quoconut
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 240 
Favourite Quo Album: Quo
Favourite other bands.: Slade, AC/DC, Oasis, The Doors, The Cult
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Post by quoconut on Nov 29, 2024 5:12:06 GMT
Wikipedia states: "Down Down" is a song by English rock band Status Quo, released by Vertigo Records on 29 November 1974. Written by Francis Rossi and Bob Young and produced by Status Quo, "Down Down" was Status Quo's only number one single on the UK Singles Chart. The single spent a week at the top of the chart in January 1975. So the release is 50 years old today. And this being the song that got me into Quo I think it's worth remembering and celebrating!  |
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mortified
4500 Timer
Posts: 6,675
Favourite Quo Album: Hello!
Favourite other bands.: Talking Heads, Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow, Gary Numan, Alabama 3, ZZ Top, Paul van Dyk, Jeff Beck, Bowie, Gerry Rafferty, Band of Skulls, UFO, S.A.H.B
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Post by mortified on Nov 29, 2024 5:31:57 GMT
Memories of Down Down....I first heard it at 10 o'clock one night late in November 1974. I used to listen to John Peel for a while before being told to "switch that off and get to sleep" coz I had school in the morning  Down Down was the first song he played one night and I wasn't even aware a Quo single was coming out. He didn't introduce it; he just played it. I didn't appreciate who it was at first before Francis's vocals kicked in. I badgered the record shops in Edinburgh every Friday until they got it in. One Tuesday at lunch time during school, me and some schoolmates were listening to the chart run down on a little transistor radio when it got to no.1. Johnny Walker might have been the DJ. Momentous moment that. Being the no.1 single was everything in those days. But 50 years? Goodness!  Coincidentally, it's also Mrs Mortified's birthday today. Cause for celebration all round  |
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Post by kursaal75 on Nov 29, 2024 7:04:45 GMT
Happy 50th Birthday 'Down Down'
Entered the UK Top 50 chart on Tue, 3rd Dec, 1974 at 34.
Chart History: 34, 20, 15, 15*, 10, 3, 1, 5, 6, 26 and 44.
*2 weeks at 15, due to no chart during Christmas week.
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Post by kursaal75 on Nov 29, 2024 7:05:54 GMT
Memories of Down Down....I first heard it at 10 o'clock one night late in November 1974. I used to listen to John Peel for a while before being told to "switch that off and get to sleep" coz I had school in the morning Down Down was the first song he played one night and I wasn't even aware a Quo single was coming out. He didn't introduce it; he just played it. I didn't appreciate who it was at first before Francis's vocals kicked in. I badgered the record shops in Edinburgh every Friday until they got it in. One Tuesday at lunch time during school, me and some schoolmates were listening to the chart run down on a little transistor radio when it got to no.1. Johnny Walker might have been the DJ. Momentous moment that. Being the no.1 single was everything in those days. But 50 years? Goodness! Coincidentally, it's also Mrs Mortified's birthday today. Cause for celebration all round Happy Birthday Mrs Mortified 🎂 |
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Post by curiousgirl on Nov 29, 2024 10:52:39 GMT
That was the first ever Quo song I heard! I used to listen to top 20 charts on Sunday evening. And I can still remember hearing it and dancing around our living room. Happy days. Happy Birthday to Mrs Mortified from me too. |
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Post by Gaz on Nov 29, 2024 11:26:13 GMT
Yes Down Down also introduced me to a lifetime of Quo.
The single must’ve hit Australian shores some months later as it first screened on Countdown in (maybe) March or April??
I still remember walking into the room, as my older sister and brother were watching Countdown…as a 15 year old I literally hadn’t much interest in bands (sports mad) but as soon as I heard the jangling guitars of Down Down I instantly was hooked by that song.
Still love it to this day and I still reckon it sounds way better on the radio over any stereo. On radio it just sounds so special.
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Post by 4th Chord on Nov 29, 2024 11:31:30 GMT
First time hearing it. Not bad.
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mortified
4500 Timer
Posts: 6,675
Favourite Quo Album: Hello!
Favourite other bands.: Talking Heads, Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow, Gary Numan, Alabama 3, ZZ Top, Paul van Dyk, Jeff Beck, Bowie, Gerry Rafferty, Band of Skulls, UFO, S.A.H.B
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Post by mortified on Nov 29, 2024 11:55:29 GMT
First time hearing it. Not bad. It grows on you |
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quoconut
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 240
Favourite Quo Album: Quo
Favourite other bands.: Slade, AC/DC, Oasis, The Doors, The Cult
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Post by quoconut on Nov 29, 2024 15:56:42 GMT
I remember hearing this song for the first time in early 1975 when it was released in The Netherlands (where the song reached number 1 on March 15, 1975, also for just one week).
Didn't know Quo yet, as I was into Slade back then. But I liked this song, a lot (although it's never been one of my top 10 favourite Quo songs).
What I especially liked when I saw them on TV was the attitude and look of the band. I knew at once what I wanted to do with my hair and what clothes I wanted to wear (still wearing those jeans but lost the hair along the way...)!
Back in my home town you could also borrow LP's from the library. So I went to see if they had anything from this new band I had just discovered. And yes, they had one: Piledriver. What a great picture on the cover, very promising! I borrowed it, took it home, put it on my record player and was completely blown away. What a terrific album! I was officially a Quo fan! Didn't take long to discover the other great albums that preceded Down Down/On The Level.
Like Frankie says: "Regrets, I've had a few...", but being a Quo fan certainly isn't one of them.
Cheers Quo, and to 'quo'-te a Slade song: Thanks for the memory!
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Post by dennis on Nov 29, 2024 19:28:33 GMT
I'm sure I must have come across Quo via radio & tv prior to this release, but this was the one that made a real impression on me. not just the music, but the rather nonchalant attitude too. the band immediately struck me as straightforward & unpretentious. it seemed to me they peaked in that sweet spot between glam rock & punk rock
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gerh
Grizzled Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 3,250
Favourite Quo Album: 'Hello' [and 'Quo Live']
Favourite other bands.: Zappa, Kansas, Rush, Deep Purple, Yes, Richard Thompson, Horslips, Rory Gallagher, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, AllmanBros, etc etc. [AB Kiss]
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Post by gerh on Nov 29, 2024 20:53:54 GMT
Easily one of the greatest Rock songs of all - If it doesn’t move you, seek urgent help🤪
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Post by Mrs Flittersnoop on Nov 29, 2024 23:21:59 GMT
I've no idea when I first heard Down Down! I thought it was earlier was that. It's like it had always been there.
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Post by MrWaistcoat on Nov 30, 2024 11:19:45 GMT
It's such a shame that I'm fed up of it now!
These days it gets lots reaction videos on YouTube from America. Interestingly, the video always used is the full length album version
I still remember hearing it for the first time. I'd bought Lies, then found the DD "jukebox single", no middle or sleeve, for about 20p. I was staying away with friends of my parents. Can still remember asking to use their record player. This was even better than Lies. Nightride also had a massive effect on me. My worried parents told me to stop headbanging, but it just came naturally and I couldn't help it.
My quest to get everything Quo had started. Its never really ended!
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Post by Mustang Bass on Nov 30, 2024 12:10:15 GMT
It's such a shame that I'm fed up of it now! These days it gets lots reaction videos on YouTube from America. Interestingly, the video always used is the full length album versionI still remember hearing it for the first time. I'd bought Lies, then found the DD "jukebox single", no middle or sleeve, for about 20p. I was staying away with friends of my parents. Can still remember asking to use their record player. This was even better than Lies. Nightride also had a massive effect on me. My worried parents told me to stop headbanging, but it just came naturally and I couldn't help it. My quest to get everything Quo had started. Its never really ended! It always seems edited at around the 3.42 mns of that youtube video. Just doesn't sound right to me.
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per
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 678
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Post by per on Nov 30, 2024 13:09:19 GMT
The song that got me started as a Quo fan! Didn’t happen until spring -76 though, when I heard the album version on swedish radio (first time ever I heard it). I was hooked immediatly! Another thing that probably played a big role in this was that I had been a massive fan of The Sweet for two years but in March -76 they released Give Us A Wink and I didn’t like that album at all, so I was ”open for all new suggestions” so to say. Bought On the Level after this radio play of Down Down and was hooked for life😊
(Another interesting coincidence worth mention was when I had bought Give Us A Wink and stood waiting for the bus home I met two guys from school. I showed them my new album and one of them showed the album he had bought; it was Blue For You and he said ”this one is much better!”, so I was a bit prepared for Quo so to say when I first heard Down Down some weeks later😊)
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Down Down was the first song he played one night and I wasn't even aware a Quo single was coming out. He didn't introduce it; he just played it. 
