Today's song is "Looking For A Love" Squeeze – Looking for a Love Lyrics | Genius Lyrics Written by James Alexander and Zelda Samuels, and produced by Nick Lowe, this is a bonus track released on the 1997 re-issue of East Side Story. This is a cover of a song previously performed by the Valentinos (with Bobby Womack as lead vocalist), the J. Geils Band and solo Bobby Womack (and probably others). Glenn shares lead with Paul on the track.
Posting the other versions, first, the Valentinos (featuring Bobby Womack, who would later record a solo version), from 1962.
This one's a real oddity, since Squeeze almost never did covers in the studio (the obscure Cliff Richard one earlier, and that may be it?) In any case, this clearly wasn't a throwaway for fun, since it's fully produced and arranged. And a pretty nice version of a terrific song, showing off Squeeze's R&B chops for real. Maybe it was done for a Carrack solo album that never happened? Or they thought they had a left-field hit possibility until they learned that J. Geils had got there first? In any case, the one real goodie among the unearthed Six of One tracks. 4/5
Looking For A Love The Squeeze cover is neither better nor worse than the other versions. The J. Geils Band turns it into a rock jam, while Bobby Womack’s version is a soulful, slightly slower and grittier take. The Squeeze version to me sounds most like the Valentinos's version, fairly straightforward, kind of a party-time sing-a-long. I think it’s a good, not great, song regardless of the version. Squeeze does a nice job, but nothing particularly revelatory. 3/5 Harper Valley PTA is another one.
Catching up- “The Axe Has Now Fallen” -nothing to add to what’s been said- Glenn sounds even more bored by it than I was. 2/5 “Looking for Love” - I think I first heard them do this on a live tape I had back in the day- it’s an ok cover but I think the original songs they wrote in a similar style suit them much better. 3/5
Looking for a Love I've never heard any of the versions, so a complete hot-take! I think this does show off the R&B stylings of Squeeze very nicely. It's not necessarily a genre that I would have associated with Squeeze, but then I had paltry knowledge of them prior to this thread. I guess if the only song you knew about them was "Tempted" this wouldn't seem out of place in their catalog. It's a cover, and it sounds like it was fun to record. I'm betting it was pretty fun live but it gets dinged a bit for being a cover. I'd much rather hear Chris's sly lyrics matched with Glenn's very English vocals. Still 3.5/5
Doesn't strike me as a song that Squeeze could have done much with that wasn't already done better by others. And to my ears they didn't. Well played I guess. "Looking For a Love" 3/5
Looking for a Love - 3 In a three minute tune they manage to sing "looking for a love" no less than 41 times. Meh.
Looking For A Love This is a fun version of this. Weirdly, to my ears they sound a bit like Crowded House in the chorus! 3/5
I'm not sure what to do with this. I don't understand why they recorded this - it doesn't seem to fit with anything ends they recorded at the time, and the "traditional" ideas about what the love is supposed to be doing don't line up very well with the "Hey, it turns out we're not *really* misogynistic" mission they were on either. It's fine, though - just a competent cover. 3.5/5
Squeeze's version of "Looking For A Love" was a real surprise the first time I heard it. At the time, I hadn't heard the original version but was very familiar with The J Geils Band cover. It sounds like Squeeze had fun recording the song and it's great to hear Paul and Glenn trade lines. A worthy bonus track. 3,5/5
Looking For A Love I don’t think the original is up to much. Both Geils and Womack manage to make something of it by applying energy and/or grit. Squeeze sound like they are enjoying themselves, but aren’t able to compensate for the original’s lack of character. 2/5
Fun cover version. It’s great to hear Paul and Glenn trading the lead vocals. I wish they had done that sort of thing more, but they didn’t get much of a chance I suppose 3/5
"Looking For A Love" An OK cover of a song I've never heard before to my knowledge. It has more energy than yesterday's track and has the bonus of Glenn and Paul sharing the vocals, but it doesn't really fit in with anything else from the time. Squeeze aren't a band that I generally think of as doing covers. 2.5/5
Looking For A Love - Well this is a good time. I was familiar with the Geils version and I've heard a couple of Womack solo takes. Cool use a little more punch for me but it's pretty neat. Like a lot of you, I really enjoy Glenn and Paul swapping vocals. 3/5
"Looking For A Love" while competently played and sung doesn't stand out for me. Aside from Gilson's drumming, it sounds more like they were jumping on a bandwagon than playing a song they loved. 2.5/5
"Looking For a Love" -- 3.5/5 It's a very good version of this song -- but as someone who grew up hearing the J. Geils Band version on Boston radio every single day, it just seems out of character for Squeeze. How many covers did they actually ever record in the studio? I'm still working on my morning coffee, but I'm wracking my brain to think of others. (EDIT: Reading about "Harper Valley PTA" above. Have not been able to embrace the last two studio albums, so I completely glossed over them doing covers in 2015. Maybe this thread will change my mind about these albums??)
