Five fantastic 1970s songs with fascinating backstories

Squeeze - “Cool For Cats”

Sometimes, as with that Free song above inspiration just strikes, and a great song is sparked almost out of nowhere and captured quickly. The melody for Squeeze’s first-ever top-ten UK hit was already written. Glenn Tilbrook had laid that down and shared it with writing partner and lyricist Chris Difford. It was a slow-paced tune and Difford had some lyrics written, but it didn't feel or sound right and would have been unrecognizable to us now.

Difford decided to ditch the original words and have another try. He headed home and sat down with the TV on. The Benny Hill Show and Jake Thackray as the comedian’s guest that week gave Difford perhaps the most unlikely inspiration. Thackeray had a very specific style and delivery with a clipped-meter approach to his words. Difford took that approach and quickly wrote the “Cool For Cats” words as we now know them and used a quicker delivery pace than Tilbrook had written.

It all clicked into place. Tilbrook adjusted his music to match the new words and a classic was born. The song launched Squeeze to a much bigger audience, who’d have thought UK comedian Hill and his guest could lay a claim to their success? 

Continued on next page