Lost and found

I felt quite smug back in October: I'd bought my first Christmas present (unheard of for me) and so thought I'd squirrel it away in a safe place until I need to retrieve, wrap and gift it. However, there's only one slight problem with safe places - after the passage of time (in this case, over two months) you can never remember them. And so it came to pass that yesterday, some three and a half months after the secret drop, I finally stumbled upon the stash and was finally able to give the current Mrs. Medd her belated prezzie.

I'm always losing stuff. Just ask Chris Difford. In fact I was convinced I'd lost another book I was desperate to locate. In Sunlight or in Shadow - stories inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper - had also gone AWOL; I'd read a couple of its short stories and was saving the rest for another time; that was back in 2016. It turned up today. The moral of this story - never ever give me anything for safekeeping.

Beach boys

Squeeze c.1975

One of the most enjoyable - and brutally honest - biographies I've read was Chris Difford's 'Some Fantastic Place - My Life in and out of Squeeze'. His relationship with Glenn Tilbrook, alcohol and drugs is laid bare for all to see. And as an insight into what it's like being one half of a mega successful songwriting partnership that's often been compared to Lennon & McCartney, look no further; it's all contained within its 317 pages. I've been meaning to reread it for ages but since moving house back in 2017 I've not been able to find it. It's here somewhere, it's gotta be. But I'm buggered if I know where.

So it was a serendipitous charity shop find earlier today when browsing the bookshelves in Oxfam and I stumbled upon a signed copy! "Hi Brian", it says followed by Chris' trademark scrawled moniker. And this copy includes a new final chapter. So, thanks, Brian. And Chris, obviously. I'll get stuck into it next week over a glass of eggnog and a tin of Quality Street.

Goodbye Girl

Rereading 'Squeeze - Song by Song' (Chris Difford & Glenn Tilbrook with Jim Drury, Sanctuary 2004), Glenn Tilbrook said that Goodbye Girl was their breakthrough song in America. By changing the line 'My wife has moved to Guernsey' to 'My wife has moved to Boston', it opened up New York, Boston and the whole of the East Coast; though the Americans still didn't have a clue what lino was.
It was pointed out to Tilbrook much later that the tune is very reminiscent of the Muppets theme, a fact that still keeps him awake at nights. It's time to put on make up...🎵

Chris Difford & Glenn Tilbrook - Goodbye Girl

I mentioned Song by Song above, a compelling insight into Difford and Tilbrook's much lauded songwriting partnership. Another tome, a natural companion piece, is Chris Dfford's recently published memoir 'Some Fantastic Place - My Life in and out of Squeeze'. One of the (rave) reviews reads: 'Anyone who can read should go out and buy a copy.' Ah, Mrs. Difford, bless you.