They did a lot of foreign TV around Europe. But no clips of Pictures... seem to survive, or at least ever get shown. They didn't do it on Beat Club. A lot of clips will have been wiped. As for the BBC, that and ITV with Ready Steady Go! is infuriating! The Germans had the right idea. Every Beat Club archived well in pristine quality. This was decided when the show started.
I just noticed this thread ... I think Picturesque Matchstickable is a really good album, with not a bad track except for the cover of Sheila, for which I definitely prefer Tommy Roe's original, and Green Tambourine is merely passable. On the other hand, the excellent Spicks and Specks cover strikes me as being utterly definitive. When Pictures of Matchstick Men came out I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread and I recall making at least one list of all-time favourite songs that placed it right at no. 1, showing an obvious bias to the current and/or recent. Nowadays it would be in the two or three hundreds, I should think, perhaps lower, but that means I still give it an 'A'. When Ice in the Sun came out I liked it but I thought it was obviously lesser, but that one has really grown on me. Some of the LP tracks got some airplay up here on AM radio; Black Veils of Melancholy definitely was one. It's something of a Pictures of Matchstick Men clone but stands up reasonably well in its own right. Technicolour Dreams is my favourite track along with the two hits.
Have to say that when we move on to Spare Parts it won't take too long to talk about. Given the first album had so many good songs on it, Spart Parts was a terrible follow up and it was only on later remasters that we got some decent added extras - The Price of Love, Josie and Do You Live in Fire. Now once we get to Ma Kelly's then we are talking about the first signs of proper Quo.
Just before we leave the debut LP, I wonder if acclaimed Australian songwriter Ed Kuepper (ex-Saints, ex-Laughing Clowns) is a secret Quo fan. He certainly seemed to 'borrow' elements of Sunny Cellophane Skies for his 1992 single The Way I Made You Feel. Here's Ed:
Lol...yes just yes. Trust me over the years I have really tried to like Spare Parts but the album title sumes up the album for me - lots of spare parts that just don't work together.
It was the last of their 68-81 albums that I got and for a week or so I actually lamented the direction they took with Ma Kelly's so good did I consider Spare Parts. Then I realised I might be slightly, er, wrong, but it remains a favourite of mine to this day.
I sent Jules who started the thread a message the other day but not heard back yet. Said if he needed help we could assist. Also suggested posting the next 2 albums together if he doesn't get to post often, seems that Spare Parts doesn't have much love and we can get onto the good albums from Ma Kelly onwards. Hopefully will get posted over the w/e.
Well, I liked Spare Parts. I bought it about 10 years ago when it came out on CD. I didn't even know it existed until then. Since I don't go for the style to which they changed, I probably don't have anything more to add to this thread ...
1969: Spare Parts 1969: Make Me Stay a Bit Longer, Spare Parts and The Price of Love 1. Face Without a Soul (Rossi/Parfitt) 3:09 2. You're Just What I Was Looking For (Gerry Goffin/Carole King) 3:50 L 3. Are You Growing Tired of My Love (Anthony King) 3:39 L 4. Antique Angelique (Lancaster/Bob Young) 3:24 5. So Ends Another Life (Lancaster) 3:12 6. Poor Old Man (Rossi/Parfitt) 3:36 7. Mister Mind Detector (A. King) 4:01 8. The Clown (Young/Lynes/Lancaster) 3:22 L 9. Velvet Curtains (A. King) 2:56 10. Little Miss Nothing (Rossi/Parfitt) 2:59 11. When I Awake (Lancaster/Young) 3:49 12. Nothing at All (Lynes/Young/Lancaster) 3:52 Bonus Tracks 1998: 13. The Price of Love [Mono] (Don Everly/Phil Everly) 3:42 L 14. José (A. King) 3:37 15. Do You Live in Fire (Lancaster) 2:16 16. Hey Little Woman (You’re Just What I Was Looking For Today) 3:55 17. Are You Growing Tired of My Love [Mono Single Mix] 3:38 Deluxe Edition 2003: 13. José (King) 3:37 14. Do You Live in Fire (Lancaster) 2:16 Disc 2 Tracks 1-12: Stereo Mix 13. Nothing at All [Demo Excerpt] 2:23 14. The Price of Love [A-Side] (Don Everly/Phil Everly) 3:41 L Bob Young – Harmonica on “The Price of Love” What is it about The Bee Gees? I don’t know how well regarded they are these days, but it seems they had a lot of fans back in the day. They produced endless amounts of hit singles and impressed many other bands. Remember the first album by that band called Genesis? Very much inspired by the BG’s. Quo had already recorded “Spicks and Specks” no less than four (!) times [Spectres unreleased studio version, Traffic Jam BBC session, Status Quo album version and BBC session] and this time around, they went full-on baroque pop with several of the songs while others try to continue mining the psychedelic sounds of the debut. To this aid, the songs were even adorned with brass and strings. Play any of these songs to somebody who has ‘heard of’ Status Quo and they’ll be surprised. In fact there had been a standalone single earlier in the year, “Make Me Stay a Bit Longer”, which foreshadowed the later shift to an edgier style but ended up on the deluxe edition of the debut album. Another single, recorded during the Spare Parts sessions but not included on the album, was the Everly Brothers song “The Price of Love”. This is the first Quo recording that features Bob Young on harmonica. Bob was the band’s tour manager and became Francis’ main writing partner for the next decade… While the deluxe “Spare Parts” is still available, the track list is a bit of a disappointment, since it contains no BBC recordings and doesn’t even include the single mixes of “Are You Growing Tired of My Love” (the only minor hit of the era) and “Little Miss Nothing” (b-side of “The Price of Love”). BBC Sessions BBC Session 7 (1969) 1. Interview 1:18 2. Make Me Stay A Bit Longer 2:48 3. The Price of Love 4. Are You Growing Tired of My Love BBC Session 8 (1969) 5. The Price of Love
As I'm a big fan of 60s pop, for all it's faults I like Spare Parts. It does sound like they don't know what direction to take so they copied the then very popular Bee Gees style. The first three tracks are excellent. Some great piano playing added by top session player Alan Tew. It's a very well produced full sound, though some tracks are over produced to me. You're Just What I Was Looking For Today is a late psychedelic pop gem and Are You Growing Tired Of My Love has a fine vocal from Rick Parfitt. One of the big reasons he joined Quo was for his singing voice and this track shows why. It's hard to think of it coming from the rocker we all know, but Rick had a good voice for softer songs. I find the rest of the album patchy and over produced. In places you can't hear well what Quo are playing for all the brass, strings and session musician playing. But overall I like it. A change of direction was absolutely essential though and what an inspired one it was... My favourite 1969 track from Quo is Make Me Stay A Bit Longer. I have the late 80s PRT label vinyl reissue of Spare Parts. It sounds fantastic. So good that I'm not bothered about owning an original. They are very scarce anyway.
I like Spare Parts a lot, though it's a lot meeker and twee-er sounding than the debut, with no obvious standouts. It's not a surprise that it wasn't a hit in the context of 1969. Something I've noticed about it.. so many of the songs on Spare Parts are about losers, misfits and lonely people, that it almost makes up a concept album about the dispossessed.. could it be that this was intentional and the title is a reference to people who feel like the 'Spare Parts' left behind by society? Am I giving the conception of the album too much credit?
Status Quo sleepwalking their way through 'Are You Growing Tired Of My Love' on Beat Club. A good song, but not a good fit for Quo imo. I think it would have suited a personality male solo singer better. They look like caged animals here who couldn't wait to shed this image. I think this is the only footage of a song from Spare Parts.
I'll never forget finding a UK mono copy of "Spare Parts" in a used record shop when I was around 17. I didn't really know about Status Quo at the time and wasn't sure what the music would sound like. I bought the record for next to nothing and fell in love with it instantly. I must've played it every night for weeks. Being a huge Bee Gees fan helped I suppose. When I later heard the stereo mix (on CD) it never sounded right to me. Still doesn't really. I will always love this album and I'm grateful it was my gateway into Quo.
They liked it as well, since they re-recorded it in the 90s and did it live... 1969 version: 1991 version: Price of Love by Status Quo :)
Agree, but as I've said earlier in the thread I hope that one day we'll see the definitive reissues of the Pye era. I know that the management are up for it, as is Universal. Only BMG seem to block the situation at the moment...
For me it's such a disappointing album, mainly because it's a band who aren't sure what they want to do. The deluxe edition makes it bearable. The Price of Love is excellent (check out the version on the later Rock Til You Drop album too) as is Jose and Do You Live in Fire. I love Quo and there is always something in the 60's stuff to appreciate but for me it's not always a fulfilling listen.
