Squeeze

Formed originally from the singer-songwriter partnership of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, the pair subsequently added Jools Holland, Harry Kakouli and Paul Gunn to become Squeeze. After a single and an EP, the band were signed to A&M, hitting the number two spot with 'Cool for Cats' in 1979, with an album of the same name following shortly after. Their second album 'Argyybargy', released in 1980, gave the group their first top 40 album hit, featuring one of their most enduring tracks 'Pulling Muscles (from the Shell)'. Holland left soon after to pursue a TV career and was replaced by Paul Carrack, after which the group released their most successful album to date, 'East Side Story', in 1981. Carrack then departed as the band cut 'Sweets from a Stranger', followed a year later by compilations album 'The Singles - 45 and Under'.

After a temporary break, Squeeze reformed with Holland to record 'Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti', then 1987's 'Babylon and On', featuring the top 20 single 'Hourglass'. Just after 1989's 'Frank', Holland again left the group and the band was dropped by A&M. They eventually re-signed to A&M with Carrack again to record several more albums. Solo careers beckoned for the band members, but in 2007, Difford and Tilbrook revived Squeeze once more and embarked on a Greatest Hits tour in the US and UK.

After performing a series of dates in America, the newly-reformed Squeeze released 'Five Live: On Tour in America'. They focused on promoting the live record, both in the UK and the US, before being honoured with the Heritage Award from PRS for Music. They continued to tour significantly until 2008 when they hinted at the possibility of new material. Their 15th studio album, 'The Knowledge', although rumoured many years before, didn't materialise until 2017 when its lead single 'Innocence in Paradise' was released.