They began as a rock and roll freakbeat band called The Spectres. By 1967, with very little commercial success, they discovered psychedelia and changed their name to Traffic (later Traffic Jam, to avoid confusion with Steve Winwood's Traffic.) At this time the line-up also included organist Roy Lynes and drummer John Coghlan. Late in 1967 they recruited second guitarist Rick Parfitt and became The Status Quo, scoring Top 10 singles with Pictures Of Matchstick Men and Ice in The Sun. "Pictures of Matchstick Men" remains the only Top 40 hit single the group has ever charted in the United States. They have never achieved the same level of success there, that they have enjoyed in their home country.
After their second album Spare Parts they decided to change into a heavy boogie rock band. During the seventies they became one of the UK's leading rock bands, gaining a faithful following due to their excellent live gigs. They showed a great amount of energy during this decade and in the early 80s. They and are best known for songs from this era such as Paper Plane (1972), Caroline (1973), Down Down (1975), John Fogerty's Rockin' All Over The World (1977) and Whatever You Want (1979). Down Down topped the UK charts in January 1975 (their only British No. 1 single to date).
Lynes left in 1971, to be replaced initially by guest keyboard players on album, including Jimmy Horowitz and John Parker, and later on a more permanent basis on record and stage by ex-The Herd and Judas Jump member Andy Bown, though as he was contracted as a solo artist with EMI, he was not credited as a full-time member until 1982. Coghlan left in late 1981, to be replaced by Pete Kircher from 1960s band Honeybus. This short-lived lineup played its last gig in 1984 at the Milton Keynes Bowl, and reformed briefly to open the Live Aid charity event at Wembley in July 1985.
That year Rossi recorded and released two solo singles with longtime writing partner Bernie Frost. Parfitt was also working on a solo album which is still unreleased, although some tracks have been re-recorded by Status Quo and released as 'B' sides. Bass player John Edwards and drummer Jeff Rich, both ex-Judie Tzuke Band and Climax Blues Band, assisted Parfitt in the studio.
In the summer of 1985 Rossi, Parfitt and Bown, along with Edwards and Rich started work on a new album. Lancaster, who was living in Australia at the time, took out a legal injunction to stop the band using the Status Quo name on any records. The injunction was lifted after a court hearing in January 1986. Lancaster had had increasing musical differences with the group, notably during the sessions for the 1983 album Back to Back over two tracks which became hit singles for the group around that time. He had written Ol' Rag Blues, but was angered when the producers chose to release a version with Rossi singing lead vocal in preference to the one sung by himself, and he objected to Marguerita Time, which he thought unduly corny and too pop-oriented for them. He remained in Australia, forming a band called Party Boys, who had no success in Britain.
The commercially successful In The Army Now album was released in 1986, and the band continues to this day with the revised personnel. Rich left in 2000 and was replaced by Matthew Letley. Andrew Bown took a year off at the same time for family reasons and was replaced on stage by Paul Hirsh, formerly of Voyager.
According to Songfacts.com, Quo's 29th studio album, Quid Pro Quo, was released in a deluxe format exclusively at Tesco on 30 May 2011. The regular edition was released elsewhere a week later on 7th June. The LP debuted at #10 in the UK charts, the band's best chart placing for an original album since Don't Stop peaked at #2 in 1996.
Although Quo still release new material every few years, recent years have seen them release a series of greatest hits compilations and covers albums. One of the band's most recent original albums, Heavy Traffic, shows a return to classic form not seen since the late 1970s.
Status Quo have often been characterized, perhaps unfairly, as producing very simple songs, always in the same format: 4/4 rhythm, three chord structure. However, the recordings from their first decade demonstrate a diversity in musical style and complexity to rival most of the late 60s UK bands, and several of their singles and album tracks from later show considerable subtlety, not least the mainly acoustic 1979 single Living On An Island, and the 1980 album track, later a single, Rock'n'Roll, which is ironically one of the least rock'n'roll-like songs they have ever recorded.
They have a loyal group of fans in the United Kingdom, where they have enjoyed more hits than any other group in rock and roll history (over 60 as of mid-2005), as well as a big following in Europe, notably in The Netherlands.
In September 2005 a contestant on the long-running BBC television quiz programme Mastermind chose Status Quo as his specialist subject. That same year they took part in the long running ITV soap opera Coronation Street in a storyline which involved them being sued by the layabout Les Battersby.
In December 2005 it was announced that Parfitt was undergoing tests for throat cancer. All subsequent dates of the UK tour were cancelled as a result. However on 20th December it was further announced that the growths found in Parfitt's throat were benign and had been removed.
Quo have even been the subject of a Doctoral Thesis, purporting to demonstrate that their music composition skills could be favourably compared to the likes of the classical music composers, such as Beethoven!
In Autumn 2008 German techno legend Scooter released new single Jump that rock together with Status Quo.
On 1 February 2016, it was officially announced that Status Quo, in addition to the spring and summer dates already scheduled, would tour Europe starting in October. The final dates would take place in the UK towards the end of the year, after which the group would retire from playing 'electric' tours.
On 28 October 2016, Rick Parfitt permanently retired from live performances after suffering a heart attack earlier the same year. On 24 December 2017, he died in hospital in Marbella, Spain as a result of severe infection, after suffering an injury to his shoulder. Parfitt's funeral was held at Woking Crematorium on 19 January 2017. Irish guitarist Richie Malone, who had substituted for Parfitt during some 2016 live shows, took his place on rhythm guitar.
Pictures of Matchstick Men
Status Quo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I see your eyes, a funny kind of yellow
I rush home to bed, I sunk my head
I see your face underneath my pillow
I wake next morning, tired, still yawning
See your face come peeping through my window
Pictures of matchstick men and you
All I ever see is them and you
Windows echo your reflection
When I look in their direction, gone
When will this haunting stop?
Your face, it just won't leave me alone
Pictures of matchstick men and you
Images of matchstick men and you
All I ever see is them and you
You in the sky, you with this guy
You make me cry, you lie
You in the sky, you with this guy
You make me cry, you lie
Pictures of matchstick men
Pictures of matchstick men
Pictures of matchstick men
Pictures of matchstick men
The song "Pictures Of Matchstick Men" by Status Quo is an introspective reflection on obsession, and the inability to escape haunting memories of a past love. The opening lines describe the singer's heightened state of awareness, as they look up to the sky and see the eyes of their ex-lover. The vivid imagery of "funny kind of yellow" eyes conjures a surreal and unsettling atmosphere. The singer then retreats to bed, but even as they lay down, they are unable to escape the image of their ex's face, "underneath my pillow." The next morning, the singer is still tired, and sees their ex's face "peeping through my window."
In the second verse, the singer describes the way their ex's image haunts them, even in everyday surroundings. The windows around them echo the ex's reflection, as if they are everywhere at once. The singer is tormented by the question of when this haunting will stop, and expresses desperation for their ex's face to leave them alone. The chorus repeats the image of matchstick men and the ex-lover, suggesting that the singer is unable to think of anything other than the person they have lost.
Line by Line Meaning
When I look up to the sky
Whenever I gaze at the sky above me
I see your eyes, a funny kind of yellow
I envision your eyes staring down at me; they seem to have an unusual yellow hue
I rush home to bed, I sunk my head
I hurry back home and bury my head into my pillow
I see your face underneath my pillow
I visualize your face lying just beneath my pillow
I wake next morning, tired, still yawning
I wake up the next morning feeling exhausted and still yawning
See your face come peeping through my window
Once again, I catch sight of your face peeking at me through the window
Pictures of matchstick men and you
I only see images of stick figures, resembling matches, and you in my head
Images of matchstick men and you
In my mind, there are only pictorial representations of stick figures akin to matches, and you
All I ever see is them and you
I am solely able to perceive them and you in any and all circumstances
Windows echo your reflection
The windows reflect your image back at me
When I look in their direction, gone
The moment I turn to look at them, the reflection disappears
When will this haunting stop?
I wonder when this persistent and disturbing feeling will end?
Your face, it just won't leave me alone
Your countenance keeps bothering me and I can't shake it off
You in the sky, you with this guy
You appear as if you're up in the sky, you're also in the company of another man
You make me cry, you lie
You cause me immense heartbreak and you are dishonest
Pictures of matchstick men
Once again, I see stick figures resembling matches
Pictures of matchstick men
The image of these stick figures repeats itself
Pictures of matchstick men
The pictures of these stick figures are inescapable
Pictures of matchstick men
The pictorial representation of stick figures resembles matches, is all I can see
Lyrics Β© BMG Rights Management, Sentric Music
Written by: Francis Dominic Nicholas Rossi
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jaime Alvarado
on Rain
great song ,,, !!!!!!!