Which college rock band covered the Status Quo song, “Pictures of Matchstick Men”?”
“Pictures of Matchstick Men” was the first hit single by Status Quo, released in January of 1968. It reached number seven in the British charts, number eight in Canada, and number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming their only hit single in the United States.[2] 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. The song opens with a single guitar repeatedly playing a simple four note riff before the rhythm guitar comes in with chords and the drums and lyrics begin. Pictures of Matchstick Men is one of a number of songs from the late sixties to feature phasing (the audio effect). ” 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.”” T
Pictures of Matchstick Men In 2006, Kasabian released a version of the song on the CD single of “Shoot the Runner”, their second release from the album Empire. Although a first performance of this song was heard on Dermot O’Leary’s BBC Radio 2 show, this version was recorded in the studio for the CD release. See about Kasabian at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasabian .
College-Rock Favorites Team Up For Post-Holiday Shows Formed in the early ’80s in Santa Cruz, Calif., Camper Van Beethoven rocked the college music world and club scene with their one-of-a-kind brand of “surrealist absurdist folk.” Encompassing many different genres — everything from folk, ska and world music to punk and psychedelic rock — in many ways Camper predicted the hybrid mix of styles that many alternative-rock outfits would ride to chart success in the ’90s. The band even expanded its reach beyond the college-rock radio, garnering MTV play of songs from their major label debut ‘Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart’ and a cover of the Status Quo song “Pictures of Matchstick Men” from their second Virgin Records album ‘Key Lime Pie’ before splitting acrimoniously in 1990.
