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Baker's Dozen

Full House: Richard Thompson's Favourite Albums
Jude Rogers , October 3rd, 2018 11:29

As Fairport Convention alumnus and folk rock hero Richard Thompson tours his new album he speaks to Jude Rogers about 13 favourite records, from The Watersons to Squeeze, Moby Grape, Offa Rex, Marissa Nadler and Crowded House

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Squeeze – Cool for Cats
To my mind, there are two really interesting post-Beatles bands who've done something with the melodic tradition The Beatles got going. One of them's Squeeze. They're so underrated in that glut of '70s British bands. I followed The Stranglers too, of course, having been in a band with Hugh [Cornwell] when I was young. They were great! It's funny, but Hugh and I literally didn't see each other after 1967 until about six or seven years ago. I don't know how that happened – life's like that sometimes – but it just did. After we bumped into each other at that festival in Spain, we've been in touch ever since, though, which is really great.

I like Squeeze a lot because they manage to do something very clever: make songs with complex lyrics and complex melodies that sound very effortless, and are full of great hooks. Glenn Tilbrook's a great singer, full of character, as is Chris Difford, and their songs are full of honesty and humour which sounds very South-East London to me. Their music sounds very much from its time and its place, and I go back to it often.