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Squeeze - Popularity in the US?

Posted on 8/8/18 at 9:01 am
Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
86410 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 9:01 am
I often wonder how this happened. The only single from Singles - 45's And Under that ever made the US hot 100 was Tempted, and that was in '87(Singles came out in '82). Pretty sure I never once heard them on the radio. Yet, while at LSU, everyone I knew knew most of the singles by heart. I wore out that Singles compilation in my dorm in '85. They still get lots of play on Sirius/XM. Am I the only one puzzled by this?

The list from Singles is just amazing:

Side one
"Take Me I'm Yours" – 2:48
"Goodbye Girl" (US single version) – 3:05
"Cool for Cats" – 3:10
"Up the Junction" – 3:10
"Slap and Tickle" – 4:16
"Another Nail in My Heart" – 2:55
"Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)" – 4:00
Side two
"Labelled with Love" – 4:44 / "If I Didn't Love You" (US) – 4:10
"Is That Love" – 2:30
"Tempted" – 4:00
"Black Coffee in Bed" – 6:10
"Annie Get Your Gun" – 3:22
Posted by The Spleen
Member since Dec 2010
38865 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 9:18 am to
I can remember hearing Tempted and Black Coffee in Bed on the radio growing up in the mid 80's, but none of the others from that list. I had a friend in college in the early 90's obsessed with them, but he was about the only one.

Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
86410 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 9:22 am to
quote:

in the mid 80's
Isn't that strange though? Years after the compilation is released?
Posted by The Spleen
Member since Dec 2010
38865 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 9:28 am to
Maybe? My memory is fuzzy, but I definitely remember hearing Tempted on the radio at the pool we were members of from 83-86, so it may have been as early as 83.

I don't think I thought much about them again until my freshman year of college and the guy down the hall I became friends with in the dorm listened to that album all the time.
Posted by Ace Midnight
Between sanity and madness
Member since Dec 2006
94746 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 9:28 am to
Tempted is one of the greatest songs of all time.

Period.

(ETA: Tempted and Black Coffee in Bed got shite tons of airplay on MTV back in the day.)
This post was edited on 8/8/18 at 9:29 am
Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
86410 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 9:33 am to
MTV was where I first saw them, but I have no idea why I bought Singles.
Posted by lsubeav
Little Rock, AR
Member since Apr 2005
590 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 10:11 am to
I was in college in the 80s and Squeeze was extremely popular.
Posted by MountainTiger
The foot of Mt. Belzoni
Member since Dec 2008
14912 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 10:21 am to
I first heard them in the summer of '79 when my family were living outside of Toronto. There was a fantastic radio station there, CFNY, that played all sorts of new wave stuff that I hadn't heard yet. Cool for Cats had just been released and they were playing a lot of that album on CFNY - mostly the title track and "Up the Junction". I've been a fan of them ever since then. They didn't get a lot of airplay on mainstream stations in the US but I did hear them on college stations, which is mostly what I listened to in that era before I gave up on radio entirely.
This post was edited on 8/8/18 at 10:56 am
Posted by Damone
FoCo
Member since Aug 2016
32966 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 10:27 am to
Split Enz >>>>>>> Squeeze
Posted by lsubeav
Little Rock, AR
Member since Apr 2005
590 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 10:34 am to
quote:

I first heard them in the summer of '79


I first saw them on a late night weekend show called Video Concert Hall in the late 70s. It was a precursor to MTV. I remember seeing the video for Another Nail In My Heart and immediately loved it. Argybargy is my favorite Squeeze album to this day. I always thought of Difford and Tilbrook as a modern day (at the time) Lennon and McCartney.
Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
86410 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 10:50 am to
quote:

Split Enz >>>>>>> Squeeze

Posted by FightinTigersDammit
Louisiana North
Member since Mar 2006
46249 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 11:43 am to
Great band. I used to play them a lot on the Northwestern State radio station.
Posted by Lakeboy7
New Orleans
Member since Jul 2011
28207 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 11:58 am to
quote:

MTV was where I first saw them


Dont know where you went but KLSU wore out Singles.

Every tune on Singles is money, listened to it all the way through about two months ago and really enjoyed it.
Posted by Damone
FoCo
Member since Aug 2016
32966 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 12:33 pm to
Peep the guy who doesn't "get" tEnz
Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
86410 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 1:08 pm to
?

Six Months in a Leaky Boat and I Got You are great. They can't touch Squeeze though. It's not close.
Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
86410 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 1:09 pm to
quote:

Dont know where you went but KLSU wore out Singles.

Don't recall anything that pop sounding ever being on KLSU. '85-'92.
Posted by Zappas Stache
Utility Muffin Research Kitchen
Member since Apr 2009
42333 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 1:13 pm to
I don't know about the radio but they were in heavy rotation on MTV and everyone watched MTV back then....they actually played just videos most of the time so it was like listening to the radio.

These days, I love watching Later With Jools Holland on the BBC. Jools was the piano player for squeeze and has had a live music show on the BBC since 1992. He has 4 or 5 bands on a show who play live while the other bands and a studio audience watches.
Posted by Dandy Lion
Member since Feb 2010
51400 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 1:41 pm to
WLIP
Posted by hobotiger
Asbury Park, NJ
Member since Nov 2007
5357 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 2:53 pm to
Glenn Tillbrook is playing here on the 18th
Posted by cgrand
HAMMOND
Member since Oct 2009
46465 posts
Posted on 8/8/18 at 2:56 pm to
quote:

wore out that Singles compilation in my dorm in '85

i'm still wearing it out
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