Last Christmas, my friend Mark gave me this book. Unlike other band bios or tell-all books, author Jim Drury just concentrates on Chris and Glenn’s responses about the songs from their 14 albums. A much better approach than some narrative which could be really impressive or a dry, painful chore you can’t finish; Something So Strong by Chris Bourke, the incredibly dull story of Crowded House is one I’ve never forgotten…or I wish I could.
It isn’t exclusively the answers to interview questions. Drury starts with a chapter covering the beginning: Glenn and Chris meet as teenagers in the Seventies, Glenn recruits Jools (Holland), Squeeze plays in pubs around London, etc. Then comes the following 14 chapters, chronologically narrating the history of Squeeze, song by song. They open with a little background covering the essentials of every album’s origin, its production, the personnel changes, management problems (Miles Copeland isn’t seen favorably), so on. Most of the responses from Difford and Tillbrook usually follow the song’s title with an occasional follow-up question from Drury. Other times, the author initiates a comment after the title but I couldn’t find any pattern on which songs he thought were best to do this. The duo’s replies are sincere, informative and at times, blunt especially with how much they dislike their first and last album. There’s no navel gazing or self congratulating in this book, it’s more reflecting over what both of them could’ve done better yet it wasn’t obvious then. Chapters then end with a pages covering the success or failure of that particular record, the major touring events, the lack of support from A&M Records, etc. The only Behind the Music story element is Chris getting treated for alcoholism. It all then concludes around 2002-3 with the wounds remaining rather sore over the band dissolving as it did and an old dispute regarding tour money from the late Nineties. Despite the bad feelings, I recall Glenn telling people at his Cactus show in 2003 that he still speaks to Chris, they just can’t work together right now. It was also too early to have a reconciliation on the short-lived VH-1 show Bands Reunited in 2004. Did the host really think Jools Holland would ever rejoin Squeeze while he’s a bigger star on the BBC hosting Later? The book tries to end on a happy note yet it can’t and I feel the author should’ve waited a couple more years before publishing.
To the average reader, this book wouldn’t be very interesting with its lack of “story.” For Squeeze fans, diehard to casual, it’s a great, insightful read. It won’t make one into an expert on all things Squeeze but the positive effect it had on me was a new perspective on their work after Babylon And On, especially the non-hit tracks. Just in time too because this Summer, Chris and Glenn have buried the hatchet in order to reform under the name Squeeze with different people on drums, bass and keyboards. They’re not coming anywhere near Austin, let alone Texas, is the rotten part. I won’t let it bring me down because I’ll be too busy bugging my friend Chip to help hunt down the reissues Universal is supposed to be releasing for the band’s 30th anniversary.