"I fancy this, I fancy that, I wanna be so flash
I give a little muscle and I spend a little cash
But all I get is bitter and a nasty little rash"
Yep, we've all been there.
Squeeze were classed as one of the great singles acts, so reviewing a compilation album makes sense. This is where the fun is. The group was founded by Glenn Tilbrook, Chris Difford, Paul Gunn and our old friend, bandleader, composer, presenter and OBE Jools Holland. Tilbrook and Difford were the writers of virtually all Squeeze's songs and with few exceptions Tilbrook takes lead vocals.
One of Squeeze's songs has a famous mondegreen. Instead of singing 'Pulling mussels from a shell' I wonder how many people sang some variation of 'Pulling mussels for Michelle'. Oh, was it just me?
That song was all about having holiday sex. Maybe not obvious until you realise that 'pulling mussels' is a euphemism for getting into ladyparts !! It becomes more obvious when the chorus describes having a knee-trembler round the back of the accommodation.
"But behind the chalet
My holiday's complete
And I feel like William Tell
Maid Marian on her tiptoed feet
Pulling mussels from a shell"
The whole song reminds me of a set of saucy seaside postcards, each verse could create a whole scene. Jools comes into his own on this track, giving a piano solo around the 2:15 mark.
There was a 1968 movie called 'Up the Junction' and although their song isn't about the movie, it got it's title from there. The phrase is another English term, this one meaning basically that you're screwed. The song is the tale of a guy who gets his girlfriend pregnant, turns to drink and she and the kid leave him. Chris Difford said of the song "The first time we played it I remember thinking, God, this is great. It was everything I loved in music - Bob Dylan in a sweet wrapper."
Probably my favourite song is 'Black Coffee in Bed' which started life when Difford picked up his notebook and it had a coffee stain on it. Backing vocals on this song were done by Elvis Costello and Paul Young. Elvis also did backing on another great track 'Tempted' and he was also co-producer on the original album 'Tempted' came from, 'East Side Story'.
At the top of this post is a few lines from probably Squeeze's best known and certainly one of their most popular songs 'Cool For Cats'. The whole thing is done in a Cockney accent by Chris Difford and has been likened to a bloke down the pub telling stories to his mates. The song title is from the first UK TV show with music for teenagers. It was 15 minutes long and ran from 1956-61 and obviously had a major impact on kids at the time.
Squeeze can almost be passed over today as just another band that came and went and had a few good songs on the way, but they really had an influence back in the day. Just check out this info from Chris Difford's book .. "Many bands and artists who would later achieve phenomenal success would begin their careers opening for Squeeze, including Dire Straits, The Jam, R.E.M., The Specials, U2 and XTC."
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