"Black Coffee in Bed" was the first

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

released from Squeeze's fifth album, '' Sweets from a Stranger''. It peaked at number 51 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in April 1982.

Background

Chris Difford stated, " e lyric was inspired by my picking up my notebook one day and seeing a coffee stain on it, which inspired the first line. It was a very vivid image for me and inspired this song of loss and regret." Difford also said that "lyrically it was attractive to countrykind of metre. The fact that Glenn put a soul melody to it shows the unique quality of our writing." A music video, which Difford said showed the band "look ngtotally out of place and not credible at all," was directed by

Steve Barron Steven Barron (born 4 May 1956) is an Irish-British filmmaker. He is best known for directing the music videos for the songs "Billie Jean" by Michael Jackson, "Summer of '69" and " Run to You" by Bryan Adams, " Money for Nothing" by Dire Stra ...

(notable for directing

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

's "

Billie Jean "Billie Jean" is a song by American singer Michael Jackson, released by Epic Records on January 2, 1983, as the second single from his sixth studio album, '' Thriller'' (1982). It was written and composed by Jackson and produced by Jackson and ...

" video.) The video for the song implies that

Chris Difford Christopher Henry Difford (born 4 November 1954) is an English singer, musician, songwriter and record producer. He is a founding member and songwriter of the rock group Squeeze. Musical career Born in Greenwich, London, Difford has written ly ...

played the guitar solo, when it was in fact performed by

Glenn Tilbrook Glenn Martin Tilbrook (born 31 August 1957) is the lead singer and guitarist of the English band Squeeze, a band formed in the mid-1970s who broke through in the new wave era at the decade's end. He generally wrote the music for Squeeze's son ...

. The video also implies that the backing vocals were performed by members of Squeeze, but backing vocals on "Black Coffee in Bed" were actually performed by guests

Paul Young Paul Antony Young (born 17 January 1956) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & the Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, he became a teen idol with his solo success in the 1980s. ...

and

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

. Glenn Tillbrook stated that " e backing vocals by Elvis ostelloand Paul Young were the icing on the cake." Of the song's guitar solo, Tilbrook stated, "It’s sort of a very 1960s,

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

-influenced solo. But I love the idea of a key change for the solo. And also for it to be quite jazzy, which the song wasn't."

Reception

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

'' critic

Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...

said that ''Sweets from a Stranger'' peaked "with the sublime "Black Coffee in Bed"—a post-breakup tune that could have easily slid onto '' East Side Story''." Chris Difford stated, "We always thought we recorded

he song He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

too slow," and Glenn Tillbrook said, "It could never be a fast song, but it certainly had the opportunity to be slightly perkier."

Chart performance

When the song was released as a single, it peaked at number 51 on the UK Singles Chart, as well as number 26 on the US Mainstream Rock Chart). The single was the only one from ''Sweets from a Stranger'' to chart.

Track listing

# "Black Coffee in Bed" (6:12) # "The Hunt" (3:52)

References

{{authority control Squeeze (band) songs 1982 singles Songs written by Glenn Tilbrook Songs written by Chris Difford Paul Young songs Elvis Costello songs 1981 songs A&M Records singles