Customer Reviews

Singles: 45's And Under

5 star:		(35)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Squeeze crafted some of the catchiest pop songs that nobody ever heard. "Tempted," Pulling Mussels," and "Black Coffee in Bed" are easily three of the better pop songs to come out of that time of flux when the 70's were crossing over into the 80's. Lumped together with a number of "one hit wonder" types of that time period, Squeeze deserved much more success than they achieved. This collection does a nice job collecting their strongest work of the original configurations of the band.
"And here in the bar, the piano has found another nail for my heart." For anyone who likes their music with intelligence and appreciation for the difficulty of crafting a good meaningful pop song this is some good stuff.

To me, Squeeze represented all that was right about the British New Wave/No Wave movement of the late 70s and early 80s. (Note, I say early 80s--this cd doesn't contain any of the songs from Sqeeze's reunion albums of the late 80s, most of which can be safely dismissed.) Singles "45's and Under" doesn't omit anything that any Squeeze fan would miss.

Each of these songs showcase the amazing songwriting talents of Difford and Tilbrook, and the tremendous talent of the musicians. Squeeze could always be relied upon for perfect polish, mature and above-average intelligence lyrics, FUN, and a lack self-importance and pompousness that others of the era smacked of. Each song is a hit. Nothing is a miss.

Critics often hyped Squeeze as "the 80s' answer to the Beatles" but please don't buy this CD hoping to hear Lennon and McCartney clones. Squeeze have far more in common with their New Wave/Britpop contemporaries like Elvis Costello, XTC, and even the Police. Their music is proof that plenty of good pop music was made in the early 1980s if you looked beyond the mostly one-hit wonders MTV promoted.

Probably the biggest hit here is "Tempted," which turns up in many 80s mix compilations. It's a great example of how better Britpop bands are able to transform their love of soulful R&B without aping American acts. Equally good songs like "Is That Love," "Another Nail For My Heart," "Pulling Mussels From a Shell" and "Black Coffee in Bed" are also included, and you'll be amazed that Squeeze never rivaled the Cars or INXS in record sales. Throughout, Squeeze tell tales of typically rocky British romances with a working-class twist. Their songs are packed with hooky guitar and synth parts and demand that you listen to them again and again. Only the early songs on this compliation seem dated in both lyrical content and production values.

You're going to like this CD and the price is right, so why don't you order it already?

For a short stretch, Difford/Tillbrook were being compared to Lennon/McCartney. While the comparison may hold up on the mid-tempo Pop, Squeeze never put over a ballad and really couldn't rock.

Still, when Squeeze was good they were really, really good. How on earth A&M allows the bands greatest record, ARGY-BARGY, (where most of the best moments on this compilation were first heard) to remain out of print is just beyond comprehension.

Squeeze was best at telling stories of love-story aftermath: "Up The Junction," "Another Nail For My Heart," "Pulling Mussels," "If I Didn't Love You," and "Tempted" are little Pop masterpieces.

The least know tune here (at least to American listeners) may be the best. "Annie Get Your Gun," swimming in quirky synthesizers and dreamy keyboards, cruises along in a way that Squeeze imitaters can only imagine.

Squeeze was able to assimilate the talents of the Beatles better than any other group. Their collection of songs here demonstrate that they did it on their own terms. Their music is organic from some of the Beatles ingredients with lyrics about what is genuine to them. It is no work of plagiarism. Most of the songs are exhuberant displays of love gone wrong. "Take Me I'm Yours" has all technical wizardry of New Wave with hopeful lines like "..because dreams are made of this..." and "I'll be forever in your kiss." But, most of the work is smoothly integrated music with bitter stories like "Up the Junction" and the Motown-esque "Coffee in Bed". Then there is the half-facetious "If I Didn't Love You," which is an upbeat song even for its angst. Arguably "Another Nail for My Heart," is their best song. Containing progressive guitar work and skillful percussion, they make a sour drink-yourself-under-the-table song into an exhiliarating masterpiece. Other highlights include "Annie, Get Your Gun," "Slap and Tickle," and "Cool for Cats". Not everything catchy and pop-accessible rock music is Beatlesque. There's enough of their own injection of words and music to be innovative. This is a great collection.

How can a record this old still sound so fresh and new? Almost every song is a standout which makes it a perfect CD to add to the mix at a party. Plus, who doesn't remember this fondly from their high school and college days? I can listen to Black Coffee in Bed, Tempted, Pulling Mussells from a Shell, and my favorite Goodbye Girl any time, and they still bring a smile to my face.

This is, without a doubt, one of the most thoroughly enjoyable compilations I own. Every track on here is either immensely inventive fun or is a sure-fire pop marvel. Despite the low number of songs on this collection, each selection is flawless and demonstrates how Squeeze crafted some of the strongest tunes in all of pop.

1. Take Me I'm Yours- Imagine Suicide and the Beatles out for tea. 7/10

2. Goodbye Girl- Catchy, as you might expect. Not overly energetic, but pretty. 9.5/10

3. Cool For Cats- The tempo picks up here, and we're in pop nirvana. 10/10

4. Up The Junction- Another pop gem! 9/10

5. Slap And Tickle- An unexpected bit of experimenting results in an off-kilter pop track: Imagine the first track passed through a high-speed phaser. 7/10

6. Another Nail For My Heart- Pop brilliance shines once more. A guitar magazine editor once said this track has a solo that combines everything that's great about pop, rock, jazz, classical and R&B in one tiny time span. I agree. 9.5/10

7. Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)- Has the band reached pop perfection here? I would say "YES!". Fabulously catchy. 10/10

8. If I Didn't Love You- "If I didn't love/I'd hate you," is one of the most memorable lines and the most outstanding feature is its dark and off-kilter "if I/if I/if I" refrain. Good pop song, over all. 8/10

9. Is That Love- Starts off as power pop and ends as a Beatles-like nugget. A good pop tune that evolves into something you wouldn't expect. 7.5/10

10. Tempted- The one Squeeze song everyone knows. Quite good, I must admit. The 60s soul inflections here are something new in the overall formula, but its still pretty good. 10/10

11. Black Coffee In Bed- The soul quota rises here, and the results are spectacular. Dig the repetition on some of the lines. Its great stuff. 10/10

12. Annie Get Your Gun- A fast-paced closer with another resoundingly singable chorus. 9.5/10


As you could see, I happen to believe that practically every track on here is a winner. The band had a penchant for creating quality material, and the songs all exhibit tremendous talent and superb pop sensibilities. This compilation's only fault is that its too short in terms of quantity. it's a straight reissue of a 1982 compilation, and as such, the limitations of the LP format are revealed in the number of tracks enclosed in this collection. But that's okay: It keeps filler to a minimum and ensures that listeners get a tremendously high dose of quality pop rock.

If you enjoy excellent pop music of the highest calibre, buy this compilation now!

This is the best introduction to the band Squeeze, a pentultimate New Wave-era band that never quite caught on over here but nonetheless deserve more than a cursory mention in any history of rock music and punk in particular. Formed two years before the Sex Pistols set the English pub scene ablaze, Squeeze falls into the category exemplified by Elvis Costello, that of the "witty punks" who didn't just talk about what was wrong with England but actually found things to praise or at least celebrate. They were never meant to be "huge rock stars", perhaps doomed by their somewhat dated synthesizer effects to be regarded as "just another Eighties band", but their best material holds up even 25 years later.

I got this CD on a trip to NYC back in the spring of '97, and it has survived the many shifts in tastes and styles that are my record collection. I can't praise this CD enough, there isn't a dull song on here (even if you don't like one or two of the tunes, in time they grow on you). This is the best starting point for anyone interested in the "New Wave" movement, and apart from Elvis Costello they are the ultimate New Wavers who still sound good today. I would advise steering clear of the post-87 Squeeze work, however, but this covers ground up to 1982-3 and represents the band at their peak. Perhaps best known as the band with the most fluid line-up (there's an interesting "revolving door" list of musicians involved with each song, with Glenn Tillbrook and Chris Difford being the only real constants), they nonetheless managed to get a uniformly great sound on each of the songs here, with special mentions to "Tempted", "Another Nail in My heart", "Goodbye Girl", "Black Coffee in Bed" and "Up the Junction". This is truly a "Best of" that really delivers, so take my word for it and pick this up today.

Catchy melodies, clever lyrics, great musicianship...I can't believe it took me so long to get a copy of this on CD. Difford & Tilbrook may not be quite Lennon & McCartney, but they do a pretty good job in their own right. The songs that resonate the best ("Tempted", "Black Coffee In Bed")are the ones that show Squeeze deviating from their good-natured goofy playfulness and starting to (dare I say it) explore deeper emotions. I always thought Squeeze was a great band who deserved to release better albums than they did, but when you can collect the best in one place, best to grab that one and wait for a second volume some day.

This was one of my favorite albums in high school/college. It's great. I love it. However, my one peeve with this CD is that it replaces the British version of "Goodbye Girl" (which was on my original album from way back when) with the American version. The differences between the two are in the lyrics (all in the third stanza - British: my silver razor, American: my silver bracelet; B: money in the waistcoat, A: money in the billfold; B: my wife has moved to Jersey, A: my wife has moved to Boston). Not huge differences, but enough to annoy me when I'm singing along since I'm so used to the British version.