argybargy

Squeeze found their groove with the catchy and clever storytelling of this new wave farfisa stereogram.   The band had made great strides between their self titled debut and the followup 'Cool For Cats' (which yielded their greatest chart success with back to back number two smash hits); but with their next album, they were ready to hone their craft.  

Chris Difford reveals:  "We decided that we’d spend a long – or the right time – writing the songs.  So we spent about six months writing, in three different batches, we rehearsed for a couple of months, and then recorded for six months – so it was well over a year in the process."

The band co-produced the sessions for 'Argybargy' at Chelsea Olympic Studios in London with John Wood, featuring Chris Difford on rhythm guitar and vocals;   Glenn Tilbrook on lead guitar, keyboards, and vocals;   Jools Holland on keyboards and vocals;   John Bentley on bass;   Gilson Lavis on drums;   Del Newman on string arrangements;  and Keith Strickland adding guitar on Pulling Mussels (From the Shell).  

Tilbrook remembers:  "We used John Wood, who engineered the first album, on Cool for Cats and Argybargy...It worked really well with John Wood, in that he was able to filter through the ideas we were having and get them down onto tape.  But at the end of Argybargy, we just wanted a change, because we’d done three albums, more or less, like that with him ... I think it's a very positive aspect that we don't have a specific image or fashion we adhere to. So we're not held back by it when it goes out of style. If we sell records, it's because it's a Squeeze record and nothing else. We don't die as soon as a fad does...Actually, we're extremely directionless when we decide to make an album. Every step along the way it's a thoroughly democratic process; we all vote for things. The advantage of having a producer is it would take a lot less time. " 

Holland quips:  "Out of twelve hours in the studio, we spend most of them deciding what to do and then finally deciding this isn't the place to talk about it and go out for a drink. That's why it took so long to make this album. In actual recording time, we were probably in there only a day and a half."

 'Argybargy' reached number seventy-one in the US, thirty-two in the UK, and twenty-six in Canada.  Holland explains the title:   "What it means is if there are a lot of people in a bar together and the barman said, 'Drinks are free for 30 seconds,' what you'd get in that bar for 30 seconds would be Argybargy -- violent, jocular chaos." 






http://www.squeezeofficial.com/






lyrics:
http://lyrics.wikia.com/Squeeze:Argybargy_(1980)



Pulling Mussels (from the Shell)



They do it down on Camber Sands, they do it at Waikiki 
Lazing about the beach all day, at night the crickets creepy 
Squinting faces at the sky, a Harold Robbins paperback 
Surfers drop their boards and dry, and everybody wants a hack

But behind the chalet, my holiday's complete
And I feel like William Tell
Maid Marian on her tiptoed feet
Pulling mussels from a shell
Pulling mussels from a shell

Shrinking in the sea so cold, topless ladies look away 
A he-man in a sudden shower shelters from the rain 
You wish you had a motorboat to pose around the harbor bar 
And when the sun goes off to bed, you hook it up behind the car 

But behind the chalet, my holiday's complete
And I feel like William Tell
Maid Marian on her tiptoed feet
Pulling mussels from a shell
Pulling mussels from a shell 

Two fat ladies window shop, something for the mantelpiece 
In for bingo, all the nines, a panda for sweet little niece 
Coach drivers stand about, looking at a local map 
About the boy, he's gone away, down to next door's caravan

But behind the chalet, my holiday's complete
And I feel like William Tell
Maid Marian on her tiptoed feet
Pulling mussels from a shell
Pulling mussels from a shell

But behind the chalet, my holiday's complete
And I feel like William Tell
Maid Marian on her tiptoed feet
Pulling mussels from a shell
Pulling mussels from a shell




Another Nail in My Heart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bTWF7eirJw




If I Didn't Love You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gv4vBW1wmU







 'Argybargy' 
full album:





All songs written by Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook except as indicated.


Pulling Mussels (from the Shell)
Another Nail in My Heart
Separate Beds
Misadventure
I Think I'm Go Go
Farfisa Beat
Here Comes That Feeling 
Vicky Verky
If I Didn't Love You
Wrong Side of the Moon  (Jools Holland, Difford)
There at the Top
Funny How It Goes
Go


bonus tracks.

"What the Butler Saw" ("Pulling Mussels" b-side)
"Pretty One" ("Another Nail in My Heart" b-side)
"Going Crazy" ("Christmas Day" b-side)
"Library Girl" (Demo)