East Side Story (Squeeze Album)

East Side Story (Squeeze album)

East Side Story is the fourth studio album by New Wave group Squeeze. The initial concept was for a double-LP with one side produced by Elvis Costello, another by Dave Edmunds, a third by Nick Lowe and the fourth possibly by Paul McCartney. Ultimately it was largely produced by Costello and Roger Bechirian, and released on one disc.

However, Edmunds did produce the album's opening track, and sessions with Lowe yielded "Looking For A Love". This latter track (and one other album outtake produced by Bechirian and Costello) was appended to a 1997 UK CD reissue of East Side Story, as part of the band's Six of One... box set. The set included the band's first six studio albums, all digitally remastered. A year later, each separate CD (including the expanded East Side Story) was made available for individual purchase.

The album was a definite break with Squeeze's "New Wave" sound, as it contained songs influenced by rockabilly, R&B, blue-eyed soul, Merseybeat, and psychedelia among other genres. It also contained Squeeze's last top 10 UK single, "Labelled With Love". This was a track that Costello allegedly had to fight to have recorded, as Tilbrook in particular initially felt that the song was too country-and-western sounding for Squeeze's image.

East Side Story was the first album for new keyboardist Paul Carrack. He sang lead on the track "Tempted", which became one of Squeeze's best-known songs, and Squeeze's first U.S. chart hit. Shortly after the release of this album, Carrack would leave the band for a solo career, but he returned to Squeeze for a time in the early 1990s, playing and singing on the Some Fantastic Place album.