It's Too Late

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  Seven Songs for the Week #77 - 25th Sep 24

  Jason Carty

  I seemed to have all the Squeeze albums for many years except this one. I got a vinyl copy at easter time and finally listened to it this week. For a 35 year old second hand LP it was pristine and certainly appeared to have been untroubled by a stylus at any point in time.

  In 1989 Squeeze were following up a hit album. Hourglass had been a breakthrough MTV hit in 1987 and they were getting it together after a tumultuous ten years. Why they then decided to release a less then overwhelming collection of songs, recorded live in the studio, with the drums front and centre, and with a massive portrait of a Tortoise on the cover is a mystery. Frank did not do well and so A&M dropped them.

  The next two Squeeze albums are their best. Picked up by Reprise/Warners they put out Play, a staggering good collection of songs produced by Tony Berg. When that tanked, A&M welcomed them back after a successful Greatest Hits record and they put out Some Fantastic Place. Play remains out of print, although it is on streaming, and is well worth your time.

  Six of the 11 tracks on Frank were already known to me, two of them from the 1992 Greatest Hits and four from the odd but wonderful Excess Moderation Compilation. This one was new to me, and it's the album closer.