Before Elvis Costello and Roger Bechirian took over the production duties for the album East Side Story, Dave Edmunds recorded this version of what would become Squeeze's most famous song with co-writer and regular frontman Glenn Tilbrook on lead vocals. For some reason the band was unhappy with this simple, upbeat recording and went on to record the version that everyone knows with a lite soul arrangement and their keyboard player at the time, Paul Carack, on lead vocals with Tilbrook relegated to singing back up and a shared verse with Costello. I suspect that a lot of Squeeze's eventual commercial failure and general lack of legacy in the critical world stems from this bait-and-switch. It's never a good thing when your biggest hit sounds nothing like the rest of your catalog, especially if said hit hasn't aged very well because cheesy 80s blue eyed soul isn't exactly the hippest genre going.
I was never much of a Squeeze person, partly for the reasons Matthew Perpetua notes here. I liked Difford and Tillbrook, but Carrack always left me shrugging my shoulders and saying, "eh?" It wasn't really Difford & Tillbrook's fault, either, that thay came along in an era in which any songwriting team, especially if they happened to be Brits, had the "next Lennon & McCartney" label flung at them, ostensibly as a compliment, but more like an anvil. I liked "Black Coffee in Bed," though, and you'll find that the version of "Temped" to which michael points our attention is in fact a lot more in that vein, instrumentally and mood-wise. Had this been the super-saturated single, I can see me coming along much more willingly.
3 comments:
You don't have to like them but between Cool For Cats and East Side Story they were one of the most popular new wave bands for fans and critics alike. They might have ben cursed with the Beatles songwriter comparison, which some took as an insult I guess.
I liked them, but I also liked the Hawaiian Pups.
Bleagh. Maybe I'm just ultra-susceptible to the only-liking-the-first-version-I-hear phenomenon, but that alternate version leaves me completely cold, and their decision to change directions makes perfect sense to me.
I'm a big Squeeze fan, especially Singles 45's & Under, which I think is a great album without a single weak song on it. I'm pretty much oblivious to criticisms and comparisons - I just listen to what I like.
I guess I'll just say what I said over at fluxblog--I like the way it sounds in the verses, I guess because I'm a sucker for that kind of reggae/ska type of beat(why I also love early Police material too), although when it hits the chorus, something seems off.
I kind of doubt that it would have been the hit that it was with this version, although I still think it has merit, and I'm always interested in demos and alternate versions.
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