Music Is To Blame: Squeeze Celebrate Gold Anniversary in Style

It is a sign of the times that so many artists and bands from the dawn of modern popular music are reaching big birthdays and celebrating them with commemorative tours. The latest nostalgia loaded trip down memory lane comes from a band that emerged in the 1970s and really cemented their chart residency through the 1980s - Squeeze.

The tour lineup is missing a few familiar faces from the old days. There’s no Jools Holland on keyboards, you’re more likely to find him on TV these days, and certainly if you’re staying home on New Year’s Eve you might tune in to his late night musical magazine show. His replacement Paul Carrack ebbed and flowed between a variety of solo releases and bands including Ace, Mike and the Mechanics and even Roxy Music. Squeeze was founded by the only two constant and remaining members, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, whose distinctive dual vocal style defines what Squeeze is better than any stylistic pigeonhole.

Perhaps thanks to the comings and goings of band members over the years, Squeeze are a band that straddles genres. Not quite new wave, not exactly punk, certainly not electronic, mostly not new romantic, probably not mod, the number of fingers placed in various musical pies by Difford and Tilbrook were demonstrated by the dress code of the fans at Leicester’s De Montford Hall. There were punks in tail coats, mods, well, all of the above and more. A notably less generationally diverse audience than some other long lived bands but a sell out crowd that paid rapt attention to every polished vocal twist and twanging guitar chord.

Support came in the form of a refined and nostalgic set from Badly Drawn Boy, his trademark beanie hat pulled down tight over his grey curls, his unassuming presentation allowing space for the skilful construction of his songs to do the heavy lifting.

The opening 1982 release ‘Black Coffee in Bed’ shows Squeeze at their most typical - crafted storytelling, distinctive vocals, indistinct influences and tight performance. The original recording even featured Paul Young and Elvis Costello on backing vocals, further proof of the genre-hopping style of the music.

What followed was a marathon set of old favourites and new surprises, Difford and Tilbrook showing that they can still turn the handle on the record making machine when the mood takes them. ‘Departure Lounge’ was described as an attempt to sound like Pink Floyd, however Tilbrook casually mentions that he saw Dave Gilmour recently who said that it has two many chords to be a Pink Floyd Song. It does bear more than a passing resemblance to the haunting style of ‘Wish You Were Here’, though.

The familiar sounds of hits such as ‘Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)’, ‘Another Nail in My Heart’, ‘Annie Get Your Gun’, ‘Goodbye Girl’, ‘Tempted’ and ‘Labelled With Love’ hit the audience with one relentless wave of reminiscence after another. New releases were teased, reminding the audience of new albums that have been promised, one of new material and one of old song ideas that never made it off the page.

Looking back over the 50 years that Squeeze have been recording, they never quite reached the top spot. Peaking at number two in 1979 both with ‘Cool for Cats’ and ‘Up the Junction’, most releases languished around the back end of the top 40 or worse, however their persistent appeal to diehard fans never wanes. It’s perhaps a credit to their own peculiar, genre-straddling style that their old songs sound like new songs and their new songs sound like they could have been around for decades. With the courage of their convictions, an excellent live band and the dedication of fans, Difford and Tilbrook might still be going in another 50 years.

The Squeeze 50^th Anniversary Tour continues across the UK until 11^th November 2024.