Gilson Lavis

Squeeze drummer and reformed wild man of new wave, who rebuilt his life to become an artist and mentor

- Patrick Kidd

For 30 years, those who saw in the new year with BBC Two would be taken to midnight by the piano skills and easygoing charm of Jools Holland, the musical guests supported by his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra.

While the brass section gave the hootenanny its hoot, it was the tall, silver-haired Gilson Lavis on drums who had one of the most important roles. Only when the floor manager gave him the wink would the next song start. Holland called him “the engine room and nuclear reactor” of the operation.

They first met in 1976, when Lavis replied to an advert placed in Melody Maker by a south London band. Squeeze had been formed by Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford in 1974, with Holland joining on keyboards. Three years later, Lavis told an interviewer that he had gone to see them play in a pub when their drummer came off worse after a fight in the toilets. Lavis filled in for the rest of the evening and was given the job permanently. “It cost me a lot of money to set up that fight,” he joked.