Play (Squeeze Album)
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''Play'' is a 1991 album by the British new wave group Squeeze. It is the band's ninth album, and their only released by
Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Green Day, En ...
. It is the first LP in the Squeeze discography to feature only four official members instead of five (
Steve Nieve Steve Nieve ( "naïve"; born Stephen John Nason, 21 February 1958) is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions and the Imposters, as w ...
took on many of the keyboard duties that would have gone to
Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Marc Almond, Jayne County, To ...
in the past). Tony Berg produced the album. In the liner notes to the 1996 Squeeze compilation '' Excess Moderation'',
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 ...
stated that he considers ''Play'' the beginning of Squeeze's "renaissance period." The album spent one week at number 41 in the
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
in September 1991. The liner notes to the album are, appropriately, in the form of a play that incorporates the lyrics of the songs in a script that also references the plays ''
Our Town ''Our Town'' is a three-act play written by American playwright Thornton Wilder in 1938. Described by Edward Albee as "the greatest American play ever written", it presents the fictional American town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 ...
'' by
Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes, for the novel ''The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'', and a U. ...
and ''
Waiting for Godot ''Waiting for Godot'' ( or ) is a 1953 play by Irish writer and playwright Samuel Beckett, in which the two main characters, Vladimir (Waiting for Godot), Vladimir (Didi) and Estragon (Gogo), engage in a variety of discussions and encounters w ...
'' by
Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...
.


Recording

''Play'' was recorded in
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 ...
, London at WoodWharf Studios.


Critical reception

''Play'' received some positive reception from critics. Stewart Mason of
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 ...
proclaimed the record to be "probably Squeeze's best post-reunion album", naming the tracks "The Truth" and "Walk a Straight Line" as "particular highlights".


Track listing

All songs written by
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 ...
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 ...
. # " Satisfied" – 5:10 # " Crying in My Sleep" – 5:03 # "Letting Go" – 5:01 # "The Day I Get Home" – 4:50 # "The Truth" – 4:12 # "House of Love" – 3:23 # "Cupid's Toy" – 4:31 # "Gone to the Dogs" – 3:54 # "Walk a Straight Line" – 3:50 # " Sunday Street" – 4:16 # "Wicked and Cruel" – 4:14 # "There Is a Voice" – 4:01


Personnel

Squeeze *
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 ...
– guitars, backing vocals *
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 ...
– keyboards, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, lead and backing vocals * Keith Wilkinson – bass, backing vocals * Gilson Lavis – drums, percussion Additional musicians * Tony Berg – keyboards, guitars *
Bruce Hornsby Bruce Randall Hornsby (born November 23, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. His music draws from folk rock, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, folk music, folk, Southern rock, country rock, jam band, rock music, rock, heartland r ...
accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...
*
Matt Irving Matt Irving (born Glasgow, Scotland; 16 March 1950 – 3 April 2015) was a Scottish singer and musician who played keyboards, accordion, and bass guitar. Irving was the bass guitar player for Manfred Mann's Earth Band between 1981 and 1986. H ...
– acoustic piano,
organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...
, accordion *
Steve Nieve Steve Nieve ( "naïve"; born Stephen John Nason, 21 February 1958) is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions and the Imposters, as w ...
– acoustic piano, organ,
harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...
*
Dan Higgins Dan Higgins (born January 28, 1957, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States) is an American saxophone and woodwind player. He has worked with such artists as John Williams, Seth MacFarlane, Aerosmith, Stevie Wonder, Neil Diamond, Al Jarreau, M ...
,
Larry Williams Lawrence Eugene Williams (May 10, 1935 – January 7, 1980) was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, and pianist from New Orleans. He is best known for writing and recording some rock and roll classics from 1957 to ...
,
Bill Reichenbach Jr. William Frank Reichenbach Jr. (born November 30, 1949) is an American jazz trombonist and composer. He is the son of Bill Reichenbach, who was the drummer for Charlie Byrd from 1962 to 1973. He is best known as a session musician for television, ...
, Gary Grant and
Jerry Hey Jerry Hey (born 1950) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, horn arranger, string arranger, orchestrator and session musician who has played on hundreds of commercial recordings, including Michael Jackson's '' Thriller'', '' Rock with Y ...
– horns * John Acevedo, Bob Becker, Larry Corbett,
Joel Derouin Joel Derouin is a Canadian violinist, concert master, composer and music director. In addition to having worked with many popular musicians, he is also known for his work in film, television and theatre. Biography Born in Cornwall, Ontario, Can ...
, Armen Garabedian, Berj Garabedian, Suzie Katayama and
Sid Page Sid Page is an American violinist who has been active in many genres of music since the late 1960s. He has been a member of Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks. From 1973 to 1974, he was a member of Sly and the Family Stone and appeared on their album ...
– strings *
Claudia Fontaine Claudia Fontaine (26 August 1960 – 13 March 2018) was a backing vocalist from Peckham, London. Career During the 1980s, Fontaine and fellow backing vocalist Caron Wheeler (and later, third member Naomi Thompson) were known as Afrodiziak. S ...
– backing vocals (4, 10) * Beverly Skeete – backing vocals (4, 10) * Laurence Johnson – backing vocals (7) * Paul Lee – backing vocals (7) ;Choir on "The Day I Get Home" * Blanche Black, Mary Jo Braun, Wendie Colter,
Christopher Guest Christopher Haden-Guest, 5th Baron Haden-Guest (born 5 February 1948), known professionally as Christopher Guest, is a British-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and director. Guest has written, directed, and starred in his series of comedy ...
, Gabriele Morgan,
Michael McKean Michael John McKean (; born October 17, 1947) is an American actor, comedian, screenwriter, composer, singer, and musician. Over his career he has received a Grammy Award as well as nominations for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award. ...
,
Michael Penn Michael Daniel Penn (born August 1, 1958) is an American musician, singer, and composer. His 1989 single " No Myth" was a top 20 hit in the US and successful in several other countries. Early life Penn was born in the Greenwich Village neighb ...
, Betsy Petrie and Steven Soles Production * Squeeze – arrangements * Tony Berg – producer, arrangements *
Chris Lord-Alge Chris Lord-Alge is an American mix engineer. He is the brother of both Tom Lord-Alge and Jeff Lord-Alge, both of whom are also audio engineers. Chris and Tom are known for their abundant use of dynamic range compression for molding mixes that ...
– basic track recording * Ken Jordan – overdub recording * Steve Reincoff – overdub recording *
Bob Clearmountain Bob Clearmountain (born Chiaramonte, January 15, 1953) is an American mixing engineer and record producer, best known for his work with major acts, including Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Pretenders, and Bryan A ...
– mixing * Ronnie Box – recording assistant * Chris Lawson – recording assistant * Terry Medhurst – recording assistant * Kim Champagne – art direction *
Jeff Gold Jeff Gold (born 1956) is an American music business executive, author, music historian, Grammy Award winning art director, and music memorabilia collector and dealer. Music Business Gold was the first employee of Rhino Records, and in 1975 produce ...
– art direction * Enrique Badulescu – photography *
Miles Copeland III Miles Axe Copeland III (born May 2, 1944) is an American music and entertainment executive and former manager of The Police. Copeland later managed Sting's musical and acting career. In 1979, Copeland founded the I.R.S. Records label, producing ...
– management * John Lay – management


References


External links


Album summary
{{Authority control Squeeze (band) albums 1991 albums Albums produced by Tony Berg