Status Quo interviews and international press reviews
Taken from different newspapers, magzines & web sites and compiled by Patrick Specht.
Something to add ? send me a mail : quofrance@yahoo.fr
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Francis Rossi
by James Ellis, December 11th, 2002
60 SECONDS EXTRA!: Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi, 53, is known as The Gomorr - the grand old man of rock'n'roll. He has eight children from two marriages and lives quietly in Surrey where he collects koi carp. Quo's current Heavy Traffic tour finishes in Edinburgh on December 21
How are you?
A bit rough. I've been up all night with my youngest. When I was young, if I drank any orange squash with that tartrazine yellow in it, I just threw up. And that seemed to happen to him.
Aren't you used to late nights with the rock'n'roll lifestyle?
I've never bought into this rock'n'roll lifestyle idea. There's nowhere on the planet where, on a Friday evening, people aren't washing their bits, focusing on somebody. They're going to go out, take or drink something and have sex with somebody. It's just that some people try to do it seven nights a week and it doesn't work. I've never been into parties and throwing TVs out the window because, when you do that, there's always someone waiting in the morning saying: 'Sign this cheque.' Which is why I find it odd that some of these so-called younger bands are still trying to do that. You might as well write a cheque and throw it out the window.
I suppose the money can go to their heads?
For the first few years, we had a lot of fun but no money. On our first deal, we were on half a per cent royalty. We sold a million records, probably made about 30 quid. Nowadays, they suddenly seem to become billionaires. I missed the boat somehow. But I suppose we get the last laugh as there are so many short-lived careers now. I hope there's somebody out there nurturing acts but my son's in a band and they practically have to pay to play. Like every industry, it seems to be shareholder driven. They're not interested in the music business for the music, they just want their money. That word 'business' is the worst one the planet knows. 'You nailed my nuts to the floor!' 'Yeah, but it's business - I had to do it.' Sorry, I'm a cynical old bastard.
Is this your religious side coming through as well?
I've known this fantastic woman from Belfast for about 14 years and she was saying to me I should read this book, Conversations With God. I read it and it completely turned everything I believe about religion on its head. I believe in the supreme spirit energy whatever. But I definitely don't believe in any of the organised religions any more and I'm not going to beat myself up about it. If you're at all religious, you should read that book.
Doesn't society need the kind of rules a religion provides?
A set of rules, yes. But not to manipulate and control. I was in Mass a few weeks ago - because to keep my kids in certain schools, I have to play a few games [laughs] - and we're all saying: 'Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.' No, we don't. The whole planet lives on revenge. We want the law to 'get those evil bastards'. Evil by whose standards? Victorian standards often. We arrest a woman because she's a prostitute. But she can't be a prostitute without a man. We live in relativity and come from the absolute. Everything is relative. You can't have a strong man without a weak man. I just realised, you got me going [laughs].
You sound quite political, but your music isn't.
I'm not an authority on anything. I just waffle. I'm not sure we should put it into our music, go on stage and sing: 'Life is a pain, your job sucks.'Sharing wealth or wiping out Third World debt will change the planet, not me singing
Bruce Springsteen manages it.
I'm not mad keen on him but his new album sounds tremendous. But for him to champion the working man? He's got no idea what it's like. Nor have I. I don't remember. I haven't worked like that since I was 16. We're in the entertainment business. You want to take people out of themselves for an hour or two. It's just music. Politics or religion or sharing wealth or wiping out Third World debt will change the planet, not me out there singing.
Rock is a universal language. Do you get a universal reaction?
Minimal differences. Australians are intense. If they like you, it's intense. If not, it's intense. Spain is unique in that they don't have to hear favourites. If you're happy, they're fine. In lots of places, you get nothing until they hear Rocking All Over The World and the ones they know. In Spain, they're gone.
I guess it makes a change from talking about three chords and long hair?
Yeah, it's great to have a good discussion.
You were complaining about business earlier. Don't the rules help?
The rules by whose standards? Yours or mine? Capitalism has got out of control. We all believed in it. You need capitalism with a cap. You can earn so much and then it all goes back in the pot. If we genuinely loved children, we wouldn't be seeing children starving around the world. And we wouldn't have labels like 'single-parent family'.
If it's as simple as that, why hasn't it happened?
Because the status quo has to be maintained. Ha ha ha. There's two schools of thought about world government. I can see why capitalism can be seen as a negative. We're all the same. But somebody came along years back and put a fence up and said: 'I'm going to call this Germany and take the money off these people and give it to me.' Then somebody came along to the next place and called it France. A few thousand years down the line and someone is telling the English they're great, the Germans they're great, the French they're great. So when we meet, there's friction. It's only because some shmuck put up a fence in the first place; otherwise we're all just wandering around here.
Who's behind all these conspiracy theories?
[Laughs] I just think; 'If there was a bunch of guys sitting in a room, would they? Of course they would. To release a bug in the autumn so we all have to use cold and flu medicine for a while? Or getting rid of a certain woman because she was going to marry an Arab? Of course they would. Oh, you've got me going. You bugger! I'll be bumped off before the week's out.
OK, let's a talk about ice cream.
Yeah, I grew up in the family and did my bit.
I hate cones. Why did they get rid of tubs?
I don't know. Shareholder driven again. All through Europe, they're owned by huge companies. Shareholder means profit. Profit means cut someone's balls to make a penny. So they get rid of those little waxed tubs which were fantastic. They'd stop us all talking to each other if they could.
What would you do if you were prime minister?
I'd legalise drugs. Stop pretending that we care, when we put so many chemicals in our food and everything else. They're trying to make us believe that some black man did this to us, when all the really dangerous drugs out there were made by bona fide drug companies, not some evil man on the street. Then there's this pension scam they're getting everybody with. They knew it wasn't going to work. But you invest an amount for every person who's born to a single parent or whatever, don't start this judgement on people ¿ so that by the time they're 60, people do have a serious amount. World government, world police. America's defence budget was a trillion dollars before they even started this latest stuff. Defending what?
Are you a Blair supporter?
I'm a true blue socialist, or a true blue communist, I'm not sure. As soon as I saw that Downing Street furore when Tony Blair was first elected, I knew he was finished. He cannot do it. He can't make us happy. You're either happy or you're not. Live happy. Striving for someone or something to make you happy won't work. Blair is the same as any of the rest of them. People in power have nothing to do with it. There is a conspiracy, otherwise we'd have fed the Third World by now instead of talking about it.
What's the secret of happiness?
The secret of a penis is... stiffness [laughs]. Just be happy. Things very rarely live up to expectation. So people are let down. Things often come along unexpectedly that are great. You go 'wow'. Take it on board for what it is.
Francis Rossi interviewed by the legendary late Dutch D.J. Alfred Lagarde
Somewhere in 1990
A: We better not kiss Francis 'cause it might be hazardous (Francis as well as Alfred had a cold)
F: Yeah! You were the main man that was responsible for the succes of Wild Side of Life. It was you wasn't it?
A: Yeah
F: I'll never forget that!
A: Francis, twentyfive years of Status Quo, congratulations!
F: Thank you!
A: What are you guys gonna do now?As a band I mean.
F: Well, we hope to take it further. We hope to
do better. People ask you if you have any am-bitions, you know.
And this is a silly ambition; I would like to have an album in
the lines of say .... Rumours. I wish that for a lot. I relate
back when I was a kid at school, the reason I wanted to be in
showbusiness, as I call it or Rock 'n' Roll, is to be liked. And
I figured that
I was never really liked, you know, skinny fore-eyes. And that's
why I am in this busi-ness. When we split up in 1984 and the talk
about Richard and I getting together, I had to admit to myself,
which was big to me at that time, it was a lot to say that: I
like being him, Francis Rossi. You know, it's something to be
Francis Rossi of Status Quo. It's a little something but without
being a little some-thing I'm a big nothing. So I had to admit to
myself which was a lot at that time to admit that I like being
him. And I also like walking on stage in front of the audience
when they go: 'Hey, it's great to see you!' I mean that's
wonderful and I like that. It doesn't seem a lot when I say it
now, but at the time ...
A: It does!
F: It was a lot to admit anyway. So I would like to have an album that big, almost to give us credibility I suppose. But it's dangerous if we get credibility.
A: Why?
F: Well, 'cause credibility to me, goes with trends. Something that is credible today isn't likely to be credible....
A: But you guys have been known to follow trends. You've played Rock 'n' Roll, I mean like err ... Whatever you want dum dum dum dum (imitates the song) ... you know those songs from the seventies, and now In The Army Now by Bolland and Bolland. That's a smash hit but a different Status Quo. How do cope with that and are the fans not err...
F: No they took the Army, they took the Army very well. When it gets levelled that we've changed, it's like when we did Living On An Island and when we did Rock 'n' Roll and when we did Marguerita people said you've changed. That annoyed me 'cause most of our albums have a song, that Richard would sing, a soft melodic type. So when we put it out as a single and people said: "You've changed ...", it means that they haven't listened. They weren't true fans. The true fans just liked it.
A: Like Pictures Of Matchstick Men?
F: Oh that's dangerous. That's a long way back. With the Army, I heard the song, when you take the beats, the straight eight beats, whenever I hear the intro I still get a little goosepimples. And I did when I heard it by the Bollands. So I've played it to the guys. Nobody like it.
A: They didn't like it? Ha ha ha ha
F: No! It wasn't until Rick and I were getting back together. He said: 'What are we going to record?'. And I played a couple of songs and I played Army. And he said: 'You've played that before', and I said:'Yeah, I still think that we should try it'. And we tried it and he really got to like it and we all got to like it. And I knew, in my heart, It would either be a really big smash or a really big nothing. It was one of those records. We were just lucky, it was really really big.
A: In The Army changed your idea about producing?
F: We all realized that In The Army was a very good record, very well produced, very well played, everything. So we thought: 'We can apply this to our other material'. And on the last album particularly (Perfect Remedy), which I thought was the best material we ever had.
A: Fresh?
F: It was fresh, I don't know, but the recording, or the mix rather, when we'd finished the mix, it had no tits, no soul, no feeling, nothing. So what we had done: 'The guitar perhabs a little bit too offensive, so let's bring the guitars down a little. And the drums perhabs needs to be a bit clearer, and the voice needs to be clearer'. So you took away ... oh this is whatwe have found subsequently, that we took away the main drive that people like about Status Quo. Whether we like it or not. They like to hear Richard and mine guitars. Whether it is something we do that is part of the feeling in the urgency (??). We proved it! We did an experiment. What is which how the single was done. We went into a sound-stage, Bray Studios, filmstudio's where we rehearse. We set the whole backlineline up. All the gear, all the monitors, everything as it is on stage, except for the P.A.-system. We went through a lot of rehearsals to sort this Anniversary Waltz out. And we played it! We put a mobile outside, played it, well it was done then! As soon as we've played it, it was finished!
A: Live?
F: Yeah! You got: 'Oh?'. Plus the single has been extremely succesful in England. And we said: 'Oh, that's what people want to hear!' They want to hear the two guitars, the voice, a bit of drums and stuff underneath. That's what they like from us. Again it's kind of a lesson to us. That's how we are going to record the next album. We are making plans to do it that way.
A: Live?
F: Yes, as live as possible. We put it down as we've put down the Anniversary Waltz; learn it, play as we would on stage. Because if we would set it up like that, it's ..., it's ... If we worked in here as a studio, perhabs the drums would be in that corner overthere, Richard may be overthere, I may be here, and somebody maybe overthere, well how do you get that closeness? And the band works for ages with that setup on stage. And then you put them in a room and move them all about and change them around. So we said: 'This is stupid, we should realize'. That's how we work best. You know, Richard there, I'm there, drums, bass, piano. We all know where we're standing here, we can walk around, we know we can hear each individual. When you try that in the studio, you can't, you've got cans on, headphones. And suddenly after twenty years we went: 'What a way to record!
A:It's done!'
F: We were talking in our office, Richard and I, Dave and Ian, our managers. Talking about what's happening next and what we are gonna do. And somehow we came on twentyfive years. Well I said: 'It's been 25 years since I've met Richard at Butlins, you know. Wouldn't it be funny to go back there'. Richard said: 'Wouldn't it be a laugh!'. I said: 'Yeah, it would be great!'. No way that I could think it was possible. We were nearly sacked in '65 for being too loud. So, no way in '90 we can't be too loud. So they worked on the idea of the train and all the press goin' down, which worked very well. But to sum it, the whole pr-exercise worked really well around the twentyfive years anniversary. And playing the gig, which was the pay-off, the thing we had to do, I must confess, was extremely hard, because ... err, normally when you go back to a place, after so many years, like if you go back when you were a kid, it looks smaller than it did. We went back this time and it looked bigger. And we had to play on two floors. They had 2.500 people upstairs, 2.500 people down stairs, videoscreen and stuff downstairs for people ...
A: Split Audience!
F: Yes, split audience, think about that! And the ballrooms where big enough to hold 5.000 people, let's say easily, quite comfortably, that big. And they had only 2.500 because of the fire-limit. Then we had a few real Quo-fans in the front, that had seen us live before. You could see that, you could tell. Maybe it's an insult to the other people but these people at the front had seen us before live, on stage. It didn't dawn to me till halfway the set; something's wrong, something's not going... is not right here, you know. And it suddenly dawned to me for something I'd said that works in a live-situation, .... I've got to sneeze, I'm sorry ..... POOOOOH .....
A: Gesundheit!
F: I suddenly realized: 'Ahw, ofcourse they're Status Quo-fans! These people are taking their first opportunity ever of seeing us. So I was too late into the show to realize that. But to sum it up, it worked extremely well. People were very pleased with the way it went. It went very very well. And it worked, as an exercise it worked. It made Richard and I also see how ... 'cause sometimes we put ourselves down too much in terms of our popularity. And it made us realize that err, how populare we are. We aren't quite popular now.
Francis Rossi
Born: 29 May 1949
From: Forest Hill, South London.
Now Lives: South London.
Personal: Married to Eileen, eight children from two marriages.
Plays: Lead guitar, vocals, songwriting.
Francis is the front man. His instantly recognizable voice and the twin guitars of Rossi and Parfitt are the main ingredients of Status Quo.
Known to everyone in the band as 'Frame' or 'The Gomorr' (the grand old man of rock and roll), he is married to Eileen, has eight children from two marriages, and lives in Surrey, England.
A typical Gemini, Francis on stage is an outgoing and charismatic showman but has been labelled a recluse because he rarely goes to parties or big social occasions, preferring to stay at home (If you saw his house you'd understand why!). Musically he still loves playing, performing and writing as much as ever and is always involved in the production of Quo records.
When not touring, Francis keeps fit by swimming and exercising. He is a collector of Koi Carp, likes Clay pigeon shooting and is probably the English pasta-eating record holder...
Equipment
The Green Fender Telecaster...is an original 1957 model, which Francis bought for £70 in 1968 and has been his main guitar ever since. Over the years he has had some of the original Telecaster fittings replaced, using G&L parts which help the sustain and the intonation.It now has three pickups, which work in a Stratocaster configuration.
The gauge of the strings Francis uses are: .09 .11 .16 .26w 34w 46w.
He is currently using two 4x12" 8 ohm Marshall cabinets, a JCM 800 Lead Series amp and sometimes a JCM 900. For effects, Francis uses a Roland GP8 which boosts the signal to the amplifier, has five different overdrive patches and one patch which is a very tight straight double effect with some echo.
Between the output of the amp and the speakers are Palmer speaker simulators. The output of these goes out-front and is mixed with the miked signal from the Marshall cabinets and a miked signal from a Vox AC30 which is one of the new ones made by Marshall using exactly the same components as were originally used when they were first made in the sixties. You won't see the AC30's on the stage because they are kept behind the Marshalls.
Francis and Rick love the sound of the original AC 30's. In the old days these were loud enough to be the main stage amps but now the miked signal is sent out front to give the sound that extra fatness.Francis uses Samson Radio systems on the guitar and for Radio headphones
From Keyboard Review, April 1991
State of Affairs
by Malcolm Harrison
The rock band Status Quo is a national institution these days. With more than 30 hit singles to its name it is Britain's most successful group ever. Keyboard player Andy Bown took time out from a recording session recently to talk to Malcolm Harrison
Andy Bown is a straightforward man in a straightforward band. The keyboard player with good-time rockers Status Quo depends mainly on his Hammond C3 and Roland RD-1000 piano to provide the harmonic depth to guitarists Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi. Indeed, so wary is he of technology that he says he knows virtually nothing about his equipment. "I don't know how to switch my gear on," he says with a laugh. "Forget setting it up, I have no idea. But it's all interesting, all this stuff." he says. Surveying his set-up which comprises the aforementioned Hammond and Roland, an Akai S900, Roland U-110, Cheetah SX-16 sampler, Cheetah 7p mother keyboard plus Yamaha DX7 and Korg M1 synths. "This equipment is quite interesting but the band doesn't require subtle sounds so if I'm playing something on the M1 or sampler I have to get a sound that will mix with the guitars. On their own they sound pretty brutish but they do work."
I met Andy at Bray Film Studios where the band was rehearsing and recording its latest album. It followed a lengthy tour at the end of last year and the presentation of a British music industry award to commemorate more than 20 years as a band. Andy has been with Quo for 15 of those years, sometimes an almost forgotten member thanks to the supporting role he often takes. For instance, he explains how difficult it is to find sounds to match the overt guitar sound of Status Quo - no choirs, strings or weird effects here? "Mainly I play the Roland RD-1000 and the Hammond. We don't use a lot of gadgets although I've just been given an SX16 sampler by that nice company Cheetah, and I use this Cheetah mother keyboard which is very powerful. The only thing it doesn't have is aftertouch. But they've just brought one out with aftertouch so I should be getting one in a minute!" Although it wasn't in his rack at the time, Andy also has a Cheetah MS-6 expander. "I'm using that at home at the moment. It's a module that's digital but it sounds really analogue which can be very useful with this band." In fact, Andy seems to have a soft spot for the British company Cheetah - not least because of it's owner's manuals:" The Cheetah manuals are not translated by a Thai from the Japanese! They're written by Bob Pearson."
The Hammond is very much a mainstay of the Quo sound although at one stage it did go into retirement. Andy recalls: "We used to have a Hammond up till 1984 when we did the "End of the Road" tour. Then when we started again I had a Korg BX3 which was alright but it's not the same - so we got a Hammond again a couple of years ago. They're not cheap anymore. He explained that his Hammond has been fitted with a special drive facility to make it really "scream" without damaging it! He also picked up a hardly-used Leslie cabinet which has been customised for touring. Fitted into a flightcase, it now has permanent microphones fitted internally to pick up the rotary effect and feed it back to the mixing desk. Alongside the Roland piano is a Roland U-110 module, using the bright piano preset from that combined with the RD-1000's sound he gets a piano that can cut through the swirl of guitars. Also on stage he plays the harmonica and a whistle - nothing too high tech there. As well as the equipment he uses on stage, he is something of a collector of older instruments. For instance, he has a brand new (and in tune!) Wurlitzer electric piano, a Clavinet and a Korg Trident II synth - and that's not mentioning all the guitars he surrounds himself with. He explains: "I bought lots of stuff just before MIDI came out, including an electric piano and a string machine from Korg which is actually very good. I'm thinking of going back to them." Still on equipment he puts all his instruments - except the Hammond - through a 12-channel Hill mixer and into two Yamaha cabinets. "They're absolutely brilliant for keyboards", he says, although despite a long search neither of us could find the model number on the cabinet.
With his equipment and own monitoring system, Andy has a self-contained area on stage. This is "reinforced" by a perspex sheet which cuts him off from the worst excesses of the guitarists' Marshall stacks! I wondered whether, like bands composed of older "more mature" musicians, Quo had turned the volume down at all in recent years. "I think the band's sound has got a lot cleaner but it is still very loud. But this piece of perspex saves me so much pain because I've got my own balance here and I can live with it." he explains. That's not to say that it's not loud in the keyboard zone. "A gliss on the piano will cut your head off," he half jokes, "but, if you're doing it yourself you're ready for it." He also confides that there isn't much play in the Hammond's expression pedals: "So if it's not at the right level I can kill myself or conversely you can't hear it."
Andy Bown was formally trained on piano. "Seriously, I peaked at about age 10! I used to win all sorts of classical competitions. I was really good. I stopped when I started getting homework at grammar school. Then I started fiddling about with rock 'n' roll when I was about 15 - 29 years ago. "The first record that turned me on to the blues when I decided I was going to join a band when I was 16 was Tommy Tucker's High heel sneakers. It was stuff I'd been playing on the piano and the guitar and I thought 'this is it!'. It was about the time the Rolling Stones came out and the chap I was playing with had previously been drummer with them.", recalls Andy who once visited Bill Wyman's flat over at a garage in Pegne where he found Keith Richard trying to record a 12-bar blues.
Like many Andy started as a roadie - carrying the drum kit round - and when the bass player left he was asked to stand in - despite the fact he'd never played bass! "This guy Steve Carroll taught me. He was a wonderful guitarist and singer. So he taught me ... and five days later I did my first gig. Blisters - I was in absolute agony. I was crying by the end of it.
I joined the band and two weeks later he died. He was sitting in my seat in the van. I was late because I still had a job at the time. And he went flying through the windscreen and died of instant laceration of the brain. I have his harmonica to this day hanging in my music room. A terrible waste," says Andy shaking his head in disbelief even after all these years. Andy went on to play in the hit pop group of the 60s, The Herd - remember From the Underworld, Paradise Lost and I don't want our loving to die ? - before going on to Judas Jump, a solo career during which he made four albums and then a period as session musician.
Recalling those halcyon days of the 60s and 70s he says: "Judas Jump was a total failure but I made more money in one year with Judas Jump than I did in five with The Herd. When we (The Herd) had our third hit record we were the biggest working band in Europe, and when it got to number three the management put our money up to £ 15 a week from £ 12. The roadie was getting £ 25! Absolutely crazy!" Since those days Andy played with many famous people both before joining Quo - which he did officially in 1976 - and after: Lesley Duncan, Tim Hardin, Pink Floyd and Roger Waters to name just some. He played on Waters' The pros and cons of hitchhiking as well as the live performance of The Well at Wembley - on bass guitar! "The Wall was great - stunning, mindblowing. My only regret is that I haven't seen it. I've seen it on video but when you're playing you're not out there watching it, being alienated. It is a really wacky concept." he says of Waters' idea to build an actual wall between the band and the audience and then spend most of the evening playing behind it! "When the last brick went in the wall the audience didn't know what was going on."
On a more conventional note, when it comes to organ playing, Andy cites Jimmy Smith as his biggest influence, along with Jimmy McGriff, Jack MacDuff and Richard Groove Holmes. "I've got a phenomenal collection of organ records. I've got about 45 Jimmy Smith albums and maybe another assorted 40 from the other people I mentioned. My brother was seriously into Charlie Parker when I was about 12 or 13 which was when I first heard Bobby Timmons and he really turned me on, I just really loved the way he played. He just had this great style. I liked that. I thought 'it's not too clever', I've since learned that he's a brilliant pianist!" He also enjoyed pianist Bill Evans ... "but I'd only just left classical music then so it wasn't inaccessible to me. Now, I must say I hardly listen to any jazz." When he has time at home, Andy writes songs on a modest set-up. Again he eschews programming - "the songs come before the sounds and effects" - and he reveals that he writes mostly on guitar. He did once use a computer but he doesn't feel it's right for him. "Some people are well away with computers; that's alright. I understand that. But I've been there, it didn't help my songwriting. "That's a fact."
In his home studio he likes to keep things simple. He has an Akai 1214, various effects, Yamaha NS-10 monitors, an Alesis HR16 drum machine and a few keyboards. "I just try and get the song down. I'm a great believer in letting the drum rhythm go and then playing something although I do like to have some lyrics before I start anything." Despite the songwriting he has no plans for any solo projects - he just doesn't have the time. "We're actually eyeballed at the moment. We did some recording about August last year then we did a tour and had about a week off for Christmas. Then we've been here (Bray) ever since. A week rehearsing and then a week recording; then another week rehearsing and a week at Francis' studio overdubbing voices - and here we are again." The week after I paid my visit, the Fleetwood mobile recording studio was due in so the band could get down some serious work on the new double album.
Being a band known for its live performances, it has been sometimes difficult in the past to capture Status Quo's sound on a studio album. "It's a big problem for live bands that lose it when they go into the studio. It's very good that we use the Fleetwood mobile because it is not flattering, so if it sounds good in there when it gets to Francis' studio it's great. The previous two albums, especially the last album, were too clever, too precious, and it got mixed into the ether."
"But in the end you have to be a bit philosophical about it and think 'well, people like the sound the band makes and it's a sound that we enjoy making.' I think it's very silly for us to try to do anything too different; In the army now was a bit of a departure for us but that was a hit! But apart from that I think it's best to keep the band's sound." Despite the longevity of the band, Andy recalls that they have been "finished" about four times since he's been with them. Status Quo's whole career seems to have been one of peaks and troughs, he says. But since Quo is an institution now, I wondered what it was like actually belonging to it. Explains Andy: "We get on really well. For a band that spends so much time together we really do get on well. And if not, we're old enough to work at it. Sometimes you might avoid each other for a week or so; we don't spend any time together socially (or very little) but we spend so much time together that if there is a bit of aggro we never really develop it. We just get on with the job. It's the only way." However, things have changed with maturity - no more coming on stage the worse for drink or other substances. "When you pass about 30 the metabolism does change so you can't do as much, and the one hour 50 minutes we spend on stage is an eight-hour-day in one go. Even playing the keyboards is extremely physical. I'm extremely busy on stage: bit of harp, bit of backing vocals, change this and that. I can't say I enjoy really long tours although we don't do any really gruelling ones now. We used to do three months in Germany which was really hard work, a week off then five weeks in France, then two days off and three or four weeks in the UK and Eire. That was wearing; it was hard work. I went grey doing that," he says ruffling his hair.
Recently, he's found he'd had to catch up on his sight-reading - not for the band but because of his children! "Both my children play piano. My son plays trumpet and my daughter plays cello. They're both doing very well. My daughter's been playing piano for just under a year and a half and she is taking her grade 6," he says, freely admitting his jealousy. "My son picked up a trumpet and played a tune on it. He's really good; he's a natural trumpeter."
If all this sounds too good to be true - a steady job with a rock band and a stable home life - then the final straw is that Andy also has his own wine company: "I could just sit around drinking fine wine and writing songs." He says with a smile. A great life indeed.
FTMO Interview with Rick Parfitt (May 1993 Vol.1 No.1)
Have you any idea how many tours you've done?
What, of the World? Christ.... no idea! I could hazard a guess, and it's into dozens. Over 25 years, we've toured constantly, basically. In the early years particularly, we were touring all the while and we've really only slowed down slightly in the last five years. But we enjoy it, and if we weren't getting a kick out of it on stage still - we wouldn't do it. I would honestly and truly miss the actual going out on stage and doing it... because there's no feeling like it.
Do you look forward to touring?
Well, the thing is, touring is a pain in the a***, right; all the travelling and the staying in hotels - it can get really hard. All of that stuff drains your energy. It drives you mad, but you weigh that up against going on stage and doing a good gig, seeing the crowd reaction and stuff like that - and that is what touring is about. As far as the travelling and the hotels is concerned, forget it. I hate it, can't stand it. But being on stage is wonderfull.
What's the smallest gig you've ever done?
We've played for three girls once, actually. That's absolutley true. Half way down to Margate we went - and we've never been paid for it. Our fee for the night was £150 or something; this was way back - just after the old King died, actually, this was. But we played to those three girls, because nobody else turned up. We went on nontheless and did the set we were contracted to do. I can't remember why we didn't get any money, but we didn't. Actually, it's quite obvious why we didn't get the money, thinking about it now; three people turned up!! But we did that gig, and suppose it was a bit of fun, really. In between songs, you'd sort of stop and have a cigarette and a chat, you know, with the audience.....of three. That would fire us up and we'd go "We'll play a bit more now," and we did.
Do any other gigs stick in the memory?
Loads, but the main one is, obviously, opening Live Aid. That was a biggy alright. Not just because of the fact that you've got 82,000 people in front of you - but because you've got the whole world looking at you through the television cameras. It was also great to play Knebworth which, I think, up to date is the biggest crowd we've ever played to. There was, what, 123,000 people at that one. But the amount of people in front of you doesn't count, if that doesn't sound wrong; with Quo, it's not how many people you play to - it's the atmosphere that both the band and the audience on the particular night create.
What's an average night after a gig like for you these days?
Hur - hur!! I've always been called Wild Man, you see. I've been dubbed with this label of The Wild Man Of Rock and all of that, but I'm sort of...Mild Man now. I just couldn't keep it up - I don't mean that literally - and it was killing me because I was raving most nights. I'm going back, ooh, five, six years now, you know. I simply realised I couldn't do it and I was looking at myself and thinking "I'm getting in such a state..." I wasn't looking well and my body was physically hurting from burning the candle too much. I just, if you like, became responsible. I had to.
Why?
Because I enjoy what I do and I've got a responsibility to the public, as we all have, but I was the one not really paying much attention to that. And you get no respect from your colleagues when you're like that. You know, we like to be a united front and everybody is on the money, as it were, for the gig. Everyone is feeling good, and I seemed to be the odd one out; I was feeling " Oh dear - I shouldn't have done that last night....", or whatever. You have to wise up. You know, you've got paying public coming to see you - and they don't want to see you at half throttle. You've got to go for it. So, these days, I do tend to look after myself, as we all do.
How do you do that?
We fall into a sort of regime whereby we eat properly during the day; we eat pasta and stuff like that, on advice from sportsmen. I've cut down on smoking, I don't drink nearly as much as I used to. I drink, if you like, socially now - and, obviously, I don't touch alcohol on the day of a gig. Most nights after a gig, unless it's a day off the following day, I go straight back to my hotel room and I have some tea and a sandwich. I watch a bit of telly and go to sleep. Sounds very boring, but that's what I do now. If you want me to be honest with you, that's it......
Do you ever hear"Wild Man" calling you, for old time's sake?
No, I keep things really tight these days, because if I'm not feeling right for the gig - it worries me. Sure, I fancy a drink from time to time, but I'm certainly not an alcoholic. Like I say, I do drink socially these days - but I don't drink anything heavy. I mean, whisky used to really do me up; I used to smoke 2000 cigarettes a day and do 14 bottles of whisky. Nowadays, it's not like that at all. I only do 600 fags and half a bottle of Scotch. That's a joke, by the way, dear reader..... Seriously, though, I don't drink any spirits these days. If I have a drink, it'll either be white wine or rose. I will occasionally have a pint, but a pint puts too much weight on me so, basically, I stick to wine.
Do you have to go on a diet of any kind in preparation for a tour?
Yes, I do. You have to. I mean, my stage jeans are a 29 - inch waist and they are my yardstick to whether I'm putting on weight. From time to time, even when we'r not touring, I'll try a 29 - inch waist on or my stage jeans, if I've got them at home, and you just have to try to keep fitting into those. If you're feeling the pinch of your jeans, then you know you have to back off for a couple of days. That's basically what I do because there's nothing more uncomfortable than going out on stage and hitting some of the notes I have to hit - because I have to hit all the high harmonies - with tight jeans on. It can be very painful, let me tell you, and you've got to still maintain face and dignity and, believe me, it hurts sometimes.
So you're a changed man, are you?
Well, I know this all sounds a bit to good to be true, but it realy is like that with me now; I've cut back on everything. So, before a tour, I'll just stop drinking for a week or whatever, and I go on to steamed cabbage and eat sensibly. I also de - tox myself from time to time with grapes; that'll be all I eat for a few days. I can literally lose four or five pounds in four or five days doing that, you know; not to fast, not to slow. I try and keep healthy. I put it on easy, so I manage to strike a happy medium with my weight these days - and I'm holding fast at just under 11 stone, which is about right for my height and age, I suppose.
Speaking of tight jeans, as you did a moment ago - has a pair ever split on stage?
Well, no, that hasn't actually happened - but I have gone on with my flies undone before. You know, where you've just forgotten to do your trousers up. Of course, nobody has noticed to tell you because you've got your guitar on. So, you get out there and you doing all your bit, thrusting your hips forward and all of that, and you see the fans laughing - and you think " Oh, the're having a bit of fun. Everyone's enjoying themselves tonight." And then they start pointing, and you think " What the bloody hell is going on?" Of course, you look down and you'r flies are undone. I suppose at that stage you just hope you remembered to put a pair of underpants on, really.It's pretty embarrassing.
If you have a spare day between shows on tour, what do you do?
I don't do anything. Rhino and Andrew are the Walker Brothers; they go walking and they'll be out all day seeing the sights - especially if we're in somewhere like Madrid or Barcelona; somewhere picturesque. If the architecture is nice and there are things or historic interest or value to see, they're your men. Jeff is indifferent, really; sometimes he'll go out, sometimes he'll stay in. But Francis and I, for the main, just tend to.....stay in. We don't go out. If there is a terrace or a balcony, we'll sit out and sunbathe if the weather's nice but, other than tha, a day off for me is really about chilling out. I just make the best of it; I stay in bed untill midday, get up and have some lunch - and then just watch television or videos for the afternoon. That's basically what I do. I have an early night and that's my lot.
Describe the others in the band, starting with...Jeff.
You have to admire Jeff for his dedication to the job and his enthusiasm to work. It's fantastic. Nothing is ever too much for him at rehearsals or whatever - in contrast to a lot of other musicians that I know. He's a workaholic, if you like, and he's 100 per cent behind everything when we're working or rehearsing. He's there, and he plays to the best of his capabilities all the while. There's no lackadaisical feeling about Jeff. There's only one thing wrong with him; he is a drummer, you know? That's the only drag about him. And he's trying to have the same haircolor as me and stuff like that. But his commitment to the band is fantastic. So, I suppose he's an avaragely nice bloke - if you like drummers, that is.....
What about Rhino?
Technically, he's the best musician in the band. He went to the London College of Music - all very posh and stuff like that. I rely an awful lot on Rhino on stage because we are part of what we call The Engine Room; where Fran takes the lead break, the drums and the bass really become the power center of the band. So it's very important that Rhino and I are locked on to, let's say, a 12 - bar shuffle. And when we're on the money with one another, it's fantastic; he's just a great player. At rehearsals, we turn to Rhino a lot because he's good at arrangements and stuff; technically, he's very good. He's also a very nice bloke. I like him. He's a bit to tall but, apart from that, he's a great bloke.
And Andrew?
We call him The Vegaholic because he's basically a vegetarian and an alcoholic. In saying he's an alcoholic, I mean he has a drink every day and he's just got a tolarance with booze where he can stay sensible and he knows what he's doing. He doesn't drink before we go on, of course. He's got a lot of brains, a lot of grey matter, has Andrew - and we also call him The Acid Man because he can be very cutting sometimes, but in a humorous way. Sometimes he's in a world of his own and, even though I've known him for many, many years, he can seem very distant. But when you're close to Andrew, there's a really, really nice bloke in there - and a very sensible bloke, as well. Sometimes he is too sensible. He's been with us for 17 years now, and he's one of the best rock 'n' roll piano players in the business. He's a magician on a Hammond. I just can't believe how he handles that instument sometimes. I don't know if you've ever looked closely at a Hammond organ, but it's a nightmare; it's like trying to fly a 747. Or Concorde.
FTMO Interview with Francis Rossi (May 1993 Vol.1 No.1)
Do you get nervous before a show?
Before we played Knebworth to our largest audience, we spent a week doing promotion - and all the way through it, I was asked 'You've done Live Aid, but do you get nervous of such large crowds?' And I say 'No, Rick does a bit, but not a lot'. The question kept beeing asked right up to the day itself, when someone else said 'Are you getting nervous that you're opening the show?' And I was going 'No, no. I don't get nervous, no.' Sure enough, I get on stage.... and it was the first time ever that I've been so nervous that I could not believe it. I was badly nervous. So, I swore I'd punch anybone that ever asked me that again....
Whoops...!
Excactly. You know, the point is, if people ask you if you're nervous, you start to wonder if maybe you should be. You begin to think 'Well, what do they mean?' The more they keep asking, the more perhaps I am nervous. And if you get nervous, you don't function properly. It's terrible, because you know what the body is like; the body tells you. You think 'Am I nervous?' And then my toplip will stay up there on my gums and I'll go 'Yup, I'm nervous. There is no two ways about it now...' If I get nervous, my toplip really will do that, so I'll turn around and face the band so they all know - and then we all have a laugh.
Do you have to get your voice 'into shape' in any way before a tour?
There's very little I can do to keep my voice in shape, to be honest. I try to sing as much as I can in the morning, though, because if you can sing then you've got to be reasonable. So, I put ELO, Jennifer Warnes or whatever on in the shower - and just sing. I'll play anything, it doesn't matter, as long as I'm making a noise using the throat.
Has your voice ever completley packed up on you?
Some years ago, we were in Hannover and I got a sore throat - I must have had 'flu or something coming on - and we were going to miss a show because of it, so they brought this doctor in. He said 'I make you good - no problem. I do Barclay James Harvest. I done everyone.' I said 'Oh good.' And he gave me penicillin and B12 to stop me feeling like a sack of shit. Well, I might as well have taken something illegal - because I had legs like springs and a voice like leather. I was THE MAN that night! It really was something special - and we lost four shows after that; I completely lost my voice, which I'd never done before. I,m sticking to gargles from now on.
At a Quo gig, can you pick out any familiar faces in the audience?
We make sure we can see as far out into the audience at a show as is possible. And we see lots of familiar faces out there each night. We look for them. Years ago, that used to be a little disconcerting because you'd think 'Well, they saw what I did last night' - and sometimes it's still like that - but you can't really think that way. Because if, top whack, there's 200 people that come every night - there's not as many as that, I shouldn't think - then there's the other 9000 odd people in there who haven't seen it before that you have to concentrate on. As far as those 200 or so are concerned, they come every night, and I don't realy believe they care about anybody repeating themselves; they just love it. Quite often on a British tour, there'll be a bunch of guys who'll be there the first night of the tour - and the'll be there the last night. And we can see them - we know who you are! It's been like that for the last few tours we've done; those guys out there every night. They get in a van together, and off the go - just like us. Great!
Do you ever forget which city you're in on tour?
Still never know what day of the week it is. Seriously. You know, on tour there are no days of the week, you see. There's no Saturday or Sunday, really, so you have to look fo other clues to give you an idea. For example, in Germany you'll know it's a Sunday because you do an early show. Other than that, I ain't got a clue what day it is. It just rolls on - that's why I think I do sometimes yearn for the 9 to 5 and the fixed routine; you know it's Friday because of this, and you know it's such and such a day because of that. Whereas, on tour, you're in a vacuum - and you don't know what the hell is going on outside of that. No, I tell a lie; you might know it's a Sunday - because the Guardian crossword doesn't come on a Sunday. Every other day, we have it sent over to us.
Can you remember much about your first headline tour?
I remember it felt different in the respect that we knew that we were touring on the back of a hit album. I think Piledriver was starting to move at the time, and Paper Plane was moving, too. We started to get our first riders then, too, of course. Riders were mainly about cables and certain power things then; now that's basically all taken care of. Riders these days tend to consist of special underpants and a packet of nuts. The strangest things. There was a time when bands went way over the top with riders. I always remember BTO coming over; they had the most ridiculous rider which specified only a particular type of nut allowed - and all that shit. People got a bit silly with all that for a while.
Were you any exception?
Well, yeah. We didn't really have anything sillier in the dressing rooms than tangerines and a couple of bottles of wine. It always struck me as a silly thing, a rider. It still does. We were talking about it not so long ago in the dressing room.
And saying what?
Well, there's stuff that they put in our dressing room that none of us touch before we go on because we don't eat withing four hours of going on stage - noone drinks, and stuff like that. So, all those bits in the room... they're there every night and we're paying for them, but you start to think 'Well - that's a waste'. So we've tried to cut down on that recently. In fact, sometimes it's embarrassing when perhaps you have guests coming back; they're expecting us to have all this gear in our room. But we don't need it if it's going to be a temptation to have a nibble - and then you go out on stage and, sure enough, up the bugger comes. So we do keep trying to say 'Well, let's have less on the rider,' but the dressing room can look a little bit bare without them. They decorate it a bit, but that's about it.
What's the average day on tour like fo you?
Well, I suppose we each have our own routine. I certainly have mine and i do my damnedest to stick to it. I will always try and get up eight hours after I went to sleep. Lately, it's been getting a bit more than that, almost nine hours, but I try to keep it to eight. So, if I go to bed at 1am, I get up at 9am - and so on. When I wake up, I call home, first thing, which connects me with the wife each day and makes me feel better. Then, usually, I get up and have two bananas. True! Or maybe I have two kiwi fruits. Then it's a shower and vitamins and stuff.After that, I'll always wait at least 20 minutes after the fruit - more often than not it's a couple of hours - before I try and eat something light, around midday or 1pm. When we're doing a show at around 9pm, I've got to have a main meal by 3 or 4 pm. To be honest, that's the main problem on the average day tour; getting the food in at the right time. It's okay to try and wait until after the show, but then I don't like all that stuff and then going to bed on it.
How do you spend the rest of the day before a show?
Well, as soon as you wake up in the morning, you think 'I can't bloody do it again tonight!.....' That's the first thought of the day; well, it is for me, anyway. Depending on whether we're moving to another place or staying in the same town the following day, that's what determines what you do between shows. Although it's a bonus in some respects to saty in the same town - it means that, OK, you don't really have to get up or shower that early and all that stuff - on the other hand, you do get lazy and the day drags on. If we're moving, the time goes quicker. So you're up, maybe, at 10am - eight hours after you went to sleep - and you can be on the bud for 11.15 - 11.30am, and away. The time then is taken up with concentrating on getting to the next gig. You get there, you soundcheck - you must eat before you do because you've got so many hours before you go on stage - all of that stuff is fine. It's when you're sitting around in a town, twiddling your thumbs, that it's a real problem.
Do you never go out and see the sights;join the Walker Brothers?
I do like architecture and I love buildings, but I don't get out as much as I should to see those things when I'm on tour. Plus, without sounding too bigheaded. I hate being recognised. If I don't look like 'HIM', if I look a bit of a dickhead, then I'm really worried about being spotted.
Why?
Well, I remember years ago I was out somewhere once - and this has stuck with me ever since - and I heard a guy mutter 'He's only come out to get recognised, hasn't he?' Oh, and that really did think in. So I often feel like that when I'm out, and I try to be inconspicuous. Now I'm not sure if inconspicuous means dark glasses, a hat and tuck my hair up so that people go 'Oh, hello Francis - can I have your autograpf?' - just when you think you'r completely incognito. But you've got to expect that, I suppose; if you're playing a town, then really it's a bit silly to expect to walk around it and not be noticed - because you're on peoples minds at the time. Six month after you've played a show or six month prior to it, then perhaps you wouldn't get any of that. Because there are times when you walk along and people look you clean in the face - and there's nothing. You know that nothing has happened, and yet you walk two more paces down the street and someone goes'AaaaH!' I don't go out too much, plus I'm very much the recluse type.
How do you get on with Rick, after all these years?
I wouldn't say he's effortless to be with - he's up and down - but Rick has a wonderfull personality. He's great. When Rick's Rick, he's fantastic to have around because he's so much fun. He laughs and he jokes, and we all laugh and joke. He alway's looks like he's got a smile just a fraction away from his face, and that's what I think is so likable about him. Since I first met him, he's always been like that. I think that's why we've been so close for so many years. Me and him could always find something to laugh at, whether it was holding hands and actinc camp or anything else. That used to annoy people - so we'd do it on purpose. From the moment I met Rick at Butlin's and he joined a year or two later, whatever it was, I felt a lot....safer. Perhaps that's not the right word - safe -but I felt like I had an ally. That's nothing agains Alan Lancaster or John Coughlan or Roy Lynes, but I feltRick was a kindred spirit. That's the kind of closeness that has develped between us over the years. There are times when we get on each other's tits - we'd be lying if we said we didn't - but, most of the time, he and I get on quite well.
Do you ever get tired of touring?
Yeah. A lot. Why carry on? Well, it's like a woman having a baby; she says 'Ohh - I'm never going to do that again...'They have enough of them,though,don't they? The say 'Yes, you can put it in once more - try again!' Many times I think 'Sod this. I don't need this. I'd rather be home.' I often have thins thing when I'm touring, particularly in the autumn and the winter, that hits me when we're arriving in a town - just as everybody is getting home. People are finishing work, the lightsare coming on.... I can see the fires are alight and the kitchens are all steamed up because there's heat and meals are being prepared inside - and I'm going 'Cor...lucky barstards!' I do, I get that a lot when I'm on tour - but I'm mot saying I would want it.......'
©FTMO Text originally published by From The Makers Of, the official, international Status Quo Fan Club, and reproduced here with the consent of FTMO. For further information about the Fanclub see my Index Page or go to .
