(c’74-80/81) Dom De Vivo (bass / vocals), Enzo Esposito (guitar), Ross “Rosie” Di’Landa (drums) and Steve Baker (guitar).

Squire photo shoot in Woking for Soundscene taken by Bill Beminster, Woking News & Mail’s photograper. Picture courtesy of Steve Baker

Formed in Woking in ’74, Esposito and De Vivo had the initial idea of putting a band together and found some space at the Italian club on Walton Road. They called Di’Lanada, who Esposito knew from St John the Baptist, and having heard of Baker, who went to school with Paul Weller in Sheerwater, reached out to him too; De Vivo attended Horsell. The first song they ever played / rehearsed was a cover of “Hallelujah”, a 4 chord number baker taught the band, followed by Status Quo numbers. Their first gig was at Woking Football Club, under another, now lost to time, name. The fledgling group were offered rehearsal space in Woking, next to Mr Flacks menswear / Flaks’ Boutique (a store Paul Weller used to peer into through cupped hands in the late sixties, enchanted with the fashion and the faces making waves on the local scene). It was above a ‘hippy’ store called Squire, a moniker that became their name. In addition to rehearsing above Squire they also utilized Horsell Village Hall as many bands have over the years. They did everything from Status Quo to ‘bantam-weight punk’ to quote Paul Ticknell of Melody Maker. These Horsell rehearsal got a little heated; De Vivo was getting fed up of just doing covers and the band kept arguing. Eventually, De Vivo left to play and sing with other bands. Di’Landa had also decided to leave at this point, but apparently changed his mind following some pressure from Esposito. Meanwhile, Anthony ‘Dyl’ Meynell had been playing in Dulcie from the St. Peters area playing The Star, Gin Mill and Bubz (booked by Ed Bazalgette of The Vapors). In ’76 Meynell also recorded 10 tracks with his brother at Chestnut Studios under the name The Numbers which got the attention of Mark Perry of the ‘Sniffin’ Glue’ fanzine who wanted to record the band on his ‘Step Forward’ label. Maynell was stuck, joining Squire in April/May ’78 supporting the Dodgers at the Junction, playing the festival at University of Surrey and opening for The Jam at the Civic. Oct/Nov ’78 saw the band at Chestnut Studios recording four tracks: ‘Modern Love’, Get Ready To Go’, Getting Better’ and ‘Living In The City’. In ’79 they released ‘Get Ready to Go’ as their first single on ROK Records. They took the A-side while Coming Shortly, from Milton Keynes, held the B-side with ‘Doing the Flail’. It got played by John Peel, made the warm section of Melody Maker’s singles review, got called a ‘demo’ in Sounds and sold 1,500 copies. They also had two songs on the Mods Mayday ’79 compilation album.

Then there was the gig with Purple Hearts at Ronnie Scott’s Upstairs in April ’79. Their appearance on the legendary “Mods Mayday ’79”, which reached #75 in the charts and featured two new songs by the band, was a breakthrough. Ian Page of Secret Affair (one of Squire’s mod peers) had just started his own I-Spy label and signed the band on the merits of their appearance on Mods Mayday. After signing to I-Spy, line-up changes followed. Di’Landa was replaced by Kevin Meynell and Baker quit. Squire’s “Walking Down The Kings Road” was released in ’79 on the I-Spy and carried “It’s A Mod Mod World” on the B-side. It is said that Squire’s “Walking Down the Kings Road” is a near copy of the Small Faces’ “Whatcha Gonna Do About It”, which was “heavily influenced” by Solomon Burke’s “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love”, with a Who-ish guitar break grafted on – thoughts? ‘The Face of Youth Today’ that same year, with ‘Walking Down…’ charting. In late ’79 Squire were touring with Secret Affair, on the Dancing in the Streets Tour, but had to pull out on 8 December due to ‘stage injury’ to Meynell. They moved to Stage One Records in 1980 releasing ‘My Mind Goes Round in Circles’ in the first week of May and featuring Kirsty MacColl on backing vocals. The B-side was “Does Stephanie Know” and the singles back sleeve carried the lyrics and a photo of ‘Stephanie’ taken at Foxenden Quarry Park, Guildford. The model was actually called Coral ? and her name appears as the last credit in thanks to list. The band essentially dissolved when the last original member Esposito left. Anthony Meynell started his own label, Hi-Lo in ’81 and released a compilation titled ‘Hits from 3000 Years Ago’ of Squire demos and dropped songs.. In ’82 Meynell enlisted Jon Bicknell (bass) and reactivated Squire, releasing the single ‘No Time for Tomorrow’. Released on March 23rd 1982, “No Time Tomorrow” was Squire’s fifth single. It was backed by “Don’t Cry To Me”. Neither track appeared on their first LP. They also released ‘Something Old Something New Something Borrowed…The Official Squire Fan Club Album’ in 1982. There was a short promo tour of America for ‘Hits…’, delaying their first proper album ‘Get Smart’, which was finally released in late ’83.

This was followed by the ‘September Gurls’ EP in ’84. Carrying the 12 Squire singles, “The Singles Album” was also pressed by Hi-Lo Records in 84. They never made the breakthrough into the mainstream, but the ‘Get Smart’ album and its follow-up EP, ‘September Gurls’, (the title track was a cover of the Big Star classic) in 1984 became cult classics in American power pop circles. Squire finally quit during the making of ‘Smash’. Released 10 years after “The Singles Album” compilation; “Get Ready To Go!” compiled 22 track on one album and was put out by Tangerine Records in ’94. The sleeve front to “The Place I Used To Live”, also released in 1994 on Detour Records, featured a local music shop (any help identifying appreciated) with a display of Squire’s 1983 “Get Smart…” album in the window. De Vivo and the other 3 original members tried to reform Squire in ’96, but the threat of legal action by Meynell resulted as them performing as Revolver, recording original tracks written by Baker, who undertook vocal duties, with Di’Landa on drums, Esposito on rhythm guitar and vocals and Di Vivo on bass and vocals. They kept going, with original music and gigs, until Baker emigrated to Australia. Baker died on New Years Day 2019.

Tracks:
The Youth of Today are Gonna Make It

Gallery:

Chestnut Studios cassette inlay. This one is for a copy of a Squire Original Chestnut Studios Demo
July /August 1979: Squire gig listing. Picture courtesy of Neil Barker
September 1979: Squire gigs. Picture courtesy of Neil Barker
25 May 1979: Squire, along with Sta Prest, supported Back To Zero at the Red Lion, Leytonstone.
20 June 1979: Squire, along with Merton Parkas, supported Secret Affair on Mod Night at Music Machine, Camden. Picture courtesy of Neil Barker
Squires gigs for late May 1979. Picture courtesy of Neil Barker
28 May 1979: Squire were added to the bill at the last minute and had a 25 minute slot supporting The Mods, Back To Zero and The Purple Hearts at Notre Dame Hall, Leicester Square. Source: Neil Barker
1 August 1979: Squire supported Merton Parkas along with Lambrettas at the Music Machine, Camden. Source: Ulrich Wegener via Keep It Out Of Sight
Squire. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire sticker. Picture courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire’s Anthony Meynell at Ronnie Scott’s Upstairs Club, London. Picture courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire’s Anthony Meynell at Ronnie Scott’s Upstairs Club, London. Picture courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire’s Anthony Meynell at Ronnie Scott’s Upstairs Club, London. Picture courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire, at Ronnie Scott’s, supporting the Purple Hearts. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire, at Ronnie Scott’s, supporting the Purple Hearts. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire, at Ronnie Scott’s, supporting the Purple Hearts. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire, at Ronnie Scott’s, supporting the Purple Hearts. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire, at Ronnie Scott’s, supporting the Purple Hearts. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire, at Ronnie Scott’s, supporting the Purple Hearts. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire, at Ronnie Scott’s, supporting the Purple Hearts. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire, at Ronnie Scott’s, supporting the Purple Hearts. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire’s Anthony Meynell at Ronnie Scott’s Upstairs Club, London. Picture courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire, at Ronnie Scott’s, supporting the Purple Hearts. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire, at Ronnie Scott’s, supporting the Purple Hearts. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire, at Ronnie Scott’s, supporting the Purple Hearts. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire, at Ronnie Scott’s, supporting the Purple Hearts. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire, at Ronnie Scott’s, supporting the Purple Hearts. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Squire. Picture by and courtesy of Fred Pipes
Taken from the May 1979 issue of Barbed Wire Vol.2 No.2. Courtesy of Fred Pipes
Possibly clipped from NME (no date) courtesy of Fred Pipes
I-Spy info sheet for Squire, courtesy of Fred Pipes
Fanzine clipping sourced from Keith Smart, thanks to Steve Baker
Squire reviewed in Barbed Wire Vol 3 No 1 Jan/Feb 1980. Picture coutesy of Fred Pipes
A review from Outside fanzine from the 80s
Squire – Walking Down the King’s Road
Squire photo shoot in Woking for Soundscene taken by Bill Beminster, Woking News & Mail’s photograper. Picture courtesy of Steve Baker
Squire photo shoot in Woking for Soundscene taken by Bill Beminster, Woking News & Mail’s photograper. Picture courtesy of Steve Baker
Squire photo shoot in Woking for Soundscene taken by Bill Beminster, Woking News & Mail’s photograper. Picture courtesy of Steve Baker
Squire photo shoot in Woking for Soundscene taken by Bill Beminster, Woking News & Mail’s photograper. Picture courtesy of Steve Baker
Squire photo shoot in Woking for Soundscene taken by Bill Beminster, Woking News & Mail’s photograper. Picture courtesy of Steve Baker
The sleeve front to 1994’s “The Place I Used To Live” featured a local music shop (any help identifying appreciated) with a display of Squire’s 1983 “Get Smart…” album
The back sleeve of 1994’s “The Place I Used To Live” 7″ single.
The A-side to 1994, 7″, “The Place I Used To Live” on Detour Records.
The B-side to 1994, 7″, “The Place I Used To Live” on Detour Records.
Released 10 years after “The Singles Album” compilation; “Get Ready To Go!” compiled 22 track on one album and was put out by Tangerine Records in ’94.
Something Old Something New Something Borrowed…The Official Squire Fan Club Album was released in 1982.
Squire’s Official Fan Club Album. Picture courtesy of Ben’s Collectors Records
Squire’s “Walking Down The Kings Road” was released in ’79 on the I-Spy Records label (started by Ian Page of Secret Affair) and carried “It’s A Mod Mod World” on the B-side. It is said that Squire’s “Walking Down the Kings Road” is a near copy of the Small Faces’ “Whatcha Gonna Do About It”, which was “heavily influenced” by Solomon Burke’s “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love”, with a Who-ish guitar break grafted on – thoughts?
Released on March 23rd 1982, “No Time Tomorrow” was Squire’s fifth single. It was backed by “Don’t Cry To Me”. Neither track appeared on their only album, Get Smart.
Front sleeve of Squire’s “My Mind Goes Round in Circles”
Squire at Bisstock (Bisley Music Festival). Picture provided by Steve Baker
Squire at Bisstock (Bisley Music Festival). Picture provided by Steve Baker
Squire at Bisstock (Bisley Music Festival). Picture provided by Steve Baker
Squire get panned by David Skinner in this review of their Dec ’79 gig supporting Secret Affair published in the Jan ’80 issue of Guildford fanzine Barbed Wire.
1979 Secret Affair / Squire tour poster!
20 October 1979: Squire, along with The Teanbeats, supported Purple Hearts at the Electric Ballroom, Camden. Picture courtesy of Neil Barker