I was excited when I got home tonight to check out Squeeze’s appearance as musical guests on Regis and Kelly, which had been recorded during the day. I hadn’t see the show before, so I watched the whole thing, and enjoyed the interview with Steve Carell and laughed at Kelly in the children’s gymnastics class.

I mused to myself, “I’m sure it has been at least TEN YEARS since I’ve seen Squeeze on tv,” and then quickly realised that of course that was true since they had disbanded for ten years. What a treat to see them now! When Regis finally introduced the band, I was thrilled they were going to do Goobye Girl! Great choice for national television exposure: so recognisable, so timeless, and one of my very favorites!

…And then my tv reception started to crap out.

The timing was impeccable. Regis was crystal clear as he introduced them, but by the time the camera had swung over to the band, things were already getting a little blurry.

From that point things gradually (yet swifty!) degenerated, so that by the time Glenn played the final chord it looked like this.

So, although I agree with David that it’s vital someone in America upload the show to YouTube, I think you’ll all thank me for not volunteering!!

There was a very good article featuring Chris Difford in The Independent on June 11th. He talks about his life in Squeeze, and explains the title of the first release from his new album.

This is the third in his trilogy of autobiographical albums, and opens with the typically frank “1975″, referring to that heady year after Squeeze was born.

Difford explains: “The 1975 period of my life was probably the most exciting year of youth because you don’t know what’s coming, how long life’s going to be, and I jumped in with both feet.”

If you haven’t joined Chris’ Saturday Morning Music Club yet, check out David’s post about 1975. It contains a clever video of the new song which includes all the lyrics, and there are lots of comments on the music club from people who have joined.

Chris also mentions that he and Glenn still intend to try writing together again soon!

Photo by Teri Pengilley

"Strong in Reason" starts out mellow

With less than a month left before setting out on their US Tour, Squeeze have started doing a few live gigs together. They played a free, unannounced gig at the Anchor & Hope in London June 8th, and Snipturn came through for us with a video of “Strong In Reason.” I was really surprised at how much I like this song from the first album, which they have sort of de-punked. It’s a lot easier to appreciate the lyrics in this less aggressive interpretation.

Snipturn’s camera work has always been so very appreciated by those of us who haven’t been able to get to the gigs, but I am amazed at the quality of his shooting for this video. He’s working from one angle in what appear to be extremely cramped circumstances, but still manages to get a lot of footage of everyone, including details of the guitar and bass playing, while still keeping Chris and Glenn’s faces in all the important singing parts. The result is very professional looking, despite having only one take and one camera!

He comments in his review of another gig last April , “Whilst filming I try to be quite disciplined and concentrate on the shot and this tends to make you “focus” on the task of getting a good result. This means that I end up enjoying the night, but in a slightly different way to everyone else. Through the camera lens though, it really was true craftsmanship at work that I was watching” I’d add that we’re treated to some very fine craftsmanship of your own, Snip!

The band appear to be in excellent form, and played at The Isle of Wight Festival a few nights after the Anchor & Hope. You can read a few short reviews of it here on the site, and a slightly longer (and better) one here.

Lots of fans gathered at the Anchor & Hope gig, and their contributions to the site are overflowing (thanks, everyone!). They include several more videos courtesy of Snipturn, a lovely set of pictures taken by our David, a detailed review by Mark, a setlist from Liz, plus lots of comments. Check it out!

Remember that you can always use the search box (in the upper right hand corner of the front page of this site) to find any gig ever played by Squeeze, Glenn, or Chris. Many of them have reviews, photos, and even videos.

The official Glenn site still says that there are more US tour dates to be added, but I’m not sure whether that information is up to date or not. It’s hard to keep track because not all the sites (GT.com, SqueezeOfficial’s MySpace page, etc) have all the current dates listed. In fact, at the moment only the Squeeze Official web site seems to have the latest ones: The Fillmore in SF, The Showbox in Seattle, and Seneca Falls Casino in Niagara Falls, NY.

Squeeze are playing at Leamington Spa July 2nd, and at the Cornbury Festival July 3rd. They hit Columbus, Ohio on the 9th and play 20 dates across the U.S.!

Glenn and his family have apparently been stranded in Morocco due to the volcanic ash, but they do have an exit strategy! Glenn’s manager will be driving the tourbus from Stroud to Spain to pick them up, says this local Gloucestershire web article.

Miles Connolly, of the Prince Albert in Stroud, is travelling 700 miles in the star’s tour bus to pick him and his family up in Madrid, Spain. Miles, who works part time for Glenn as a tour manager, got the call for help on Sunday after the musician was left stranded by the airspace shutdown crisis.

Miles said: “Glenn had been in Morocco, and obviously he can’t fly back, so it made sense for me to go down to London to get his tour bus and drive it down to pick him up. He’s there with three of his children, his girlfriend Suzanne, his father and his father’s partner, and he needs to get back.”

Miles and his partner Lotte Lyster, who runs the pub, set off on Monday night.

You can read the rest of the article here. This explains Glenn’s recent tweet, which I initially found a bit perplexing due to lack of context (and because I had assumed “ash” was a typo…)

In marrakech staying at the amazing Riyad Darhani in the centre of all the souks. Looks like we may be scoring some ash & be staying longer. -Glenn