Previously Appearing at Wickham was...

Squeeze

We’ve a real treat in store as we welcome Squeeze to headline Wickham Festival on Saturday 4th August 2018. Squeeze formed in Deptford, London in 1974 after Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook began writing together.  At the time the band also comprised of Jools Holland on keys, Harry Kakouli on bass and Paul Gunn on drums.  By 1977 they made their recording debut and had a number of hits which lasted until 1982 during the New Wave period. Here’s a trip down a late 1970’s memory lane…

In 2008 Glenn and Chris received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music, presented to them by Mark Ronson. This was 10 years after Chris had already won the Ivor Novello for British Songwriter. With accolades in trophy cabinets it was time for a Squeeze reboot and they’ve since been a regular festival favourite playing at Womad, Beautiful Days, and V Festival to name a few.  The band has long been an enthralling live act, as they demonstrated in their triumphant performance on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury in 2016.

“They don’t have the bombastic hype of headliners Coldplay, but they have the songcraft and lyrical majesty to leave the headliners in the dust which they duly did.”
Acoustic magazine

Their artistic recognition has also sparked continued success with new material in the recording studio.  In 2015 they released the critically acclaimed ‘Cradle to the Grave’, which was written as a soundtrack to Danny Baker’s BBC TV sitcom of the same name starring Peter Kay.

This album marked a hugely successful return for the song writing partnership.  Whilst promoting Cradle to the Grave they caused a media storm after performing on The Andrew Marr Show with David Cameron obliviously looking on (nice camera pan out Mr. BBC Producer) and enthusiastically clapping. Off the cuff, Glenn decided to change the last verse to…

“I grew up in council houses,
Part of what made Britain great.
There are some here who are hell-bent,
On the destruction of the Welfare State.”

It didn’t take long for social media to kick in with the clip going viral.

The new line up for their current 2017 tour features the addition of percussionist Steve Smith and Yolanda Charles on bass. Steve is also the lead singer of Dirty Vegas.  Yolanda is a bass maestro who has toured with Paul Weller, Eric Clapton and Hans Zimmer. In addition the long-standing lord of the keyboards, Stephen Large joins them along with drummer Simon Hanson.

Squeeze are currently touring the USA, Australia, and Singapore; but Wickham Festival awaits them next summer!  Happy days in the haze of the Wickham summer are pending, we can’t wait to welcome these Ivor Novello song writing legends…


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