Squeeze – in session for John Peel – May 3, 1978 – broadcast, May 13, 1978 – BBC Radio 1 –
Squeeze to kick off the week. One of the premier bands of the New Wave genre of the late 1970s, headed up by co-songwriters Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, they got off to a shaky start – the first album was largely panned and much of the blame went to John Cale, who produced the album and A&M, their label, thought this premier endeavor was uncommercial. That said, their first two hits off the album was the Difford and Tilbrook-penned tune Take Me, I’m Yours, laid the groundwork for what would become their breakthrough album, Cool For Cats. But that was 1979.
With their debut album out, they underwent tours to promote it, including their first tour of the U.S. where they were billed as UK Squeeze because of legal conflicts with the name. By the time of their second album and subsequent tours, the UK part was dropped in the U.S. (but stayed that way in Australia until their 1985 release, Cosi Fan Tutti Fruitti and Squeeze went on to rising popularity worldwide.
This session is their second for John Peel and was recorded at Radio 1 on May 3, 1978 and broadcast on the 13th of that month. Squeeze, with several personnel changes over the years, had a successful run during the 1980s and 1990s. With Difford and Tilbrook as the founding core members, Squeeze went through fits and starts in the mid-1980s before settling down in 1985. The band stayed pretty much intact until calling it quits for good in 1999.
Hard to imagine it’s been 18 years since they broke up – and it’s entirely possible many people missed them the first time around. They were a noteworthy band and the writing team of Difford and Tillbrook wrote a substantial catalog of memorable songs which became synonymous with the 1980s.
So if you aren’t familiar – hit the play button and check them out. If you are familiar, here’s a refresher to remind you the 80s were a lot more interesting than previously thought, and Squeeze were largely responsible for it.
Fab stuff, the Peel Sessions are great to hear again but the article is a little inaccurate. If I may?… Yes, the band did indeed split in 1999 but that isn’t quite the end of the story. After a few years of working individually and together on solo projects and the occasional live acoustic shows (and following another line-up change), Difford & Tilbrook got Squeeze back on the road with a 2007 US tour (Cheap Trick were among the support acts… Now there’s a gig I’d have loved to have seen!!) which spawned the ‘Five Live: On Tour in America’ album. Further studio albums appeared in 2010 (Spot The Difference – which comprised of reworkings of old Squeeze songs with a bonus ‘Live At The Filmore’ album) and 2015 (Cradle To The Grave). They played a fine set of classic Squeeze songs and threw in a couple of new ones at Glastonbury Festival last year and have a UK tour lined up for October this year… not that I’m much of a fan, you understand!?
Neil – you’re closer to the source than I am, so anything you add would have the accuracy I can’t have, being some 7,000 miles away.
Actually Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook wrote the song Take Me I’m Yours, not John Cale as stated in this article.
Thanks for pointing out the typo – it’s fixed.
G.