Raise the Rebel flag, I mean the Union Jack, ..aw, hell just raise a pint..
279. Status Quo "Paper Plane"
Some would say that Status Quo is the British counterpart to Lynyrd Skynyrd, a crew of lugs cranking out mindless boogie for an audience of drunken biker louts. And, like Skynyrd, they're also underrated and a band an awful lot of people really love to listen to, and oftentimes, it's not hard to see why.
After making their initial splash with the pop-psych nugget "Pictures Of Matchstick Men," the basic Quo formula was to boil down and speed up basic Chuck Berry guitar to a metallic blur throw in vocals just this side of loud humming and a catchy hook. On this song the formula works like hi-test gas in a stock car race. 'Paper Plane' lopes along like an amphetamined cheetah, the guitars clanging wonderfully and with a melody that's nigh impossible to resist shaking your head to.
*raises pint*
Some would say that Status Quo is the British counterpart to Lynyrd Skynyrd, a crew of lugs cranking out mindless boogie for an audience of drunken biker louts. And, like Skynyrd, they're also underrated and a band an awful lot of people really love to listen to, and oftentimes, it's not hard to see why.
After making their initial splash with the pop-psych nugget "Pictures Of Matchstick Men," the basic Quo formula was to boil down and speed up basic Chuck Berry guitar to a metallic blur throw in vocals just this side of loud humming and a catchy hook. On this song the formula works like hi-test gas in a stock car race. 'Paper Plane' lopes along like an amphetamined cheetah, the guitars clanging wonderfully and with a melody that's nigh impossible to resist shaking your head to.
*raises pint*
Comments
Over here Status Quo are considered a bit of a joke, which is kind of unusual for a successful band that's been going for nearly forty years. After thirty years of success you usually get at least some grudging respect - I mean just look at Motorhead.
But then Status Quo have made problems for themselves. After they abandoned psych-pop they got a following of jeans clad rock nerds, and many of them have been very loyal. Their songs became famous for their similar structure and sound, getting them jibes about only knowing three chords. The fans could live with this but Status Quo constantly tested their fans patience with singles that got increasingly terrible.
I defy anyone to listen to Marguerita Time without wanting to kick Francis Rossi in the balls.
Anyway, the perverse thing was that they became more successful as the songs got worse. I feel certain that if the Quo had resisted making commercial hit singles they'd now be enjoying a re-evaluation and a wave of new fans. I guess when you have an expensive coke habit those hit singles are hard to resist. Maybe that's why Lemmy stuck to his guns - speed is cheap.
For me Status Quo will always be worth listening to for two reasons:
- Their psych-pop records are great. Really
- You'll rarely hear better pop songs than Down Down or Caroline
I've learned as much from conversations with British friends over the years, which is where I came up with the Skynyrd analogy. Here in the US, Quo's exposure is much lower.
You'll rarely hear better pop songs than Down Down or Caroline
I like both those numbers, but for some reason 'Paper Plane' always struck me as the best. Probably the guitar and the chorus.