Difford& Tilbrook
	Produced by Tony Visconti (track 9 by E.T. Thorngren, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook)
	Released on June 1984
	UK CHART POSITION #47 . . . US CHART POSITION #55
	Find it at GEMM
SP 4985 cover [high resolution photo]

T he brains of Squeeze (Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook) transplanted into a mechanical body. As with Elvis Costello’s work around this period (Goodbye Cruel World), Difford & Tilbrook marks a sloughing off of Squeeze’s energetic charm for sophisticated studio production. Though Langer & Winstanley aren’t on the bill, producer Tony Visconti does a fair impression of their heavy hand, turning tracks like “The Apple Tree” and “Love’s Crashing Waves” into grand sonic statements. (E.T. Thorngren, on his one production credit, has the pair sounding like Culture Club.) It’s not a terrible album any more than Goodbye Cruel World was, just poor by the band’s usual standards. The rhythm section of Andy Duncan and Keith Wilkinson is cold, the synthesizers sterile and the usual sparks fly harmlessly off the studio walls. If interest in Squeeze had cooled off since their disbandment, Difford & Tilbrook did little to rekindle it. At the heart of the music are some good ideas (“Man For All Seasons,” “Hope Fell Down,” “Picking Up The Pieces”), but it’s a very small heart after all when compared to the band’s earlier works. Perhaps it’s the presumption of Difford & Tilbrook, discarding their old band to grab more of the spotlight, that doesn’t sit well with me. Looking like Tears For Fears, the coiffed and well attired lads on the album cover seem to be courting stardom too ardently, and the “style over substance” approach carries on through the music. In retrospect, even the resurrected Squeeze made many of the same musical choices on Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti, and both albums are pressed posies from gardens that once buzzed with life. The new romantic affectations are regrettable, but it was a road the pair apparently needed to explore. Difford & Tilbrook, in time, would come to be regarded as no more than a speed bump, rather than a death mask fashioned from the face of Squeeze.

SP 4985 back cover	SP 4985 lyric sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. ACTION SPEAKS FASTER    4:50
2. LOVE'S CRASHING WAVES    3:08
3. PICKING UP THE PIECES    3:18
4. ON MY MIND TONIGHT    4:08
5. MAN FOR ALL SEASONS    2:35
6. HOPE FELL DOWN    4:22
7. WAGON TRAIN    3:36
8. YOU CAN'T HURT THE GIRL    3:01
9. TEARS FOR ATTENTION    4:50
10. THE APPLE TREE    4:24
    
    All songs written by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook

CREDITS

CHRIS DIFFORD -- guitar and vocals
GLENN TILBROOK -- guitar, vocals and keyboards
DEBBIE BISHOP -- background vocals
ANDY DUNCAN -- drums and percussion
GUY FLETCHER -- keyboards and background vocals
LARRY TOLLFREE -- percussion
KEITH WILKINSON -- bass
E.T. Thorngren -- remixing
Tony Visconti -- mixing (10)
Richard Frankel -- art direction and design
Britain Hill -- photography

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