OLD BAND NEW TRIX'

Squeeze release scrapped debut LP

- Casey Cooper-Fiske

WITH hit singles Take Me I'm Yours and Bang Bang, Squeeze launched themselves with a heavier sound on their debut LP, slightly different from the new wave style they became known for on second album Cool For Cats, but things could have been very different.

In 1974, the band, who are best known for UK top 10 singles Cool For Cats, Up The Junction and Labelled With Love, began writing Trixies, a glam rock opera about a New York nightclub.

But then aged just 19 and 16 respectively, the band's songwriters Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook did not have enough experience to record properly.

They would go on to build a cult following in the years that followed their 1978 self-titled debut album, produced by The Velvet Underground's John Cale, releasing 15 studio albums, and launching the career of pianist and TV presenter Jools Holland, who had two spells in the band.

Now, more than 50 years on from when they first began writing it, Squeeze are preparing to release their alternative debut album in 2026.