Argybargy

Following the commercial success of the band's previous album, Cool for Cats, as well as a successful international tour, Squeeze reached its highest level of success to that point. This level of fame and recognition began to take its toll; Glenn Tilbrook worried of becoming "too big for [his] boots" and struggled with being recognized in public.{{cite book|last1=Tilbrook|first1=Glenn|last2=Difford|first2=Chris|last3=Drury|first3=Jim|title=Squeeze: Song by Song|publisher=Sanctuary}} He recalled,

{{quote|"I was standing in [a pub] in Blackheath with my mates when I became conscious of the fact that a lot of people were looking at me. ... I had to get out. I'd never experienced anything like it before and it was a horrible feeling. As much as I wanted to be successful and famous, I wasn't as comfortable with fame as I'd thought."}}

Following the Cool for Cats tour, Chris Difford married and spent the summer of 1979 in the US with his wife. There he wrote over 40 new lyrics, inspired by his new marriage and his time spent in Greenwich Village. He recalled, "I would sit in the flat all day while [wife] Cindy went to work and this fluidity of lyricism came gushing forth. The whole of the Argybargy album came in one fell swoop and lots more besides that never saw the light of day."

When asked by A&M Records to produce a third album, the band brought back Cool for Cats producer John Wood and Tilbrook composed music for the best of Difford's new lyrics. The album was recorded during the tail end of 1979.

Argybargy would be the last Squeeze album featuring founding member Jools Holland until Squeeze's first reunion album, 1985's Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti. Difford recalled, "He was becoming less and less involved at this time. I think he was getting frustrated that he wasn't getting more of a shout in the band, but by then he was spending less time thinking about being in the band and more about his career." Holland would release a solo album before moving to a television career.

The album was titled Argybargy, a British expression that Difford said "sums up succinctly what our lives were like at the time. We were in each other's pockets, travelling in a minibus and on Freddie Laker planes. It was getting tiring, but we lived on the adrenalin of it."

Because the titular expression is not used in America, band manager Miles Copeland opposed the album name. Difford recalled, "Miles told us no one would know what it meant but we didn't give a shit and were in a belligerent, young Englishmen's mood, so we kept it."

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/argybargy-mw0000194401 |title=Argybargy – Squeeze |publisher=AllMusic |access-date=25 December 2015 |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine}}

| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

| rev2score = B−{{cite book |chapter=Squeeze: Argybargy |chapter-url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=8425 |access-date=25 December 2015 |title=Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s |title-link=Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |publisher=Pantheon Books |year=1990 |isbn=0-679-73015-X}}

| rev3 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Squeeze |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music |last=Larkin |first=Colin |author-link=Colin Larkin |publisher=Omnibus Press |edition=5th concise |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}

| rev4 = Mojo

| rev4score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Squeeze: Argybargy |magazine=Mojo |page=123 |quote=Such bittersweet, Rubber Soul-ful plays-for-today as 'Pulling Mussels (from the Shell),' 'Another Nail in My Heart,' the underrated 'Farfisa Beat' and 'Vicky Verky' repay close attention.}}

| rev5 = Record Collector

| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Squeeze: Argybargy |magazine=Record Collector |page=95 |quote=Difford's lyrics were stronger and more elaborate than before, especially his use of metaphor on the singles 'Another Nail in My Heart' and 'Pulling Mussels from the Shell.'}}

| rev6 = Record Mirror

| rev6Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine |title=Feeling The Pinch |last=Nicholls |first=Mike |date=16 February 1980 |magazine=Record Mirror |page=16}}

| rev7 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev7score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book |chapter=Squeeze |last=Considine |first=J. D. |author-link=J. D. Considine |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=Simon & Schuster |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/773 773–74]}}

| rev8 = Smash Hits

| rev8score = 9/10{{cite magazine |title=Albums |magazine=Smash Hits |volume=2 |issue=5 |date=6–19 March 1980 |last=Starr |first=Red |pages=30–31}}

| rev9 = Sounds

| rev9score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Easy Squeeze |last=Sutcliffe |first=Phil |date=16 February 1980 |magazine=Sounds |page=36}}

| rev10 = Uncut

| rev10score = 9/10{{cite magazine |title=How to Buy |magazine=Uncut |issue=221 |date=October 2015 |last=Watts |first=Peter |page=59}}

}}

Argybargy was released in February 1980. It spent 15 weeks on the UK Albums Chart, peaking at number 32.{{cite book |title=British Hit Singles & Albums |title-link=British Hit Singles & Albums |editor-last=Roberts |editor-first=David |publisher=Guinness World Records Limited |edition=19th |year=2006 |isbn=1-904994-10-5 |pages=522–23}} Argybargy was the first Squeeze album to chart in the US, reaching number 71 on the Billboard 200.{{cite web |url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/squeeze/chart-history/tlp/ |title=Squeeze Chart History (Billboard 200) |website=Billboard |access-date=22 November 2020}} On the Billboard dance chart, all cuts from Argybargy jointly peaked at number 76, and spent 6 weeks on that listing, in the summer of 1980.{{cite book |title=Hot Dance/Disco: 1974–2003 |last=Whitburn |first=Joel |author-link=Joel Whitburn |publisher=Record Research |year=2004 |isbn=089820156X |page=243}}

Argybargy has seen critical acclaim from music writers. Chris Jones of BBC Music called the album "their crowning achievement" and "a masterpiece of kitchen sink pop," concluding, "If you're going to own at least one Squeeze album, this has to be the one."{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/dc25/ |title=Squeeze Argybargy Review |publisher=BBC Music |date=7 March 2008 |access-date=4 August 2020 |last=Jones |first=Chris}} Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic wrote, "Argybargy doesn't stay in one place; it's restless and crackling with colors... with Argybargy it was clear that Squeeze were at the top of the pack among new wave popsters, and that their sardonic yet lively voice was unique among any pop group before or since."

Paste listed Argybargy as the 20th best new wave album, calling it the band's "first truly great" album and concluding, "Clever, infectious, with genuine emotion lying just below the surface—it's everything a great New Wave record should be."{{cite web |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/new-wave/the-best-new-wave-albums/ |title=The 50 Best New Wave Albums |website=Paste |date=8 September 2016 |access-date=10 November 2019}} Music journalist John M. Borack ranked Argybagy at number 58 on his list of "The 200 Greatest Power Pop Albums" in his book Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Guide to Power Pop.{{cite book |title=Shake Some Action: The Ultimate Guide to Power Pop |last=Borack |first=John M. |author-link=John M. Borack |publisher=Not Lame Recordings |year=2007 |isbn=9780979771408 |page=80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pqtGTJgE4rEC |access-date=4 February 2020}}

The track listing below is from the original UK LP release. On the American release, the song order was changed slightly, with "If I Didn't Love You" moved up to the first track of the second side, but the order otherwise remaining the same.

{{tracklist

| all_writing = Chris Difford and Glenn Tilbrook, except where noted

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Pulling Mussels (from the Shell)

| length1 = 3:58

| title2 = Another Nail in My Heart

| length2 = 2:56

| title3 = Separate Beds

| length3 = 3:21

| title4 = Misadventure

| length4 = 2:56

| title5 = I Think I'm Go Go

| length5 = 4:18

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Side two

| title1 = Farfisa Beat

| length1 = 2:57

| title2 = Here Comes That Feeling

| length2 = 2:12

| title3 = Vicky Verky

| length3 = 3:12

| title4 = If I Didn't Love You

| length4 = 4:11

| title5 = Wrong Side of the Moon

| writer5 = Jools Holland, Difford

| length5 = 2:25

| title6 = There at the Top

| length6 = 3:46

}}

{{track listing

| headline = Bonus tracks (1997 reissue)

| title1 = Funny How It Goes

| length1 = 3:49

| title2 = Go

| length2 = 4:12

}}

Argybargy was re-issued in 2008 as a two disc deluxe edition. The first disc includes the original album, the two bonus cuts from the 1997 reissue, and seven additional bonus tracks.

1. "What the Butler Saw" ("Pulling Mussels" b-side) – 2:46
2. "Someone Else's Heart" (Previously Unreleased Version) – 2:55
3. "Pretty One" ("Another Nail in My Heart" b-side) – 2:46
4. "Going Crazy" ("Christmas Day" b-side) – 3:56
5. "Farfisa Beat" (Previously Unreleased Alternate Version) – 2:58
6. "Library Girl" (Demo) – 3:17
7. "If I Didn't Love You" (Glenn Tilbrook Demo) – 3:39

The second disc contains a concert recorded at the Hammersmith Odeon on 9 March 1980, plus a US radio commercial for the album.

1. Radio Commercial – 1:05
2. "Slap and Tickle" – 3:54
3. "Touching Me Touching You" – 2:07
4. "Slightly Drunk" – 2:40
5. "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)" – 3:44
6. "Hop Skip and Jump"
7. "Funny How It Goes" – 3:18
8. "Another Nail in My Heart" – 2:55
9. "Cool for Cats" – 3:46
10. "Mess Around" – 2:37
11. "I Think I'm Go Go" – 4:55
12. "Take Me I'm Yours"
13. "If I Didn't Love You" – 3:54
14. "Strong in Reason" – 4:06
15. "Misadventure"
16. "It's So Dirty" – 3:02
17. "Goodbye Girl" – 4:14
18. "Up the Junction" – 3:03
19. "There at the Top"
20. "Going Crazy" – 4:59

Squeeze

• Chris Difford – rhythm guitars, vocals, lead vocals on "Here Comes That Feeling", co-lead vocals on "If I Didn't Love You" & "I Think I'm Go Go"
• Glenn Tilbrook – keyboards, lead guitars, lead vocals
• Jools Holland – keyboards, vocals, lead vocals on "Wrong Side of the Moon"
• John Bentley – bass
• Gilson Lavis – drums

with:

• Del Newman – string arrangements

Production

• John Wood – producer, mixing
• Andrew Lumm – engineer
• Squeeze – mixing
• Frank DeLuna – mastering at A&M Studios (Hollywood, California, USA)
• Michael Ross – art direction, design
• Mike Laye – front cover photography

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Category:Squeeze (band) albums

Category:1980 albums

Category:A&M Records albums

Category:Albums produced by John Wood (record producer)

Category:Albums recorded at Olympic Sound Studios