Modern Rock Tracks No. 1s - Camper van Beethoven and "Pictures Of Matchstick Men”
Modern Rock Tracks No. 1s - Camper van Beethoven and "Pictures Of Matchstick Men”
Camper van Beethoven reaches the peak of the Modern Rock Tracks chart covering a '60s track from one of the greatest British bands of all time. No, not that one. No, not that one, either.
Camper van Beethoven - “Pictures Of Matchstick Men”
Weeks atop the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart: 3 (10/21/89 - 11/4/89)
Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers during this time:
Janet Jackson - “Miss You Much” (10/21/89 and 10/28/89 - four total weeks)
Roxette - “Listen To Your Heart” (11/4/89)
I like to think of myself as someone who knows a pretty wide cross-section of music, across many decades and many genres. This Substack has humbled me. Every time I do my little bits of research into these articles, I learn about songs I never knew existed from bands I never knew existed. Oftentimes, these songs and bands are pretty great, and I’m better for the experience of learning about them.
Today’s Substack took that humbling to a whole new level, on what I thought might be a throwaway column on a one-time chart topper.
I fully intend to discuss Camper van Beethoven and their chart-topping hit “Pictures of Matchstick Men,” but because this is the first time I’m reviewing a full-fledged cover song reaching the top of the Modern Rock Tracks chart, I have to spend some time discussing the band they’re covering. You might have heard of them: British rock royalty who formed in the 1960s and transformed the charts in the U.K., breaking chart records while also making an impression on the Billboard Hot 100 during the first British Invasion.
The Beatles? No. The Rolling Stones? Guess again. Nope, we’re talking, obviously, about Status Quo.
Like I say in my Chart Chat bio, I’m not a music critic; I’m just some guy who enjoys looking back at music history and discovering new things along the way. So while I imagine there’s a wide swath of music critics and authors who know all there is to know about Status Quo, I swear to you I’d never heard of them before I started researching this article. And what’s more, I was only going to mention the song as a footnote leading into my discussion of Camper van Beethoven, until I looked at the band’s history. My jaw hit the keyboard.
Status Quo is one of the most popular, longest-running musical acts in modern rock history. They formed in the early 1960s, and have more than SIXTY chart hits in the U.K. over the SIXTY years they’ve been active (they’re still active as of this writing). Seriously, how did I not know this?
Well, it appears their popularity is largely international. They were never major players on the U.S. charts, and really only broke in the States as the British Invasion wave was starting to crest and fade in the late 1960s. That song, “Pictures of Matchstick Men,” found a place as late ‘60s psychedelia was overtaking the zeitgeist, and it peaked at #12 on the Hot 100 the week ending Aug. 3, 1968, the same week songs like “Sunshine of Your Love” by Cream and “Hurdy Gurdy Man” by Donovan were top-10 hits.
Following their first top-20 U.S. hit, Status Quo never found a foothold with the American audience. They notched another Hot 100 hit, “Ice in the Sun,” later in 1968, peaking at #70. After that, the band’s major success was limited to the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, though their accolades are nearly unprecedented: in addition to their U.K. hits, they have 25 top-10 albums in the U.K. (out of 33 released) and have spent more than 500 weeks in the U.K. album charts as a recording group. It’s one hell of a run. I cannot believe I never knew they existed!
One band who did know about them was Camper van Beethoven, the actual subject of this article. Again, I’m no music critic, so with no context and being far too young at the time for the band to register in my insulated musical bubble, CVB was a complete mystery to me coming into the research for this song. But, if you were into alternative music in the mid-1980s, CVB apparently holds sway as one of the better bands in the swirl of alt-rock at that time. According to Barbara Schultz of Mixonline.com, “Camper’s amalgam of punk, ska, country, rock, and international trad folk sounds — all undercut by David Lowery’s sardonic vocal tone — tapped into both of the main musical arteries of Norcal college life in the 1980s: Their music was adored by hippies and punks alike.”
And they definitely have a unique sound, a mix of traditional rock with folk influences and, yes, Lowery’s unique voice. One of the band’s early underground favorites, “Take the Skinheads Bowling,” features a lot of that cheeky vocal play with a decent backbone of musical talent. Like a lot of alternative bands in the mid ‘80s, CVB didn’t have a musical chart that captured their influence on the underground rock/alternative scene, so none of the music from their earliest albums charted anywhere in Billboard.
As with a lot of other bands, however, the advent of the MRT chart gave alternative music a massive spotlight, and CVB took advantage. Having built their fanbase with original music, the band reached back and covered the biggest U.S. hit from Status Quo, giving the opening a breath of fresh air with a violin, which differed from the simple guitar notes of the original. The song builds into a strong rock flourish, echoing the lyrics of the Status Quo but really taking the song sonically in a completely different direction.
The end result is a much better song, a relatively rare instance where a cover surpasses the original. And while the lyrics of the song are somewhat indistinct or lacking a particular narrative, the “matchstick men” portion is an apparent reference to the works of artist L.S. Lowry, who achieved artistic prominence for pictures of people walking about urban areas.
As near as I can tell, CVB released the best cover of the song, which explains its chart-topping peak for three weeks in late 1989. Other bands, such as Ozzy Osbourne with Type O Negative, Kasabian, and October Noir, have since covered the song, though none achieved the same level of chart success (the Kasabian cover, out of all of them, is a decent ‘60s-sounding replica). For some reason, the song also reminds me tangentially of “Pure Morning” by Placebo, though I don’t believe there’s any influential connection between the two.
Camper van Beethoven were not together long enough to build off of the success of “Pictures of Matchstick Men.” The band broke up while promoting the album and moved on to other bands, many of which rose to prominence in the 1990s, including Cracker and Counting Crows. The original members rejoined in 1999 and still create music to this day, and while they won’t appear in this column again, I appreciate the effort that went into giving this song new life in the 1980s and opening a window into alternative music I never would have opened otherwise.
Rating: 7/10
Chart Check: A look at some notable songs on the MRT chart which failed to reach the top
Who lined up behind CVB? I have a few tracks for you to consider.
“I Want That Man” by Deborah Harry: Do you know Deborah Harry? Fans of early ‘80s pop likely do, as she was the lead singer of a successful pop act called Blondie. Though she never quite achieved the same level of chart prominence as a solo act, Harry did release some decent post-Blondie tracks. This one was the most successful on the MRT charts, peaking at #2 behind Camper van Beethoven.
“Regina” by The Sugarcubes: In most cases, I totally understand how songs reach the top of the MRT charts. This one, however, escapes me. It’s a weird mish-mash of shrieks and tone, something that is practically unlistenable. I think they’re going for a Talking Heads vibe, but I’m just not feeling it; that said, if Icelandic rock is your jam, this one might be worth a listen. And respect where it’s due: the song managed a #2 peak behind CVB.
“Personal Jesus” by Depeche Mode: I don’t know what to say here, other than sometimes the charts are just weird. If you would have told me that Icelandic rockers Sugarcubes would have topped Depeche Mode’s ridiculously good “Personal Jesus” on a chart dedicated to modern alternative rock in the U.S., I would never have believed you. Yet, somehow, inexplicably, this amazing track peaked at #3 behind both “Pictures of Matchstick Men” and “Regina.”
“If It's Love” by Squeeze: New-wave pop was still alive and well going into the ‘90s, as evidenced by the breezy ditty by Squeeze. Happy jangly guitars and singing longingly about love has a way of capturing an audience, and this one managed to reach a respectable peak of #7 behind “Pictures of Matchstick Men.”