Bideodromage
An introduction to some of the musical goings-on way back in the 1980s. We have: The Vapors, Falco, Eddy Grant, Dead or Alive, XTC, Lene Lovich, Echo and the Bunnymen, Paul Young, Bryan Adams, Lloyd Cole, Fiction Factory, Dream Academy, Crowded House, Split Enz, Squeeze, Tears for Fears, and The Housemartins. Some of these performances are not, strictly speaking, from the 80s, but that decade claims all of the hits above during the time it held sway.
Mr. Glenn Tilbrook, longtime lead vocalist for Squeeze, is without doubt one of the foremost practitioners of his craft. There is little he can’t do, and beautifully. Then-member Paul Carrack, primarily a keyboardist, sang lead on the iconic Tempted, for some reason. He certainly did a creditable job, but it sure is a fine thing to hear Glenn take his rightful place at the microphone, for the two live versions presented above. Pulling Mussels, In Quintessance, and Is That Love all illustrate the band’s talents for creating clever, catchier-than-thou pop classics, and Tilbrook is precisely the man you’d want to sing them. Black Coffee in Bed stands as a mighty exemplar of Blue-Eyed soul, with Elvis Costello and Paul Young performing backup vocal duties. Good ol’ Jools Holland makes an appearance or two, here, to boot. A marvelous {and vastly underrated} band.
{Note: this post thoroughly revised, 8/10/2019}
Bideodromage 