Glenn Tilbrook and Chris Difford, commonly known as Squeeze, have had more bust ups and reconciliations than Burton and Taylor. They can't live with each other, can't live without each other. They've recently been taking their two man show, The At Odds Couple, around and about and you may well have caught them in a provincial theatre near you telling (and retelling) their personal stories and playing their wonderful songs.
They've also written some brand new material for fellow Deptfordite Danny Baker as the soundtrack to the new comedy Cradle to Grave (starring Peter Kay as Spud - Baker's old man) now showing on BBC 2. Baker's life story pretty much centres on SE16 and, in particular, the south east London where Danny, Glenn and Chris grew up in the 1960s and 1970s - much of the landscape that made up that part of the capital just isn't there anymore.
Father and son
When the pair aren't writing or recording (or bickering) they can often be found, unlike, say Ant or Dec, playing solo gigs. And as good as their own songs are and as great as Squeeze's repoirtoire is, every now and again, Tilbrook in particular, will slip anchor and throw in a tune he wished he'd written: this one, however, Weather with You, he sort of did. Crowded House owed a lot to Squeeze - a sort of SKiwis if you will. And anyone who knows Woodface will tell you it plays like a Squeeze Best Of.
Anyway, here's Tilbrook going nowhere on his mantelpiece.
Earlier this week The Number One Son tweeted a recent blog post superbly written and researched by Jason Hazeley about the BBC sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles (1984-1989). In particular, persistent rumours about a missing episode. A vital missing episode, you could say, as the pivotal situation in this particular sitcom hinges around the romantic tension between Ann (drowning in a stale marriage and played by Penelope Wilton) and Paul (the new, single and urbane next door neighbour played by Peter Egan). In the missing episode Paul and Ann are reported to have shared more than knowing glances.
Hazeley's blog tells the full story and the relevance of this missing script (it was never filmed) and how, if it had ever been recorded (and Paul & Ann had got it on) the programme would, at a stroke, have lost one of its major pot boilers; think of Frasier - the episodes after Niles and Daphne docked - the trajectory of the story line changed overnight. Not necessarily for the worse, but not for the better either.
A modern day equivalent is Peter Kay's wonderful Car Share. A simple idea - two colleagues sharing a car journey to and from work each day. John and Kayleigh have more in common than they know and by the end of its six episode run they could just as easily have copped off. But Peter Kay knows that for Car Share to stand any chance of coming back for that all important second season, their relationship must remain platonic and that both protagonists must remain in their designated driver and passenger seats. For now, at least.
And if you're wondering why there's a CCCP postage stamp bearing the image of Dimitri Shostakovich at the top of this post, it's for the simple reason that he (unwittingly) wrote the delightful theme tune for Ever Decreasing Circles. Take it away comrade:
