Hi and welcome to the latest newsletter!
Deep in the run-out groove of the 1983 Get Smart album, scratched into the vinyl, are the words 'GET SET FOR A SMASHING TIME…'
That was a clue to the planned next Squire record release!
But it was quietly set aside- until now!
Smash was written fast, in the mid-1980s, dashing between London and Los Angeles. The songs came from that sense of dislocation, jet lag, two cities, two cultures, hearing two completely different versions of what pop music was supposed to sound like.
It wanted to be modern without being avant-garde, personal without being precious, and it never came out.
I've tried to finish it properly several times since. Every time, same conclusion. It sounds worse. Something's always missing. What's missing is the moment the songs were written. Sometimes you can't reconstruct that in a studio. Sometimes you can only capture it when it happens.
So here's what I now know. The record was finished the moment it was recorded. Fifteen songs recorded on a four-track in 1985. It's coming out later this year.
Over on Substack I'm telling the whole story. Part One posted today sets the scene. Over the next few weeks, I’ll dive in to the recording, the ideas, the songs, why it disappeared and why now. I'll be sharing music too.
Here’s a link to the story - and the first 2 songs!
