Why Mozart Would Have Loved Status Quo!

"Gordon Bryan" "goal achievement"
July 13th 1985, and Status Quo open the Live Aid concert in London with a song written by Mozart. I was there in the stadium to see it live, and there’s a great goal achievement lesson to be had…

I was just 19 at the time, and had a great day ahead. When Status Quo opened, they played a hit which had the crowd jumping and clapping from the jangly piano intro, ‘Rocking All Over The World’

Ok, ok, it wasn’t written by Mozart, it’s a Status Quo classic!
Ok, ok, it wasn’t written by Status Quo either!

It was written by John Fogerty, from the band Creedence ClearwaterRevival, but the Quo version was done so much in their own style that many still think they wrote it. So, why would Mozart have enjoyed it, and what’s the goal achievement lesson..?

Well, I was watching a documentary about the history of music, and was struck by the changing styles throughout the centuries, changes of accepted norms when composing music.

For example in amongst all the pushing of new styles, there was a clear thread of simplification that can be seen with Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven. Rather than seeing what could be done with different chords and progressions, these 3 had favourite chords, and would use them to build up a piece of music.

They’d start with a phrase, then build on it with a slightly different version, then build again, but all based around a favourite set of chords.

Here’s a video clip from the documentary showing Beethoven using the 3 chords, and then Status Quo done in a Mozart style.

Rock & roll has long been trumpeted as a fresh way of thinking, an anti establishment attitude not available to people in times gone by. Well, this idea of chord favourites in classical music shows that the ideas may not be as new or rebellious as you may think!

You can take these composing tips from Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, and apply them to your own goal achievement. Start with a simple action, something that has been established by others, and then build on it with the next step.

As you build further you will feel yourself moving forwards, and you can also put your own twists and style, your own personality into what you’re doing. You won’t be building a symphony, you’ll be building a solid foundation for your goals.

Think to your own ambitions. Are there building block steps that you could take? Have you taken them, or if not, why not?

As you contemplate those questions, do let know what you think, and why not whistle a bit of Status Quo/Mozart as you do it!

‘Til Next Time,
Health & Happiness,
Gordon
P.S. Don’t forget you can grab my motivational book ‘Transform Your Life in 21 Days!’ at rock bottom kindle pricing!

Do leave a comment!

Leave a Reply to gordino X

10 Comments

  • Oh, so love that you compared taking those next do-able steps to Mozart! You’re right, they did take the status quo and turn it on it’s head, just like Status Quo did. Now on to my next step of adding back in my personality after years of thinking I had to “do my stuff like others said.”

    Big blessings!
    MamaRed

    • Yes, I think more and more people in the online business space are realising that personality is one unique that cannot be taken away, nor can it be duplicated. Why do so many still refuse to put their own spin on things?
      Cheers,
      Gordon

  • Thanks Gordon. History with some great tunes. I love it. I think it’s interesting where songs come from – because it’s always kind of surprising.
    Sue

    • Hi Sue,
      ‘History with some great tunes’ – I like the description!
      I always like discovering new things, for example I did always think Status Quo wrote the darn song!
      Cheers,
      Gordon

  • Well, I’ve never heard anything quite like that before!! Now that’s really ‘classic Quo’! As a Mozart devotee, I don’t think I’ll be able to see his name now without picturing that singer doing Quo with a string quartet. Love it – kind of!! Totally get the application to goal achievement, though. Very imaginative. Great post.

    • Hi Susan,
      Thanks for stopping by. It certainly made me smile when I watched it, and I appreciate your kind words too.
      I’m off to visit your blog, I like the concept of sending ripples out into your own life!
      Cheers,
      Gordon

  • What an interesting and enjoyable post! It’s a great message and I also liked it because I am aware of how little difference there is between musicians of different types and eras – my grunge rock guitarist/singer Teenager spends hours working on his scales and has long nerdy conversations with his bandmates about time signatures and mixed thingummies. People found Mozart shocking when he was alive and nothing much has changed – modern music is always unpalatable to some people but I think the rebelliousness is just doing similar stuff in a new way, as you say. Thanks and sorry to go off on a tangent!

    • Yes H, punk rock is trumpeted (not that punks would have used trumpets) as totally new musical rebellion, when it was nothing of the sort. Rebellious, yes. New rebellion, no. Many of what we call ‘classical’ composers shocked their societies to the core, and had their stuff banned it was so radical.

      Doing similar stuff in a new way is a great way of putting it, might use that for another article! 😉
      Cheers,
      Gordon