Playing with Electric Trains: Squeeze's Chris Difford to Release Solo Box Set

Playing with Electric Trains: Squeeze’s Chris Difford to Release Solo Box Set

Arguably one of the finest British songwriting duos since Lennon and McCartney, Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook have made perfect, powerful pop as leaders of Squeeze since the release of their first material in 1977–all the way up to an out-of-nowhere triumph with 2015’s Cradle to the Grave, the band’s first album of new material in more than 15 years.

Since that initial dissolution of the duo’s partnership after 1998’s Domino, both Chris and Glenn sought to found their voices as solo performers–Glenn finally writing his own lyrics, and Chris coming to terms with melody. Tilbrook’s own solo material is perhaps better known, as he’s more prone to touring small clubs around the United States and United Kingdom. But Difford’s quirky material–full of those refreshing lyrical tales that Squeeze fans still crave–is worth a revisitation, and Edsel is on the case with Chris to…the Mill, a new five-disc box set due this spring.

The punny Chris to…the Mill includes Difford’s three unique, original solo albums: 2002’s I Didn’t Get Where I Am, 2008’s The Last Temptation of Chris (recorded a year after Squeeze’s triumphant reunion as a touring act) and 2011’s nostalgic Cashmere If You Can. Each has been appended with a series of rare and unreleased bonus tracks (including a separate disc for I Didn’t Get Where I Am), featuring B-sides, covers, outtakes and a variety of demos. Standouts for fans include a solo take on Squeeze’s first single, “Take Me I’m Yours”; a demo of 2002’s “Cowboys Are My Weakness” as sung by Scottish singer/songwriter extraordinaire Gary Clark; covers of Lou Reed (“What Goes On”) and The Beatles (“All My Loving”); and four late-period demos with longtime collaborator, singer/songwriter/guitarist Boo Hewerdine of The Bible.

The set is rounded out with a new DVD featuring newly recorded insights from Difford, plus four acoustic performances recorded in the studio of Difford’s longtime friend Elton John. Difford’s lyrics and new liner notes (including track-by-track insights) are also collected in a 48-page, perfect bound booklet included with the clamshell-packaged box set.

Chris to…the Mill looks to be the perfect set for the Squeeze superfan who wants it all. It’s available March 3–check out the specs below!

Chris to…the Mill (Edsel (U.K.), 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Disc 1: I Didn’t Get Where I Am (Adventure Records AN-003 (U.K.), 2002)

Tight Rope
For a Change
Cowboys Are My Weakness
No Show Jones
A World That Passed Me By
One Day
Playing with Electric Trains
Lamas Fayre
Trafalgar Square
Parents

Disc 2: I Didn’t Get Where I Am bonus tracks

Black Coffee (Version)
Lamas Fayre (Alternate)
Pole Star *
Under the Moon Over You *
For a Change (Demo)
Cathy Come Home
A World That Passed Me By (Demo)
Take Me I’m Yours (Mix 1)
Cowboys Are My Weakness (Demo – Vocal by Gary Clark)

Tracks 1-2 from “Cowboys Are My Weakness” CD single – Adventure Records ADVS-2 (U.K.), 2002

Tracks 5-9 from I Didn’t Get Where I Am LP – Plane Groovy PLG-002 (U.K.), 2012

Disc 3: The Last Temptation of Chris (Stiff Records CDSEEZ 072 (U.K.), 2008) and bonus tracks

Come On Down
Broken Family
Battersea Boys
On My Own I’m Never Bored
Julian and Sandy
The Other Man in My Life
My Mother’s Handbag
Fat As a Fiddle
The Gates of Eden
Reverso
Never Coming Back
Good Life
The Party’s Over
Piece of Cake
It’s All About Me
Gates of Eden (Early Vesion) *
Never Bored (Demo) *
Walrus (Demo) *
Penny for Your Thoughts (Demo) *
What Goes On

Tracks 13-14 from It’s All About Me (Marshmellow Recordings Ltd. IAAM1 (U.K.), 2009

Track 20 from 1969: Key to Change (fairsharemusic.com/Centrepoint CP-01 (U.K.), 2010)

Disc 4: Cashmere If You Can (SMMC Media 1, 2011) and bonus material

1975
Like I Did
The Still and the Sparkling
Back in the Day
Sidney Street
Cottontops
Upgrade Me
Who’d Ever Want to Be
Passion Killer
Goldfish
Wrecked
Happy Once Again
All My Loving
Passion Killer (Boo Hewerdine Demo) *
Upgrade Me Please (Boo Hewerdine Demo) *
Tears (Boo Hewerdine Demo) *
Wonderful Surprise (Boo Hewerdine Demo) *

Track 13 from We’re With The Beatles: Their Classic Second Album Covered (MOJO Magazine bonus CD, August 2013)

DVD: Chris discusses the origin of a selection of the songs, as well as four new acoustic performances filmed at Elton John’s studio

Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, having written at and worked for all three major catalogue music labels and contributing to Allmusic, Billboard, Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Classic Rock. He's penned liner notes for Verve, Chess, Mondo and Soul Music Records.

Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.

1 thought on “Playing with Electric Trains: Squeeze’s Chris Difford to Release Solo Box Set”

Wayne
January 30, 2017 at 11:17 pm

Do we know if this will be remastered? The original releases were really really compressed. If they are remastered do we know who is doing it?

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