Good Morning!
Today we’re listening to “Annie Get Your Gun” by Squeeze
Like coffee, Squeeze has always been a bit of an acquired taste. In my world, most people think they’re just okay or say they’ve never heard them—at least until you play them something like “Tempted” from 1981’s East Side Story record. To be fair, it’s not always the most accessible music, but once you’re in, you’ll find yourself in a world of superior melody and brilliant lyrics.
The band wasn’t in love with Sweets From A Stranger. They were burnt out from touring and feeling pressure to follow up on the success of East Side Story. Paul Carrack (who had sung the lead on “Tempted”) had also split, leaving to work on his solo career.
They were a long way from the more new wave/ synth sounds of earlier tracks like “Take Me I’m Yours,” and the success of “Tempted.”
But when you’re standards are as high as theirs were, a record like this is still great.
And when you have both Elvis Costello and Paul Young on backing vocals? That’s even better.
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There is one absolutely massive hit on here, one of Squeeze’s best known and loved songs, “Black Coffee In Bed”, which I love so much I could probably write a whole ‘blog post on; it is one of those irresistible combinations of a superb Difford lyric about a freshly single man enjoying his new life with one of Tilbrook’s most catchy and commercial white soul scores. When you listen to it, it is difficult to do anything but sing along to Glenn’s utterly brilliant vocals, grin with pleasure at the wonderful guitar solo and enjoy the superb Elvis Costello and Paul Young on perfect backing vocals.
Read the rest of the article here.
Listen:
“Black Coffee In Bed” by Squeeze| Sweets From Strangers, 1982
Click the record to listen on your platform of choice.
As always, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this track!
Thanks for being here,
Kevin—
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Black Coffee In Bed definitely a favorite song when I was in college, like — the year it came it out LOL...Thanks for this!
I’m definitely partial to the more new wave-y stuff (specifically “Goodbye Girl”) but “Black Coffee in Bed” is an ace track.