Some Fantastic Place

I have a soft spot for memoirs in the music realm. I knew about Squeeze of course, but I cannot say I knew much about them, just a few songs really. They are one of those bands drifting at the edge of consciousness. Yet, I grabbed the opportunity to read this book with both hands. And boy, am I glad I did!

The first thing that made me warm to this book is the writing. The story is simply told in a personable voice and it felt immediately familiar and made me smile. Chris takes us on a journey from being young boy hiding under his mother’s table while she makes cakes until Glastonbury festival just this year.

I was with him as he formed the band and gained success and then lost it again. I felt his pain as alcohol took centre stage in his life and felt proud of him for beating addiction to begin a new leash of life.

He tells about the relationships, the friendships and chance encounters that changed his life and he tells it so well. I cannot remember reading a memoir this warm and honest and I enjoyed it from beginning to end.

If you like music, I would thoroughly recommend this book.

Extremely honest, funny and well written book. Really enjoyed it.

If I wasn’t enjoying my career quite as much as I do, the one thing I would love to be (other than a novelist) is a song-writer. One of the reasons that I love the music artists that I do, is purely down to their lyrics. I rarely like a band or artist that doesn't have what I consider to be good lyrics.

There is a line in Chris Difford’s autobiography where he's talking about early punk, that sums this up perfectly;

"I was always looking for the lyric and I felt there was no depth to it. The music felt like it was falling down the stairs".

Those not familiar with Chris, should know that not only is he the founding member of Squeeze, but also one of this country’s greatest ever lyricists, having written for Elton John, Jools Holland and Elvis Costello to name but a few.

Some Fantastic Place is the perfect title for Chris’ book. Personal to both him and Glenn, the song of the same name is one of their finest.

If you aren’t familiar with Squeeze (and/or Glenn Tillbrook and Chris Difford asolo artists) then this account of their musical history should at the very least make you curious to seek out some of their work. From their humble beginnings in local pubs to sell out shows in New York's Madison Square Gardens, Chris weaves a magical tale of life on the road.

But this isn't a book about Squeeze, it is a very personal account of Chris Difford's life from his earliest childhood memories, to finally finding happiness with his beloved wife Louise, via the highs and lows of being in a world famous band whilst battling with addiction, Some Fantastic Place is a real insight into Chris's struggles, talent and personality.

Some Fantastic Place is a fascinating insight into the life and works of one of the most talented artists that we have in Great Britain, and after reading I wanted to give Chris a hug and tell him that everything will be okay. Writing such a personal account must be hard for anyone to do, but for a former addict who has also had problems expressing how he truly feels, it is a masterful achievement.

A must read for anyone who has ever struggled with... Well life in general. This isn't a book just for music lovers, this is for everyone.

As an aside – I met Chris once after one of the pop up shop tour shows and he was so lovely! He had noticed me and my friend singing along in the front row and commented on this, much to our embarrassment!

As Chris Difford writes, “My history with Squeeze carries weight, and people want to know all about this part of me.”

‘Some Fantastic Place’ charts the band’s critical and commercial ups and downs as well as its bewildering changes of personnel and managers but at the heart of both book and band, is Difford’s complicated relationship with his song-writing partner, Glenn Tilbrook.

Difford-Tilbrook have often been likened to Lennon-McCartney and this book sharpens the parallels in some respects, with Difford-Tilbrook being at least as prolific (with 137 songs, including ‘Take Me I’m Yours’, written in their first year together); a shared ambition to write a musical; and Chris sharing John Lennon’s problem of remembering lyrics when performing, even when they were very memorable and he was their author.

‘Some Fantastic Place’ also points to the differences with Lennon-McCartney, including a much clearer division of labour between the lyric writing Difford and the tunesmith Tilbrook (who also took the lead in terms of arrangement, recording and performance). Although now fulsomely acknowledging Tilbrook’s many vital contributions to the band, including his constantly embracing change, Difford admits that for many years there was unspoken rivalry between the two men for the band’s leadership; a leadership to which Difford could lay claim insofar as it was Tilbrook who had originally responded to his advertisement for a guitarist rather than vice versa (a claim somewhat diminished by the fact that Difford was guilty of false advertising in claiming that there was a band or recording deal at that time) and because Squeeze songs are all lyric-driven, as Difford’s words precede Tilbrook’s music.

The word “unspoken” was used advisedly in the preceding sentence because one of the problems with which Difford has laboured throughout his life is that - ironically for a lyricist - he finds difficulty in putting his feelings into words in everyday life. This has been both curse (for many relationships) and an artistic blessing for, as he explains in ‘Some Fantastic Place’, “When I was a child, to be told to speak when spoken to by my mother gave me the backstage pass to my imagination, and there I found the many songs and stories I have written and have yet to write.”

‘Some Fantastic Place’ is, however, ultimately much more than just an insider’s story of a much loved and highly respected group. It is also a consistently candid, often very humorous and always interesting story of Difford’s entire life, from his working-class prefab home in King George Street, Greenwich, aged ten (“when my memory begins”) down to the present day, via teenage gangs, petty (and once not so petty) crime, song-writing, albums, touring, managing, alcohol, and drugs and rehab, with friendships (celebrity and otherwise), marriages and children along the way.

There are two respects in which the book could have been improved.

Firstly, someone at the publishing house should have pointed out to Chris that he sometimes expresses himself oddly, examples being: “Her cold shoulder definitely gave me food for thought”; “I could feel the penny dropping at an alarming rate”; “my emotions were tickled to the roots”; “we fell to our emotional knees”; “The rest of the songs were tossed off like pancakes on a less-than-emotional grill”; and – my personal favourite - “We were both heaving the elephant in the room further and further up the hill.”

Secondly, although we learn a lot about the dynamics of his various song-writing partnerships it would have been good to have had more from Chris on the actual mechanics of his writing of lyrics.

Having said that, this is still a fascinating read about a talented artist and interesting individual, which merits an audience far beyond Squeeze fans and those interested in anecdotes about celebrities, although for me the chapter on Difford’s dealings with Bryan Ferry, with Chris as Max von Mayerling to Ferry’s Norma Desmond, itself makes the book well worth the price of purchase.

Chris Difford is the lyricist to Glen Tilbrook’s music and arranging in Squeeze, a band who have split up twice and now since reforming again in 2007 seem to be enjoying a purple patch both in terms of touring and making new music.

Chris’s memoir is very much written from the heart as he describes his struggle with alcohol and bouts of depression, and the effect this had on his personal life. However, he comes across as a positive soul and one that is grateful for what he has. There are of course plenty of tales of Squeeze and how they rose to fame in the late 70’s and early 80’s with a string of hit singles.

His musical life outside of Squeeze is given insight including his time as helping coral the lyrics for Bryan Ferry. He also felt like Bryan Ferry’s chauffer at the time! He also worked on lyrics with Elton John and became good friends with him, which helped a band Chris was mentoring the Strypes, who signed to Elton’s Rocket Music Management in their early days. His solo career is covered, although not as extensively as Squeeze.

You do get a little insight into the relationship between him and Glen Tilbrook, something that has remained constant throughout the years since when they first met back in 1973.

Reading about Squeeze it is pretty amazing they are still going, as at one time in the 90’s they seemingly had a revolving door on drummers and keyboard players. Luckily for music fans the Difford and Tilbrook axis on which Squeeze turns remained and the Squeeze story continues as they have a new album ‘The Knowledge’ out in October.

Chris Difford has penned an honest account of his life in and out of Squeeze, where he is very honest about his past mistakes and his struggles with depression and drinking. Highly recommended for both fans of the band and anyone wanting to see how the rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle isn’t all glitz and glamour.

As a longtime fan of Squeeze and Difford & Tilbrook, I was over-the-moon Chris Difford wrote this book, and what a book it was! Diffford's vivid account of his childhood and relationship with his family was remarkable. As the genius lyricist for Squeeze and his solo album, it makes sense that his memoir would also be brilliant. The details were all there so that I felt I was a fly on the wall. What beautiful writing throughout the book! Even if I hadn't been a Squeeze fan, "Some Fantastic Place" would make for a fabulous read. Difford's raw, heartfelt account of his addiction and recovery made the book that much better, and it will speak to many. I could go on and on - take it from me, this book deserves more than five stars. It's that good.

A charming autobiography of one of the best songwriters of the last 50 years. Difford gives a lovely account of his formative years through to great success with Squeeze.

I have Squeeze's Greatest Hits in my online playlist, and vaguely knew a few of their more popular songs (I am around their age). Several months ago, I randomly decided to listen to that whole album. I became enamored of a few of the deeper cuts, and then worked my way through all of Squeeze's albums on Napster. Then the Difford/Tilbrook album, and Glenn's solo work. In all of this, there are maybe 10 cuts that I skip. I love the music, and it has (belatedly) become the soundtrack of my life.

Squeeze has toured the U.S. frequently throughout their career, and many performances have been captured on YouTube. Watching the videos, it became apparent that I needed to see them live, and I have a ticket for their concert in November. I also saw Glenn Tilbrook's mostly solo show (with his young sons) in August, and was thrilled to be there.

Glenn traditionally writes the music and Chris the lyrics. Glenn is the stronger and flashier singer and guitarist, with Chris singing an octave lower and playing serviceable rhythm guitar. I haven't listened to Chris's solo work, since I'm not wild about his very deep voice. I may still get to it, and could be pleasantly surprised.

Chris's literary voice is another story. His lyrics are top-notch, and I was eager to read anything he had to say. I own another book, Squeeze: Song by Song, which weaves personal details into specifics about each song (not including the 2 newest albums). Its existence may be why Some Fantastic Place is light on details about specific songs or the writing process.

Chris does talk about his life in some detail and breadth, but I felt I was missing something. He didn't needlessly pile on specifics about every tour and gig, but I didn't get a full sense of what it was like to perform. I also don't quite understand the ins and outs of his long relationship with Glenn. It's complicated, for sure. At one point, they didn't speak for about 9 years. The collaboration is currently going well, yet Chris says he has never been to Glenn's current house and doesn't even know where he lives.

Regarding the fabled "sex, drugs and rock and roll," there is a lot about drugs (and alcohol). Chris started dabbling in substances at an early age, and it got out of hand. He eventually went to rehab, and none other than Elton John helped with his recovery. He says he's now 25 years sober.

Chris mentions also attending rehab for relationship issues, but does not elaborate. He has been married 3 times, and seems happy with his current wife. There is almost nothing about groupies and wild rock star escapades, so I'll assume he's being a gentleman and sparing the reader any sordid details.

In sum, the book was interesting and the work of a skilled raconteur. Perhaps the missing pieces will be provided if Glenn also decides to put pen to paper.

(I received an advance copy from Net Galley.)