Wrightbuzz: Squeeze

Squeeze music over the years. This chronological list shows albums I purchased over the years. Added some personal comments on the different albums. You can get more details at the Squeeze (band) Wikipedia page.
U.K. Squeeze Mar 1978	The album title was simply Squeeze in the UK, but was marketed in the US under the name U.K. Squeeze to avoid confusion with similarly-named groups. The single on the album was "Take Me I'm Yours". I purchased this record after hearing the band when Cool For Cats was released.
Cool For Cats Apr 1979	Cool for Cats contains four UK hit singles, more than any other album the band has issued. I remember hearing "Cool For Cats" on the radio. The song was very catchy.
Argybargy Feb 1980	The 3rd studuo album continued the sound from Cool For Cats. Probably best known for "Pulling Mussels (from the Shell)" and "Another Nail In My Heart".
East Side Story May 1981	The album was a change from the band's prior New Wave sound. It was the first album to feature keyboardist Paul Carrack, replacing Jools Holland who departed in early 1981. Paul sang lead on the track "Tempted", which became Squeeze's first U.S. chart hit. The song "Tempted" is the hit everyone knows Squeeze for...
Sweets from a Stranger May 1982	This album is known for "Black Coffee In Bed" which is probably the best song of the lot. There was a new keyboard player, Don Snow, who replaced Paul Carrack. The band split up after a world tour for this album. It is actually a good album if you like the Difford & Tilbrook sound.
Singles - 45's and Under Oct 1982	Singles - 45's and Under is a compilation album by Squeeze, released on the A&M Records label on 22 October 1982. The album consists of all their singles from 1978 to 1982 in chronological order, with the exception of their second single, "Bang Bang", and includes a new song, "Annie Get Your Gun", which was released as a single ahead of the album. It was the band's biggest selling album, having been certified platinum in both the UK and the US.
Difford & Tilbrook Jul 1984	This was a solo album by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook after Squeeze broke up. I consider Difford & Tilbrook a Squeeze album since Glenn and Chris are the heart of Squeeze.
Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti Aug 1985	This is the band's sixth album, and the first recorded since their breakup in 1982. It reunited songwriters Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford with drummer Gilson Lavis and keyboardist Jools Holland. Keith Wilkinson, who played bass on the 1984 Difford & Tilbrook album, joined Squeeze for the first time. He would stay with the band for over a decade, making him the longest-lasting bassist in Squeeze's history. I'm fairly certain I heard "Last Time Forever" on the radio and was pleasantly surprised to hear Squeeze was back together.
Babylon and On Sep 1987	The album gave Squeeze their biggest US hit single, "Hourglass". The song became an unexpected US hit for the band, reaching number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, which Chris Difford attributed to the video for the song as much as the song itself. The song "Hourglass" is catchy and the most popular one on the album. The song "Footprints" is pretty good too.
Classics Volume 25 Jan 1988	This compilation album was released by A&:M records. They were cashing in on the Squeeze songs in their collection.
Frank Aug 1989	The eight studio album by Squeeze was good but did not sell well. The band was dropped by A&M and picked up by Reprise records. The song "Love Circles" was the second single. It featured a rare lead vocal by Chris Difford. The only other Squeeze single on which Difford sang lead throughout the entire track was 1979's "Cool for Cats". There are good songs on the album. I don't know why it was not more popular.
A Round And A Bout Jan 1990	A Round and a Bout is a live album released in 1990 by I.R.S. Records and Deptford Fun City Records. A concert video was released with the same title, and contained mostly the same performances from the LP. The album spent one week at number 50 in the UK Albums Chart in April 1990.
Play Jul 1991	This is the first LP in the Squeeze discography to feature only four official members instead of five. Has a similar sound to the Frank album. A good listen if you like the band.
Some Fantastic Place Sep 1993	Their first album since the departure of original Squeeze drummer Gilson Lavis, it features Pete Thomas and the brief return of keyboardist/vocalist Paul Carrack, who had previously appeared on East Side Story. "Loving You Tonight" became only the second Squeeze song in thirteen years to feature Carrack singing a lead part. Additionally, bassist Keith Wilkinson wrote and sang "True Colours (The Storm)", the first song on a Squeeze album not written by Glenn Tilbrook, Chris Difford, Jools Holland, or any combination of those three. This is a really good album (IMO).
Ridiculous Nov 1995	This was the band's eleventh studio album. I have the UK version of the CD. Good songs but I don't think the album sold well.
Piccadilly Collection 1996	Another collection of Squeeze songs released by A&:M records.
Excess Moderation 1996	This 2 CD set was released in the UK. A 40 track compilation of lesser-known album cuts, B-sides, and alternate versions, it provides a wonderful alternative view of the band's career to the "official version" presented ad nauseam by A&M's need to release a Squeeze hits package on a regular basis and recycle the same old songs on CD singles.
Domino Nov 1998	This was the band's twelfth studio album. After a career struggling with various major record labels, Squeeze decided to record and release Domino independently. The album was hastily made and received negative reactions from critics. Difford and Tilbrook have both since denounced Domino as a weak effort, marred by time constraints and increasing friction. The album did not appear in the UK Albums Chart; their first to fail to do so. Squeeze disbanded after the 1999 tour, which Chris Difford did not attend.
Big Squeeze 2002	Limited edition double CD with all the hits but B-sides. Of course I had to purchase this UK album... Squeeze wasn't putting out anything new.
BBC Sessions Aug 2008	This double CD features 17 years of BBC studio recordings which include some classic moments; acoustic versions of some of their biggest hits and live to air recordings, giggles and all. Downloaded the MP3 version of this from Amazon. Not a huge fan of most of the live versions.
Spot The Difference Aug 2010	This is the band's thirteenth studio album and consists entirely of new recordings of older Squeeze songs. The songs are arranged as similarly as possible to the original recordings, being done in such a way to invite the listener to 'spot the difference'. It was an interesting album but no new songs.
Cradle to the Grave Oct 2015	Squeeze released a new album!!! Was pleasantly surprised when this happened. This is the fourteenth studio album which features the first new songs since the 1998 album Domino. It is the only Squeeze album to feature bassist Lucy Shaw who departed before the band's 2017 album. Cradle to the Grave debuted at number 12 on the UK Albums Chart, making this the band's highest-charting album excluding hits compilations. This is a good album. Was glad to hear new music from the band.
Live USA 2016	Got to see Squeeze in concert when they visited Boston! Tour: Cradle to the Grave - U.S. Tour 2016 The Wilbur Theater, Boston MA Click here to see set list from the show. The English Beat opened which was fun. Was impressed how good Glenn Tilbrook was as a frontman. He played the guitar well and seemed to really enjoy the concert. Was able to purchase a live recording of the concert. They burned 11 songs onto a CD which we received at the end of the show. The band members signed the CDs too.
The Knowledge Oct 2017	Fifteenth studio album by Squeeze. It is the first Squeeze album to feature Yolanda Charles on bass after the departure of bassist Lucy Shaw. The album is okay. Haven't listened to it as much as older albums.
USA Tour 2019	Got to see Squeeze perform again! Tour: The Difford and Tilbrook Songbook - USA Tour 2019 Tanglewood, Music Shed, Lenox MA Click here to see set list from the show. Squeeze came on and just kicked it into gear. They played numerous songs from their catalog. More songs were from older albums which was fine by us. Glenn Tilbrook seemed a little more stiff than back in 2016. He was still good but might be showing his age. ;-)