On the sleeve of Babylon and On the keyboard player is Christopher Holland; on Domino, eleven years later, the same man is Chris Holland. I only caught it because I was logging seventeen albums of Squeeze credits into a single grid. Snags like that are why a discography map makes a better gift for Squeeze fans than another boxed set.
That grid runs from the 1978 debut through to The Knowledge in 2017, with every credited musician set against every record.
Every credited musician gets their own route across that grid, and each record marks a stop along it, so the shape of the band's history falls out of the credits on its own.
Squeeze Discography Tube Map Art Print
Difford and Tilbrook hold the two constant lines while the keyboard chair changes hands again and again across the catalogue.
Explore This Art PrintDifford and Tilbrook Are the Only Two Lines That Never Break
Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook appear in every single column of that grid, and nobody else comes close. Everything interesting on this map happens around those two unbroken lines.
Tilbrook's credits also sprawl the widest. Alongside guitars and lead vocals he picks up keyboards, horns, sitar and, on Some Fantastic Place (1993), balalaika.
Jools Holland Plays Three Albums, Vanishes for Five Years, Then Returns for Three More
Holland is on keyboards for Squeeze (1978), Cool for Cats (1979) where he also takes a vocal on track 7, and Argybargy (1980) where he sings lead on "Wrong Side of the Moon". Then his line stops dead.
He is absent from East Side Story (1981), Sweets from a Stranger (1982) and the Difford & Tilbrook album of 1984. He reappears on Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti (1985) with keyboards, backing vocals and a lead vocal on track 7.
He stays for Babylon and On (1987) and Frank (1989), where he takes the lead vocal on track 11, and then his line ends for good. Six albums, split cleanly in half by a five-year hole.
Paul Carrack Sings Tempted in 1981 and Turns Up Again in 1993 and 2010
Carrack appears three times in the grid, and those three appearances span 29 years end to end. On East Side Story (1981) he is credited with keyboards, backing vocals and the lead vocal on "Tempted".
Then twelve years of nothing, until Some Fantastic Place (1993) gives him keyboards, backing vocals and a lead vocal on track 4. Then seventeen more years of nothing, until Spot the Difference in 2010.
He is the only musician besides Difford and Tilbrook whose line leaves and returns twice, which on the print reads as a dotted thread rather than a run.
Ten People Sat in the Keyboard Seat Before Stephen Large Made It His
The keyboard chair is by a distance the most restless position in the band. Counting only credited players other than Tilbrook himself, ten names pass through it.
| Keyboard player | Albums the credits place them on | What the grid shows |
|---|---|---|
| Jools Holland | Squeeze (1978), Cool for Cats (1979), Argybargy (1980), Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti (1985), Babylon and On (1987), Frank (1989) | Leaves after 1980, returns in 1985, gone after 1989 |
| Paul Carrack | East Side Story (1981), Some Fantastic Place (1993), Spot the Difference (2010) | Three appearances spread over 29 years |
| Don Snow | Sweets from a Stranger (1982) | Keyboards and backing vocals, one album and out |
| Guy Fletcher | Difford & Tilbrook (1984) | Keyboards and backing vocals on the duo record only |
| Christopher Holland | Babylon and On (1987), Domino (1998) | Listed as Chris Holland on the second one, eleven years later |
| Andy Metcalfe | Frank (1989) | Moog and horns on tracks 3, 4 and 12 |
| Matt Irving | Frank (1989), Play (1991) | Accordion on the first, keyboards on the second |
| Steve Nieve | Play (1991) | One album, borrowed from the Attractions |
| Tony Berg | Play (1991) | Keyboards and guitars, one album |
| Stephen Large | Spot the Difference (2010), Cradle to the Grave (2015), The Knowledge (2017) | First player to hold the seat for three albums running since Holland |
Christopher Holland, Jools's younger brother, is the one to watch there. He appears on Babylon and On (1987) and again on Domino (1998) on piano, organ and keyboards, listed the second time as Chris Holland. A name that changes between columns is exactly what a quick pass through the credits misses.
John Bentley Missed 28 Years and Came Back to Re-Record His Own Basslines
Bentley plays bass on Argybargy (1980), East Side Story (1981) and Sweets from a Stranger (1982). His line then stops for eight consecutive albums.
He reappears on Spot the Difference (2010) on bass and vocals, and stays for Cradle to the Grave (2015), playing on tracks 1, 3, 9, 10 and 11. That is the longest gap anywhere on the map.
The timing is the good part. Spot the Difference is the album on which the band re-recorded their own back catalogue, so Bentley and Carrack both came back specifically to replay parts they had first played roughly thirty years earlier.
Keith Wilkinson Joined on a Record That Was Not Even a Squeeze Album
The Difford & Tilbrook album of 1984 was made in the years when Squeeze did not exist. No Jools Holland, no Gilson Lavis, no John Bentley. The credits instead show Andy Duncan on drums and percussion, Debbie Bishop on backing vocals, Guy Fletcher on keyboards, Larry Tollfree on percussion, and a new bass player.
That bass player is Keith Wilkinson, and he then runs through seven consecutive columns without a break: the 1984 record, Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti (1985), Babylon and On (1987), Frank (1989), Play (1991), Some Fantastic Place (1993) and Ridiculous (1995).
Gilson Lavis logs more albums overall at nine, but that 1984 detour interrupts his run. Wilkinson's seven are unbroken, the longest continuous line on the print after the two songwriters, and on Some Fantastic Place he also plays ukulele and sings lead on track 10.
Which Gift for Squeeze Fans Suits Which Kind of Listener
For the casual fan whose Squeeze is "Up the Junction" and "Tempted", A2 (420 x 594mm) is plenty. The early columns are the sparse ones and stay perfectly readable at that size. Prints start at £42.
For someone who owns Frank and Ridiculous and will happily argue about both, go A1 (594 x 841mm). The crowd is all in the middle and late columns, and the Play and Cradle to the Grave stations carry a great many names.
For a milestone birthday, A1 in a black wood frame gets hung the same week it is opened. Every print is a Giclée on 230gsm textured matte fine art paper, archival and acid-free.
Elvis Costello Is Here for a Backing Vocal, Not for Producing
Costello is on the print for a vocal, not for his work at the desk, and that follows one blunt rule. A producer only gets a tube line on these maps if the credits also show them playing or singing something.
Elvis Costello produced East Side Story, and on that basis alone he would not be on the print. He is on it because the credits list an additional vocal on "Tempted" and a backing vocal on "There's No Tomorrow". He earns a second station on Sweets from a Stranger (1982) for backing vocals on "Black Coffee in Bed", a record he did not produce.
Laurie Latham is the cleanest illustration of the rule. He is a name Squeeze fans know from behind the glass rather than in front of it, and his one and only entry in my entire grid is tambourine and assorted percussion on Cradle to the Grave (2015).
The Costello connection outlives Costello. Steve Nieve of the Attractions turns up on keyboards on Play (1991), and Pete Thomas plays drums and percussion on Ridiculous (1995), long after their bandleader left the producer's chair.
Sorting Out the Difford and Tilbrook Confusions
Is Jools Holland on the print?
Yes, and twice over. His line runs through Squeeze (1978), Cool for Cats (1979) and Argybargy (1980), then restarts at Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti (1985) and finishes at Frank (1989).
Does the map include the 1984 Difford & Tilbrook album?
It does. Leaving it out would break the story, because Keith Wilkinson joins there and carries the bass through the next six Squeeze albums.
Why does Paul Carrack appear three times?
Because the credits put him there three times: East Side Story (1981), Some Fantastic Place (1993) and Spot the Difference (2010). I chart the credits, not the official line-up.
Are session players included, or only the band?
Everyone credited playing or singing gets a line, which is why the Play and Cradle to the Grave stations are so busy. Producers and engineers do not, unless they also played something.
Squeeze, and the Bands That Share Their Musicians
The Squeeze discography tube map art print comes in A2 and A1, unframed or in a black wood frame, from £42.
For someone who lived through the same run of years, the Joe Jackson discography map, the Paul Weller map and the Stranglers map all sit naturally beside it.
Everything else is in the Music Wall Art Prints collection.
