“Black Coffee in Bed” by Squeeze

"Black Coffee in Bed" was the first single from Sweets from a Stranger, Squeeze's fifth album, released on A&M in 1982, and it climbed to number 51 in the UK that April. Chris Difford's lyric began with a coffee stain he spotted on his notebook one day; that image gave him the first line, and the rest grew into a song about loss and regret. He felt the words fell into a country rhythm, and Glenn Tilbrook set them to a soul melody instead, which is the Difford and Tilbrook partnership in one move.

Difford and Tilbrook both sing and play guitar, with John Bentley on bass, Gilson Lavis on drums and Don Snow on keyboards, and Phil McDonald produced it with the band. The real surprise is in the back row of the choir: Elvis Costello and Paul Young sing guest backing vocals, and Tilbrook called their contribution the icing on the cake. The result is an unhurried, rueful groove, all sleepy keyboards and smoky harmonies.

Steve Barron directed the video, which Difford later said made the band look completely out of place. It also fibs a little: it suggests Difford plays the guitar solo, which was Tilbrook's, and that the band sang the backing vocals, which were Costello's and Young's.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.