East Side Story

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In the middle section Gilson does a fantastic fill, which no one else would have thought of. He stamped himself on it, but not in a way that’s intrusive. Thomson, Graeme (2006). Complicated Shadows: The Life and Music of Elvis Costello. Canongate U.S. ISBN 978-1841957968. A consummate pop record, with Difford and chief tunesmith Tilbrook firing on all cylinders, the diverse East Side Story featured enduring fan-favorites (and best Squeeze songs) including the sublime, infidelity-related radio hit “ Tempted” and the exuberant soul-pop of ‘In Quintessence,” while the country-flavored “Labelled With Love” swept up to No.4 on the UK singles chart. East Side Story is the fourth studio album by British band Squeeze. It was released on 15 May, 1981 through A&M Records and went to number 19 in the United Kingdom and number 44 in the United States. Christgau, Robert (29 June 1981). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice . Retrieved 16 June 2016.

Presumably the inspiration for its use was because the song concerned Cypriot sailors on their night out? John Cale was that producer and it’s evident the former Velvet Underground multi-instrumentalist didn’t get what made the South London outfit so singular. According to Tilbrook: “He threw out all the songs that we had written. He told us to write new songs.” America loved Hourglass, with its tongue-twisting chorus, though Difford suspected this success had much to do with the promotional video. “It’s been played a lot, and everyone you speak to compliments you on it,” he said at the time. 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. Famous for their signature hits “Cool For Cats” and “Up The Junction,” the band originally rose to prominence as punk segued into New Wave. No strangers to life’s vicissitudes, they’ve split up and reformed twice, yet have regularly frequented the UK Top 40. 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.Difford had always excelled on tales of romantic uncertainty and misadventure, and on that front he’s at the top of his game throughout East Side Story. “Tempted” finds the narrator trying to shake off a failed relationship during his travels, hinting at infidelities all the while. “Is That Love?” depicts a couple battering each other about with cruelty and still trying to keep it together. The pair in “Someone Else’s Heart” resort to reading each other’s diaries to find out their pasts instead of just communicating with one another. There’s rarely an outright happy or sad ending in a Difford song about relationships. In their place are honest explorations of all the gray areas that trip us up. What a pleasant surprise! While I enjoyed Squeeze's previous albums "Cool for Cats" and "Argybargy" for their chill upbeat vibe, Eastside story enters some pretty artsy territory. That in part can be attributed to Elvis Costello's work on the album. His influence is clearly heard in the country-esque "Labelled With Love" and "Messed Around", both sounding like something out of the album "Almost Blue". As mentioned, what makes this album so strong is how they can flow from one type of music to another. My favorite moment of this album comes from the outro of the experimental "F-Hole" into the intro of the country ballad "Labelled with Love". Squeeze was always able to write very strong ballads, and "Labelled with Love" is one of those. Interestingly, it has a very Americana feel to it from a very English band. By 1984, Squeeze had split, only to reform the following year (with Holland) for Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti. The line-up went through several subsequent changes – Difford and Tilbrook remained, and indeed remain, the only constants – but Squeeze continued to release singles and albums of redoubtable quality, enjoying their biggest success Stateside with 1987’s Hourglass.

Unfortunately, Cale’s perception of Squeeze differed from that of the band themselves. “He had us doing some awfully strange things,” said Chris Difford. A&M released the self-explanatory Singles: 45s And Under compilation to coincide with the band’s parting of the ways and – ironically – it went platinum on both sides of the Atlantic. As it turned out, the group’s split proved to be short-lived; after Difford and Tilbrook reconvened for 1984’s Difford & Tilbrook, they reformed Squeeze with Lavis, a returning Jools Holland, and Keith Wilkinson replacing John Bentley on bass. East Side Story is the fourth studio album by new wave group Squeeze. The album peaked at number 19 in the UK Albums Chart, spending 26 weeks in the listing. [4] As befits one of the UK’s much-loved acts, there is no end of Squeeze fans currently wearing their influences firmly on their sleeve, whether it be Mark Ronson, Kasabian, Supergrass, Lily Allen, The Feeling or Razorlight. With their fingerprints keenly felt throughout the fabric of popular music, it is only right that these songs, with their evergreen and popular sound, continue to be played and enjoyed live. And so since 2007, a newly reformed Squeeze have been slowly finding time to play a series of gigs and festival dates, preferring to reaffirm their abilities as a band rather than follow some of their peers who have come out in a blaze of publicity, only to be met with disappointment. This was written around the time I got married. I remember being in the bathroom and seeing Cindy’s wedding ring next to the soap, which inspired me to write the lyric. I don’t think it was particularly about our marriage, but it started off a sequence of ideas in my head."Other songs go the character-sketch route. The women Difford writes about come to life in all their dignity and sorrow: the harried housewife underestimated by her family and frustrated by her routine in “Woman’s World”; the would-be social climber whose best efforts constantly come up heartbreakingly short in “Vanity Fair”; the British GI bride left widowed by her drunken American husband and subsequently without a true home in “Labelled With Love.” These are short stories in song, the details of the lyrics and the twists in the melodies delivering the emotional punches without any of the manipulation commonly found in the pop music of the time. Even though the song’s opening line was autobiographical, Difford says this is one of his favorite songs. a b c d MacInnis, Craig (5 August 1989). "The Top 100 Albums of the '80s". Toronto Star. Toronto, Ont.: Torstar Syndication Services, a Division of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. p.G1. ISSN 0319-0781.

After a brief hiatus, during which Difford and Tilbrook issued a solo album imaginatively titled Difford & Tilbrook, Squeeze returned with Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti, probably as well known for the sleeve (tea cosy, fan, dessert) as for the songs.I’m not strapped to the song emotionally but it was a great live number and sums up being on the road and having fun. It’s a comfortable pair of jeans as a song."