Hywel Roberts is a legend. He's also one of the nicest blokes I've ever met: genuinely clever, thoughtful, reflective and really bloody good at his job. He also wrote the afterword of Punk Leadership and chose the track Take Me I'm Yours by Squeeze as its title. Frankly, its hilarious as Hywel is the very antithesis of the macho hard-bloke with constipation on its cover.
In his afterword, Hywel writes about being with his dad when encountering a punk in a local shop. Interestingly, Squeeze very much reminds me of my dad. Squeeze is one of the few bands from outside the second half of the sixties that my dad has time for. There is not much room in his Canon alongside The Who, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Kinks, etc. But Squeeze makes it, with a particular favourite being Labelled With Love.
I'm not sure I'd classify Squeeze as pure-punk, but that doesn't matter: punk is what you make it. Mind you, the band took its name from a Velvet Underground album and their first album was produced by John Cale.
What Hywel has in common with my dad is not just a love of Squeeze. Both are wonderful models of how white men can be gentle, compassionate and kind; in a day of testosterone-fuelled racist riots, high-profile sexual predators and the persistence of jobs for the boys, they are all that is wonderful in the world, holding friends and family close to their heart. They are champions for those without the privilege that being a white, straight, middle-aged, cis-man brings (although my dad would not describe it that way; he'd say he just wasn't being a dick).
When I was struggling during lockdown, Hywel recorded me a short video of singing Science Fiction / Double Feature from Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was completely out of the blue and is still pretty much still my favourite thing.
If you have never come across Hywel's work, get involved. It is creative, imaginative and so warmly child-centred that it cannot help but make even the hardest to reach kid be bothered about learning. And check out Squeeze, they're fun too.
Related Posts
