Chris Difford

Lyricist and guitarist Chris Difford joined forces with singer and composer Glenn Tilbrook to steer Squeeze, among the most respected and enduring acts to surface from the new wave period. Frequently likened to the Lennon and McCartney of their era, the pair’s intelligent, refined style of pop never matched its critical acclaim with equivalent sales, even as tracks such as “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell),” “Tempted,” and “Black Coffee in Bed” endure as perennial cult favorites.

Difford, who entered the world on November 4, 1954, in London, began composing and gigging alongside Tilbrook in 1973; the pair assembled Squeeze the next year, and the band’s John Cale-produced self-titled debut LP arrived in 1978, spawning the modest success “Take Me, I’m Yours.” Cool for Cats, issued in 1979, marked Squeeze’s commercial arrival on the U.K. charts and delivered two singles that reached number two—“Up the Junction” and the title cut. Its successor, Argybargy, produced the smaller chart entries “Another Nail in My Heart” and “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell),” yet cemented the group’s reputation through Difford’s sharp, erudite lyrics and Tilbrook’s taut, inventive melodies.

East Side Story, Squeeze’s 1981 pinnacle, delivered the act’s strongest U.S. showing up to that point via the indelible “Tempted.” Although 1982’s Sweets from a Stranger entered the U.S. Top 40 on the strength of “Black Coffee in Bed,” artistic fatigue prompted the band’s dissolution shortly afterward. The 1983 compilation Singles 45’s and Under eventually earned platinum status. Following his co-write of the Imperial Bedroom cut “Boy with a Problem” for Elvis Costello, Difford renewed his partnership with Tilbrook, penning material for former Squeeze member Jools Holland as well as Paul Young, Billy Bremner, and Helen Shapiro. The duo also staged the brief 1983 musical Labeled with Love, drawn from their catalog.

A 1984 self-titled album issued under the Difford and Tilbrook name surfaced, yet the following year the pair revived Squeeze for Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti. Babylon and On, released in 1987, became their strongest U.S. performer, yielding the Top 40 singles “Hourglass” and “853-5937,” while later releases largely spoke to their loyal niche audience. Difford stepped away from the group in 1999. He inaugurated his solo work in 2003 with I Didn’t Get Where I Am, which benefited from production and occasional songwriting input by Francis Dunnery. South East Side Story, a CD/DVD set documenting Difford performing Squeeze classics live, appeared in 2006, succeeded by the aptly named The Last Temptation of Chris in 2008. Although a reunited Squeeze remained active—Difford confirmed early in 2010 that he and Tilbrook were crafting fresh material for the band—he sustained his individual path with the summer 2011 release of his third solo album, Cashmere if You Can. The long-gestating Squeeze reunion record Cradle to the Grave finally emerged in 2015, prompting a supporting tour. In 2017, Difford’s solo output was gathered in the box set Chris to the Mill, which added a disc of unreleased demos.