"Pictures of Matchstick Men" is the first hit single by British rock band
The Status Quo. It was released on 5 January 1968.[citation needed]
The Status Quo version
The song reached number seven on the
British charts, number eight in Canada, and number 12 on the US
Billboard Hot 100, becoming their only top-40 single in the United States.[5][6][7]Francis Rossi confirmed on DVD2 of the Pictures set that it was originally intended to be a B-side to "Gentleman Joe's Sidewalk Cafe", but it was decided to swap the B-side and the A-side of the single.
There are two versions, one in stereo and another in mono, with significant differences: the original single was in mono and has the trademark
wah-wah guitar in the breaks between lyrics, but this is omitted in stereo.
The song opens with a single guitar repeatedly playing a simple four-note
riff before the
bass,
rhythm guitar, organ, drums and vocals begin. "Pictures of Matchstick Men" is one of a number of songs from the late 1960s which feature the
flanging audio effect. The band's next single release, "Black Veils of Melancholy", was similar but flopped, which caused a change of musical direction.[8]
Rossi (living in a
prefab in
Camberwell at the time)[9] later said of the song:
I wrote it on the
bog. I'd gone there, not for the usual reasons...but to get away from the wife and mother-in-law. I used to go into this narrow frizzing toilet and sit there for hours, until they finally went out. I got three quarters of the song finished in that
khazi. The rest I finished in the lounge.[10]
The "matchstick men" reference is to the paintings of Salford artist
L. S. Lowry.[10]
"Pictures of Matchstick Men" is featured in Men in Black 3, in a scene set in 1969 at
Andy Warhol's
Factory. It is also featured in the
computer gameMafia III, set in 1968, where it can be heard on the radio. The Sky Documentary The United Way, the song featured in the clips of triumphs of the Busby Babes and
Manchester United.
Releases
1968: Pictures of Matchstick Men / Gentleman Joe's Sidewalk Cafe [Promo] 45 rpm Vinyl 7"; Pye / 7N 17449
1969: Retrato de hombre con bastón / El café del caballero Joe 33 rpm, Mono Vinyl 7"; Music Hall / MH 31.101 Argentina
1973: Pictures of Matchstick Man / Ice in the Sun 45 rpm Vinyl 7"; Pye / 12 746 AT
Other versions
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