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"Whatever You Want"
Standard artwork for most territorial releases, including the UK vinyl single
Single by Status Quo
from the album Whatever You Want
B-side"Hard Ride"[2]
Released14 September 1979 [1]
Genre
Length4:00
LabelVertigo
Songwriter(s)Rick Parfitt, Andy Bown
Status Quo singles chronology
"Accident Prone"
(1978) 		"Whatever You Want"
(1979) 		"Living on an Island"
(1979)
Audio sample

"Whatever You Want" is a rock song by the British rock band Status Quo. Written by Rick Parfitt and Andy Bown,[4] it was released on the album of the same name in 1979 and has become one of the band's better-known works. The track peaked at number 4 on the UK charts on 30 September 1979.[5] It originally appeared on the band's 1979 album Whatever You Want and was later re-recorded for their 2003 album Riffs.

Composition

The song commences with a quiet introduction, containing a guitar playing notes from chords. Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi used chorus, fuzz and flanging effects on their guitars. This lasts for approximately 26 seconds, and fades out towards the end. After this, the guitar picks up once more with a D-minor riff, and 40 seconds into the piece, the familiar D-major riff of the song begins, accompanied by drums from the 56 second mark.

At 1 minute, 11 seconds, all audio pauses for approximately half a second; at this point, the lyrical portion commences. The music returns as soon as the first lyrics are heard. This pause creates a short-lived dramatic start to the song, which lasts for a total of four minutes.

Impact

Within the United Kingdom, the song reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart in 1979. The song has been used in advertising campaigns by popular UK retailer Argos and Ireland based The Gift Voucher Shop which sells the One4all gift vouchers and gift cards, as well as being the theme tune to an ill-fated Saturday night TV show of the same name as the song presented by Gaby Roslin. It was also parodied in a 1990s advertisement for the now defunct retailer What Everyone Wants, singing the store's name in place of the original song title. In 2008, the song was sampled on the hardstyle song "1980" by Citizen, and then later that same year by German techno band Scooter on the song "Jump That Rock (Whatever You Want)!" from the hit album Jumping All Over The World. The song has also featured albeit in a modified form for the Australian Supermarket chain Coles. The South African trio Mark Haze (from Idols South Africa season seven), Dozi and Ghapi recorded a version on their album "Rocking Buddies" in 2013.[6]

In 2010 a segment of the song was played during a Doctor Who Confidential programme called Amy's Choice where Matt Smith was pointing at Arthur Darvill’s ponytail in reference to Status Quo lead singer Francis Rossi.[7]

In 2013 the band themselves appeared in an Australian television advertisement for Vegemite at the Coles Supermarkets chain, with the song as the backing track, as part of the store's "Down Down" campaign.[8]

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, the concert being recorded and broadcast live by BBC Radio 2 as part of their In Concert series.[9][10]

The Finnish Liiga club HIFK uses the song as opening song during their home matches, where fans of HIFK clap to the song's tempo when the song starts playing. The German Bundesliga club FC Schalke 04 also used the song as opening song during their home matches until 2015.[citation needed] Dutch Eredivisie club SBV Vitesse has used the song as their opening song for many years. German football club VfB Stuttgart uses this song as entrance song for their mascot "Fritzle" as it enters the pitch before every home game. The song was used as Bill Bailey's buzzer for a 2021 episode of QI titled 'Random'.

Arrangement

The song is guitar-oriented, like most Status Quo songs. During recording up to three guitar 'layers' were used, though it can be played with two: rhythm guitar and solo guitar. The other instruments are a bass guitar, keyboards and drums. The lyrics are multi-vocal; for instance the 'Whatever you want' part is sung entirely with two voices.

The guitar low 'E' string is tuned to a D (the song is in the key of D). This is required to play the intro and also the low strumming after the intro. In this later part a flanger effect is used together with the ever-present overdrive/distortion effect.[citation needed]

Charts

Chart (1979) Peak
position
Australian Singles (Kent Music Report)[11] 22
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[12] 11
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[13] 4
Germany (Official German Charts)[14] 12
Ireland (IRMA)[15] 5
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] 5
UK Singles (OCC)[17] 4

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[18] Silver 250,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "Status Quo singles".
  2. ^ Cluse, Michael. "The Makers Of... [H - K]". the-makers-of.info. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  3. ^ https://www.goldradiouk.com/features/song-lists/status-quo-songs-best-ranked/
  4. ^ "Status Quo - Whatever You Want". 45cat.com. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Whatever You Want". Official Charts. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
  6. ^ "Rocking buddies, dozi, ghapi, Mark Haze, Album Info, Tracks, Lyrics". Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 2015-06-26. Retrieved 4 February 2014
  7. ^ ."Doctor Who Confidential S05E07 - video Dailymotion". Retrieved 2023-03-22.
  8. ^ CBAustralia (8 May 2013). "Coles 'Whatever You Want' commercial with Status Quo". youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 24 December 2016 – via YouTube.
  9. ^ "Status Quo Concert Setlist at Roundhouse, London on October 22, 2014 - setlist.fm". setlist.fm. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  10. ^ "Status Quo - Acoustic". Radio 2 In Concert. bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2015.
  11. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  12. ^ "Status Quo – Whatever You Want" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  13. ^ "Status Quo – Whatever You Want" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  14. ^ "Status Quo – Whatever You Want" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  15. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Whatever You Want". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 16 February 2021.
  16. ^ "Status Quo – Whatever You Want" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  17. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  18. ^ "British single certifications – Status Quo – Whatever You Want". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 28 October 2016.

External links

Status Quo
Authority control databases
Categories