Retro Spins: Squeeze - Babylon And On

 

With the release of 1985's Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti, Squeeze found themselves needing another keyboard player to recreate the layers of sounds produced for the albums tracks in a live setting. For this, they would bring in Christopher Holland, brother of keyboardist Jools. While Christopher would support the band during their promotional tour, he had his sights set on a solo career, prompting him to eventually depart. He would be replaced by Andy Metcalfe.

Now as six members, featuring Chris Difford, Glenn Tilbrook, Jool Holland, Andy Metcalfe, Keith Wilkinson, and Gilson Lavis, Squeeze returned to the studio to record and release 1987's Babylon And On. This would be the album, or rather the song, but better stated, the music video, which would introduce me to the band. Its quirkiness, and overall fun tone captivated me, cementing the song in my mind, and making the album a must have when I began building my massive CD collection.

Babylon And On would spawn the only US top forty hits for the band with Hourglass and 853-5937, peaking at fifteen, and thirty-two, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100. Both would receive music videos, and see a decent amount of airplay on MTV. Aided by all of this, the album would become silver certified in the UK, which on the surface may not seem like much, but for Squeeze was a major achievement. To date, it was only their fourth album to receive such a status, and would also be the last. Further, it would also be their last album to spawn any Billboard hits.

The comical side to the phone number based song was that it was actually Tilbrook's home number. The tune would come to life initially as a jingle on his answering machine. Naturally, many listeners would call the number, driving the lead singer crazy with how often his phone started ringing. Sadly, you won't reach him at his London number these days.

What I noticed in playing through it was how pulled back the bassline was. This was counter to previously released Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti which seemed to want to showcase new bassist Wilkinson by making his parts very prevalent. 

Along with the two hits noted above, tracks Footprints, The Prisoner, Trust Me To Open My Mouth, Some Americans, and Striking Matches resonated with me. In fact, Striking Matches may be among my favorites from the band now. I enjoyed it so much that I actually went back to it for a second listen after I wrapped up all the tracks. I think it's the backing vocals of Pam Baker, and Chris Difford taking lead that makes it stand out. Here, have a listen.

Overall, this was a good listening session, and pumped me up to jump into their next release.

Metcalfe would depart in 1988, leaving Difford, Tilbrook, Holland, Wilkinson, and Lavis to record their final album for the decade, 1989's Frank. It would also be their last with long time label, A&E, who had released every album from the band since their 1978 debut. However, that would be far from the end for them. We'll pick up there tomorrow.

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