Chris Difford | |
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 Difford in September 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Christopher Henry Difford |
| Born | 4 November 1954 Greenwich, London, England |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter, record producer, singer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar |
| Website | chrisdifford.com |
Christopher Henry Difford (born 4 November 1954) [1] is an English musician. He is a founding member and songwriter of the rock group Squeeze.
Difford was born in Greenwich, London, on 4 November 1954, the youngest of three sons. His mother, Isabel (née Hamilton) was from Northern Ireland and met Difford's father Sidney Lewis Difford (1919–2001) while he was stationed in Belfast during World War II. [2]
Difford has written lyrics for over 50 years, most notably in partnership with Glenn Tilbrook. The two were primary members in Squeeze and Difford & Tilbrook. According to Difford, he stole 50p from his mother's purse to put a card in a local sweetshop window advertising for a guitarist to join his band, although he did not have one at the time. Tilbrook was the only person who responded to the advert and they met for the first time shortly afterwards. [3] Some of their best-known songs are "Tempted", "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)", "Black Coffee in Bed", "Cool for Cats", "Up the Junction" and "Annie Get Your Gun".
After the break-up of Squeeze in 1983, Difford continued writing songs for artists such as Jools Holland, [4] Helen Shapiro, Billy Bremner and Elvis Costello. He has also written lyrics for music by Jools Holland, Elton John, [5] Wet Wet Wet, [6] Marti Pellow and others. He was involved with Tilbrook and John Turner in the creation of a musical, Labelled with Love, which was created using the songs of Squeeze. [7] The 1983 musical performed in Deptford was short-lived. In 1984, the pair released the album Difford and Tilbrook and had a minor hit in the UK with "Love's Crashing Waves" which reached 57 in the UK Singles Chart. [8] In 1985, Squeeze reunited, having hits in the US with the album Babylon and On , plus the singles "Hourglass" and "853-5937". Difford left the group in 1999 launching a solo career in 2003 with his album I Didn't Get Where I Am. [9] Difford was also manager of Bryan Ferry [10] and The Strypes. Squeeze reunited again in 2007, and Difford maintained a concurrent solo career alongside his work with the band.
In March 2010, Difford curated Songs in the Key of London, an evening of music dedicated to the capital at the Barbican Centre, London. [11]
In 2017, he published his autobiography, Some Fantastic Place: My Life In and Out of Squeeze.
Since 2014, he has been running the annual Chris Difford Songwriting Retreat, under the auspices of the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation, [12] providing an opportunity for artists to collaborate with one another to write new songs and create new friendships in a relaxed setting in the English countryside. [13]
In August 2021, Difford launched a podcast series, I Never Thought It Would Happen, with the charity Help Musicians, a charity he is an ambassador for, speaking to guests including Sting, Robbie Williams and KT Tunstall about the highs and lows of life in music. [14]
Difford was raised in Greenwich. He lived in New York with his first wife and their two children. He then lived in Rye, Sussex, with the mother of his two youngest children. Currently, he lives just outside Brighton, Sussex, with his wife, Louise, whom he married in April 2013. [15]
Squeeze are an English pop rock band that came to prominence in the United Kingdom during the new wave period of the late 1970s, and continued recording in the 1980s, 1990s and 2010s. In the UK, their singles "Cool for Cats", "Up the Junction", and "Labelled with Love" were top-ten chart hits. Though not as commercially successful in the United States, Squeeze had American hits with "Tempted", "Black Coffee in Bed", and "Hourglass", and were considered a part of the Second British Invasion.
Sweets from a Stranger is the fifth studio album by the British new wave group Squeeze, released in September 1982 through A&M. The album peaked at number 20 in the UK Albums Chart. The band split up soon after a world tour for the record, and the two main songwriters went on to record 1984's Difford & Tilbrook. Squeeze reunited and released Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti in 1985. As with all Squeeze albums, Chris Difford wrote the words first and Glenn Tilbrook would write the music afterwards often editing Difford's material to create a streamlined narrative. Tilbrook would record a demo afterwards and play it for Difford.
Glenn Martin Tilbrook is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the English new wave band Squeeze, a band formed in the mid-1970s who broke through in the new wave era at the decade's end. He generally writes the music for Squeeze's songs, while his writing partner, Chris Difford, writes the lyrics. In addition to his songwriting skills, Tilbrook is respected both as a singer and an accomplished guitarist.
Argybargy is the third studio album by the English new wave band Squeeze. Written and recorded after the band's successful sophomore release, Cool for Cats, the album's lyrics were written by Chris Difford while living with his wife in New York City. The band reunited with Cool for Cats producer John Wood and, after Glenn Tilbrook composed music for Difford's new lyrics, recorded the album in late 1979.
Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti is a 1985 album by the British new wave group Squeeze. It is the band's sixth album, and the first recorded since their breakup in 1982. It reunited songwriters Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford with drummer Gilson Lavis and keyboardist Jools Holland. Keith Wilkinson, who played bass on the 1984 Difford & Tilbrook album, joined Squeeze for the first time. He would stay with the band for over a decade, making him the longest-lasting bassist in Squeeze's history. Laurie Latham produced the album. The album peaked at number 31 on the UK Albums Chart.
Babylon and On is the seventh album released in September 1987 by the British new wave group Squeeze.
Some Fantastic Place is the tenth studio album by the British new wave group Squeeze, released in 1993 by A&M Records. Their first album since the departure of original Squeeze drummer Gilson Lavis, it features Pete Thomas and the brief return of keyboardist/vocalist Paul Carrack, who had previously appeared on East Side Story (1981). "Loving You Tonight" became only the second Squeeze song cut in thirteen years to feature Carrack singing a lead part. Additionally, bassist Keith Wilkinson wrote and sang "True Colours ", the first song on a Squeeze album not written by Glenn Tilbrook, Chris Difford, Jools Holland, or any combination of those three.
Domino is a 1998 album by the British new wave group Squeeze. It was the band's twelfth studio album. After a career struggling with various major record labels, the band decided to record and release Domino independently, on Glenn Tilbrook's own Quixotic Records. Core members Tilbrook and Chris Difford were joined by three brand new Squeeze members for this album: drummer Ashley Soan, bassist Hilaire Penda, and keyboardist Christopher Holland.
"Cool for Cats" is a song by English rock band Squeeze, released as the second single from their album of the same name. The song features a rare lead vocal performance from cockney-accented Squeeze lyricist Chris Difford, one of the only two occasions he sang lead on a Squeeze single A-side. The song, slightly edited from the album track, peaked at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart in 1979, making "Cool for Cats" one of the band's biggest hits.
"Up the Junction" was the third single released from Squeeze's second album, Cool for Cats. Sung by Glenn Tilbrook, it is one of the band's most popular and well-remembered songs, and reached number 2 on the UK Singles Chart, the same position as its predecessor, "Cool for Cats".
"Slap And Tickle" was the fourth and final single released from Squeeze's second album, Cool for Cats. Co-written by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, the song took influence lyrically from the crowd that the band had been associating with at the time. Its synth-heavy arrangement was inspired by Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder.
"Another Nail in My Heart" is a 1980 song by new wave band Squeeze. Written by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, it was released on the album Argybargy. Notable for Tilbrook's guitar solo right after the first verse, the song features marimba in its opening at the suggestion of newly acquired bassist John Bentley. Difford has expressed disappointment with his lyrics on the song, though he praised Tilbrook's solo.
"Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)" is a song by the band Squeeze. First released on the 1980 album Argybargy, it received positive critical reviews, peaked at No. 44 on the UK Singles Chart, and became one of Squeeze's most popular songs. The song is about singer and guitarist Chris Difford's experiences at a holiday camp.
"Tempted" is a song by the British rock band Squeeze. Written by the Squeeze songwriting team of Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford, the song features lyrics inspired by Difford's experiences on an American tour and an arrangement inspired by the Temptations. "Tempted" is one of a few Squeeze songs with Paul Carrack as lead vocalist, at the suggestion of producer Elvis Costello.
"Messed Around" is a US single released from Squeeze's fourth album, East Side Story.
"Bang Bang", a song by Squeeze, was the second single released from their debut album Squeeze.
Packet of Three was the first release from the new wave rock band Squeeze. It contained three songs produced by John Cale of the Velvet Underground, who also produced their self-titled debut LP the following year. Packet of Three was released in both 7" and 12" vinyl formats. The EP's title comes from the UK term for a standard package of condoms. The photo on the sleeve of the EP was taken outside a pub in Haddo Street, Greenwich, SE London, close to the council flat at 35 Congers House, Bronze Street, Deptford, where Chris Difford was staying at the time.
"Hourglass" is the first single released from Squeeze's seventh album, Babylon and On. Aided by an optical illusion-filled music video directed by Ade Edmondson, it received substantial airplay on MTV, and "Hourglass" became the highest-charting hit the band ever had in the United States, peaking at number 15 on the Billboard Hot 100, while reaching number 16 in the UK Singles Chart.
"If I Didn't Love You" is the ninth track from Squeeze's album, Argybargy. The song, written by Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford, features lyrics about the early stages of a relationship and the insecurity that comes with it. The song has vocals and a slide guitar solo by Tilbrook.
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