My listening tastes are all over the place at the moment. I blame lockdown. As much as I like to keep an eye on what's currently shakin' on the hill I find myself wandering back, way back; see posts passim - not least this from yesterday. I guess if I was to sum up in a sentence where I am I'd have to borrow a strap line from the wonderful Sun Dried Sparrows : "I was born in the 60s so I grew up in the 70s - that's all you need to know." Perfect. That's me.
So, over the last few days, I have mainly been listening to 'the Quo'. Often derided, often ridiculed, but there was a time when the three chord wonders from south London with a penchant for double denim couldn't put a white trainered foot wrong.
And what time would that be I hear you ask? Well, since I've never been one to shirk a question (a career in politics has never beckoned) I can tell you that you're looking at the period 1973-75. In particular a trilogy (holy?) of albums that still stands the test of time - Hello! ('73), Quo ('74) and On the Level ('75). In fact I'd go as far as to say you don't need any other Quo albums (or indeed singles); everything you could possibly want is contained within these three giant slabs of no nonsense, heads down see you at the end, boogie.
That said, a rather tasty book-end to their story came about a couple of years back kickstarted by way of an acoustic (Aquostic, if you will) gig they did at London's Roundhouse in October 2014. Recorded only two years before Rick Parfitt's untimely demise in December 2016, it captures the band in a less frantic setting and eschewing their trademark duh duh duh duh sound. I caught it on BBC 4 when it was first broadcast and loved every minute of it.
This is from their Hello! album. You may remember it sounding like this.
Status Quo - And it's Better Now (2014)
Picked that Aquostic album up for a quid in a charity shop a couple of months ago. Same songs in a new setting - works well on a Sunday morning.
ReplyDeleteI'd bookend your selection with Piledriver from (1972) and Blue For You (1976). After that, 12 Gold Bars I & II is pretty much all you need
(unless you really really want to hear Burning Bridges and The Anniversary Waltz?)
Nice one, RD. I call that a bargain; the best you ever had?
Delete100% with you on those three albums John, 'Quo' being my own personal favourite. JC has published a couple of interesting first LP track ICA's recently, but you'd have to work very hard to convince me that there is a greater opening salvo anywhere in rock than the Backwater/Just Take Me medley.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, when I hear that album I'm transported back to a party I went to when I was about 14. I got very drunk, but not too drunk to remember they'd been playing it that Saturday night. I blagged my own copy the following week.
Delete"The three chord wonders from south London with a penchant for double denim, couldn't put a white-trainered foot wrong." That line really sums up their look (one which fitted them perfectly) and whether we were fans or not, if you grew up in the 70s, you will have a fondness for them. I do like a set of smiley eyes and because they enjoyed what they did so much, these boys always seemed to have them. Great acoustic clip.
ReplyDeleteI'd not noticed, but you're right - who wouldn't love being in the Quo?
DeleteSorry I've been so absent around these parts lately, but still here and still reading/listening, etc.!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it's already been said but this post raises it again - there's definitely something about the situation we're all in which is making many of us return to the music of our pasts. I think it represents a safe place psychologically, comfortable and familiar, and where we already know what happened next!
Thank you for your kind words too - it's lovely to know that the strapline resonates :-)
The silent observer!
DeleteIt could have been written for me...