''Packet of Three'' was the first release from the new wave

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band Squeeze. It contained three songs produced by

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, dr ...

the Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

, who also produced their self-titled debut LP the following year. ''Packet of Three'' was released in both 7" and 12"

vinyl Vinyl may refer to: Chemistry * Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a particular vinyl polymer * Vinyl cation, a type of carbocation * Vinyl group, a broad class of organic molecules in chemistry * Vinyl polymer, a group of polymers derived from vinyl ...

formats. (The 12" did not have a picture sleeve) 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 Greenwich ( , , ) is an List of areas of London, area in south-east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London, east-south-east of Charing Cross. Greenwich is notable for its maritime hi ...

, SE London, close to the council flat at 35 Congers House, Bronze Street,

Deptford Deptford is an area on the south bank of the River Thames in southeast London, in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Lewisham. It is named after a Ford (crossing), ford of the River Ravensbourne. From the mid 16th century ...

, where

Chris Difford Christopher Henry Difford (born 4 November 1954) is an English musician. He is a founding member and songwriter of the rock group Squeeze. Early life Difford was born in Greenwich, London, on 4 November 1954, the youngest of three sons. His m ...

was staying at the time. The three songs were re-released in 1990 on the "

Annie Get Your Gun Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (Malayalam actress) (born 1975), Indian actress who works in Malayalam-language films * ...

" CD single (IRS 74007).

Reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

's retrospective review deemed that the EP "while quite raw compared to later material, showed enough promise to land the band a recording contract with A&M Records." "Cat on a Wall" gained its first radio play in June 1977 on legendary North Sea pirate station

Radio Caroline Radio Caroline is a British radio station founded in 1964 by Ronan O'Rahilly and Allan Crawford, initially to circumvent the record companies' control of popular music broadcasting in the United Kingdom and the BBC's radio broadcasting monopol ...

who gave the song extensive airplay. Jools Holland was a school friend of Radio Caroline DJ Mark Lawrence.

Track listing

All songs written by

and

Glenn Tilbrook Glenn Martin Tilbrook (born 31 August 1957, in Woolwich, London) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is the lead singer and guitarist of the English new wave band Squeeze, a band formed in the mid-1970s who broke through in th ...

# "Cat on a Wall" – 3:10 # "Night Ride" – 3:02 # "Back Track" – 2:21

Personnel

;Squeeze *

- lead guitar, vocals *

- guitar, vocals * Julian Holland - keyboards, vocals *Harri Kakoulli - bass *

Gilson Lavis David Leslie Gilson Lavis ( , born 27 June 1951) is an English drummer and portrait artist. He gained fame as the drummer with band Squeeze in the 1970s and 1980s. Lavis was later the drummer for Jools Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, wi ...

- drums ;Technical *

Jill Furmanovsky Jill Furmanovsky (born 1953) is a British photographer who has specialised in documenting rock musicians. Life and work Born in Southern Rhodesia, Furmanovsky emigrated with her parents - her father subsequently worked at an architecture prac ...

- photography, design

References

{{Authority control Squeeze (band) albums 1977 debut EPs Albums produced by John Cale