What Was The Record That Got You Into Quo?

[smokie]

We've probably had a thread like this but I can't remember

Just trying to spark a little life into the board. I think the board is usually quieter when there's a lack of band activity

The first single that I bought was this one. I can't remember seeing the band before this one on Top of the Pops but I must have done because I watched it every week.

I know some are of the opinion that this is when it began to go "wrong" but this is still my favourite single to this day. Obviously, I've heard part of it in the medley but I'd have loved to have heard the whole song live.

That's mine, what's yours?

[mortified]

Its funny because its hard to pinpoint. I got into Quo in two stages. The first single I heard that I liked then, a few years later, the first gig. 

Down The Dustpipe was the song that made me take notice. I was only 12 but I loved it and it was played on Radio 1 constantly. However, I didn't buy a single till the next one, In My Chair. Well, my mum bought me it. I asked for the latest Blue Mink single (can't remember which it was), she couldn't get it and knew I liked the Quo one so I got that instead. Never looked back really. Thanks, mum! 

So I suppose it was Down The Dustpipe. It didn't really 'get me into Quo' I don't suppose but it did catch my attention till I became a hairy teenager and took music a bit more seriously and able to look into these things for myself. 

[Deleted]

Caroline for me - although the whole EOTR video plays a huge part.

I've two brothers and when we were kids in the late 80's we'd put the video on in the lounge and 'play' the entire concert.  My younger brother was Rossi, my older brother was Alan and I was always Rick.  We'd use tennis rackets as guitars and play/sing along from start to finish, knew every move and every lyric.  We'd stand in front of the fire, staring at a blank wall in essence but to us the lounge was the stage and the wall was actually 50,000 fans singing along.

The way it builds, first Rick, then Rossi and then the whole band, absolute magic.  Still makes my hair stand on end when I hear it now, be it live or on record.
 

[smokie]

Thank you @inna.

It was familiar but I must confess, I didn't look to hard and it was only back in December!! 

My memory is definitely waning. Must be an age thing

[ant]

On The Level

[smokie]

That's a great post there @bam, enjoyed reading that. 

I'd imagine there's quite a few of us that have "played" a tennis racket .

I only used mine for the intended purpose for about 4 weeks of the year when all the kids on the street played tennis during and after the Wimbledon fortnight. 

The rest of the time it rested against my record player. Nice and handy

[dth1]

The first record that I liked from Quo was "Caroline" from a mate who had made a compilation tape. I can remember when "Down Down" got to number 1 and I liked that. It was the "Roll Over Lay Down" EP which got me into Quo - another friend had this on tape and was forever playing it. The first single that I bought was "Rain" and the first single that I bought on the day of release was "Mystery Song". By 1977 I had started collecting their back-catalogue material and by 1978 I had about 20 singles and 15 albums in my collection and thought I was Mr Quo Collector of GB. Still collecting bits now but not as much as in the past.

[reasonforliving]

For me I'd was Don't Waste My Time. I have 3 elder brothers and there were lots of albums around the house. There was a Golden Hour of Status Quontry that I remember because it had a cover embossed with logo of a clock face. I never really listened to this but one day I discovered Piledriver. I guess it was '78 so I would have been 12. I couldn't get enough of those first few bars. I kept starting it again (probably wrecked the album) turning it up louder and louder every time. It turns out one of my brothers had swapped another brothers Guitar Album compilation for it and only stopped going on about it (despite also liking Quo) a few years ago when his Guitar Album was replaced! So that was it for me. Piledriver started it, I had Whatever You Want for Christmas the next year and filled in the back catalogue. :-)

[The Lord Flasheart]

Initally this one.




Then this one made a big impression.

[snakelady]

As I've already answered the question in the other thread - and completely agreed with you smokie , I'll try a different approach here:
What was more important for me - taking notice of the music, in my case Wild Side Of Life, on the radio or seeing the band live ?
While I thought WSOL was a great song with its raw energy and Francis' distinctive voice, it really was the first gig that turned me into a hardcore fan there and then. Without that gig Quo would've remained one of quite a few bands I really liked at the time and I might have bought a few records too, but otherwise basically the same as say Manfred Mann's EB, BJH, Uriah Heep ..

I can't really begin to explain the impact that first Quo gig had on me. I had seen a few smaller acts live before, but nothing like Quo. I didn't even know 90% of the songs they played, but from the first song I was completely mesmerized. Actually it had been pure chance I went to that gig at all. My friend's dad intended to go to the gig and convinced her and then me to come along. Else we'd never considered it, as we were still too young for a drivers license and travelling there by train and back again in the middle of the night was out of the question.
Upon arriving at the venue we ended up in a mass of hairy bikers clad in black leather with club emblems on the back and looking kind of scary. So my friend's dad decided no way was the standing area the place to be for two teenage girls and took us up the seats left side of the stage (obviously free choice and same price back then). The place we ended up in offered a perfect view and I was far too fascinated anyway to rock along. I simply sat there, listened and watched, trying to preserve every little impression - the way the guys looked, moved, the lights, the fog ..
Afterwards I was firmly addicted - and completely deaf. Which I'd find absolutely frightening these days, but thought was funny back then. It took till the next morning for my hearing to return - and for my friend to buy the live-album. That was when we started to listen to Quo non-stop ..

[smokie]

snakelady,

nice report that, a good read

The first few times that I went to see Quo, I had deafness/ringing in my ears too for a couple of days afterwards and for some reason, I used to look forward to that but that kind of thing would worry and concern me now.

The follies of youth I suppose!

[gogs]

I've also commented on the previous similar string, but equally happy to reiterate. WSOL also for me the first great Quo song. Previously I had been aware of Caroline, Paper Plane etc, but it was WSOL that got me buying, and then buying backwards as far as Dog. Ma Kelly and other previous stuff got added a lot later. I had to wait for a lonnnnnnng time for my first gig, and to this day I can't tell you why. WSOL '76 and my first gig was the ITAN tour in Dusseldorf in Oct 86. I won't say any more than well worth the wait and I spent the next 10 years or so making up for lost time. Happy Days.

[mortified]

I always find it fascinating when I find out that songs like Wild Side Of Life got people into Quo because for quite a few of us it was the first time we'd ever gone"hmm, not 100% sure". 

Not that I didn't like it but it seemed somehow less "thumping", for want of a better word, than I was used to. 

This happens a lot though. Songs that REALLY old Quo fans weren't sure about made other people Quo fans. 

Just goes to show. 

[snakelady]

Apr 7, 2017 6:19:17 GMT mortified said:

I always find it fascinating when I find out that songs like Wild Side Of Life got people into Quo because for quite a few of us it was the first time we'd ever gone"hmm, not 100% sure". 

Not that I didn't like it but it seemed somehow less "thumping", for want of a better word, than I was used to. 

This happens a lot though. Songs that REALLY old Quo fans weren't sure about made other people Quo fans. 

Just goes to show. 

If that's you trying to make us feel young .. hm, you don't quite succeed ..

- But yep, wish I had seen them in the first half of the 70s. As far as I'm aware though Quo only really became mass compatible with the Live and then the RAOTW album. Most people I knew back then - not Quo fans - owned these two, but nothing else from the band. 

[smokie]

I am aware that for some, Wild Side Of Life were where the first cracks started to appear material/sound wise but if I had never heard it, I wonder if I would have got into the band at all.

However, it's similar to the Cannon and Ball thread. What some saw as being rather crass (me ) others, like The Lord Flasheart, enjoyed it and it was that that was a factor in them getting into the band.

Swings and roundabouts?

[mortified]

Apr 7, 2017 7:05:19 GMT smokie said:

I am aware that for some, Wild Side Of Life were where the first cracks started to appear material/sound wise but if I had never heard it, I wonder if I would have got into the band at all.

However, it's similar to the Cannon and Ball thread. What some saw as being rather crass (me ) others, like The Lord Flasheart , enjoyed it and it was that that was a factor in them getting into the band.

Swings and roundabouts?

That's the sort of thing I was getting at but you put it more eloquently! One man's meat etc.

The production on Wild Side Of Life was unique with the band using Roger Glover as presumably some sort of experiment. So Francis's guitar solo was a bit pushed up two-string odd. I wasn't even that wild about the b-side if I'm honest and the drums seemed a bit boom-ting. 

But I'm being well picky here. I still liked it. And live - what we get of it - has always been marvellous! 

[mortified]

Apr 7, 2017 6:31:51 GMT snakelady said:

Apr 7, 2017 6:19:17 GMT mortified said:

I always find it fascinating when I find out that songs like Wild Side Of Life got people into Quo because for quite a few of us it was the first time we'd ever gone"hmm, not 100% sure". 

Not that I didn't like it but it seemed somehow less "thumping", for want of a better word, than I was used to. 

This happens a lot though. Songs that REALLY old Quo fans weren't sure about made other people Quo fans. 

Just goes to show. 

If that's you trying to make us feel young .. hm, you don't quite succeed ..

- But yep, wish I had seen them in the first half of the 70s. As far as I'm aware though Quo only really became mass compatible with the Live and then the RAOTW album. Most people I knew back then - not Quo fans - owned these two, but nothing else from the band. 

The Rockin'.... album is the one that really seemed to have lifted them onto another level in terms of mass appeal for some reason. Even Francis said that. Which is probably why they (or the record company) stuck with Pip Williams for a while. 

Quo have changed their spots so many times since the early 70's (usually in just a small way each time) and I think Wild Side Of Life was the first signs of change since they threw off their psychedelic costumes. You can actually almost draw a line after each small change since then. 

Actually, if I did a graph on a spreadsheet it would pretty much map out my entire teenage and adult life! 

But that would be a bit sad. And we Quo fans aren't sad, are we? 

[snakelady]

A graph and a spreadsheet .. sounds interesting. What's it going to display ? Age relative to hardcore-ness, width of musical taste concerning Quo, gigs per year in relation to set changes .. ? Ah, the possibilities ..

[mortified]

Apr 8, 2017 7:57:21 GMT snakelady said:

A graph and a spreadsheet .. sounds interesting. What's it going to display ? Age relative to hardcore-ness, width of musical taste concerning Quo, gigs per year in relation to set changes .. ? Ah, the possibilities ..

Years, styles, changes of style, singles, albums. 

Lines in the sand. A bar graph would indicate the length that each perceived style lasted. My perception that is.

For example, 1967 to 1969 you'd have the pop psychedelic nonsense. Then from 1970 to 1976, the classic period. 1977 to 1981 would represent the new way forward after the release of the live album with more production, more vocals and more instruments etc. 

You get the picture. 

I'm not doing it by the way. The graph is all in my head and that's where its staying. 

[snakelady]

Got to admit - it wouldn't be nearly as simple with my perception of styles. The set theory would probably be more suited for graphic depiction and the result would most probably resemble a cloudy sky. So no, I'm not doing one either.

[kursaal75]

For me it was Paper Plane. From the opening note through to the fade nearly 3 minutes later, it was a no nonsense, in yer face headbanging rock.

[Isaac Ryan]

Down Down amongst other tracks if memory serves. 

[I Ain't Complaining]

Apr 11, 2017 8:34:19 GMT kursaal75 said:

For me it was Paper Plane. From the opening note through to the fade nearly 3 minutes later, it was a no nonsense, in yer face headbanging rock.

How exciting must that have been? Probably the first time you heard Quo was Paper Plane! That must have been 3 minutes of ecstasy followed by you thinking 'What the hell was that'!!

I still find that Paper Plane is one of those songs that excites me every time I hear the opening chords.....Down Down is another.

[LOZ]

I aint got a Scooby doo.

[snakelady]

Apr 26, 2017 15:47:21 GMT LOZ said:

I aint got a Scooby doo.

Visiting all kinds of threads .. Is that you searching for frogs already ?