Down Down

Last updated
"Down Down"
DownDownNL.jpg
Artwork for Dutch vinyl release
Single by Status Quo
from the album On the Level
B-side "Nightride"
Released29 November 1974 (1974-11-29)
Genre
Length3:49 (single version)
5:24 (album version)
Label Vertigo
Songwriter(s) Francis Rossi
Bob Young
Producer(s) Status Quo
Status Quo singles chronology
"Break the Rules"
(1974)
"Down Down"
(1974)
"Roll Over Lay Down"
(1975)
Video
"Down Down" on TopPop on YouTube

"Down Down" is a song by English rock band Status Quo, released by Vertigo Records on 29 November 1974. [3] 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. [4] Both "Down Down" and its B-side "Nightride" were taken from the album On the Level (1975), which had yet to be released. The album version lasts 5 minutes and 24 seconds, whilst the single version is 3 minutes and 49 seconds.

Contents

Song information

"Down Down" was inspired by T. Rex's debut single "Debora". [5] Originally it was titled "Get Down", but this was changed before release, possibly to avoid confusion with the Gilbert O'Sullivan song of the same name. [6]

Towards the end of his life, DJ John Peel was known for playing "Down Down" as part of his eclectic DJ sets. [7]

In 1986 co-writer Bob Young recorded a country style version of the song to open his solo album In Quo Country. [8]

In July 2012, Status Quo reworked the lyrics to create a three-minute promotional song for the Australian supermarket chain Coles. [9] The chorus chants, "down down, prices are down". This was released on television and YouTube, the most notable of which depicted a mince rally. [10] [11]

The song was reprised, in 2014, for the band's thirty-first studio album Aquostic – Stripped Bare . It was featured in the ninety-minute launch performance of the album at London's Roundhouse on 22 October and recorded and broadcast live by BBC Radio 2 as part of their In Concert series. [12] [13]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1975)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [14] 4
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [15] 14
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [16] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia) [17] 9
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [18] 2
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [19] 1
Norway (VG-lista) [20] 8
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [21] 2
UK Singles (OCC) [22] 1
West Germany (Official German Charts) [23] 7

Year-end charts

Chart (1975)Position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [24] [25] 15
Belgium (Ultratop Flanders) [26] 18
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [27] 13
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [28] 14
Germany (Official German Charts) [29] 27
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [30] 11

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [31] Silver250,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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"Lies" / "Don't Drive My Car" is a double A-side single released by the British rock band Status Quo in 1980.

"Again and Again" is a single released by the British rock band Status Quo in 1978. The song was written by Rick Parfitt, Andy Bown and Jackie Lynton and was issued to coincide with the band's headline appearance at the Reading Festival on 26 August 1978.

"What You're Proposing" is a single released by the British rock band Status Quo in 1980. It was included on their album Just Supposin'.

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