Cool cat on a hot tube

Happy Birthday Jools Holland

24th January 1958

I would quite like to be Jools Holland.  He was in Squeeze, he presented the tube and on Later... he has featured and preformed with pretty much anyone worth listening too.  From Suggs, Tom Jones and Kylie to Metalica, Trombone Shorty and everywhere in between.  The Hootenanny has featured in every New Years Eve worth remembering since 1999, (that was a stellar New Years Eve for several reasons).

I love how droll Holland was on The Tube, I remember taping re runs late on channel 4 religiously while feeling most put out that my teenage years didn't have a Tube for the 90's to educate and illuminate.  Holland is also credited with crashing the Tube juggernaught, uttering the infamous phrase 'be there or be ungroovy fuckers' during a live trailer aired pre watershed.  The show was taken off air for 3 weeks as a result, Holland had his knuckles wrapped and another series was not commissioned.  Proof that the ungroovy fuckers rule the roost even at Chanel 4....OK, OK to be fair the watershed exists for a reason but the odd slip is what you pay for employing genuienly amped up, enthusiastic muso's for rather than plastic puppets a la Top Of The Pops...

Cool For Cats (with added Kenny Everett)
Reached No 2 in the UK Charts in 1979

My favourite Squeeze song is actually 'Hourglass' which I discovered when listening to my brothers double tape edition of Now That's What I Call Music 10 *weeps silently* it was my introduction to Squeeze.  I played it a lot.  Cool For Cats has a place in my heart for a different reason.

Growing up we used to go visit my only Auntie, Uncle and cousins most weeks.  My parents were going through what might politely be called a 'difficult' divorce and these Saturdays with my mum's sister were a welcome escape from a tense and fraught house.

Anyway, my cousins and I used to run a 'radio station'... I believe all tapes have since been destroyed and can not come back to haunt us.  (We also had an accompanying newspaper, we obviously understood the concept of media megalomania at ages 11, 10 and 8 x2 respectively)  The thing is, along with the Kylie, Big Fun and Sonia records we played, the adults also let us loose on their original Beatles singles, there was Van Morrision in there too and probably lots of other heavy hitters from the 60's and 70's.  I feel ever so slightly sick to the stomach now about the total lack of respect we showed these records...  They would probably be worth quite a lot now for a start.

So, where was I?  Squeeze.  OK well, I don't remember any other presents I got for turning 13 but I do know my auntie and uncle gave me a tape called 'best of 1979'.  Great, I thought, more old music!  But I stuck it in my walkman anyway and I loved it.  There wasn't just 'Cool For Cats' but also 'My Sharona' (I was singing that on Lips at the weekend - he IS a perv!) 'Please Don't Go', 'Ring My Bell' and 'We Don't Talk Anymore'.  I used to dance round my bedroom making no noise, lip syncing into a hair brush.  It took a while but eventually I got it, it was a well thought out present.  It is the type of present I can see me giving my girls as they get older.  So I chose this one because it is a song that reminds me in particular of someone I loved and who isn't here anymore.  I probably never even said thank you properly or told my Auntie how much I loved it but I think she probably did know.