Squeeze

Originally formed in 1974 by Chris Difford who advertised for a guitarist in a local sweet shop, guitar player Glenn Tilbrook was the only respondent and subsequently joined. Keyboard player Jools Holland and drummer Paul Gunn arrived shortly afterwards and the group began playing the pub rock circuit under the monikers Captain Trundlow’s Sky Company and Skyco. The name Squeeze was later decided upon, chosen as a tribute to The Velvet Underground’s 1973 album of the same name. Bassist Harry Kakoulli was added in 1976 at the same time Gunn was replaced by former Chuck Berry drummer Gilson Lavis.

Squeeze released their debut EP “Packet of Three” in 1977 on Deptford Fun City Records, after which the group secured a record deal with A&M Records. With much of their initial output discredited by label execs, Squeeze’s debut self-titled album didn’t prove to be the best representation of their early material upon release in 1978. The group’s 1979 sophomore release “Cool for Cats” was a much more cohesive sound and spawned a pair of No. 2 singles “Cool for Cats” and “Up the Junction”. Subsequently the EP “6 Squeeze Songs Crammed into One Ten-Inch Record” was issued in late 1979, after which Kakoulli was fired from the group and replaced by John Bentley.

“Argybargy” appeared in 1980 representing a modest U.S. breakthrough, spawning the singles “Another Nail in My Heart” and “Pulling Mussels (from the Shell)”. Proficient pianist Jools Holland departed the group after the release wishing to pursue a boogie-woogie aesthetic and was replaced by the extolled Paul Carrack, formerly of Ace. Produced by Elvis Costello and Roger Bechirian, Squeeze’s fourth full-length “East Side Story” was critically acclaimed, peaking at No. 44 on the Billboard 200. The group continued to release a string of albums across the 1980s, following a short hiatus, including “Sweets from a Stranger”, “Difford & Tilbrook”, “Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti”, “Babylon and On” and “Frank”, raising Squeeze’s reputation as one of the respected live bands in the UK.

The live album “A Round & a Bout” arrived in 1990, after which, with contributions from sessions musicians Steve Nieve, Bruce Hornsby, and Matt Irving, the group issued the full-length “Play” in 1991. With little label backing the album performed poorly, and following the record drummer Lavis went to play in Jools Hollands’ big band. The record “Some Fantastic Place” was released in 1993, debuting at No. 26 in the UK, followed by “Ridiculous” in 1995, and the compilations “Piccadilly Collections” and “Excess Moderation”. Having completed their contractual obligations to A&M, Squeeze signed with independent Quixotic Records for their 1998 studio release “Domino”.

Adam and the Ants were a huge force of nature throughout the music world, founded in May 1977, fronted by Adam Ant himself. They were at the frontline of the post-punk era, and made their radio debut on the John Peel show on January 23rd 1978. It was around this time that they would tour extensively, usually alongside Siouxsie and the Banshees. The band became quite unpopular with a lot of the press with their controversial lyrics, but they soldiered on, until the release of “Dirk Wears White Sox” released on October 30th 1979, making it to number 16 in the UK Albums Chart, and become a gold record.

It was the following year however that the band released the album “Kings of the Wild Frontier” which shot up the charts right to number one, and also charted in the US, Sweden, New Zealand and Australia, eventually being certified Platinum. The album produced the hits, “Dog Eat Dog” which went to number 4 in the UK Singles Chart, and “Antmusic” which went to number 2, whilst making it to number 1 in Australia. They also re-released the title track as a single the following year, and earned themselves another number 2 single.

It paved the way for Adam and the Ants to release “Prince Charming”, a huge album that also became a Platinum record, and produced the title track of course which went to number 1 and the song “Stand and Deliver”, earning the band consecutive number 1 hits. Also from the album was the single “Ant Rap” which went to number 3. After yet another international tour, the band was back into the studio, working on an album called “Friend or Foe” which was later released in October 1982. It went to number 5 in the UK Album charts and was certified Gold. It produced the number one single “Goody Two Shoes” and the number 9 single “Friend or Foe”.

Between the albums “Strip” released on November 1983 and “Wonderful” released on March 7th 1995, the bands success whilst remaining consistent, dropped to charting around the number 20 mark.

On January 21st 2013, they released “Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner’s Daughter”. The album peaked at number 25.

The original lineup of The Beat were together for just five years, splitting in 1984 after meeting with both critical and commercial success with their blend of ska, reggae and 2 tone. In that time, they toured with some of the biggest musical names on the planet, including R.E.M., The Specials, David Bowie, Talking Heads, The Clash and The Police. Since the breakup, they’ve performed together just once - in 2003 at London’s Royal Festival Hall. VH1’s Bands Reunited television show tried, unsuccessfully, to make the reunion a permanently going concern, but instead, the two singers from the original band - Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger - have fronted their own versions of the group.

Wakeling is the singer in The English Beat, who have continued to tour and record. They contributed a couple of brand new songs to a Scooby-Doo cartoon in 2013, and announced plans in 2014 for a new album the following year, set to be titled For Crying Out Loud. It is set to be paid for via crowdfunding - in particular, PledgeMusic - and will be their first proper release since summer 2012, when they dropped a box set titled The Complete Beat. Rhythm Epkins, Matt Morrish, Kevin Lum and Larry Young round out the current lineup of The English Beat.