It seems I've been seeing more '80s bands live than when I was actually living in the '80s! Not quite, but one of the best British bands, or for that matter power pop bands to hail from the '70s through the '90s is Squeeze.
On Tuesday, July 13th at Radio City Music Hall, I had the pleasure and privilege to see the dynamic duo of Chris Difford and Glenn Tillbrook and their band. It was like being magically transported back to the hopeful decade when lyricists and musicians penned songs with cheerful guitar riffs, soulful crooning and lyrics about everyday life -- the folly of youth and falling in love, chip shops and holidays. When they opened with "Black Coffee in Bed," I knew it was going to be good.
They performed lots of their well-known songs, infectious not only in lyrics but in rhythm and memorable, heart-tugging guitar licks, diverting a bit for some jazzy cabaret. "Black Coffee in Bed" was followed by some of the most joyful tunes in pop history, which for some reason were never as popular in America as in their native Britain. They churned out -- to the delight of the fans (yes, we sang along!)-- "Take Me I'm Yours," "Pulling Mussels from the Shell," "Goodbye Girl," "Annie Get Your Gun," "Tempted," "Is That Love?" "If I Didn't Love You" and "Cool for Cats," among others.
One of the joys of pop music is the ability of its songwriters and musicians to catch the listener in a delicious rhyme or clever turn of phrase with perfect musical accompaniment. That's Difford and Tillbrook for you. In "Up the Junction," Tillbrook sings, "I never thought it would happen/With me and the girl from Clapham." In "Cool for Cats," catchy British slang and Difford's songwriting rule again with "I fancy this, I fancy that/I wanna be so flash/I give a little muscle/And I spend a little cash./But all I get is bitter and a nasty little rash."You also have to admit that with a band like Squeeze, even though Difford and Tillbrook are in their 50s, they are still, well--let's say--cute. The boyishly charming Difford quipped while temporarily sporting thick black-rimmed glasses on his head, "I'll put my glasses back on now for the girls who like me in glasses." Bassist John Bentley wore a fedora hat and dark sports jacket, which brought back memories of English bands like the Jam who wore their threads just so.
Openers Cheap Trick were a bit more tired than true...their line of defense was "We got big electric guitars and amps and we're gonna use 'em!" (and we havent changed at all in 35 years!) Although influential in their time, after a while it seemed they were just going through the motions, bombastically yet perfunctorily. "I Want You to Want Me" sounded like whiny begging. Still, they wooed their aging fans with a few catchy numbers like "Surrender" and "Dream Police," the only songs that to me had any melody worth counteracting the deafening hard rock of their electric beasts. Was there a generation gap at this gig? You had fans of all ages, though on the one hand, there were parents in their 50s and 60s with preteen kids (some of whom were present at the show), and on the other hand, singles or married couples in their 30s and 40s. At the close of the show, holding up an 8-track and tossing a record album into the crowd, Rick Nielsen reminded us just how many years ago Cheap Trick did their schtick. Interestingly, in the ladies room after the concert, a late 30-something girl shouted over the stall, referring to Squeeze, "All the songs they didn't play I can listen to on my ipod on the train ride home."
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