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Post by smokie on Mar 17, 2017 17:38:25 GMT
I was looking for CDs last night and came across this one.
I think everyone is aware why the album turned out the way that it did and it didn't end up the album that Francis thought it would be.
Despite that, there's three or four songs on it that I do like.
However, it was looking at this last night that I saw it was released in 1996 which means that it came out TWENTY ONE YEARS AGO.
Found that a bit scary. In twenty one years I'll be older that Rick was when he passed away.
Why does living go so fast right enough.
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mortified
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Post by mortified on Mar 19, 2017 15:29:55 GMT
I was looking for CDs last night and came across this one. I think everyone is aware why the album turned out the way that it did and it didn't end up the album that Francis thought it would be.
Despite that, there's three or four songs on it that I do like. However, it was looking at this last night that I saw it was released in 1996 which means that it came out TWENTY ONE YEARS AGO. Found that a bit scary. In twenty one years I'll be older that Rick was when he passed away. Why does living go so fast right enough. Forgive me, but I'm not. Why didn't it end up the album Francis thought it would be? I haven't got the album so I don't know about the quality of the songs he put on there.And yes indeed, it's scary how life seems to fly by the older we get. Talking about scary - On the Level was released 42 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) years ago last month. :oo: I think the main problem was that most of the songs weren't Francis's. Although we don't know the whole story I think the retrospective suggestion is often that Francis was the frontman and the album released under his name but that it was simply a vehicle for the writing 'talents' of Tony McAnaney. Francis only wrote 3 out of 10 songs; the best 3 in my opinion but I'm maybe biased. It seemed that way to me though. The Fighter (aka The Greatest Fighter as a Quo song) and Someone Show Me (aka Someone Show Me Home) are stand-outs. Three of the tracks are dreadful ( I Don't Know, Darlin' and Happy Town) and should be ignored completely. The remainder are passable. This album came between Thirsty Work and Don't Stop. These were not good times to be a Quo fan. But everyone concerned got over it and moved on - including me
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Post by craydarr on Mar 19, 2017 17:59:55 GMT
Funnily enough I like Happy Town, Blue Water, Isaac Ryan and the title track, Give Myself is ok along with The Fighter and Show Me.
The rest I can do without.
If you put certain songs from both of Frames solo albums together you would get one really good album.
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Post by craydarr on Mar 20, 2017 20:38:16 GMT
I stumbled across this whilst looking at something else on youtube.
How crap is that suit ??
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Post by smokie on Mar 21, 2017 6:55:02 GMT
@inna, There might have been a thread about this sometime before, if not that, I did read a fairly in depth interview with Francis about this album. From memory, Francis more or less left the production etc to others and just recorded his parts and left the others to it. And this, according to Francis, is where drugs came into it all. A lot of drugs. Not him but with the ones who were in charge of the project. As a result of this, the finished article ended up something entirely different from what Francis thought it was going to be. I'll go and try and find that article/interview. craydarr, with you re that suit. Garish doesn't even begin to describe it, does it? Can't believe he'd wear that of his own choosing. I think he was badly advised there.
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Post by snakelady on Mar 21, 2017 8:34:16 GMT
@inna , There might have been a thread about this sometime before, if not that, I did read a fairly in depth interview with Francis about this album. From memory, Francis more or less left the production etc to others and just recorded his parts and left the others to it. And this, according to Francis, is where drugs came into it all. A lot of drugs. Not him but with the ones who were in charge of the project. As a result of this, the finished article ended up something entirely different from what Francis thought it was going to be. I'll go and try and find that article/interview. craydarr , with you re that suit. Garish doesn't even begin to describe it, does it? Can't believe he'd wear that of his own choosing. I think he was badly advised there. Yep, that's about it in a nutshell ! One day Francis would leave thinking it sounded great as it was, only to find out on return the next morning that it had been turned into something completely different. He did like the songs, but not the finished production. I admit I really like the album and merely skip one or two songs. The title song and especially Blue Water are fantastic. Prefer the Quo version of Someone Show Me Home though.
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Post by quodlibet aka granny on Mar 21, 2017 11:20:59 GMT
Can't remember when I last listened to that album. I will dig it out and have a listen whilst I'm doing my chores.
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mortified
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Post by mortified on Mar 21, 2017 11:24:31 GMT
The suit on that Majorca clip gives you a migraine! First time I've seen that. The only time I ever saw Give Myself To Love being 'performed' was on the Lottery Show on BBC 1 back in 1995. A show on which Francis pressed the button for the draw saying (as they were all told to do) "good luck everyone". I didn't win. Its also a bit weird seeing him up there miming away on his own. Still, Anthea Turner's legs were always worth a little peek. I can be SO superficial!
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mortified
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Post by mortified on Mar 21, 2017 11:24:55 GMT
Can't remember when I last listened to that album. I will dig it out and have a listen whilst I'm doing my chores. The chores might be more fun....
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Post by quodlibet aka granny on Mar 22, 2017 12:33:09 GMT
Can't remember when I last listened to that album. I will dig it out and have a listen whilst I'm doing my chores. The chores might be more fun.... Managed to listen to it this morning. Only the first and last tracks made any impression. The last has stood the test of time. The first had possibilities and it could have been arranged into something much better. Don't think I'll be listening to it again for a few years.
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frozenhero
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Post by frozenhero on Mar 22, 2017 14:55:10 GMT
@inna , There might have been a thread about this sometime before, if not that, I did read a fairly in depth interview with Francis about this album. From memory, Francis more or less left the production etc to others and just recorded his parts and left the others to it. And this, according to Francis, is where drugs came into it all. A lot of drugs. Not him but with the ones who were in charge of the project. As a result of this, the finished article ended up something entirely different from what Francis thought it was going to be. I'll go and try and find that article/interview. craydarr , with you re that suit. Garish doesn't even begin to describe it, does it? Can't believe he'd wear that of his own choosing. I think he was badly advised there. For completeness sake, the interview is on this page: backwateronline.weebly.com/interviews-1-3.html
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Post by smokie on Mar 22, 2017 16:44:36 GMT
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Post by snakelady on Mar 25, 2017 9:05:36 GMT
frozenhero - I'll add the link to these interesting interviews to the interviews section, so it can be found more easily.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 25, 2017 12:12:00 GMT
Poor Francis.....He actually believed 'I didn't mean it' was going to be a huge hit....
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mortified
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Post by mortified on Mar 26, 2017 8:11:16 GMT
Poor Francis.....He actually believed 'I didn't mean it' was going to be a huge hit.... I remember an interview with him at the time (FTMO maybe?) when he said he couldn't understand why the fans disliked Thirsty Work. He went on to say that he had no idea then what people wanted to hear. That actually makes him pretty normal. You play and listen to what you like. If no one else does, that's just the way it goes. See what I did there? He has become a little out of touch with your average Quo fan's tastes but he doesn't care now. He did back then.
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Post by snakelady on Mar 26, 2017 8:18:46 GMT
Oi, is there such a thing as an average Quo fan :oo: ? If that creature does indeed exist, I'm obviously not one of them. I do like most of what he has written over the last decades and usually get where he's coming from .. although I Didn't Mean It or the TW album in general isn't amongst it.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 26, 2017 14:18:17 GMT
Poor Francis.....He actually believed 'I didn't mean it' was going to be a huge hit.... I remember an interview with him at the time (FTMO maybe?) when he said he couldn't understand why the fans disliked Thirsty Work. He went on to say that he had no idea then what people wanted to hear. That actually makes him pretty normal. You play and listen to what you like. If no one else does, that's just the way it goes. See what I did there? He has become a little out of touch with your average Quo fan's tastes but he doesn't care now. He did back then. I can give him one thing though...the sound/audio/production on the album is very good imho.
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mortified
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Post by mortified on Mar 27, 2017 5:33:07 GMT
Oi, is there such a thing as an average Quo fan :oo: ? I thought that as soon as I typed it. I couldn't think of another expression though. However, I think the bottom line was that most of Thirsty Work was not what any Quo fan I ever knew wanted to hear. Or anyone else for that matter. That's all I meant and Francis didn't understand why. He's obviously not a Quo fan
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Post by snakelady on Mar 27, 2017 7:39:57 GMT
Oi, is there such a thing as an average Quo fan :oo: ? I thought that as soon as I typed it. I couldn't think of another expression though. However, I think the bottom line was that most of Thirsty Work was not what any Quo fan I ever knew wanted to hear. Or anyone else for that matter. That's all I meant and Francis didn't understand why. He's obviously not a Quo fan He definitely isn't a Quo fan for the same reasons most people from outside the band are. Or at least what he shares with many at maximum is the love of some of the music, but nothing more. Which should actually be enough. What he doesn't get is the image that is required by many to be acknowledged as taking it serious, really meaning it. I've read it countless times before, this accusation that Francis was merely pretending - that he was merely in the band for money's sake and really didn't want to be in it .. All this why ? Because he doesn't get the rock star image, this macho bloke with the serious stance thing, who enjoys a beer and a party afterwards - basically who isn't like Rick ? Shouldn't it be about the music first and foremost ? (Don't answer that - rhetorical question .. ) Many of these predominately male fans from the 'we hate Francis club' mainly listen to harder/heavier music and Quo is as soft as it gets. Francis listens to all kinds of music, but not a lot of rock music amongst it. As it happens my taste is similar, so I don't have problems with the softer or countrier (needs adding to the dictionary ) side of Quo. And it helps that I'm not into pubs, beer or macho blokes either . What these 'club members' seem to conveniently dismiss is the music the guys write. Francis has written lots of the rockier songs beside everything else - Claudie same as Slow Train in the 70s and Two Way Traffic or You'll Come Round same as Tongue Tied recently. There's no difference compared to the others, maybe apart from the fact that Francis is the most prolific songwriter. And it's Rick, who has been the 'softest' throughout the decades, who mostly wrote the ballads - from Where I Am to Mystery Island - but he's still perceived the rockier of the two simply because of his image and his stance on stage. What was this thread about ? King Of The Doghouse ? Not rocky by any means - and not typical Francis either, but when in the mood for it, I'm able to very much enjoy it. And isn't it funny how Francis is criticised for his 'poppy' solo stuff while at the same time told to put his 'poppy' stuff on solo records and not release it under the Quo name ?
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mortified
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Post by mortified on Mar 27, 2017 9:37:49 GMT
I'm not sure Francis deliberately set out to do it purely for the money. He hasn't ever liked the stage "macho" stuff or even heavy music but I have no doubt in my mind that, despite any protestations he may now exhibit, he liked what he was doing, particularly in the early to mid 70's. I mean, how many people at that age set out to be so specific about what they were doing, especially in a rock band? They just hoped to make money and become famous. Quo didn't consciously produce music for a certain type of fan. They just produced music that a very large number of people happened to like and the closest fit at the time for pigeon-holing the band was rock. That has stuck with many, particularly males who were oozing testosterone (and lager ) in their teens and early twenties. I was one of them, believe me. And the Quo fan back then was predominantly male. I think the band, maybe since the 80's, has tried too hard to be "Quo" and occasionally have become a parody of themselves. I also think they've left that behind since the turn of the century. I'm not really sure where I'm going with this. The macho thing I got when I was 19; anything else at that age in the 70's was just gay. Not literally but you know what I mean. Nowadays, I don't get the macho thing. It seems to have left me when the biological imperative to procreate left me Oh yeah, King Of The Doghouse. Nah, not really for me
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Post by smokie on Mar 27, 2017 13:08:11 GMT
Agree with much of what was posted above by mortified and snakelady
I don't get the "macho" thing either to be honest, who cares? I think some see the release of for want of a better word, "lighter" material as a slight against themselves. I started a thread a while ago asking if Claudie had never been recorded and released on Hello but appeared on a brand new studio album today, how would it be received? In general, I think the "hard core" would be up in arms. I think I'm "hard core" (aren't we all on here?) but I don't have a problem admitting that I like the "softer" songs as well as liking Forty Five Hundred Times too.
I've not seen electric Quo for a couple of years now and I've heard all the "Francis doesn't rock anymore", "Francis goes through the motions" and even "Francis is a better guitarist when he wears his waistcoat" stuff but I don't buy any of that. For me anyway, Francis ALWAYS delivers live.
Back to topic. King Of The Doghouse. There's more on it that I like as opposed to dislike, so for me, it's a good album
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