Let’s start the new year with an apology

A couple of years ago, I was man enough to  officially apologize to Fleetwood Mac. I was wrong, “Tusk” was a great album. In fact, since I wrote that mea culpa, it’s become one of my favorite albums ever.

So now it’s Squeeze‘s turn. I was a massive Squeeze fan in the ’80s, believed they could do no wrong, and stuck with them through their Jools Holland-less period. But I felt they were starting to slide with “Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti,” and then “Babylon and On,” and by the time “Frank” came out, with its horrible title, I just decided I was done, barely gave it a listen, and tossed it to the back of the queue. Twenty-two years later, I just want to say I’m sorry. “Frank” was not only a great Squeeze album, it’s a great album by any measure, and it should have been recognized as one of their best. My mistake, guys.

(Of course, it could just be the shellac fumes working on me.)

By the way, like a lot of bands of the ’80s, they were massively ripped off by the music biz. They’ve put out a collection of their greatest hits, newly recorded but extremely faithful to the originals, hoping to make some money off the sounds that the ’80s channels keep pumping out. And Glenn Tilbrook’s “Pandemonium Ensues” was one of my favorite albums of last year. Highly worth a listen.