50 years of Squeeze

My daughter went to the Roundhouse in Camden last night to see Squeeze.

She was one of the younger people there - and possibly the youngest female - because most Squeeze fans are my age, and counting.

The Roundhouse was the final gig of a two-month UK tour, and before that there was a six-week tour of America.

Together they marked the 50th anniversary of a band that was formed in 1974, although the first record - an EP - wasn’t released until 1977.

The first time I saw Squeeze was in Aberdeen in 1978 when the headline act was Eddie and the Hot Rods.

Also on the bill was a band called Radio Stars who had a minor hit with ‘Nervous Wreck’ (see below).

They were great fun live but split up after releasing a disappointing second album a year later.

Since then I’ve seen Squeeze at a very sweaty Hammersmith Palais (1981), Hammersmith Odeon (1985 and 1989), Glasgow Concert Hall (1993), Royal Albert Hall (2011), Harrogate Conference Centre (2015), and Ipswich Regent Theatre (2022).

I have most of their albums too, my favourites being East Side Story (1981), Some Fantastic Place (1993), Cradle To The Grave (2015), and an excellent 2CD compilation, Excess Moderation (1996).

There have been multiple line-up changes over the years (the band had a brief hiatus between 1982 and 1985, and a longer hiatus between 1998 and 2007) but Glen Tilbrook and Chris Difford, the songwriters and vocalists, have remained constant throughout.

Unlike many ‘heritage’ bands, Squeeze continue to record and play new music. There were new albums in 2015 and 2017, and two albums are due out next year.

One is an album of new songs, the other will feature songs written in those very early days but never recorded.

The problem that bands like Squeeze face is that recording and releasing albums today simply isn’t profitable, hence the need to tour or play the festival circuit, year after year.

The band’s resurrection over the past decade is quite an uplifting story however because it’s only 20 years ago that Tilbrook was touring America in a temperamental Winnebago, performing solo in tiny venues with even smaller audiences who he would lead out on to the street - like the Pied Piper - still playing his guitar and singing.

A video of that period, One For The Road, is worth watching, and you can’t help but admire someone who is prepared to suffer so many indignities to do what he clearly loves most - playing music.

One of my favourite Squeeze songs is the title track from the 1993 album Some Fantastic Place. Apart from dedicated fans few people will be aware of it, but thanks to Bob Mortimer and Ade Edmondson it has featured on Desert Island Discs at least twice.

Ten more Squeeze tracks you may not know:

‘If I Didn’t Love You’ from Argybargy (1980)
‘Mumbo Jumbo’ from East Side Story (1981)
‘Vanity Fair’ from East Side Story (1981)
‘Striking Matches’ from Babylon and On (1987)
‘Cigarette of a Single Man’ from Babylon and On (1987)
‘Letting Go’ from Play (1991)
‘Little King’ from Domino (1998)
‘A Moving Story’ from Domino (1998)
‘Sunny’ from Cradle To The Grave (2015)
‘Open’ from Cradle To The Grave (2015)

See also: Squeeze review — brasher, louder and more muscular than ever (The Times, October 2024)

PS. The only time I have been to the Roundhouse was 15 years ago. It was a glitzy corporate event that featured an after dinner set by Bryan Ferry.

For that reason alone it was one of the more memorable corporate events I have been to, but I can’t remember who hosted it, or what the purpose of it was.

Goodness knows how much it cost the organisers but I hope it was worth it!