Sweets from a Stranger

Sweets from a Stranger is the fifth studio album by the British new wave group Squeeze, released in September 1982 through A&M. The album peaked at number 20 in the UK Albums Chart. The band split up soon after a world tour for the record, and the two main songwriters went on to record 1984's Difford & Tilbrook. Squeeze reunited and released Cosi Fan Tutti Frutti in 1985. As with all Squeeze albums, Chris Difford wrote the words first and Glenn Tilbrook would write the music afterwards often editing Difford's material to create a streamlined narrative. Tilbrook would record a demo afterwards and play it for Difford. Background and recording Sweets from a Stranger was recorded during a period of tumult for the band, with tensions exacerbated by the band's continued touring and the pressures on the Difford–Tilbrook songwriting team from being compared to Lennon–McCartney. Tilbrook explained, "The band was not in a happy place on the year from East Side Story to Sweets from a Stranger. There were some great songs on Sweets from a Stranger, but the band itself did not feel great; there was dark cloud above us. It was just hard work being on the road then, and it was an odd time. Really, when you're having that sort of success, no manager is going to say, 'You need to stop for a while.' And no one did, so we had to." Paul Carrack had left the band to work on his solo career and work as a studio musician. He was replaced by Don Snow. Snow would later appear with Procol Harum and Tina Turner on their respective albums and tours. Snow would later change his name to Jonn Savannah.