Hi and welcome to the New Year Squire Newsletter! We usually spend some time reflecting back on the past year, and actually, I’ve been looking back over the previous Christmas/New Year newsletters to see what was going round!
Well, I didn’t realise we’ve been posting Christmas messages since 2020! Its almost as reliable the Christmas Royal broadcast! Except this year, we wished you a Merry Christmas, and stepped aside so you could get on with the festivities, and we promised to ‘pop in’ between Christmas and New Year - and here we are - with gifts!
Because today we’re sharing a second ‘Christmas’ song. Well, its a song for between Christmas and New Year, exactly where we are now! ‘Halcyon Days’ was written during the period between Boys About Town and Passengers On Trains. Its a good old fashioned crackly cassette demo which came to light while looking through the archive. The wider story is on Substack, but we’ll share the song here!
So in the spirit of 'Halcyon Days', let's drift back through time and nostalgia for a quick recap of the past five Christmases before we look forward to 2026!
Christmas 2020 we were lamenting the cancellation of all the live gigs - due to the Covid lockdowns. Studio plans were shelved too, but out of that came the coloured vinyl 7 inch re-issue series, and a deep dive into the archive: outtakes from the original Get Ready To Go sessions, live recordings from 1980, stories and competitions too!
Christmas 2021 was a similar message, though we did manage to play six gigs, continued with the single releases, and surprised everyone with the ‘Live In Tokyo’ CD, recorded in 1995 in Japan to coincide with the Passengers On Trains LP. It included intimate performances not only of the solo material but also some Squire classics too!
We missed playing live, so we celebrated Squire's live heritage with archive clips from the 100 Club (1982), Electric Ballroom (1979), the Swindon concert that became the 'Fan Club Album' live side, and our 1985 Toronto show with its screaming fans!"
In fact the archive came into its own in 2021, and we shared Squire's ‘Christmas song’ - Let The Sun Shine Down! Here again!
By Christmas 2022 we were closing in on 100 newsletters! And we were finally back on stage again with dates in London, Leeds, Southend, Brighton and Scarborough! We really enjoyed meeting with the audience again, and sharing stories at the merch table!
The newsletters focused on the Boys About Town supergroup story, Ed Ball, Paul Bevoir, Simon Smith and me! We talked about Squire’s Power Pop connections, Sugarplum and the year ended with a mod explosion of rare TV clips of Squire, photos from April 1979 at Ronnie Scott’s, and gigs with From The Jam and the Modern World exhibition in Brighton! It was like 1979 again!
Christmas 2023, and the first half of the year was reserved for the re-release of Passengers On Trains LP, first released in Japan in 1995, followed by a fascinating series of unreleased demos such as ‘Nothing You Can Do’ and ‘My Car Is Dead’ highlighting post Get Smart ideas.
Playing live then became the thrust of the second half of the year as we found all our band activity seemingly squeezed into the last four months when we kicked off the Get Smart 40th Anniversary tour in Brighton on August Bank Holiday, and ended some eighteen dates later, in Blackpool on 9th December! Playing alongside Secret Affair again, and our own headliners. As the live concerts played out, so did glimpses from the stage, live clips, and also fascinating out takes from Get Smart such as the original ‘A Day In The Life’ Beatles style ending for Get Smart and Every Trick (In The Book Of Love) without the string section - pure power pop!
Christmas 2024, last year, and sadly it ended on a sombre note as we said goodbye to Kevin. He had been ill for some time, his last Squire live shows were in 2017 at the 100 Club and Cavern Liverpool. It was a quieter year in some ways — but also a busy one of a different kind: the final Secret Affair tour date, homecoming gigs in Haslemere with Kevin in attendance, two Mods Mayday concerts, the September Gurls Mono mix 45th Anniversary release, and a line-up change as Jon and Ray departed, with Thomas joining on drums and James returning to bass.
So this year? As we transitioned to the new line up, so fewer gigs. Bilbao in Spain in April, the annual London Mods Mayday, and 100 Club in October. Squire sounded fantastic on stage. The newsletters focused on lyrics, another dive into the archive to reveal Sugarplum rehearsals featuring James and Thomas! And we were surprised by Squire cover versions - The Coolies ‘Over You’ and The Sharp Pins covering 'Its A Mod Mod World', 'The Face Of Youth Today', 'I've Got You On My Mind' and 'B-A-B-Y Baby Love!'
We also launched a new ‘channel’ - Substack. The idea to keep the Squire newsletter focused on Squire, and be able to share all the other musical activities and passing ideas on a different page where you can dip in and out of. Indeed the wider story of Halcyon Days is in there! Click here!
https://open.substack.com/pub/anthonymeynell/p/halcyon-days
So what’s coming up? We’re already featured in this months Record Collector Mod Revival retrospective!
We are performing In Minehead on 9th January - at 6.30 pm for an hours set, alongside everyone from Ocean Colour Scene, to anyone connected to the ‘scene’ it seems.
We have a second Date in Spain on 7th March at the Guardasoul festival,
and back at the Mods Mayday on 3rd May in London!
There are exciting new releases planned too — from Squire and solo.
So stay tuned to the newsletter, and keep an eye on Substack as the year unfolds.
Thank you again for all your support.
We wish you a Merry Christmas (again) and a very Happy New Year.