Pictures of Matchstick Men

"Pictures of Matchstick Men"
File:POMM cover.jpg cover of CD titled after the song
Single by The Status Quo
from the album Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo
B-side	"Gentleman Joe's Sidewalk Café"
Released	November 1967 (November 1967)
Format	7" single
Genre	Pop rock, psychedelic rock, psychedelic pop
Length	3:09
Label	Pye
Writer(s)	Francis Rossi
Producer(s)	John Schroeder
The Status Quo singles chronology
"Pictures of Matchstick Men" (1968) "Black Veils of Melancholy" (1968)

"Pictures of Matchstick Men"
File:Pictures of Matchstick Men CVB.jpg
Single by Camper Van Beethoven
from the album Key Lime Pie
Released	1989
Format	CD
Genre	Psychedelic rock
Label	Virgin

"Pictures of Matchstick Men" is the first hit single by Status Quo, released in November 1967.

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. 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 of the song, a stereo and mono version, with significant differences: the mono version, which was the original single, has the trademark psychedelic wah-wah guitar in the breaks between lyrics, but the stereo version omits it.

The song opens with a single guitar repeatedly playing a simple four note riff before the bass, rhythm guitar, drums and lyrics begin. "Pictures of Matchstick Men" is one of a number of songs from the late sixties to feature the audio effect phasing. The song is an example of bubblegum psychedelia. Their following release, "Black Veils of Melancholy", was similar but flopped, which caused the group to change direction.

Francis Rossi said about 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.

The "matchstick men" of the song refers to the paintings of L.S. Lowry.

Singles

• 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

Cover versions

• The Slickee Boys released an up-tempo version on their 1982 album Cybernetic Dreams of Pi.
• In 1986, the Forgotten Rebels released a punk version on their album The Pride and Disgrace.
• In 1989, Camper Van Beethoven scored a USA number-one hit on the American Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart with their version from their album Key Lime Pie.
• In 1995, Johnny Q. Public, a Christian rock band, prominently used a riff from this song in the song "Body Be" on their album Extra-Ordinary.
• In 1995, Arjen Anthony Lucassen, a Dutch musician, performed the song on his cover album Strange Hobby.
• Type O Negative, featuring Ozzy Osbourne on vocals covered it as part of the soundtrack to the Howard Stern biographical movie Private Parts in 1997. Type O Negative also recorded a version of the song with the band's vocalist and bassist Peter Steele on vocals instead.
• In 2000, the German band Atrocity covered it on their single "Taste Of Sin".
• Shy Nobleman, Tel Aviv's mod hero, covered it on his How to Be Shy tour in 2001.
• In May 2001, a live cover version appeared as a B-side on The Divine Comedy's single "Bad Ambassador". It was recorded during a gig at Oxford Brookes University in March that year.
• In 2003, Death in Vegas released the title track of their album Scorpio Rising as a single (featuring Liam Gallagher from Oasis on vocals). The song featured a melody and chord sequence almost identical to Pictures of Matchstick Men; so much so, in fact, that Status Quo were credited as co-writers.
• 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.
• In 2013, the guitar intro is repeatedly sampled by Mickey Avalon on his song "I Get Even".

In popular culture

• In 2007, My Name is Earl Season 3, Episode 11: Burn Victim featured the song.
• In 2011, the original version of "Pictures of Matchstick Men" was featured prominently in a television ad for Target stores.
• In 2012, the original version of the song was played in Men in Black 3.

See also

• Number one modern rock hits of 1989

External links

• Gold Radio

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics