Lost/Forgotten Album #308

[Jon]

For this week's selection, which is the thirty-seventh in the series I thought up all by myself, I have taken a slight liberty. I've taken the same liberty before and, by golly, I'm going to do it again.

Argybargy, the third release from Squeeze, was released in 19801 and is their third release. It's the followup to 1979's Cool For Cats which was certified silver in the U.K. and contains the awesome Slap And Tickle which, if you've never listened to before, you need to do so NOW. 

For some reason, Argybargy did not receive any certification in the U.K. but the followup, East Side Story, also reached silver certification. It did reach #35 on the U.K. charts with "Another Nail IN My Heart" reaching #17 on the U.K. singles chart. 

As for North America, it was certified gold in Canada but received no certification in the U.S reaching #71 on the album chart. None of the singles released charted in the U.S. even though three songs received quite a bit of airplay in my neck of the woods, "Another Nail IN My Heart", "Pulling Mussels (From The Shell)" and "If I Didn't Love You".

Why this album didn't chart higher or why none of the singles charted is beyond me. I was quite surprised that the album didn't chart higher and that none of the singles made any impact in the U.S. I'm also a bit surprised this wasn't a bigger hit in The U.K. Kudos to Canada!

A mention of a Harold Robbins paperback is mentioned in the first song. I actually did have one of his paperbacks hidden in my room. If you don't know who Harold Robbins is or what he wrote, check him out on the internet. You'll know why I kept the book hidden. And, yes. Mother found my hiding spot and the book was thrown away.

Oh, well. I wonder if allmusic.com likes this album?

If any one album were responsible for sowing the seeds of Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook's reputation as the new Lennon and McCartney, it's Argybargy, Squeeze's third album and undisputed breakthrough. Squeeze made a great leap forward between their awkward debut and its great sequel, Cool for Cats, but that distance is small compared to the gap between Cool for Cats and Argybargy. Cool for Cats was the work of a rock & roll band -- one that lathered on the keyboards and herky-jerky rhythms, but these were kind of variations on one sound (if not quite one theme). Argybargy doesn't stay in one place; it's restless and crackling with colors, bursting into life with "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)," a vivid portrait of a seaside vacation where Difford's vignettes are made all the more vivid by Tilbrook's bright, invigorating pop. As the band's chief melodicist, it's easy to place much of the weight of Squeeze's progression on either Tilbrook or perhaps the band as a whole, as one of the lingering impressions of Argybargy is its brilliant sparkle, how the pop gleams yet is muscular, yet Difford's storytelling and character sketches are improving at a rapid rate, too. This is not foreign territory for Difford -- the previous album's "Up the Junction" was a remarkable story in miniature and it finds a near explicit single in this album's "Vicky Verky" -- but he's honing his wit and sharpening his observations, heard clearly on the clutch of singles that drive the album: the aforementioned "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)," the nervy breakup tune "Another Nail for My Heart," and the wonderfully wry "If I Didn't Love You," where Difford anticipates Nick Hornby's High Fidelity with his summation "Singles remind me of kisses/Albums remind me of plans." Singles may give Argybargy momentum but this isn't just surface; the group stretches into some spacy territory on "I Think I'm Go Go," "Misadventure" bristles with pent-up excitement, "There at the Top" bounces to a Motown beat, and "Separate Beds" is one of Difford and Tilbrook's best tunes, capturing the awkwardness of staying at a girlfriend's parents' house for the first time. Not the typical subject for a pop song and the best indication of how Squeeze were deepening. They had not yet left their rock & roll roots behind -- they can kick out agreeable throwaways like "Farfisa Beat" without missing a step, and they give Jools Holland some time to play the boogie-woogie on "Wrong Side of the Moon" -- but with Argybargy it was clear that Squeeze were at the top of the pack among new wave popsters, and that their sardonic yet lively voice was unique among any pop group before or since.

Argybargy

1. Pulling Mussels (From A Shell)
2. Another Nail In My Heart
3. Separate Beds
4. Misadventure
5. I Think I'm Go Go
6. Farfisa Beat
7. Here Comes That Feeling
8. Vicky Verky
9. If I Didn't Love You
10. Wrong Side Of The Moon
11. There At The Top

Availability: The deluxe version (featured here) includes nine extra tracks (not included here) along with another CD of  a 1980 concert. It runs around $20 and is well worth the investment.

 

[Scott]

Didn't you post this or a different Squeeze album on the other site that shall go unnamed?

[Jon]

Nope. First Squeeze album to ever have been featured on CRB. EVER!!!!

[Scott]

that wasn't the question...  I was referring to the other site that shall go unnamed...

[Jon]

It has never been posted. NEVER!

And watch your 'tude, C-boy.

[Scott]

You do know that your talking to the CRB Top Member, right?

[Jon]

Not if I post a lot o' stuff this weekend.

[Scott]

I appreciate and am drawn to music that is unique, of course that view is limited to rock and roll genres mostly, and this fits nicely. Somehow somewhere someway, I think a Squeeze album has been posted before, not on CRB, but maybe on some other site we all met on… Just a weird hunch I have…

I like this, it’s often new wave-ish, sometimes beatnik-ish, pop-ish, and rock-ish. Never lost in the background and always interesting even if the song isn’t that good – I’m speaking to you Farfisa Beat! Everything up to this point has been solid. I do miss Carracks voice though I understand he was only present for 2 albums that were spread far apart, it’s still an association I make with Squeeze because of Tempted. Hey, when that’s all America got what do you expect! Plus, he’s just got a perfect voice for this kind of music IMO.

I really like the closer, fun beat and bass line. I may have to look into this and East Side Story… And that other Paul Carrack album they did..

Nice work!

[Jon]

Sigh.

These were the albums posted on that site that shan't be named:

1. Picture--"Diamond Dreamer" & "Eternal Dark"

2. The Cross--"Mad:Bad And Dangerous To Know"

3. BusBoys--"American Worker"

4. The Power Station--"Living In Fear"

5. Billy Squier--"Enough Is Enough"

6. Jefferson Starship--"Modern Times"

7. Warrior--"Fighting For The Earth" & "The Wars Of God And Men"

8. Alcatrazz--"Disturbing The Peace"

9. Hanoi Rocks--"Two Steps From The Move"

10. April Wine--"Animal Grace"

11. Kick Axe--"Vices"

12. Arcade--"Arcade"

13. The Electric Boys--"Funk-O-Metal Carpet Ride"

14. Michael Bolton--"Michael Bolton"

15. Yes--"Drama"

16. The Joe Perry Project--"I've Got The Rock 'n' Rolls Again"

17. LRB--"Playing To Win"

18. Axe--"Offering" & "Nemesis"

[Scott]

OK OK...  you win...  my memory failed one time and its immortalized on this thread for all to see. 

[Jon]

Yes. "One time".

[RJhog (Admin)]

So my complete knowledge of Squeeze boils down to the superb song Tempted.  And it's not that I know all that much about that song.  What I do know is that it was sung by Paul Carrack.  That dude has a fabulous voice.  I'm not sure why he didn't sing more songs, they probably would have had more hits.

I wouldn't call this bad, it makes me think of what an Elvis Costello album would sound like if I knew what an Elvis Costello album sounded like.  The first track is fairly cool, but after that it's just nothing that makes me wanna invest any additional time in the band.  Glad to have had the chance to hear it.