GLENN TILBROOK was one half of one of the greatest English songwriting teams of the last 30 years, when he wrote classic after classic with Chris Difford in Squeeze.
Tilbrook and Difford chronicled life’s ordinary strangeness in such wonderful songs as ‘Cool For Cats’, ‘Up The Junction’, and ‘Pulling Mussels From A Shell’, ‘Black Coffee In Bed’, and ‘Tempted’. These days he’s a solo artist and is coming to play the Róisín Dubh on Tuesday November 18 at 9pm.
Glenn’s love of music was kick-started by none other than Sir Cliff Richard.
“Music was always on in the house and I wanted to learn guitar and piano but what sealed it for me was Summer Holiday,” Glenn told me when I interviewed him a number of years ago. “That was tremendous fun to an impressionable five-year-old. Travelling on the tour bus and having people dance around you. The fun nature of that sealed it for me.”
The songs he and Difford wrote continue to strike a chord with the public and thankfully don’t look like being forgotten in a hurry.
“The thing about writing is that it transcends where it comes from but people can identify when it’s true or not,” he said. “It’s lovely when people tell you how much they like your music. It means you have hit the mark.”
Glenn is now a solo artist (notwithstanding the occasional Squeeze reunion ) and has released two solo albums - The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook and Transatlantic Ping Pong. He will play songs from these as well as classic Squeeze hits.
I once saw Glenn play the Róisín and he’s apt to throw in some cracking covers as well. The best one was a take on Jimi Hendrix’s ‘Voodoo Chile’ - performed note for note on acoustic guitar, and somehow managing to sound every bit as thrilling as if it had been on electric. Class!
Tickets are available from the Róisín Dubh and Zhivago. Glenn also plays the Royal Castlebar Theatre on Thursday November 13. For tickets call 0818 300 000.
