Friday, July 19, 2013

Difford & Tilbrook - Love's Crashing Waves

As many readers will know, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook were the main creative force behind the underrated new wave/pop band Squeeze.  (By the by, Squeeze was featured on ERV last January with "Another Nail in My Heart.")  Squeeze released five solid LPs between 1978 and 1982, broke up, re-formed in 1985 and stayed together until 1999, broke up again, and re-formed again in 2007.

Interestingly, Difford and Tilbrook continued to work together after the first Squeeze break up and actually released an album in 1984, which they creatively called Difford & Tilbrook.  The album did not do that well, only reaching #55 on the Billboard charts, which perhaps explains why there wasn't a second Difford and Tilbrook  album.  Additionally, we do not believe that the "Love's Crashing Waves" single even charted in the U.S. (it did reach #57 in the U.K.).

While the material is still strong, the album's production is definitely blue-eyed soul, influenced by Hall & Oates (as several critics have pointed out).  Along the same lines, the duo changed their clothes and Glenn Tilbrook even grew his hair (in retrospect, probably not the best idea; you can judge for yourself in the video below).  The new image and sound did not resonate with listeners, and after a successful reunion show in 1985 Squeeze re-formed and stayed together (with some personnel changes) for the next 14 years.

2 comments:

  1. This is one of my all time favorite Squeeze/Difford and Tilbrook tracks. Right around the time they released this album, Singles 45s and Under was becoming an enormous college radio hit. When I started college in 1985, every freshmen had a copy of that album. Its sort of a shame that D&T weren't able to capitalize on that success, but the good news is, as you point out, that Squeeze reformed.

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    1. Thanks, Joey -- Singles - 45s and Under is superb and was mentioned on ERV in the Squeeze post ("Another Nail in My Heart") linked above. ERV readers should note that Joey runs Teatro Triste del Clown (linked to the right), with his thoughts on the 3,000+ songs on his iPod. It is well worth a visit.

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