Hi and welcome to the latest Squire newsletter where we ‘go home’ and explore Squire's roots, marvel at the 'mod arrow' in the centre of the hometown picture, announce a ‘secret gig’ and reintroduce some very famous Squire people!
Every band comes from somewhere, and although Squire is usually connected to Woking and known as the 2nd most famous Woking band, (the first presumably being The Jam!), Squire's spiritual home is actually a bit further south in Haslemere, Surrey! You can see Woking in the top right corner of the map and Haslemere at the bottom, about 20 miles distant, and actually on the same train line to London Waterloo!
Original members of the Fan Club may be familiar with the name Haslemere since the Fan Club address was PO Box 10, Haslemere, Surrey.
The first distributor of Hi-Lo Records was also based in Haslemere! Stage One, the label who first released 'My Mind Goes Round In Circles' before becoming Hi-lo's record wholesaler was based in Kings Road (no connection!) in Haslemere, and that is also where we first met Jon prior to recording Girl On A Train, who was working at Stage One - and listening to Squire records!
While we won’t publish a Haslemere equivalent of ‘Homes of the Squire Stars’ map and run tours of our mansions, we are aware that perhaps even more famous rock stars reside in the area besides Squire, and generally, the Surrey Hills area is notable for being an area of outstanding beauty!
The reason for celebrating all things Haslemere, is that in anticipation of the upcoming Mods Mayday dates in London and Cambridge on 5th & 6th May, we have arranged a special Haslemere local gig on Saturday 13th April, and we are thrilled to announce that not only will Anthony, Jon and Ray be blasting through the Squire set, but we will also be joined on stage by James, who will be playing guitar, bass and keyboards on a few songs, and hopefully Kevin will also make a welcome return to play some drums as well!!
This is a unique event as neither James or Kevin have played live in Squire since 2018, due to either moving away or serious illness, but this special occasion has afforded us the opportunity to try and get everyone together in the same room for a super celebration of Squire!
The gig is in Shottermill, about a mile from Haslemere railway station. A very small club so the atmosphere will be electric. And only £5 on the door to get in! This gig may be small but it’s also going to be a BIG opportunity to join us in an intimate show and meet us all!!
We are informed that there will be a total of 4 local artists playing. First on stage is a solo guy who will play for just 20 minutes to kick the night off. Second act is called "Sophia" which is apparently a "pop" act, again a short set. Third is a band called "B Lines", which is a "mod type" band. Probably a half hour set. Squire are last onstage at 9:45pm for 45mins - 1 hour. More information will be shared as the date draws nearer.
Finally, we are excited to be able to take this opportunity to share some extra curricular Squire related news! James has been busy recording and performing, and his latest recording is a cover of ‘Summer Wine’, originally by Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra. The electric 12-string Rickenbacker playing on the track should be recognisable as well!
All the best from Squire!