There
must of been somebody at the Pye Record
Label in 1973 kicking himself in the seat
of the pants; Status Quo, let go by the
Pye roster less than two years earlier,
was the #1 album, single, and touring
band in the U.K. by that time. The magnificent
"Dog of Two Heads" album was
released as Status Quo's swansong album
for Pye on Christmas 1971 with little
fanfare and no publicity boost. With this
in mind it is little wonder that the album
sunk without trace. Status Quo then moved
to the newly formed Vertigo label and
before Christmas 1973 had had three top
ten albums ('Piledriver' - #5 in February
1973; 'Hello' - #1 in September of the
same year; 'Quo' - #2 in May 1974) and
five Top Ten hits in the same period.
The worst part for Pye was that perhaps
"Dog of Two Heads" released
on their label was the pick of the bunch.
After the band initially had some success
as a singles band with "Pictures
of Matchstick Men" as early as Christmas
of 1967, things did not exactly go the
way the band expected. Original keyboard
player Roy Lynes jacked it all a year
later not expecting the band to have a
viable future. The band held a meeting
and decided to stay on without keyboards
and dump the frilly shirts and shinny
trousers of their pop band image. They
went back to the clothes they wore on
the street, let their hair grow, and developed
their new brand of brash heads, no nonsense,
mindless boogie that they had found going
down so well at the clubs they had been
playing.
However, they still had a two album contract
to honor with Pye. Rather than do what
most bands would of done, knocking out
two quick albums worth of covers and dodgy
originals, they laid down the blueprint
for what was to become the Status Quo
sound, carrying them over for the next
33 years (and hopefully more). 'Ma Kelly's
Greasy Spoon' (the album title coming
from the transport cafes the band used
to find themselves in after traveling
up and down the British motorways, night
after night, to pay the bills) was the
first dollop of blues boogie to be released.
Although it wasn’t quite the finished
article, it certainly had enough fine
moments to pave the way for mass head
banging. A year later came the monstrous
'Dog of Two Heads’ (the title of this
album deriving from a feeling within the
band that they clung on like a dog with
two sets of jaws).
The original album had six slabs of Quo
boogie rock split up by one acoustic song,
the autobiographical "Nanana",
which was about the difficulties of songwriting
and getting them accepted by your peers.
At first you only get thirty seconds,
half the song you get later, but the entire
song is sung to finally complete the album.
A very unique and fun way to break up
the album. Apart from this lays down some
of the dirtiest, driving, boogie ever
laid in a recording studio. No, these
boys may not have been the most talented
on the block, but what they lacked in
some areas they certainly made up in others.
Sheer enthusiasm for a kick off.
The album comes roaring out of your speakers
with opener "Umleitung" (a strange
title, no comment as I have never had
a clue what it means, any suggestions?)
a classic example of Status Quo boogie,
very limited on the vocals over its 80-minute
length. However, once Parfitt and Rossi
started to work their magic on guitar,
their new found confidence in themselves
seeps out of every note. Francis Rossi
lets rip one of his fine guitar solos
that would have many a teenager grabbing
for a tennis racquet and blasting out
the licks in his mind whilst acting out
his adolescent fantasies in front of the
mirror.
Next up (after the first bit of "Nanana")
is another Quo classic "Something's
going on in my Head". Not surprising
if anything the boogie is even heavier
as this song was one of bass player Alan
Lancaster's first contribution to the
Quo songbook. Then we get "Mean Girl",
which was not at the time released as
a single, but a year later when Quo broke
into the singles chart with their first
single for Vertigo "Paper Plane"
(#5) - it still made it to #20. "Mean
Girl" was often used by the band
as an encore number and is a simple fast
rocker, three cords, with a terrific guitar
solo and a chorus that leaves you gasping
for air. After a touch more "Nanana"
there comes - for Quo - a quaint little
ditty called "Gerundula”, almost
a fast paced jig with lots of handclapping
and tambourines behind Rossi's guitar.
A good way to lead into the album’s two
high points.
First we get the Magnificent "Railroad",
arguably one of the finest songs ever
to come out of the Quo catalogue. It was
written by Francis Rossi and long time
band roadie Bob Young, who guests with
a totally over the top Harmonica solo
(sort of like Quigley, but can actually
play) in the song’s mid section. This
fits in well with the Pathos that Alan
Lancaster manages to put into the vocals
about losing in love, before Francis Rossi
himself comes in to lay his guitar licks
all over the climax. In progressive/rock
this would be called a 7-minute epic;
in the land of Status Quo it's the one
where you get down the front and bang
your head for 7 minutes. The last slab
of Quo boogie we get is the second Lancaster
song "Someone's Learning". Live
it would often bring the set to an orgasmic
Rock 'n' Roll climax, which it does here
on the album with all the guitars and
drums in the band driving the rhythms
into your head with sledgehammer force.
Finally the band drifts away with the
closing version of "Nanana",
giving you a chance to tuck your tennis
racquet away before your Mum catches you.
When the album was digitally remastered
and released in 2003, the good people
of Pye were good enough to add on five
extra bonus tracks, however, no of them
are really a touch on the original songs.
Nice try there, boys, but I bet you wish
you had some of the royalties from the
band's pomp in the mid-seventies. Status
Quo are still going today, playing concerts
all over Britain and releasing a new album
each year to their still loyal fans. Although
they have never meant a light in America,
the Quo can still pack them in - in Butlins,
Skegness, where the teenagers in the mirror
are now Mums and Dads themselves, still
tucking their thumbs into their belts
and boogieing along.
Pawed by Mott The Dog
Remastered by Ella Crew
E-mail: review@mott-the-dog.com
