"Pictures of Matchstick Men" is the first hit single by Status Quo, released on 5 January 1968.
Video Pictures of Matchstick Men
Status Quo version
The song reached number seven in the British charts, number eight in Canada, and number 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 Joe's 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 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 bass, rhythm guitar, drums and lyrics begin. "Pictures of Matchstick Men" is one of a number of songs from the late 1960s which feature the phasing audio effect. The band's next single release, "Black Veils of Melancholy", was similar but flopped, which caused a change of musical direction.
Rossi (living in a prefab in Camberwell at the time) later said of the song:
I wrote it on the bog. I'd 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 Salford artist L. S. Lowry.
The song was reprised, in 2014, for the band's thirty-first studio album Aquostic (Stripped Bare). It was featured in the ninety-minute launch performance of the album at London's Roundhouse on 22 October, the concert being recorded and broadcast live by BBC Radio 2 as part of their In Concert series.
Maps Pictures of Matchstick Men
Releases
- 1968: Pictures of Matchstick Men / Gentleman Joe's Sidewalk Cafe [Promo] 45 rpm Vinyl 7"; Pye / 7N 17449
- 1969: Retrato de hombre con bastón / El café del caballero Joe 33 rpm, Mono Vinyl 7"; Music Hall / MH 31.101 Argentina
- 1973: Pictures of Matchstick Man / Ice in the Sun 45 rpm Vinyl 7"; Pye / 12 746 AT
Camper Van Beethoven version
In 1989, Camper Van Beethoven scored a number-one hit on the American Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart with their version from their album Key Lime Pie. One of the instruments played in this version is a violin. This version is played in the end of the Ray Donovan episode, "If I Should Fall from Grace with God" (2017; season 5, episode 7).
Other versions
The song has been covered at least 16 times.
The Slickee Boys were the first to release a cover, in 1983.
Ozzy Osbourne and Type O Negative covered the song in 1997 for the film Private Parts soundtrack.
Cracker released a cover in 2000.
In Popular Culture
In 2002, Death in Vegas released Scorpio Rising, which is backed by a remix instrumental of Pictures of Matchstick Men.
In 2012, the song featured in Men in Black 3.
In 2013, Mickey Avalon heavily sampled the song over rap in his single "I Get Even."
See also
- List of Billboard number-one alternative singles of the 1980s
References
External links
- Gold Radio
- Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics
Source of article : Wikipedia
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