"Argybargy" by SQUEEZE - Febuary 1980 UK Third Album on A&M Records featuring Glenn Tilbrook, Chris Difford, Jools Holland, John Bentley and Gilson Lavis with Production by John Cale of Velvet Underground fame (January 1998 UK A&M CD Reissue and Remaster with Two Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks - Part of the A&M Re Master Pieces Series and also in the November 1997 "Six In One..." 6CD Box Set) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

"...Maid Marion On Her Tiptoed Feet..." 

 

 

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Released in February 1980 on A&M Records and with John Bentley replacing Harry Kakouli on Bass (Harry had been with the band for the first two LPs), the third Squeeze album "Argybargy" did well in Blighty peaking at No. 32 on the back of two hugely popular 45s.

 

But more importantly, it was their first LP to crack America where it hit a more modest No. 71. This began a long and fruitful nine-album chart run Stateside well into the Nineties and beyond and was the last LP by Deptford's finest to include the mighty trio of Glenn Tilbrook, Chris Difford and Jools Holland (Paul Carrack of Ace and Mike & The Mechanics fame would join them for platter number four - "East Side Story" in May 1981).

 

With two bona-fide 45-single winners in the shape of "Pulling Muscles (From The Shell)" and "Another Nail In My Heart" – hardly surprising too that the ever popular "Argybargy" is one of the few titles in the voluminous Squeeze album catalogue to be at the receiving end of a Universal 2CD Deluxe Edition. First released 2008 on A&M Records 9832835 – Barcode 602498328354 – itself reissued in 2012 on Mercury 060075327855 – Barcode 0600753278550 - CD1 of that beast offered a whopping nine-extras with fifteen more on CD 2 – including the two bonuses first offered here. But to what we do have...

 

Initially launched in and part of the November 1997 "Six Of One..." 6CD Box Set on A&M Records 540 801-2 (Barcode 731454080125) - "Argybargy" was then put out as an A&M Re Master Pieces single CD re-release in January 1998 (February 1998 USA) with its Two Bonus Tracks intact (both are pictured above). To the muscular details...

 

UK released 19 January 1998 (4 February 1998 in the USA) - "Argybargy" by SQUEEZE on A&M 540 803-2 (Barcode 731454080323) is an A&M Re Master Pieces CD Reissue and Remaster with Two Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (44:25 minutes):

 

1. Pulling Muscles (From The Shell) [Side 1]

2. Another Nail In My Heart

3. Separate Beds

4. Misadventure

5. I Think I'm Go Go

6. Farfisa Beat [Side 2]

7. Here Comes That Feeling

8. Vicky Verky

9. If I Didn't Love You

10. Wrong Side Of The Moon

11. There At The Top

Tracks 1 to 11 are their third studio album "Argybargy" - released February 1980 in the UK on A&M Records AMLH 64802 and in the USA on A&M Records SP-4802. Produced by JOHN WOOD and SQUEEZE - it peaked at No. 32 in the UK and No. 71 in the USA.

 

NOTE on the US LP: 

Because "If I Didn't Love You" was issued as a third 45 in the States (not issued in the UK, there were only the two singles mentioned above) - it was decided to give that track more prominence on the American SP-4802 LP. So the USA album altered the run of tracks for Side 2 to the following – 9, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 11 – putting "If I Didn't Love You" first instead of "Farfisa Beat"

 

BONUS TRACKS (Both Previously Unreleased):

13. Funny How It Goes

14. Go

 

SQUEEZE was:

GLENN TILBROOK – Lead Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals

CHRIS DIFFORD – Rhythm Guitar, Vocals

JOOLS HOLLAND – Keyboards, Vocals

JOHN BENTLEY – Bass

GILSON LAVIS – Drums

 

Annotation - without the accompanying 52-page long book that came with that Box Set (a fabulous looking thing with huge swathes of memorabilia pictured), the skimpy gatefold slip of paper with barely any info that acts as an inlay for this CD is wildly inadequate. Pages 13 and 14 of the Box Set's 52-page booklet carried track-by-track comments for the third album from the band, and that could easily have been re-printed for here. A&M took the lazy way out and simply reissued the CDs as is from the box set. 

 

Bonuses/Missing - with a total playing time of 44:25 minutes, yes it's nice to have two new outtakes, but where's all the peripheral singles and their non-LP B-sides - a format this band was not only famous for but one that fans revelled in? When there was ample room, it's disappointing for sure. To the good stuff - Digitally Remastered by band founder GLENN TILBROOK and A&M's go-to Audio Engineer for the A&M Re Master Pieces Series ROGER WAKE - the original tapes certainly pack a lethal punch. But for such a huge step forward in songwriting and especially the brilliant words in each and every song, the absence too of the lyrics is kind of unforgivable.

 

The album opens with a total winner and probably one of their most loved songs (next to "Cool For Cats") - the Maid Marion On Tiptoed Feet of "Pulling Muscles (From The Shell)". With the LP issued in February, A&M Records UK were slow off the mark, not putting the 45-single out until April 1980 - AMS 7523 fitted out with the Non-LP B-side "What The Butler Saw". The flip-side song "...Butler..." had been rejected from the initial playlist for their second platter "Cool For Cats" (unfortunately it isn't here when there was shed loads of room). You really do miss the lyrics not being here either for their second 45 from the LP - "Another Nail In My Heart" - released as 45-single in January 1980 on A&M AMS 7507 with the Non-LP "Pretty Thing" on its flipside. Few bands use words like 'sympathetic arrangements' and 'little boy lies' - but Squeeze do (dig that great guitar solo too, now with a bit of oomph in it). 

The group's songwriting sophistication starts to really get in its stride with the almost hypnotic guitars of "Separate Beds" - a tune where Mum didn't like her (wouldn't peel the spuds). Time to decamp to Mrs. Smith's B&B for a spot of quality time - breakfast at 7:30 a.m. prompt mind (some crumpet my dears). "Misadventure" has that Elvis Costello British New Wave rock to it - a frantic bopper about the Isle Of Dogs with Miss Adventure and her lacy mates. The British LP's Side 1 comes to a close with "I Think I'm Go Go" - thinking about the Disco and why the need to go there at all - the synths and freckled face lyrics all clear in the Remaster especially as the song stretches out from the Buckingham Palace lyric. 

 

Side 2 opens with 2:57 minutes of the manic "Farfisa Beat" - Stereo Disco a-go-go does make-up and tight tee-shirts and mirror balls (so Elvis Costello in ways). "Up in the morning, politely yawning...egg on the shirt of my heart..." - the stop-start journey of "Here Comes That Feeling" making our hero stare up at the ceiling and wonder if he'll ever step outside this internal doom. The very Dave Edmunds bop of "Vicky Verky" is one of those great Squeeze dancers wrapped around a tale of pregnant girls and protective mothers trying to their best. "If I Didn't Love You" was issued Stateside as the third single from the LP (A&M Records 2229) with "Pretty Thing" on its flipside - the song actually name-checking singles and albums as being like the levels of love. We romp home with the happy-wappy "Wrong Side Of The Moon" - remembering to remember to forget - slick little guitar solo giving it some halfway through. "There At The Top" again feels like an Elvis Costello song - a lady looking at a map and a watch wondering which will get up the corporate ladder fastest. A very British New Wave track to end a really good album.

 

The Two Bonus Tracks have a history - "Funny How It Goes" (3:49 minutes) was presented along with two other songs "Someone Else's Heart" and "What The Butler Saw" as a 14-track album cut of the "Argybargy" album – but A&M and manager Miles Copeland rejected all three so chopping it down to the 11 we now have. "What The Butler Saw" would end up as the Non-LP B-side of the British 45-single "Pulling Muscles (From The Shell)" – not featured here unfortunately – and "Someone Else's Heart" would end up being re-recorded with Elvis Costello in tow for their fourth platter "East Side Story" in 1981. 

 

The two out-takes "Funny How It Goes" and "Go" (4:12 minutes) make their first appearance on CD here in 1998 – the first being a piano-pounder about chatting up women and its pitfalls. Faster and go-cat-go is the guitar and drums of "Go" - another killer tune that's very Clash or Jam on a neck-jerking bender. It feels slightly unfinished, but dig that groove and those clever keyboard flourishes over the driving guitar towards the end - like The Cars having a whig out. In other words both the Extras are actually worthy of the moniker Bonuses.

 

At a time when seriousness and political statements abounded (nay even demanded by the Musical Press) – bands like Squeeze, Madness and even The Specials offered unashamed fun – a trip down to the local for some "how's your father" slap and tickle with some risqué and poignant lyrical observations throw in for good measure. And would we have it any other way. A cool reissue of "Argybargy" and one to seek out if you don’t want to fork out for the 2CD DE variant...

 

SQUEEZE A&M Re Master Pieces CD Reissue Series

Released January 1998 UK, February 1998 USA

Each Single CD Remaster Contained Two Previously Unreleased Bonuses

 

1. "Squeeze" 

Original UK LP March 1978 on A&M Records AMLH 68465

UK CD Reissue January 1998 on A&M 540 806-2 (Barcode 731454080620) 

Bonus Tracks "Deep Cuts" and "Heartbreak"

 

2. "Cool For Cats" 

UK LP April 1979 on A&M Records AMLH 68503 

UK CD January 1998 on A&M Records 540 804-2 (Barcode

Bonus Tracks "I Must Go" and "Ain't it Sad" 

 

3. "Argybargy" 

UK LP February 1980 on A&M Records AMLH 64802

UK CD January 1998 on A&M 540 803-2 (Barcode 731454080323) 

Bonus Tracks "Funny How It Goes" and "Go" 

 

4. "East Side Story..." 

UK LP May 1981 on A&M Records AMLH 64854

UK CD January 1998 on A&M 540 805-2 (Barcode 731454080521) 

Bonus Tracks "The Axe Now Fallen" and "Looking For A Love"

 

5. "Sweets From A Stranger"

UK LP May 1982 on A&M Records AMLH 64899

UK CD January 1998 on A&M 540 807-2 (Barcode 731454080729) 

Bonus Tracks "I Can't Get Up Anymore" and "When Love Goes To Sleep"

 

6. "Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti" 

UK LP August 1985 on A&M Records AMA 5805 

UK CD January 1998 on A&M 540 802-2 (Barcode 731454080224) 

Bonus Tracks "Love's A Four Letter Word" and "The Fortnight Saga"

"Cool For Cats" by SQUEEZE - April 1979 UK Second Album on A&M Records featuring Glenn Tilbrook, Chris Difford, Jools Holland, Harry Kakouli and Gilson Lavis with Production by John Cale of Velvet Underground fame (January 1998 UK A&M CD Reissue and Remaster with Two Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks - Part of the A&M Re Master Pieces Series and also in the November 1997 "Six In One..." 6CD Box Set) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

"...A Bit Of Slap And Tickle...Down The Pub..." 

 

 

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It was time to up the game. Released in March 1978 on A&M Records, the self-titled and self-assured debut album for Deptford's finest "Squeeze" was the first of their large catalogue to contain the mighty trio of Glenn Tilbrook, Chris Difford and Jools Holland. But it had failed to chart in either Blighty or the USA (known Stateside as "U.K. Squeeze" also on A&M).

 

But the catchy-as-a-cold singles, toned-down Punk trashing and naughty-boys schoolyard humour of their second platter "Cool For Cats" saw Squeeze launch into public transistor radio consciousness with a cricket-bat wallop – the 45-single "Cool For Cats" going all the way to No. 2 on the UK singles charts - "Up The Junction" doing the same (they rivalled The Police for sales on A&M).

 

Its journey however on digital has been a weird one and in May 2022, "Cool For Cats" on a CD Remaster is at times, a bit of difficulty to find. Initially launched in and part of the November 1997 "Six Of One..." 6CD Box Set on A&M Records 540 801-2 (Barcode 731454080125) - it was then put out as an A&M Re Master Pieces single CD re-release in January 1998 (February 1998 USA) with its Two Bonus Tracks intact (both are pictured above).

 

But it has been deleted years now and often carries with it a hefty price tag when it comes up for air on sale sites. The same goes for the A&M Re Master Pieces single CD editions of their popular debut and third albums "Squeeze" (1978) and "Argybargy" (1980) - both also issued with the Box set's Two Bonuses as single CD variants - see full reissue list details below. 

 

Let's go back to the 'Slap And Tickle' and 'Slightly Drunk' Deptford boys, hip enough back in the day to be actually considered to be cool cats...

 

UK released 19 January 1998 (4 February 1998 in the USA) - "Cool For Cats" by SQUEEZE on A&M 540 804-2 (Barcode 731454080422) is an A&M Re Master Pieces CD Reissue and Remaster with Two Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (44:06 minutes):

 

1. Slap And Tickle [Side 1]

2. Revue

3. Touching You Touching Me

4. It's Not Cricket

5. It's So Dirty

6. The Knack

7. Hop Skip And Jump [Side 2]

8. Up The Junction

9. Hard To Find 

10. Slightly Drunk

11. Goodbye Girl

12. Cool For Cats

Tracks 1 to 12 are their second studio album "Cool For Cats" - released April 1979 in the UK on A&M Records AMLH 68503 and in the USA on A&M Records SP-4759 with the same tracks. Produced by JOHN WOOD and SQUEEZE - it peaked at No. 45 in the UK (didn’t chart USA). 

 

BONUS TRACKS (Both Previously Unreleased):

13. I Must Go

14. Ain't It Sad

 

SQUEEZE was:

GLENN TILBROOK – Lead Guitar, Vocals

CHRIS DIFFORD – Rhythm Guitar, Vocals

JOOLS HOLLAND – Keyboards

HARRY KAKOULI – Bass

GILSON LAVIS – Drums

 

Part of the "Six Of One..." 6CD Box Set - it won't take Squeeze fans long to work out that there's two things wrong with this CD Reissue. 

 

Annotation - without the accompanying 52-page long book that came with that Box Set (a fabulous looking thing with huge swathes of memorabilia pictured), the skimpy gatefold slip of paper with barely any info that acts as an inlay for this CD is wildly inadequate. Pages 11 and 12 of the Box Set's 52-page booklet carried track-by-track comments for the debut album from the band, and that could easily have been re-printed for here. A&M took the lazy way out and simply reissued the CDs as is from the box set. 

 

Bonuses/Missing - with a total playing time of 44:06 minutes, yes it's nice to have two new outtakes, but where's all the singles and their non-LP B-sides - a format this band was not only famous for but one that fans revelled in?

 

To the good stuff - Digitally Remastered by band founder GLENN TILBROOK and A&M's go-to Audio Engineer for the A&M Re Master Pieces Series ROGER WAKE - the original tapes certainly pack a lethal punch. 

 

Having a mad synth go at the Funk and Disco market of the day (every band tried in their own sly way), the album "Cool For Cats" opens with the travails of a young romance gone left (or to the pub) with the brilliantly ordinary-world observant "Slap And Tickle". It comes roaring into your living room too – a song that gets better and better after every listen (dig those guitars as it fades out). Blackpool, back-page reviews and tittle-tattle in dressing-rooms comes in for some stick in "Revue" – Squeeze reacting to the flack they used to get for the British Press not being able to musically pigeonhole them. 

 

Better by far is the funny, rude and self-decrepating "Touching Me Touching You" – our active adolescent thinking of his girl just a little too often and putting those thoughts into private play (watch those curtains missus). That weedy Elvis Costello-type-organ sound in the background now has just enough power in the Remaster – as do the twin guitars that race "Touching Me Touching you" to its very-10cc finish. She used to do a topless down at the Surrey Docks with tassels on her trupenny bits – but our singer can't name names because "It's Not Cricket". You can imagine that if Madness had issued their own version of "It's Not Cricket", they would have had another Top 5 hit in Page 3 obsessed England. Huge organ and rhythm section pumps out "It's So Dirty" with lyrics about the old man not finding out about the latest squeeze who may or may not meet his exacting standards for female companionship. Four-minutes and thirty-three seconds of "The Knack" ends Side 1 with a typically candid tale of lesser-men regaling their collective weaknesses.

 

Opening Side 2 is the cracking rocker "Hop Skip And Jump" – a very Jools Holland bopper that makes me smile, even now – good quality in the transfer too. Hard to resist either the hooky melody or the girl-from-Clapham lyrics in the brilliant "Up The Junction" – kissing in front of the telly in a smelly flat leading to little kicks inside her. Two years on and his drinking has become a problem while his lady's mother has left for a soldier and now there are no more nights with nappies whiffy (telly's gone to the hock shop too). After the urban cool of "Up The Junction" – the twin vocal leads in "Hard To Find" and the song itself do well to hold their own – ballerina tights if only he was a girl. "Slightly Drunk" still doesn't do much for me though.

 

"Goodbye Girl" was the first 45-single off the album in November 1978 – a whole sixth months in advance of the LP (its Non-LP B-side "Saints Alive" is unfortunately not included here). It's a good tune, but I never thought it was a great one and I can kind of understand its No. 63 placing on the UK charts for only two weeks. But then comes the big daddy - "Cool For Cats" – Cowboys taking positions behind the trees while Davey Crockett rides around saying its...Cool For Cats. A brilliant chitty-chatty tune about likely lads in rough-and-tumble pubs, flashing the cash to disreputable types staggering from the dartboard amidst the overflowing ashtrays and spilled Watney's Pale Ale. Love that synth break before it kicks into the girl-standing-by-the-wall Disco scene and Holland's endearing plinky-plonky keyboard solo – so damn – well, cool.

 

The two Bonus Tracks are properly exciting - "I Must Go" (2:16 minutes) is a tale of Moscow and New York with Carry-On Fish-Wives witty vocals after the chorus and would have made a top Non-LP B-side for "Up The Junction" instead of the album track A&M did use ("It's So Dirty"). The rocker "Ain't It Sad" (3:27 minutes) is even better - a very cool-guitar and snotty-vocals number similar to some of the more Punky material on their March 1978 self-titled "Squeeze" debut album. I can imagine someone putting this on a period CD-R and a punter being shocked to find that it's edgy vibe is by Squeeze. Damn cool to hear these two now anyway – and pleasing to know they are actually worthy of the moniker Extras.

 

Squeeze would follow with the similar (if not better) brilliance of "Argybargy" for their third studio album in February 1980 – opening that productive decade with a doozy. But like so many, I have only to see that strangely lovely artwork that kind of harks back to Lounge Music, and I'm a happy purring feline (who maybe leaves the touching to someone else)...

 

SQUEEZE A&M Re Master Pieces CD Reissue Series

Released January 1998 UK, February 1998 USA

Each Single CD Remaster Contained Two Previously Unreleased Bonuses

 

1. "Squeeze" 

Original UK LP March 1978 on A&M Records AMLH 68465

UK CD Reissue January 1998 on A&M 540 806-2 (Barcode 731454080620) 

Bonus Tracks "Deep Cuts" and "Heartbreak"

 

2. "Cool For Cats" 

UK LP April 1979 on A&M Records AMLH 68503 

UK CD January 1998 on A&M Records 540 804-2 (Barcode

Bonus Tracks "I Must Go" and "Ain't it Sad" 

 

3. "Argybargy" 

UK LP February 1980 on A&M Records AMLH 64802

UK CD January 1998 on A&M 540 803-2 (Barcode 731454080323) 

Bonus Tracks "Funny How It Goes" and "Go" 

 

4. "East Side Story..." 

UK LP May 1981 on A&M Records AMLH 64854

UK CD January 1998 on A&M 540 805-2 (Barcode 731454080521) 

Bonus Tracks "The Axe Now Fallen" and "Looking For A Love"

 

5. "Sweets From A Stranger"

UK LP May 1982 on A&M Records AMLH 64899

UK CD January 1998 on A&M 540 807-2 (Barcode 731454080729) 

Bonus Tracks "I Can't Get Up Anymore" and "When Love Goes To Sleep"

 

6. "Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti" 

UK LP August 1985 on A&M Records AMA 5805 

UK CD January 1998 on A&M 540 802-2 (Barcode 731454080224) 

Bonus Tracks "Love's A Four Letter Word" and "The Fortnight Saga"

"Squeeze" by SQUEEZE - March 1978 UK Debut Album on A&M Records featuring Glenn Tilbrook, Chris Difford, Jools Holland, Harry Kakouli and Gilson Lavis with Production by John Cale of Velvet Underground fame (January 1998 UK A&M CD Reissue and Remaster with Two Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks - Part of the A&M Re Master Pieces Series and November 1997 "Six In One..." 6CD Box Set) - A Review by Mark Barry...

 

"...Take Me, I'm Yours..."

 

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This Review And Many More Like It 

Available In my Kindle e-Book (June 2022 Version)

 

LOOKING AFTER NO. 1 

Volume 2 of 2 - M to Z...

 

Your All-Genres Guide To

Exceptional CD Reissues and Remasters 
For Music from 1956 to 1986

Over 1,760 E-Pages of In-Depth Information
240 Reviews From The Discs Themselves

No Cut and Paste Crap...

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"...Take Me, I'm Yours..."

 

Released in March 1978 on A&M Records, the self-titled and self-assured debut album for Deptford's finest "Squeeze" was the first of their large catalogue to contain the mighty trio of Glenn Tilbrook, Chris Difford and Jools Holland. 

 

Their other famously talented musical passenger - the brilliantly soulful singer-songwriter Paul Carrack of Ace and Mike & The Mechanics' fame - would join the band for 1981's fourth platter "East Side Story". But "Squeeze" (or "U.K. Squeeze" as it was known in America) is where the long and winding road began for the Cool Cats - a journey that is 44-years ongoing in 2022. 

Produced by the legendary John Cale of The Velvet Underground and chock full of British New Wave attitude, tunes and even a smidgen of radio-friendly 45-singles - "Squeeze" is a wee cracker of a debut album even now and this CD variant of it throws in two convincing unreleased bonuses tagged on at the end too. As of spring 2022, March 1978's "Squeeze" is almost forty-five years burning down the genre road and has indeed stood the test of time.

 

Speaking of digital, in May 2022, "Squeeze" on a CD Remaster is a bit of difficulty to find. Initially launched in and part of the November 1997 "Six Of One..." 6CD Box Set on A&M Records 540 801-2 (Barcode 731454080125) - it was then put out as an A&M Re Master Pieces single CD re-release in January 1998 (February 1998 USA) with its Two Bonus Tracks intact (both are pictured above). But it has been deleted years now and often carries with it a hefty price tag when it comes up for air on sale sites. The same goes for the A&M Re Master Pieces single CD editions of their popular second and third albums "Cool For Cats" (1979) and "Argybargy" (1980) - both also issued with the Box set's Two Bonuses as single CD variants - see full reissue list details below. 

 

Let's go back to the 'Bang Bang' and 'Wild Sewage Tickles Brazil' details of that fun debut though, time to muscle-bound creep this flexing-starter...

 

UK released 19 January 1998 (4 February 1998 in the USA) - "Squeeze" by SQUEEZE on A&M 540 806-2 (Barcode 731454080620) is an A&M Re Master Pieces CD Reissue and Remaster with Two Previously Unreleased Bonus Tracks that plays out as follows (50:50 minutes):

1. Sex Master [Side 1]

2. Bang Bang 

3. Strong In Reason 

4. Wild Sewerage Tickles Brazil 

5. Out Of Control 

6. Take Me, I'm Yours 

7. The Call [Side 2]

8. Model 

9. Remember What 

10. First Thing Wrong 

11. Hesitation (Rool Britannia) 

12. Get Smart 

Tracks 1 to 12 are their debut album "Squeeze" - released March 1978 in the UK on A&M Records AMLH 68465 and in the USA as "U.K. Squeeze" on A&M Records SP 4687 with the same tracks. Produced by JOHN CALE (except "Bang Bang" and "Take Me, I'm Yours" - Produced by SQUEEZE) - it didn't chart in either country. 

BONUS TRACKS (Both Previously Unreleased):

13. Deep Cuts 

14. Heartbreak 

Part of the "Six Of One..." 6CD Box Set - it won't take Squeeze fans long to work out that there's two things wrong with this CD Reissue. 

 

Annotation - without the accompanying 52-page long book that came with that Box Set (a fabulous looking thing with huge swathes of memorabilia pictured), the skimpy gate-fold slip of paper with barely any info that acts as an inlay for this CD is wildly inadequate. Pages 9 and 10 of the Box Set's 52-page booklet carried track-by-track comments for the debut album from the band, and that could easily have been re-printed for here. A&M took the lazy way out and simply reissued the CDs as is from the box set. 

Bonuses/Missing - with a total playing time of 50:50 minutes, yes it's nice to have two new outtakes, but where's all the singles and their non-LP B-sides - a format this band was not only famous for but one that fans revelled in? None of the trio of songs on the "Packet Of Three" EP from August 1977 are here, neither is the excellent "Night Nurse" non-album B-side to February 1978's "Take Me, I'm Yours". Although it didn't chart, the May 1978 45-single to "Bang Bang" had "All Fed Up" on its flipside - and again - a no show, when there was room. It's disappointing for sure and would have amped up this rather anaemic CD reissue to a properly desirable status. But let's now deal with what we do have...

Digitally Remastered by band founder GLENN TILBROOK and A&M's go-to Audio Engineer for the A&M Re Master Pieces Series ROGER WAKE - the original tapes certainly pack a lethal punch. 

 

The frantic guitar and drums of "Sex Master" roars into your living room like its been listening to "The Clash" debut of 1977 a few too many times. I'd forgotten (if I'm honest) just how Punky both the opener "Sex Master" and the letters inside his coat "Bang Bang" both are. By the time we reach the 'get your trunks out of the drawer' Police chug of "Strong In Reason" - you can so hear the Remaster giving this a powerful bottom end (why didn't they print the lyrics either?). "Strong In Reason" gives a real indication of their song strengths - catchy riffage - catchy tune - great lyrics - and all of it in a usable commercial package. 

 

There then starts a cool trio to the end of Side 1 - some might say that the largely instrumental "Wild Sewage Tickles Brazil" is just an echoed-guitar workout that is strictly B-side material - but I've always loved its loopy Funk-Rock vibe. There's a bit of schoolgirl how's your father longing in "Out Of Control" - another sexy Funk-Rock British New Wave tune name-checking things that turn our boys on. The obvious Drums and Synth marching rhythms of "Take Me, I'm Yours" reminds me now of Eurythmics and Human League and OMD - dreams are made of this. Fantastic muscle to the guitar solo too...

Side 2 opens with 5:17 minutes of "The Call" - a Motels type of guitar-jerk that combines crazy fret runs with doubled-vocals - and again - that British Punk and New Wave vibe they're not given enough credit for having. Bending guitar notes and Joe Jackson "Look Sharp!" tight rhythms makes "Model" boogie - and for me - is one of the album's hidden gems. Big Bass notes abound in "Remember What" - another bopper that could have been a kick-ass New Wave hit single - XTC and Squeeze have a love child emptying ashtrays all over your shoes. You can almost hear late-70ts T.Rex "I Love To Boogie" Hitsville in the excellent "First Thing Wrong" - a great swaggering snotty rocker that feels like New Wave Rock 'n' Roll with Mick Ronson on Guitar. And we romp home with the skid-in-your-pants "Hesitation (Rool Britannia)" - a wordy cynical songs about posers and again with wicked guitar work - and the 2:06 minutes of "Get Smart" - a Ramones-paced bruiser that wants to kick your head in. 

The two Bonus Tracks are very 1978-period - "Deep Cuts" (4:04 minutes) is a booth-across-the-street smut tune which the Box Set Booklet describes it as a New Wave observation of a frustrated man (apparently it's based on Dan August on TV). It plays out with spoken words about getting into the bath together - would have made a fabulous Punky B-side. "Heartbreak" (4:54 minutes) is even better and even more sophisticated - a slow burner that opens with Piano Man barroom runs only to settle into a moody guitar-riffing lurch with lyrics that reflect its title's subject matter. Roars - moans - pain - huge guitar soloing to the end. In fact, you can't help think that both Bonuses would have lifted up the debut - but it's cool to hear them now and they are actually worthy of the moniker Bonuses. 

Squeeze would knock it out of the park with 1979's "Cool For Cats" (the title track, "Up The Junction" and "Goodbye Girl") and follow that with the equally superb "Argybargy" in 1980 ("Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)" and "Another Nail In Your Heart") being the big guns there. 

 

But spare a thought for their naughty-but-nice 1978 starter-for-ten "Squeeze" - way better than I remember it and asking for your rediscovery at a digital dancehall near you. "Remember What" - I'm glad I did... 

SQUEEZE on A&M Re Master Pieces CD Reissues 

 Released January 1998 UK, February 1998 USA 

Each Single CD Remaster Contains Two Previously Unreleased Bonuses

1. "Squeeze" 

Original UK LP March 1978 on A&M Records AMLH 68465

UK CD Reissue January 1998 on A&M 540 806-2 (Barcode 731454080620) 

Bonus Tracks "Deep Cuts" and "Heartbreak"

2. "Cool For Cats" 

UK LP April 1979 on A&M Records AMLH 68503 

UK CD January 1998 on A&M Records 540 804-2 (Barcode

Bonus Tracks "I Must Go" and "Ain't it Sad" 

3. "Argybargy" 

UK LP February 1980 on A&M Records AMLH 64802

UK CD January 1998 on A&M 540 803-2 (Barcode 731454080323) 

Bonus Tracks "Funny How It Goes" and "Go" 

4. "East Side Story..." 

UK LP May 1981 on A&M Records AMLH 64854

UK CD January 1998 on A&M 540 805-2 (Barcode 731454080521) 

Bonus Tracks "The Axe Now Fallen" and "Looking For A Love"

5. "Sweets From A Stranger"

UK LP May 1982 on A&M Records AMLH 64899

UK CD January 1998 on A&M 540 807-2 (Barcode 731454080729) 

Bonus Tracks "I Can't Get Up Anymore" and "When Love Goes To Sleep"

6. "Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti" 

UK LP August 1985 on A&M Records AMA 5805 

UK CD January 1998 on A&M 540 802-2 (Barcode 731454080224) 

Bonus Tracks "Love's A Four Letter Word" and "The Fortnight Saga"