Squeeze
Squeeze can be booked through this site. Squeeze entertainment booking site. Squeeze
is available for public concerts and events. Squeeze can be booked for
private events and Squeeze can be booked for corporate events and
meetings through this Squeeze booking page.
Unlike most middle agents that would mark
up the performance or appearance fee for Squeeze, we act as YOUR agent in
securing Squeeze at the best possible price. We go over the rider for
Squeeze and work directly with Squeeze or the responsible agent for
Squeeze to secure the talent for your event. We become YOUR agent,
representing YOU, the buyer.
In fact, in most cases we can negotiate for
the acquisition of Squeeze for international dates and newer promoters
providing you meet professional requirements.
Squeeze Biography
As one of the most traditional pop bands of the new wave,
Squeeze provided one of the links between classic British guitar pop
and post-punk. Inspired heavily by the Beatles and the Kinks, Squeeze
was the vehicle for the songwriting of Chris Difford and Glenn
Tilbrook, who were hailed as the heirs to Lennon and McCartney's throne
during their heyday in the early '80s. Unlike Lennon and McCartney, the
partnership between Difford and Tilbrook was a genuine collaboration,
with the former writing the lyrics and the latter providing the music.
Squeeze never came close to matching the popularity of the Beatles, but
the reason for that is part of their charm. Difford and Tilbrook were
wry, subtle songwriters that subscribed to traditional pop songwriting
values, but subverted them with literate lyrics and clever musical
references. While their native Britain warmed to Squeeze immediately,
sending singles like Take Me I'm Yours and Up the Junction into the
Top Ten, the band had a difficult time gaining a foothold in the
states; they didn't have a U.S. Top 40 hit until 1987, nearly a decade
after their debut album. Even if the group never had a hit in the U.S.,
Squeeze built a dedicated following that stayed with them into the late
'90s, and many of their songs -- Another Nail In My Heart, Pulling
Mussels (From the Shell), Tempted, Black Coffee In Bed -- became
pop classics of the new wave era, as the platinum status of their
compilation Singles 45's and Under indicates.
Chris Difford (b. April 11, 1954; guitar, vocals) and Glenn Tilbrook
(b. August 31, 1957; vocals, guitar) formed Squeeze in 1974. Tilbrook
answered an advertisement Difford had placed in a store window, and the
pair began writing songs. By the spring of 1974, the duo had recruited
pianist Jools Holland (b. Julian Holland, January 24, 1958) and drummer
Paul Gunn, and had named themselves Squeeze, after the disowned Velvet
Underground album that featured none of the group's original members.
Squeeze began playing the thriving pub rock circuit, although their
songs were quirkier and more pop-oriented than many of their peers. By
1976, the band had added bassist Harry Kakoulli and replaced Gunn with
Gilson Lavis (b. June 27, 1951), a former tour manager and drummer for
Chuck Berry. They had also signed a contract with Miles Copeland's
burgeoning BTM record label and management company. Squeeze had already
recorded several tracks for RCA, including two cuts with Muff Winwood,
that the label rejected. BTM went bankrupt before it could release the
band's debut single, Take Me I'm Yours in early 1977, but Squeeze was
able to work with John Cale on their debut EP, due to a contract
Copeland had arranged with Cale.
Squeeze released their debut EP, Packet of Three, on Deptford Fun City
Records, in the summer of 1977 and soon arranged an international
contract with A&M Records, becoming the label's first new wave act
since their disastrous signing of the Sex Pistols. The band entered the
studio with producer Cale later that year to work on their debut album,
provisionally titled Gay Guys by the group's producer. Cale had the
group throw out most of their standard material, forcing them to write
new material; consequently, the record wasn't necessarily a good
representation of the band's early sound. By the time the album was
released in the spring of 1978, the group and A&M had abandoned the
record's working title, and it was released as Squeeze. In America, the
band and album had to change their name to UK Squeeze, in order to
avoid confusion with an American band called Tight Squeeze; by the end
of the year, they had reverted back to Squeeze in the U.S.. Preceded by
the hit single Take Me I'm Yours, the album became a moderate
success, but the group's true British breakthrough arrived in 1979,
when they released their second album, Cool for Cats. More
representative of the band's sound than their debut, Cool for Cats
generated two number two singles in the title track and Up the
Junction. Later in 1978, the EP 6 Squeeze Songs Crammed Into One
Ten-Inch Record EP was released. Squeeze tried for a seasonal hit that
year with Christmas Day, but the single failed to chart. Kakoulli was
fired from the band after the release of Cool for Cats and was replaced
by John Bentley.
Released in the spring of 1980, Argybargy received the strongest
reviews of any Squeeze album to date, and produced moderate U.K. hits
with Another Nail In My Heart and Pulling Mussels (From the Shell).
Both songs, plus If I Didn't Love You, became hits on college radio
and new wave clubs in America, increasing the band's profile
considerably; it was the first Squeeze album to chart in America,
reaching number 71. Jools Holland, whose fascination with boogie-woogie
piano was beginning to sit uncomfortably with Difford and Tilbrook's
increasingly sophisticated compositions, left the band in late 1980 to
form the Millionaires; he was replaced by Paul Carrack, formerly of the
pub rock band Ace. Following Argybargy, critics in both the U.K. and
U.S. were calling Difford and Tillbrook the new Lennon and McCartney,
and in order to consolidate their growing reputation, Squeeze made an
attempt at their own Sgt. Pepper with 1981's East Side Story.
Initially, the album was to be produced by Dave Edmunds, but the group
scrapped those sessions to work with Elvis Costello and Roger
Bechirian. Upon its summer release, East Side Story was hailed with
excellent reviews, but it didn't become a huge hit as expected.
Nevertheless, it found an audience, peaking at number 19 in the U.K.
and number 44 on the U.S. charts. The soulful, Carrack-sung Tempted
failed to reach the U.K. Top 40, but it did become the group's first
charting U.S. single, reaching the Top 50. The country-tinged Labelled
With Love became the group's third, and last, British Top Ten hit that
fall. Carrack left at the end of 1981 to join Carlene Carter's backing
band; he was replaced with Don Snow, a classically trained pianist who
formerly played with the Sinceros.
Ever since the release of their debut, Squeeze had been touring and
recording without break, and signs of weariness were evident on Sweets
From a Stranger. Though it was the group's highest-charting U.S. album,
reaching number 32 shortly after its spring release, Sweets From a
Stranger was uneven. In the U,K,, it was a considerable disappointment,
reaching number 37, with its single Black Coffee in Bed stalling at
number 51. Nevertheless, the band had earned a considerable fan base,
and were able to play Madison Square Garden that summer. Tired of
touring and its frustrating commercial fortunes, Difford and Tilbrook
decided to disband Squeeze late in 1982, releasing the compilation
Singles -- 45's and Under, shortly after its announcement. Ironically,
Singles peaked at number three on the British charts; it would later go
platinum in the U.S..
Though they had disbanded Squeeze, Difford and Tilbrook had no
intention of ending their collaboration -- they simply wanted to pursue
other projects. In particular, they saw themselves as songwriters in
the classic tradition of Tin Pan Alley or the Brill Building, and began
writing for Helen Shapiro, Paul Young, Billy Bremner and Jools Holland.
They also worked on Labelled With Love, a musical based on their songs,
which played briefly in Deptford, England early in 1983. The duo
released an eponymous album in the summer of 1984, showcasing a
sophisticated new sound, as well as long, flowing haircuts and coats.
The record was a moderate success, but the duo already were thinking of
re-forming Squeeze. Early in 1985, the band reunited to play a charity
gig, which prompted Difford, Tilbrook, Holland, and Lavis (who had been
driving a cab) to permanently re-form, adding bassist Keith Wilkinson.
Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti was released in the fall of 1985 to positive
reviews and moderately successful sales. During 1986, Andy Metcalfe, a
member of Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians, joined the band as a
second keyboardist. Babylon and On followed in the fall of 1987, and
the album became a surprise hit, reaching number 14 in the U.K. and
generating their biggest American hits -- Hourglass, which reached
number 15 on the strength of MTV's heavy rotation of the song's
inventive video, and the Top 40 853-5937. After completing an
international tour, which featured another concert at Madison Square
Garden and a headlining spot at the Reading Festival, Metcalfe left the
band; he was not replaced.
Babylon and On may have been a hit, but Squeeze's renewed success
wasn't long-lasting. The group's next album, Frank, was released in the
fall of 1989 and it wasn't given much a promotional push by A&M.
Consequently, it flopped in both the U.S. and the U.K.. During the
supporting tour for Frank, A&M dropped Squeeze, leaving the band in
the cold. Following the tour, Holland left the band to concentrate on
his career as a recording artist, as well as a television host for the
BBC. Squeeze released a live album, A Round and a Bout, on I.R.S. in
the spring of 1990. Early in 1991, the band signed with Reprise Records
and began recording a new album, hiring Steve Nieve, Bruce Hornsby and
Matt Irving as session keyboardists. The resulting album, Play, was
released in the fall of 1991 to little attention, partially because it
received no support from the label. During the Play tour, the band
hired Don Snow and Carol Isaacs as keyboardists. Over the course of
1992, Difford & Tilbrook began to play the occasional acoustic
concert, as Squeeze revamped its touring lineup again, hiring Steve
Nieve as their touring keyboardist. Longtime drummer Gilson Lavis left
the band later that year to play in Jools Holland's big band; he was
replaced by Pete Thomas who, like Nieve, was a member of the
Attractions.
Squeeze resigned from A&M Records in early 1993 and recorded their
new album, Some Fantastic Place, with Thomas on drums and Paul Carrack
on keyboards. Released in the September of 1993, the album became a
moderate British hit, debuting at number 26; it was ignored in the
U.S.. During 1994, Thomas left the band to join the reunited
Attractions; by the end of the year, the group had replaced him with
Andy Newmark. Prior to the recording of 1995's Ridiculous, Kevin
Wilkinson -- no relation to bassist Keith Wilkinson -- became the
group's drummer. Released in the U.K. in the fall of 1995, Ridiculous
became a moderate hit, generating the hits This Summer and Electric
Trains. The album was released in America in the spring of 1996 on
I.R.S. Records. Under the name John Savannah, Don Snow contributed
keyboards on Ridiculous and the album's supporting tour.
During 1996, Squeeze released two compilations, the single-disc
Piccadilly Collection in the U.S. and the double-disc Excess Moderation
in the U.K.. The following year, A&M U.K. issued the box set Six of
One..., which contained remastered versions of their first six albums,
plus two bonus tracks on each disc. A second box, covering the second
six albums, was scheduled for release in 1998, but it was canceled
after the label folded. By that time, Squeeze had finished their
contractual obligation for new studio albums with the label. They
signed with independent Quixotic Records, releasing a new album,
Domino, in November of 1998. Domino was recorded with a new lineup,
featuring Difford and Tilbrook, plus Jools Holland's brother Chris
Holland on keyboards, bassist Hilaire Penda and drummer Ashley Soan, a
former member of Del Amitri. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Written by Stephen Thomas Erlewine