ON THIS DATE (47 YEARS AGO) January 5, 1968 – Status Quo: “Pictures of Matchstick Men” b/w “Gentleman Joes Sidewalk Café (75c Minimum)” (Pye 7N 17449) 45 single is released in the UK. Pictures of Matchstick Men is the first hit single by Status Quo. It reached #7 on the UK charts, and #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming their only hit single in the United States. Francis Rossi confirmed on DVD2 of the Pictures set that it was originally intended to be a B-side to Gentleman Joes Sidewalk Cafe, but it was decided to swap the B-side and the A-side of the single. There are two versions of the song, a stereo and mono version, with significant differences: the mono version, which was the original single, has the trademark psychedelic wah-wah guitar in the breaks between lyrics, but the stereo version omits it. The song opens with a single guitar repeatedly playing a simple four note riff before the rhythm guitar comes in with chords and the drums and lyrics begin. Pictures of Matchstick Men is one of a number of songs from the late sixties to feature the audio effect phasing. The song is an example of bubblegum psychedelia. Their following release, Black Veils of Melancholy, was similar but flopped, which caused the group to change direction. Francis Rossi said about the song: I wrote it on the bog. Id gone there, not for the usual reasons...but to get away from the wife and mother-in-law. I used to go into this narrow frizzing toilet and sit there for hours, until they finally went out. I got three quarters of the song finished in that khazi. The rest I finished in the lounge. The matchstick men of the song refers to the paintings of L.S. Lowry Status Quo
Posted on: Tue, 06 Jan 2015 01:10:01 +0000