from the Difford & Tilbrook sessions. This line-up released the 1985 LP Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti.
The new LP featured complex double-tracked keyboard parts which could not be duplicated by a single keyboard player in a live setting; hence, Jools' brother Christopher Holland, then aged 17, played and toured as a second keyboardist in 1985. Christopher had also played Hammond organ on the album's fourth single "Heartbreaking World", which was sung by Jools Holland. However, Christopher Holland's tenure was short-lived, for he had signed to I.R.S. Records and was pursuing a solo career, so he was replaced by an official new member: Andy Metcalfe of The Soft Boys and The Egyptians. A bassist in those groups, Metcalfe played keyboards with Squeeze. His tenure as the band's sixth member lasted until 1988.
In 1987, the sextet recorded the album Babylon and On. A successful release on both sides of the Atlantic, this album contained the band's only US top 40 hits in "Hourglass" and "853-5937".
Metcalfe left the band in 1988, leaving the Difford / Tilbrook / Holland / Wilkinson / Lavis line-up to record 1989's Frank. The LP was a commercial disappointment, from which no charting singles were taken in the UK, and the band was dropped from their long-time label A&M.
Adding a new second keyboard player in the person of Matt Irving, the band issued the live album A Round and a Bout on I.R.S. Records in March 1990. Jools Holland left Squeeze again in early 1990, and was not immediately replaced. In his stead, the band used session musicians such as Irving, Steve Nieve, and Bruce Hornsby for the 1991 release Play, which came out on the Reprise label. This release again spawned no UK hits, although in the US the singles "Satisfied" and "Crying in My Sleep" received significant airplay on modern rock stations, and in Canada "Satisfied" was a top 50 hit. However, Reprise dropped the band after this album. Following this, drummer Gilson Lavis was let go in 1992, and replaced by Nieve's Attractions bandmate Pete Thomas. Paul Carrack also returned to the band in 1993.
Squeeze re-signed to A&M in time for 1993's Some Fantastic Place. After a period of commercial decline in the UK, lead single "Third Rail" hit No. 39, becoming Squeeze's first UK Top 40 hit in six years.
Squeeze's line-up during the mid-1990s changed constantly. The American songwriter Aimee Mann toured as part of the band in 1994, playing both Mann and Squeeze songs. Thomas exited the band that year, and Carrack doubled on snare and keyboards for a few gigs before session drummer Andy Newmark was brought in. Then—still in 1994—Carrack left, which allowed keyboardist Andy Metcalfe to return to the band for a short spell, playing on some live dates. Drummer Kevin Wilkinson, formerly of The Waterboys and China Crisis, was also added around this time, replacing Newmark. He lasted through the 1995 album Ridiculous, which was recorded by the quartet of Difford, Tilbrook, Wilkinson and Wilkinson. The album spun off three minor hits in the UK: "This Summer", "Electric Trains" and "Heaven Knows". In addition, a minimally remixed version of "This Summer" became a No. 32 UK hit in 1996, a year after the original version peaked at No. 36. Despite this, A&M once again dropped Squeeze from their roster in late 1996.
Following the release of Ridiculous, Don Snow returned to Squeeze yet again as their touring keyboard player, but by 1997, the Squeeze line-up had officially dwindled down to just Difford and Tilbrook. That year the duo, billed as Squeeze, released the non-album single "Down in the Valley" as a fundraising single for Charlton Athletic F.C. Tilbrook formed the Quixotic label for this and future Squeeze-related releases, as well as releases by other artists.
For the 1998 album Domino, the band was again a quintet consisting of Difford, Tilbrook, bassist Hilaire Penda, ex-Del Amitri drummer Ashley Soan, and yet another returning keyboardist in the person of Christopher Holland. Nick Harper often performed with this version of Squeeze as a guest touring musician, providing additional guitar and vocals. In January 1999, just days before a planned tour, Chris Difford suddenly announced that he was taking a "hiatus" from Squeeze. The last venue at which Squeeze played with Difford was at The Charlotte, Leicester, England. The band subsequently continued as a quartet led by Tilbrook, with Jim Kimberley replacing Soan on some tour dates, and Christopher Holland exiting in the autumn to be replaced by Tilbrook's other frequent writing partner Chris Braide.
On 27 November 1999, in Aberdeen, Scotland, Squeeze played their final gig before breaking up again. Difford and Tilbrook embarked on separate solo careers shortly thereafter.