cheekbones3

#2 - In The Army Now - Status Quo

A 1986 #2 hit for Status Quo, their biggest since 1980 and only once beaten by them in 1973, it was (as far as I can tell) the first time they'd done something that sounded different in a good fifteen years.

If I'm honest, it's a pretty dull song about being a squaddie, but it's got an atmosphere about it, and I've always quite liked it. Its enduring popularity was demonstrated by its re-recording in 2010 for charity, mind you, #31 shows it's not that popular really.

Rumours are that Noddy Holder makes a cameo appearance too. See if you think it sounds like him.

As for the original...

The Dutch duo Bolland and Bolland wrote and performed this song originally in 1981. It's an odd synth-led pastiche (complete with Kellie Marie-style boops) of Vangelis, Focus, and the noodlings of a jaded disco producer, and gives the impression that they're not certain whether they should rock out or sway gently in an 80s haze of dry ice. The machine gun firing in the foreground isn't at all lame though.