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Quo Records |  |
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Dave Oxley's Singles Discography Part 1 1966-1969 |
I (WHO HAVE NOTHING) HURDY GURDY MAN (WE AIN'T GOT) NOTHIN' YET ALMOST BUT NOT QUITE THERE PICTURES OF MATCHSTICK MEN BLACK VEILS OF MELANCHOLY ICE IN THE SUN MAKE ME STAY A BIT LONGER ARE YOU GROWING TIRED OF MY LOVE THE PRICE OF LOVE |
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The Spectres: 1966 I (WHO HAVE NOTHING) (Donida/Stoller/Leiber) (3.01) Neighbour Neighbour (Valier) (2.43) Producer: John Schroeder 7 inch vinyl single - PICCADILLY 7N 35339 Released: 9 September 1966 This was the first release to feature any of the musicians that would later become Status Quo. During their mid to late teens with a line up which comprised Alan Lancaster, Francis Rossi, John Coghlan and Roy Lynes,The Spectres had recorded some demo tracks - including a cover of 'I (Who Have Nothing)'. The group's manager Pat Barlow later sent copies of this material to various people in the music business, including jazz musician and club owner Ronnie Scott - who was also a songwriter and publisher for a company called Valley Music in 1966. He heard and liked the demo and played it to a friend called John Shroeder, who was an A&R man for Pye Records subsidary label Piccadilly. Schroeder went to see The Spectres perform live at Charlie Chester's Casino in London's west end and later visited the group in their basement rehearsal room. He eventually signed The Spectres on a five year recording contract with Pye Records Piccadilly label on 18th July 1966. The song 'I (Who Have Nothing)' was originally recorded by Ben E King although perhaps the best known recording is the one by Shirley Bassey, which became a top ten hit in 1963. Despite both the group's and their record company's enthusiasm the single failed to make any real impression at the time. The flipside track 'Neighbour Neighbour' is a blues standard, covered by many other artists both before and after The Spectres. Neither of the tracks featured on this single were included on any album release until the 1987 PRT Records compilation entitled 'Quotations Vol 1 - The Beginning'. 1966 HURDY GURDY MAN (Lancaster/Barlow) (3.15) Laticia (Lancaster) (3.00) Producer: John Schroeder 7 inch vinyl single - PICCADILLY 7N 35352 Released: 18 November 1966 The release of the group's second single was the first opportunity for any member of The Spectres to see one of their own self-penned compositions featured on a vinyl record. 'Hurdy Gurdy Man' had originally been co-written by Alan Lancaster and a writer who sold his share of the song to Pat Barlow,which explains how Barlow's songwriting credit appeared on the record label. A similar story also surrounds the track recorded for the flipside of this release. The song 'Laticia' was actually co-written by Alan Lancaster and Rick Parfitt - although Parfitt was not a member of the band and his name was never included on the record labels. Neither of the tracks featured on this single were included on any album release until the 1987 PRT Records compilation entitled 'Quotations Vol 1 - The Beginning'. 1967 WE AIN'T GOT) NOTHIN' YET (Gilbert/Scala/Esposito) (2.18) I Want It (Lynes/Coghlan/Rossi/Lancaster) (3.01) Producer: John Schroeder 7 inch vinyl single - PICCADILLY - 7N 35368 Released: 10 February 1967 '(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet' was written by Ron Gilbert (bass), Ralph Scala (vocals/ keyboards) and Mike Esposito (guitar) - three members of the American sixties group the Blues Magoos. The song was a chart hit for the 'Magoos' in America but failed to achieve the same success in the UK. This Spectres cover version also failed to reach the UK charts, giving the group their third unsuccessful single - from a total of three releases. The flipside for this release was the group's own collaboration entitled 'I Want It'. Neither of the tracks featured on this single were included on any album release until the 1987 PRT Records compilation entitled 'Quotations Vol 1 - The Beginning'. The Traffic Jam: 1967 ALMOST BUT NOT QUITE THERE (Barlow/Rossi) (2.45) Wait Just A Minute (Lynes) (2.12) Producer: John Schroeder 7 inch vinyl single - PICCADILLY 7N 35386 Released: 16 June 1967 Having been unable to achieve the chart success they so desperately wanted as The Spectres the group decided a name change was needed, and so in January 1967 the group re-named themselves The Traffic. A few months later a row erupted between the 'The Traffic' and ex-Spencer Davis guitarist/vocalist Stevie Winwood - who had also decided to call his new band 'Traffic'. In the press coverage that followed, Pat Barlow (The Spectres and The Traffic manager) had stated that his group had registered their name in January and had no wish to change it again. He also mentioned that Winwood was not scheduled to release any material until later in the year, however, plans for the release of 'Traffic's' debut single 'Paper Sun' were brought forward to June. In an effort to capitalise on the publicity caused by the disagreement with Winwood, Barlow decided that such media coverage could only help to promote his own group's debut single and so hastily extended their name to 'Traffic Jam', in time for the record's release. The song 'Almost But Not Quite There', was as the title suggests, written about a woman's sexual fulfillment - or indeed lack of it! Naturally it did not take the BBC long to work out the lyrical content and they subsequently banished the single from the radio airwaves. This ban, although relatively unusual at the time, destroyed any chance of The Traffic Jam scoring a hit with this release - despite having notched up initially encouraging sales figures. The flipside track 'Wait Just A Minute' was written by the group's organist Roy Lynes and was his first individual composition to be included on any record release. As with the previous tracks recorded as The Spectres neither of the tracks featured on this single were included on any album release until the 1987 PRT Records compilation entitled 'Quotations Vol 1 - The Beginning'. The Status Quo: 1968 PICTURES OF MATCHSTICK MEN (Rossi) (3.08) Gentleman Joe's Sidewalk Cafe (K Young) (2.59) Producer: John Schroeder 7 inch vinyl single - PYE 7N 17449 Released: 5 January 1968 'Pictures Of Matchstick Men' was the first single to be issued as Status Quo - in fact as 'The Status Quo'. Francis Rossi had written the song at home and later presented it to the band who began working on it in the studio using only four track recording equipment. The flipside track 'Gentleman Joe's Sidewalk Cafe', written by songwriter Kenny Young, was originally intended to be the 'A' side but was dropped in favour of the more psychedelic sounding 'Matchstick Men'. On later copies 'Gentleman Joe's Sidewalk Cafe' had its title extended to include '(75c Minimum)'. Both tracks from this release were later included on the first Status Quo album 'Picturesque Matchstickable Messages From The Status Quo'. This single also became Quo's first hit single, reaching number seven in the UK singles chart. 1968 BLACK VEILS OF MELANCHOLY (Rossi) (3.13) To Be Free (Lynes) (2.35) Producer: John Schroeder 7 inch vinyl single - PYE 7N 17497 Released 29 March 1968 'Black Veils Of Melancholy' was another Rossi composition which became 'The' Status Quo's second single release. The record's failure to achieve any real success saw the band then being thought of as just 'one hit wonders'. The song itself was universally criticised for sounding exactly the same as 'Pictures Of Matchstick Men' - which of course it did! Although 'Black Veils Of Melancholy' was included on the first Quo album 'Picturesque Matchstickable Messages .....', the flipside track 'To Be Free' was not featured on any of the band's albums until the release of the budget-priced compilation 'Status Quo-tations', in November 1969. During the manufacturing runs of this single Pye Records introduced a redesigned label, with the result that copies of this record were issued using both the 'old' and 'new' designs - although all of the pre-release (yellow label) promotional copies were pressed with the 'new' label only. 1968 ICE IN THE SUN (M Wilde/R Scott) (2.10) When My Mind Is Not Live (Parfitt/Rossi) (2.48) Producer: John Schroeder 7 inch vinyl single - PYE 7N 17581 Released: 26 July 1968 'Ice In The Sun' was one of a handful of songs co-written by Marty Wilde (father of Kim Wilde) and the famous jazz composer and musician Ronnie Scott, which were given to Status Quo after the failure of 'Black Veils Of Melancholy'. The single was another chart success, reaching number eight in the UK singles chart. Both tracks were also included on the Quo album 'Picturesque Matchstickable Messages .....' 1969 MAKE ME STAY A BIT LONGER (Rossi/Parfitt) (2.53) Auntie Nellie (Lancaster) (3.17) Producer: John Schroeder 7 inch vinyl single - PYE 7N 17665 Released: 31 January 1969 'Make Me Stay A Bit Longer' was another unsuccessful single for the group. The track was not included on either the first or second Quo album, eventually being featured later in the year on the budget compilation 'Status Quo-tations'. The track 'Aunite Nellie' did not receive an album release until 1987, when it was included on the compilation album 'Quotations Volume Two'. This was the last Pye single to feature the band's extended title of 'The Status Quo' 1969 ARE YOU GROWING TIRED OF MY LOVE (A King) (3.33) So Ends Another Life (Lancaster) (3.10) Producer: John Schroeder 7 inch vinyl single - PYE 7N 17728 Released: 25 April 1969 'Are You Growing Tired Of My Love' was a ballad written by songwriter Anthony King. It was the first single to feature Rick Parfitt singing lead vocal and went on to become a minor hit - reaching number forty six in the UK singles chart. Both 'Are You Growing Tired..' and 'So Ends Another Life' were included on the second Status Quo album, released in September 1969, entitled 'Spare Parts'. 1969 THE PRICE OF LOVE (D Everly/P Everly) (3.40) Little Miss Nothing (Rossi/Parfitt) (2.58) Producer: John Schroeder 7 inch vinyl single - PYE 7N 17825 Released: 26 September 1969 'The Price Of Love' single (a cover of the Everly Brothers original hit in May 1965) was issued on the same day as Status Quo's second album 'Spare Parts' with only the track 'Little Miss Nothing' being included on that release. The recording of 'The Price Of Love' represented the first occasion that Quo had gone into a recording studio to record material specifically for release as a single. It was also the first Quo recording to feature the harmonica playing of Bob Young. The track itself would did not appear on any album release until Pye issued the budget price compilation 'The Golden Hour Of Status Quo', in June 1973. |
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