Welcome to the latest edition of the Fan Club newsletter! Firstly, thank you to everyone who has already pre-ordered the new coloured vinyl release of ‘No Time Tomorrow’ b/w ‘Don’t Cry To Me’. The Pillar Box Red and Bubblegum Pink versions are equally as popular and are selling fast so don’t delay! We understand they are shipping early so keep an eye out for the postman!
This week we examine the release and recording of 'No Time Tomorrow!
In 1982, Squire surprised everyone by releasing their first single since the 1980 ‘My Mind Goes Round In Circles’. The band had spent the previous year auditioning bass players expecting to get back to performing live and continuing as before, but the fruitless search coincided with a sea change in popular music and the demise of many of the original bands associated with the mod revival, which provoked a realization that it was time to focus on what we had and make records!
Whereas the previous years album ‘Hits From its 3000 Years Ago’ concentrated on the earlier repertoire written during the 1979/80 mod revival era, this new single announced a new sound and creative direction, thus drawing a line between the past behind and the excitement of new material!
No Time Tomorrow was the first single release on the newly established Hi-lo Records. So HI-001 holds a special place in Squire’s catalogue! Spurred on and encouraged by letters and messages from all over the world, from old fans that wondered where Squire had gone, and new fans that had picked up on the Anthony Meynell – Hits From 3000 Years Ago album realizing the connection, it was time to make a new record!
Squire rose to the occasion with a song inspired by the passing of time that wasn’t creating forward motion. The lyric expresses an inner urgency to make a future, and get up and get on, rather than dwelling on a recent past and descending into melancholy. The unexpected fanfare ‘Ode To Joy’ which starts the track heralds the new era and a newfound confidence. The tune comes from Beethoven’s 9th Symphony and expresses hope and celebration for music. It also appears in The Beatles film ‘Help!’, is set in the key of D Major, the same as ‘No Time Tomorrow’, and the tempo is also the same! - So it became in inspired addition during the final mixing stage of the track that suddenly drops you into a psychedelic time warp with a descending keyboard motif!
The production by Anthony & Kevin includes backwards echo on the ‘No Time Tomorrow’ answering phrases, created by turning the tape over to record reverb over the voice before flipping the tape back to normal direction. The resulting sound represents a haunting ghostly inner voice. Handclaps in the bridge section signify the passing of time as a ticking clock. A blistering guitar solo that turns backwards on itself seems to stop time as we ponder whether to go backwards or forwards! In the end the exclamation of ‘Make Time Today!’ introduces the reprise coda that dissolves into the fade out as the backward guitar mimics the two-note simple chorus melody of ‘Walking Down The Kings Road!’, our previous psychedelic coda. So the track looks forward while simultaneously echoing the past, reminding us how easy it is to get stuck in the moment and imploring us to ‘Make Time Today’ to make something for tomorrow!
The reverse side of the single sleeve lists the names of some of the fans that took the time to write to Squire via the distributor Stage One Records in those early months, and it was this interest from all over the world that inspired us to establish The Official Squire Fan Club!
We would like to honour those special few people whose names are forever engraved on the artwork by sending a free signed copy of the new record! If your name is on the sleeve, please get in touch with a mailing address and a colour preference for your signed copy of the record! A very special thank you from Squire!
Next week we are running another competition to win a White Label copy of No Time Tomorrow! Its open to subscribers to the fan club newsletter email, so for a chance to win make sure you’re subscribed to the email and not just reading it on the web page!
You can subscribe here at the bottom of the page!
Finally, don't forget to make time today and order your copy of No Time Tomorrow!
Click the text here to go to the No Time Tomorrow order page!
All the best & keep in touch!