There are a few songs that are obvious candidates for a funeral: 'Shake your body down to the ground' and Status Quo's 'Down down'. I didn't have the latter yet, so I was glad to finally find a copy recently.
Written by Francis Rossi and Bob Young and produced by Status Quo, it was Status Quo's only number 1 single in the UK singles chart. The single spent a week at the top of the chart in January 1975.
The album version lasts 5 minutes and 24 seconds and the single version 3 minutes and 49 seconds.
My collection: 7" single no. 5905 Found: Voorburg, April 27, 2018 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Down down' / 'Nightride'
The sixth studio album by Status Quo was 'Hello!', released in 1973. 'Roll over lay down' was the first track on that album, but the only single released from 'Hello!' was 'Caroline'.
'Roll over lay down' still became one of the band's better known tracks, due to its single release from the subsequent live album 'Live!', released in 1975. This live ep, featuring three tracks, reached number 9 in the UK singles chart and number 2 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 1632 Found: Disco Market, Den Haag, April 18, 1992 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'Roll over lay down' / 'Gerdundula', 'Junior's wailing'
I've often said that one of the most appropriate songs for my funeral would be 'Down down' by Status Quo. And then I discovered I didn't actually have the song. Now that I've heard it, I still think it would be a great soundtrack to those final moments.
'Down down' was first released in November 1974. The track was taken from the album 'On the level'. The album version is more than 5 minutes long whereas the single version was edited to almost 4 minutes. The single was a number 1 hit in the UK, while peaking at number 2 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 4294 Found: Record fair, Utrecht, November 21, 2009 Cost: 1 euro Tracks: 'Down down' / 'Night ride'
Status Quo released their album 'Just supposin'' in October 1980. It was produced by the band and John Eden. The album was recorded at Windmill Lane Studio in Dublin. The recording sessions yielded enough tracks for this album and the follow-up, 'Never too late', released just five months later.
'What you're proposing' was the first single release from 'Just supposin'', a dynamic rock track that grooves like a madman. It reached number 2 in the UK singles chart and number 7 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 2931 Found: Record fair, January 17, 1998 Cost: 2 guilders Tracks: 'What you're proposing' / 'AB Blues'
The Spectres, the Scorpions and Traffic: these three band names all preceded the name Status Quo between 1962 and 1967. The core of the band was eventually formed by Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt, who continued to work together after meeting in 1964. When they decided to call themselves Status Quo and signed a record deal with PYE records, their debut album 'Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo' was released in 1968.
'Pictures of matchstick men' became the band's first hit, peaking at number 7 in the UK singles chart and number 4 in the Dutch top 40. The B-side on this re-release 7" single is their next hit, 'Ice in the sun', which was written by Marty Wilde (Kim's father). That one reached number 8 in the UK and number 24 in the Dutch Top 40.
My collection: 7" single no. 2932 Found: Record fair, Amsterdam, January 17, 1998 Cost: 3 guilders Tracks: 'Pictures of matchstick men' / 'Ice in the sun'
The song that embodied the Christmas spirit in the Eighties was Band Aid's 'Do they know it's Christmas?'. The project initiated by Midge Ure and Bob Geldof started when the two met up and worked out this song Bob had written in a rather rudimentary way. They phoned up the musician friends they knew and before you knew it you had a media spectacle of unprecedented size.
I bought the single as soon as it came out, although, strangely, I didn't like the song that much. There were just so many of my eighties idols participated that I felt I couldn't pass up on this historic single. Two decades later, it's somehow reassuring (or troubling) that everything has stayed the same in Africa: it's still a continent of war, hunger and drought.
My collection: 7" single no. 249
Found: Wouters, Den Haag, 1984
Cost: 6 guilders
Tracks: 'Do they know it's Christmas?' / 'Feed the world'
The sixth studio album by Status Quo was 'Hello!', released in 1973. 'Roll over lay down' was the first track on that album, but the only single released from 'Hello!' was 'Caroline'.
I've often said that one of the most appropriate songs for my funeral would be 'Down down' by Status Quo. And then I discovered I didn't actually have the song. Now that I've heard it, I still think it would be a great soundtrack to those final moments.
Status Quo released their album 'Just supposin'' in October 1980. It was produced by the band and John Eden. The album was recorded at Windmill Lane Studio in Dublin. The recording sessions yielded enough tracks for this album and the follow-up, 'Never too late', released just five months later.
The Spectres, the Scorpions and Traffic: these three band names all preceded the name Status Quo between 1962 and 1967. The core of the band was eventually formed by Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt, who continued to work together after meeting in 1964. When they decided to call themselves Status Quo and signed a record deal with PYE records, their debut album 'Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo' was released in 1968.
The song that embodied the Christmas spirit in the Eighties was Band Aid's 'Do they know it's Christmas?'. The project initiated by Midge Ure and Bob Geldof started when the two met up and worked out this song Bob had written in a rather rudimentary way. They phoned up the musician friends they knew and before you knew it you had a media spectacle of unprecedented size.
