Squeeze made their vinyl debut in July 1977. After some line-up changes and a fanbase-building residency at The Bricklayers Arms in Greenwich, the band settled into their “classic” line-up, with Difford and Tilbrook supplemented by powerhouse drummer Gilson Lavis, bassist Harri Kakoulli (later replaced by John Bentley), and prodigiously gifted pianist Jools Holland. Hailing from Deptford, in southeast London, budding teenage singer-songwriters Difford and Tilbrook founded the band in 1974, taking their name from The Velvet Underground’s obscure final LP, recorded after the departure of mainstays Lou Reed and John Cale.
Listen to the best Squeeze songs on Apple Music and Spotify. They can also boast of a dedicated following in North America, and, after a five-year break, returned sounding refreshed with 2015’s critically acclaimed Cradle To The Grave, based upon fellow South Londoner Danny Baker’s acclaimed autobiography Going To Sea In A Sieve. No strangers to life’s vicissitudes, they’ve split up and reformed twice, yet have regularly frequented the UK Top 40.
Famous for their signature hits “Cool For Cats” and “Up The Junction,” the band originally rose to prominence as punk segued into New Wave. Guided by the redoubtable songwriting team of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, enduring South London quintet Squeeze have created one of the most covetable – and quintessentially English – catalogs in pop over the past four decades, as the best Squeeze songs show.