Episode Ep 879 February 25, 2026 33 min 53s

How Glenn Tilbrook transformed the life of Squeeze

From Word In Your Ear Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold

Glenn Tilbrook wrote an album with Chris Difford about a futuristic nightclub when they were teenagers and, 52 years later, they’ve recorded it and are performing it on the upcoming tour. He looks back here at the partnership that once wrote 200 songs in three years, the first gigs he saw, his recent decision to take control of the group and what’s changed the way they sound. Among the highlights …

… what he learnt from watching Radiohead and Doechii

… when you walk into a teashop and Tír na nÓg are playing

… T. Rex and screaming girls at the Lewisham Odeon – “comfortable, confident, thrilling”

… Terry Reid, Traffic, Bowie and darker memories of Glastonbury 1971

… “that age when Pickettywitch are as engaging as the Rolling Stones”

… the song that came to him in a dream

… constructing “a knockout set that’ll slay any audience”

… winning a talent contest at Butlins in Clacton, aged 12 – “a week’s free holiday!”

… “the breadth and depth of what we can do now outstrips the way we were”.

Order the ‘Trixies’ album here: https://squeeze.lnk.to/trixies

And Squeeze tickets here: https://www.squeezeofficial.com/

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