Chris Difford

Christopher Henry Difford born 4 November 1954 is an English musician He is a founding member and songwriter of the rock group Squeeze Difford was born in Greenwich London on 4 November 1954 the youngest of three sons His mother Isabel née Hamilton was from Northern Ireland and met Diffords father Sidney Lewis Difford 19192001 while he was stationed in Belfast during World War II Difford has written lyrics for over 50 years most notably in partnership with Glenn Tilbrook The two were primary members in Squeeze and Difford Tilbrook According to Difford he stole 50p from his mothers purse to put a card in a local sweetshop window advertising for a guitarist to join his band although he did not have one at the time Tilbrook was the only person who responded to the advert and they met for the first time shortly afterwards Some of their bestknown songs are Cool for Cats Up the Junction Pulling Mussels From the Shell Tempted and Black Coffee in Bed After the breakup of Squeeze in 1983 Difford continued writing songs for artists such as Jools Holland Helen Shapiro Billy Bremner and Elvis Costello He has also written lyrics for music by Jools Holland Elton John Wet Wet Wet Marti Pellow and others He was involved with Tilbrook and John Turner in the creation of a musical Labelled with Love which was created using the songs of Squeeze The 1983 musical performed in Deptford was shortlived In 1984 the pair released the album Difford and Tilbrook and had a minor hit in the UK with Loves Crashing Waves which reached 57 in the UK Singles Chart In 1985 Squeeze reunited having hits in the US with the album Babylon and On plus the singles Hourglass and 8535937 Difford left the group in 1999 launching a solo career in 2003 with his album I Didnt Get Where I Am Difford was also manager of Bryan Ferry and The Strypes Squeeze reunited again in 2007 and Difford maintained a concurrent solo career alongside his work with the band In March 2010 Difford curated Songs in the Key of London an evening of music dedicated to the capital at the Barbican Centre London In 2017 Difford published his autobiography Some Fantastic Place My Life In and Out of Squeeze Since 2014 Difford has been running the annual Chris Difford Songwriting Retreat under the auspices of the Buddy Holly Educational Foundation providing an opportunity for artists to collaborate with one another to write new songs and create new friendships in a relaxed setting in the English countryside In August 2021 Difford launched a podcast series I Never Thought It Would Happen with the charity Help Musicians a charity he is an ambassador for speaking to guests including Sting Robbie Williams and KT Tunstall about the highs and lows of life in music