Status Quo Interviews

www.statusquo.fr

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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Status Quo, Grimsby Auditorium Thursday, 31 October 2002

Having seen Status Quo in the past at other venues in the region, we looked forward to a loud, rock-fuelled, Quo experience.

Reviewed by John and Christine Cummings

And that is exactly what we got. We witnessed a long serving, sometimes ridiculed, band who were so tight musically and at the pinnacle of their entertaining style. Francis, Rick and the boys exploded out onto the stage for an hour and three quarters of classic, Quo, chart-busting hits. It was a capacity audience at the Auditorium and not one person left the venue without their ears ringing. The Quo had everyone on their feet and rocking from start to finish. Francis Rossi joked: "How can anyone come to a town that begins with ‘Grim’?" But, it’s a good job they did, because we and the rest of the (very mixed) audience would have missed a fantastic night. At one point, someone shouted from behinds us: "We’re not worthy, we’re not worthy!’ (From Wayne’s World). How true that was. I have never witnessed so many talented musicians, all in one band, who make playing live and entertaining, look so easy. They played a montage of their old hits, interspersed with lots of new material from ‘Heavy Traffic’, their new album, which hard-core fans will find is back to the original, Quo style.We have one question. Why did Status Quo have a carpet laid and vacuumed on stage, before the performance? Emails to humber.online@bbc.co.uk On a gruelling tour, it’s hard to believe that every (ageing) member of the band looked so good and rocked!

Quo still going strong after 35 years

Status Quo are one of the most successful rock acts ever...with worldwide record sales topping 112 million.They're also great fun live - and you can catch them in Plymouth in December.

Status Quo Plymouth Pavilions -Wednesday 4th December 2002 (7.30pm)

Tickets: £26.50 - Box Office: 01752 229922

Veteran rockers Status Quo are back on tour - and, it seems, back in favour! After years of being snootily looked down on by music critics, their new CD, Heavy Traffic, has been widely acclaimed as one of the best things they've ever done.Which is saying something, considering they've been around for over 30 years now. It all kicked off back in 1968, with Pictures of Matchstick Men, and carried on throughout the '70s with a string of hits - Down Down, Caroline, Roll Over Lay Down, Wild Side of Life, Rockin' All Over the World, and Whatever You Want to name but a handful. The 1980s brought a load more hits, such as What you're Proposing, Marguerita Time, and In the Army Now. Despite the hits, Quo continued to take a hammering from the music press. But they didn't care what anyone said - they carried on making records and touring, and they've still got a huge fan following.Heavy Traffic may even have attracted some new fans - and the group themselves reckon it's among their best albums."We're very very pleased with it - in all seriousness I think it's the best album we've made. The material is the best it's been for a while," said Francis Rossi.Rick Parfitt believes the way they recorded it helped: "We adopted a process we used to use in the 70s," he explained. "We put all the gear around the edge of the room and sat in the middle and almost jammed it."So, there'll be some new songs at the concert - but there'll be plenty of old favourites to jump up and down to as well. And at least with Status Quo, you know what you're going to get.

STATUS QUO Clyde Auditorium December 20 ,2002
Brian Mcpake

MENTION Status Quo in music circles and all the usual "three-chord" cliches are trotted out.

But, love them or loathe them, you've just got to admire Quo. They are still packing out venues all around the country and last Friday night at the Armadillo was no different. This was the Heavy Traffic Tour and the night began with the background sounds of a very noisy motorway which culminated with Quo bursting into their opening four numbers starting with Caroline and ending with Don't Waste My Time. Veteran Francis Rossi was in fine form as he played the melodic Gerdundula and followed it with Roll Over, Lay Down. Four songs were performed from their new album, two of which had a ZZ Top feel to them which went down a storm. A few softer tracks followed including Rollin' Home and they closed with Rockin' All Over the World which had the crowd boppin' all over the aisles. A five-song encore included Chuck Berry's Oh Carol and Bye Bye Johnny, both of which had the fans singing along. All in all, a great night out and I can't think of a better way to start off the festive season.
Roll on next year.

THE ORIGINAL GUITAR MAGAZINE ISSUE 217

Interview with Francis Rossi - Page 28 :

Status Quo The full Quo-ta

Honestly? I feel the same as everybody else, Surely you´re not going to milk that again?" Yep, it´s time for the Quo to have their back catalogue repackaged, remastered and re-shoved down the throats of their adoring fans, and Francis Rossi, for one, is not too trilled. "The best thing about the box set is they have presented it nicely," claims the ponytailed riffmeister, damning it with faint praise. "I can take the view that they shouldn´t do this because it´ll make the punter feel like, What the **** do you think you´re doing? Especially when I read our Website and hear the fans saying stuff like that. But when I look around the rest of the industry it´s a norm, so I´m sort of ambivalent. I suppose they´re exploiting the avid collector, but there are only a few of those. I´m more interested in what were doing at the moment, I can´t wait to get this new material out."

So what´s Francis´ favourite period ? I suppose the Hello album period. We were really doing it then, poking people in the eye. So you feel good about that. Would he ever consider trying to recapture the raucous energy of the band´s earlier work? "Oddly enough that energy is still there, the problem has always been getting it on record. After a while, some double tracking came in on the vocals and guitars and it wasn´t until we got our most hate mail, after the Rockin´ All Over The World album, that we started to tidy up a bit. "The problem was that the correct way to record is to have no overspill. Stuff just became more sophisticated, and we lost that edge. With the project we´re on at the moment we´ve found a studio that resembles IBC, where we used to record all those old albums, with an 18 foot ceiling. So you´ve got some room going on, some natural reverberation. And I´ve always liked to hear a record where you can picture a bunch of guys sitting in a room. We never had a problem live, we´ve always had a problem with records.

"Some old recording techniques have been reintroduced to help recapture that old spark. "I´ve been using an AC30 and a Roland Cube, but they´re underneath these stairs so there´s a lot of wood and different shapes and angles going on to give a lot of reverberation. We´ve got a reasonably close mic, a distance mic, plus another ambience mic in the room. And there´s a piano in the middle of the room. We haven´t used a live piano for years. Sadly, although the band are delighted with the results so far, the album still won´t see the light of day until next summer at the earliest. "We´ve got five or six tracks at the moment and the only pisser is we´ve got to go out on tour for a while and come back to it in February," says a frustrated Rossi.

"I´m writing with Bob Young again. He brings a kind of blues angle, if you like, and suddenly everybody´s started freaking about the material. Even Rick likes it, and for a long time he´s not been keen. "I saw a documentary on the Spice Girls once. They were doing this showcase very early on, and you could see these guys looking at them thinking. There´s nothing going on here. But the girls believed it so bad that eventually we all went, Well yeah. That´s what we were like when we were younger. And that´s what we´re trying to get back now. People say we shouldn´t want that now, we´ve done all this, we´ve done all that. Well you can **** yourself, I still want it."

Interview with Francis Rossi by Chris Rodda Brisbane Rave News, 5th March, 1997

THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME

It's been two decades since, in their prime as a worldwide supergroup, Status Quo visited Australian shores. In the intervening years, the band have travelled along the peaks and gullies of rock popularity. Since first hitting the charts with Pictures Of Matchstick Men in 1967, the band have had
22 UK Top Ten singles from their sixteen albums, (most recently, The Anniversary Waltz Part 1 in 1990) as well as two live records and three hitscompilations. In the early eighties, the acrimonious severance between Status Quo's ongoing core of Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt and founding bass player Alan Lancaster (of Party Boys fame) led to litigation and warring biographies of the band which led to more courtroom disputes.

On the eve of the band's second trip to Australia, I answer an early morning phone call and am surprised to hear, not the expected telecom operator but Francis Rossi calling direct. Bouncing off each other in my half asleep brain are the strains of the classic boogie monster Whatever You Want and the
just-read Q Magazine interview from 1993 in which he says: 'So what if we're boring and only do three chords? There's no point in getting hung up about it.' The quote, combined with the fact that Francis has his shit together enough to ring direct reveal the lack of rock star pretension on the part of a songwriter who contributed largely to the shaping of a musical generation with the banal but anthemic Rocking All Over The World. Ah 1974! I can remember being knee high to a grasshopper and sitting in front of the 14-inch black and white set watching a performance clip of Down Down in tropical Northern heat. The lights! The platforms!

I ask Francis if he has ever wondered what it is that has made Status Quo such an enduring cult entity. He is vague, unable to put into words the thing he feels.

"It's possibly the thing that happens between me and Rick. Whether it's good musically or not. The time movement; the way we move. We push and drag and push and whatever it is that happens between us and I think that's why people who criticise say that it sounds the same is that
invariably it's going to have that element of those two guitars in it somewhere and to restructure that you either lose your feel or you lose youridentity."

The criticisms of similitude between songs across Status Quo's career could equally be seen as the band delivering an enduring formula and the fact is, they still fill stadiums across Europe and the UK. Asked whether he feels significant pressure to deliver a certain thing, Francis admits he has a
definite desire to please.

"I see the reaction of people when we do play. Whatever anybody else says... and you can get down about the times people knock it and blah blah blah but when you see their reactions and we go out each year and they still come and they still enjoy it. I don't think I ever wanted to be a musician. It was to be. initially like the Everly Brothers or something like that and then later on like certain rock people, I suppose. To be famous and to be liked."

There's few ways to fulfill that personal need more obviously than to fill a stadium with head banging fans and that is something the Quo do for six or seven months out of every year, traditionally winding up with a Christmas tour of the UK.

"Everything just disappears and you're from Christmas to Christmas. Obviously as you get older each year seems to go quicker. By us doing the British tour each year it’s almost like it was only a couple of months ago. For people who work nine to five, with no disrespect intended!, it must be a long time, a year. I find a year can sometimes go really quickly. If we make an album in that year as well then that time just goes."

The most recent album the band have done was to commemorate their Thirtieth Anniversary last year which Francis says surprised him in just how well it did in the UK.

"The album we did, Don't Stop, was to kind of as our manager put it to commemorate the 30 year thing to do all that kind of shit that you do and he suggested that we do this album of covers and things that we always wanted to do.. Stuff we'd missed in the studio blah blah blah. I didn't think it was a good idea. Making it was really enjoyable. I really like the way it turned out or most of it at least and it was very successful so it was a bit of a smack in the face to me. You always think you know what's right. You know?"

Given Don't Stop's old and borrowed content, Francis says the band has had longer to write material for their next album which should be recorded late this year or early next and he is confident it will make for a strong album, perhaps stronger than their last few. There has been some talk in the Quo camp, he says, of following a slightly different line, perhaps doing a country or blues album or even the great
Status Quo: Unplugged.

"I don't think we're well versed enough in the blues really to actually sing that... The rockier stuff perhaps you can get away with it but I think true blues... I don't think I know blues enough. Noworrameen? People have dedicated their life to it. I've always been very, very keen on country and I think Rick has or sometimes he is, put it that way. I like it even more now. Some of the new crop, they really lean towards rock. I can't see a line between rock and country in that area. The line between rock and country is really going. I've always felt pop, rock, blues and country. There's not much difference in them really. They're basically love stories and lots of similar chord sequences and melody lines. Not that that's a problem. I like them all."

Francis remains non-committal about the direction the band will take with their next album, saying it won't become evident until the members get together and pool their latest efforts.

"At the moment I think I've got ten or twelve tracks and I know the others have got four and five each and we tend to pool them all together and look through them. Some work and some don't-and all the bitching ,goes on or whatever goes on to make the decisions. We try to make it as democratically as possible.... -ish."

In the meantime, Status Quo are continuing their touring ethic with stopoffs in Japan and Australia. For Aussie fans it's been a long dry spell and there are plenty of new songs which have never been played in this country.

"We’ve been trying to get down there for some time. I don't understand why. I think something went wrong in the seventies somewhere between a manager of ours and a record company guy. There was a row, I remember that... We've had lots of excuses why it couldn't be done. Promoters and this and that. We're not going to ask why any more. We're just coming."

My mind flashes to the opening Status Quo Live which sums up the Quo's attitude as an unknown MC bellows to the roaring crowd: 'Is there anybody out there ready to rock?!'

Chris Rodda

Paper: Dagblad van het Noorden (Daily of the North)

Date: Friday the 28th of March 2003

Title: Status Quo - ‘It’s got to happen now’ The rock dinosaurs of Status Quo are on tour again

Outside the limelight of the hit parade Status Quo has started a second life. The English Rock dino’s Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi, known from square boogies like ‘Down Down’ and ‘Whatever You Want’, travel around the world as if nothing has changed. Tonight, the band that opened Live Aid in 1985 plays in Emden, Germany, just across the border. ‘The GOMORR’ takes a sip from his coffee in his hotel room in Anaheim, California. It’s a sunny Thursday morning, ten o’clock sharp. 15 minutes a go he was still a sleep, this Grand Old Man Of Rock ’n’ Roll. With that name Francis Rossi (53) has grown to one. "Of course I’m not the youngest anymore, but age is completely unimportant to me actually. I see older people as youngsters who didn’t die.’

Question (Q): Nice philosophy. Is that your own?

Francis (F): "Sure. What I mean is that it doesn’t matter whether you are 20, 40 or 70. The way I stand in life is the same as in 1962, when we started with Status Quo. Of course I developed myself in many ways, I’ve read books and I’ve seen many parts of the world. But, basically, I still think the way I did then. By the way, age doesn’t say anything about your qualities as a musician. Jimi Hendrix only needed 27 years to become a legend. Mozart became 35. But the Rolling Stones make great records to this day."

Q: Still it’s kind of pathetic; such a collection of old faces on stage.

F: "Hmm, that depends. If I can speak for myself: I’m still in pretty good shape. I haven’t gained an ounce the past years."

Q: In spite of the typical life style of a rock ‘n’ roll artist…

F: "And that’s the trick: you shouldn’t give in to booze, drugs and other crap. I’ve never done that. Of course I drink a beer every now and then, but not seven days a week ‘till deep into the night. Yesterday it got a little too late, actually. After the show we had to sit with Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond and a couple of guys from Metallica who were at the show."

Q: That’s fun, isn’t it?

F: "Yes, it’s nice to see people showing interest, but I’m not really into that ‘old rockers amongst each other’. I’d rather talk to fans after the show.

Q: And early to bed and rise early as well is even better.

F: "Exactly. I always try to get eight hours of sleep, whether I go to bed at 23:00 or 03:00 in the morning. I’m at my best when there’s regularity."

Q: What’s an average day like during a world tour?

F: "As soon as I wake up I call home. Always. Usually I feel more at ease then, because most of the time, in the morning, I get the feeling that the show won’t be any good that night. Then I eat two bananas, no kidding, and then I take a shower. After that the plan for the day depends on the tour schedule. If we have to travel time flies. Before you know it you’re eating dinner."

Q: It seems thoroughly planned. Do you ever experience anything surprising

F: "All the time. Last month we played in Brazil and Mexico for the first time in our career, for instance. Don’t ask me why we haven’t gone there before, because the reactions were great. 10.000 people every night. And especially those Mexicans are completely off the wall."

Q: All those people probably come to hear your old hits. Isn’t it boring, having to play the same songs over and over again?

F: "That isn’t so bad at all, especially when you play in places you don’t know yet. Music may be a universal language, the reactions of the crowd differ from place to place. Besides that we play a lot of songs from our new album Heavy Traffic. So there’s enough variety as far as I’m concerned."

Q: In 1985 Status Quo were the opening act of Live Aid. Was that the most special gig in your career?

F: "Hmm, no. I have good memories of Live Aid, but it sure wasn’t our best gig. It was too short and chaotic. Believe it or not, I think we did our best gig in some shit hole in Eastern Germany. On a regular night when you don’t expect anything, but you get everything. I’m happy to say it happens to us regularly."

Q: Live Aid was your biggest concert, wasn’t it?

F: "It wasn’t even our biggest. In 1990 we played in Knebworth in England, also a charity show. That was watched by more than 200 million people on tv. Before the show journalists kept asking me if I was nervous, thinking of such a crowd. And I kept answering ‘No, not at all.’ But at a moment I started thinking: ‘Why do they keep asking that? Have I prepared well enough?’ I shouldn’t have done that. Man I was nervous!"

Q: Are you nervous every night?

F: "No, not as much as back then, fortunately. If you’re very nervous you can’t function properly. I have learned to enjoy myself. Always and everywhere. I live very much in the present. It has to happen now. Not yesterday, not tomorrow, no: Now."

Q: And when touring with Quo isn’t fun any more?

F: "Then I quit."

Q: But it hasn’t gotten that far yet?

F: "Not for a long time as far as I’m concerned."

Q: Isn’t it frustrating to be set aside by a new generation?

F: "Well, frustrating… I do think that the kids are being brought up one dimensionally by the radio. It’s more of the same if you ask me."

Q: In Holland it’s Kylie Minogue a hundred times a day and zero Quo.

F: "Exactly, that’s what I mean. En now you mention someone I can’t stand. Kylie Minogue… She can’t sing, everybody hears that. But if she shows her ass it’s enough for most people."

Q: Are there any new artists you do appreciate?

F: " ’Course. Bands like Queens Of The Stone Age and Nickelback."

Q: And in the mainstream circuit?

F: "I hate to admit it, but every now and then you hear a reasonable song. We mentioned Kylie Minogue earlier. Well, you just can’t get that song of hers out of your head. That’s done very well. Besides, it’s written by a man of my age. And take the Pet Shop Boys and that one little guy, that Justin Timberlake. Enormous dickheads, but their songs are pretty o.k. every now and then.

Q: If you were eighteen right now and started a band, would it be a second Status Quo?

F: "Probably. As counterweight to all those ******* boy bands. And because I can’t imagine a life without rock ‘n’ roll. Or does that make me sound like an old man?

Mit ganzen drei Akkorden haben sie die Welt erobert - STATUS QUO.

Mit ihrem neuen Album „Heavy Traffic" sind sie wieder oben auf und sorgen für ausverkaufte Konzerthallen auf der ganzen Welt! Am 25.März werden die Boogiekönige in der Bregenzer Werkstattbühne ihre Gitarren schwingen und mit legendären Tophits wie „Rocking All Over The World" für beste Partystimmung sorgen. Wir sprachen mit Francis Rossi kurz vor dem Konzert in der ausverkauften Wembley Arena in London.

Von Wolfgang Bauer

Euer neues Album „Heavy Traffic" hat voll eingeschlagen, selbst die BBC und die Presse sind voll des Lobes. Wie erklärt ihr euch den riesigen Erfolg?

Francis Rossi: Da gibt es viele Gründe dafür. Die Songs waren gut. Die Stimmung in der Band war gut. Und Matthew Letley, unser neuer Schlagzeuger, machte einen bedeutenden Unterschied. Ich habe bereits vor zwei Jahren gesagt, wir sind zu kritisch und negativ uns selbst gegenüber geworden, wir müssen das ändern. Ich denke, wir glaubten zuviel der Presse und was andere Leute sagten. Ich sagte damals, wir können was ändern, wir müssen nur daran glauben, genau wie damals als wir jung waren und uns einfach nicht kümmerten, was andere Leute über uns dachten. Wir sind dann auch sehr konzentriert ans Werk gegangen, während den Aufnahmen sind wir dann immer erfolgsorientierter und positiver geworden. Es ist ein richtiger Ruck durch unsere Band gegangen, ein richtiger Schneeballeffekt! Die Stimmung wurde immer positiver, die Stimmung ist jetzt auch wesentlich besser als früher!

In Musikfachblättern wurde Heavy Traffic teilweise als euer bestes Album seit „Blue For You" Ende der 70er Jahre beschrieben…

Francis Rossi: Ja, wir sind absolut glücklich mit den neuen Aufnahmen. „Heavy Traffic" ist genau jenes Album, das so viele Leute von uns gefordert haben. Mike Paxman hat das Ganze produziert, Bob Young, der viele alte Hits mitgeschrieben hat, war auch wieder dabei! Es klingt wirklich frisch! Die vielen positiven Reaktionen haben uns sehr gefreut!

Hast du ein persönliches Lieblingslied vom neuen Album und welche neuen Songs stellt ihr auf der Tour vor?

Francis Rossi: Eigentlich habe ich keinen Lieblingssong. Das ändert sich zu oft. Wir haben derzeit vier Songs vom neuen Album im Programm, "Never Say never", "Solid Gold", "Heavy Traffic" und "Creeping Up On you". Vielleicht kommt schon demnächst mit "The Oriental" ein weiterer Song dazu, der Druck der Fans ist groß..

Musik wird oft als universelle Sprache gepriesen. Kannst du das aus deiner Erfahrung mit unterschiedlichen Publikumsreaktionen untermauern? Gibt es große Unterschiede beim Publikum?

Francis Rossi: Prinzipiell kann Musik tatsächlich als universeller Kommunikator betrachtet werden. Es gibt dennoch minimale Unterschiede in einzelnen Ländern. In Australien zum Beispiel hängt viel von Sympathie ab, wenn sie dich mögen, ist die Reaktion sehr intensiv! Spanien hingegen ist komplett einzigartig. Die Fans sind dort von Anfang an, schon lange vor den großen Tophits glücklich. In den meisten Ländern kommt jedoch die ganz große Partystimmung erst bei Songs wie "Rockin' All Over The world" oder "Whatever You Want".

Die Rolling Stones spielen auf ihrer „Forty Licks" Tour teilweise drei verschiedene Konzerte in einem Ort. Wäre das auch für STATUS QUO denkbar?

Francis Rossi: Nein! Ich bin ein starker Verfechter davon, dass man ein Programm ins Rollen bringen muss, es muss einfach alles aus einem Guss kommen... Die Stones spielen eine Show, haben dann zwei oder drei Tage frei, aber die Show als solche kommt nie richtig in Fluss…Ich brauche diese Routine und dieses blinde Vertrauen, das man bekommt, wenn eine Tour schmierig läuft. Es ist zwar eine großartige Idee, aber für uns würde das nichts sein. Es steckt aber auch eine finanzielle Überlegung dahinter – um auch eine andere Show zu sehen kaufen sich jetzt viele Leute Tickets für mehrere Shows bei den Stones. Das ist okay für die Stones. Bei uns spielt sich das nicht, bei uns muss alles passen, wir sind da auch zu sehr Perfektionisten.

Eigentlich war für Dezember auch mit „Rocking All Over The Riffs" ein neues Cover-Album von STATUS QUO geplant, obwohl ihr eigentlich nie mehr ein Cover-Album spielen wolltet…

Francis Rossi: Ja, das geht manchmal schneller als man will…Wir haben uns tatsächliche geschworen, nie mehr so etwas zu machen, aber der Druck der Plattenfirma war groß und wir ließen uns überreden. „Rocking All Over The Riffs" ist aber kein klassisches Cover-Album, wir haben teilweise auch unsere eigenen alten Songs wie „Junior’s Wailing" oder „Down the Dustpipe" neu aufgenommen. Weil „Heavy Traffic" sich aber so gut verkauft hat, wurde das Riff-Projekt bis auf weiteres aufs Eis gelegt..

Ihr habt jetzt gerade 41 Konzerte in den größten Hallen in Großbritannien gespielt, 41 Mal ausverkauft. Wie geht es weiter? Wie lange könnt ihr dieses Tempo noch halten?

Francis Rossi: Keine Ahnung! Ich bin zwar momentan komplett müde und brauche dringend Schlaf, aber sonst fühle ich mich bestens. Die Nachfrage ist derzeit wirklich extrem, wir haben im Frühjahr eine große Tour durch die USA und Südamerika geplant, dann folgt die Europatour, anschließend gibt es die großen Festivals im Sommer und dann steht schon wieder die nächste UK-Tour an, wahrscheinlich wieder mit etwa 40 Konzerten. I

Abgesehen von den Beatles habt ihr mehr Charterfolge als jede andere Band gehabt. Gibt es daher nicht auch große Erwartungen an euch wenn ihr ein neues Programm zusammenstellt?

Francis Rossi: Ja, natürlich! Wir haben insgesamt schon 55 Charterfolge gehabt, da ist die Auswahl natürlich riesig. Wir spielen ja nicht nur die Tophits, sondern auch Klassiker wie etwa „Forty-Five-Hundred Times" oder „Big Fat Mama", es ist wirklich nicht einfach, aber ich glaube, mit der „Heavy Traffic"-Tour können wir zufrieden sein, bis jetzt waren die Reaktionen absolut positiv, genau wie die Stimmung in der Band!

Vielen Dank für das Gespräch!

STATUS QUO - 21. März 2003, Hallenstadion Zürich

Rock 'Till You Drop

Laut "Musikexpress" ist Status Quo "die Live-Band an sich: Quo auf der Bühne heisst für die Zuhörer Pulsfrequenz 130, schweissnasses T-Shirt, heisere Stimme vom Mitsingen sowie die Erkenntnis, sich wieder einmal richtig ausgetobt zu haben." Schätzungsweise 5500 Live-Shows sollen Status Quo in ihrem über 35-jährigem Bestehen gespielt haben.

Heavy Traffic

Am 9. August 1986 schafften sie es, innerhalb von 24 Stunden drei komplette Shows an drei verschiedenen Orten zu spielen: Knebworth (England), Skanderborg (Dänemark) und das Schweizerische Arbon waren die Stationen. Dennoch haben Francis Rossi (Lead-Gitarre, Gesang), Rick Parfitt (Rhythmus-Gitarre, Gesang) und ihre aktuellen Bandkumpanen Andrew Bown (Keyboard, Gesang), John "Rhino" Edwards (Bass, Gesang) sowie Schlagzeuger Matthew Letley noch lange nicht genug. Zur Zeit generieren sie erneut "Heavy Traffic": das genau so benannte 25. Studio-Album der Band mit neuem Liedmaterial erschien im September. Eine weitere Veröffentlichung mit fünf wieder aufgenommenen Status-Quo-Hits und zusätzlichen Cover-Versionen von Songs wie "Pump It Up" oder "Born To Be Wild" läuft ebenfalls vom Stapel. Und natürlich begeben sich die fünf Musiker auf ausgiebige Konzerttournee, in deren Rahmen sie am 21. März 2003 im Hallenstadion in Zürich gastieren werden.

Tanzbarer Boogie-Rock und fetzende Endlos-Riffs

Status Quo wurde Mitte der 60er-Jahre in Süd-London gegründet. Von der ursprünglichen Bandbesetzung sind heute noch die beiden Gitarristen Rossi und Parfitt mit dabei. Ihr Einstandshit "Pictures Of Matchstick Men" (1968) erreichte Platz 7 der britischen Single-Charts. In den darauffolgenden Jahren kreierten sie ihren eigentümlichen, aus äusserst tanzbarem Boogie-Rock mit fetzenden Endlos-Riffs bestehenden Musikstil, der bis zur Gegenwart nur geringfügige Variation erfahren hat. Während zwei Jahrzenten verzeichnete die Band regelmässig Spitzenplatzierungen in den Hitparaden. Mit insgesamt 16 Singles - darunter Klassiker wie "Down Down", "The Wanderer" oder "In The Army Now" - gelangten Status Quo in die Top-30 der Schweizer Charts. Dem stagnierenden Verkaufserfolg in den 90ern entgegnete die Band mit der Veröffentlichung von zwei Alben, auf denen ausschliesslich Cover-Songs von Rock-Klassikern wie "Proud Mary", "Good Golly Miss Molly" oder "Fun Fun Fun" zu finden sind.

Im Mai 1997 musste sich Rick Parfitt einer vierfachen Herz-By-Pass-Operation unterziehen - gerade mal knapp drei Monate Bandpause gönnte sich der Gitarrist zur Erholung vom chirurgischen Eingriff. Seither ist Status Quo mitsamt dem genesenen Parfitt wieder in ständiger Bewegung "on tour" oder im Studio. "Rock 'Till You Drop" in Reinkultur.

Künstler: Status Quo

Datum: Freitag, 21. März 2003, 20 Uhr

Ort: Hallenstadion Zürich

Ticketpreis: CHF 60.-

Aktuelles Album: "Heavy Traffic"

INTERVIEW ALAN LANCASTER 1997

Salut, Alan, heureux de te rencontrer. Dis-moi, John Coghlan a joué avec les Lancaster Bombers en Scandinavie. As-tu toujours des contacts avec lui ?

Oui, j’ai toujours des contacts avec John et on se parle de temps en temps. Nous avons l’habitude avec les Bombers d’inviter des gens à jouer avec nous. John a été l’un d’eux et il se peut qu’il revienne dans le futur.

Lorsque tu étais avec Status Quo, tu as écrit quelques morceaux avec un certain Keith Lamb, qui est-il exactement ?

Tu sais, j’ai toujours aimé travailler avec quelqu’un, ce que j’aime moins c’est que quelqu’un tire à lui, les ficelles de mon travail. Keith Lamb jouait dans un groupe australien appelé Hush. Ils étaient d’ailleurs très populaires. Quand je l’ai rencontré, il s’occupait également d’une maison de disques et nous sommes devenus amis. Il m’a beaucoup aidé dans l’écriture de certains morceaux, comme " Ol Rag Blue " qui était d’ailleurs pratiquement terminé lorsqu’il m’a proposé son aide. Il n’écrivit que quelques couplets. Néanmoins, le titre fût crédité Lancaster-Lamb. Etrangement, avec Status Quo, c’était différent. Tu arrivais avec une idée, un prémice d’écriture et à partir de çà, nous nous mettions souvent à bosser ensemble sur cette idée. Souvent l’auteur original bossait moins à l’écriture du morceau que les autres. Mais même s’il n’était pas le véritable auteur, le titre lui revenait. Ce fût notamment le cas pour " Rain " et " Mystery song " en 1976. Pour ces deux singles à succès, ce fût Rick qui apporta les premières idées. Concernant " Mystery song ", j’ai écrit la plupart des paroles avec Bob Young et j’ai aussi participé à l’écriture de la mélodie. Je pense que Bob aussi. Et bien le titre a été crédité à Rick seul. Même chose pour " Rain ", j’en ai écrit une partie avec Francis et Bob. Le titre a été crédité Parfitt-Young seulement. En fait Rick n’a pas écrit ces deux titres, il en a juste écrit une partie au même titre que moi ou Francis. A l’époque et sur l’album " Blue for you ", j’écrivais avec Francis alors nous avons pensé : Laissons ces deux titres à Rick. C’était comme çà et le crédit des écritures n’allait pas forcément aux véritables auteurs. John Coghlan n’écrivait pas. Il n’a jamais écrit " Roll over Lay down " ou " Break the rules " et pourtant ces titres ont été crédités Rossi-Parfitt-Young-Lancaster-Coghlan.

Ceci n’était-il pas une question d’argent ? Je veux dire que le ou les auteurs touchaient plus d’argent sur la vente de disques ?

Oui, c’est vrai. Les auteurs de singles touchaient l’argent provenant de l’écriture, mais, dans Status Quo, nous ne pensions pas de cette façon là. Chacun touchait les retombées du succès. Nous avons toujours essayé de tout redistribuer parce que l’écriture représentait vraiment notre salaire. Il n’y avait guère que çà que notre management ne contrôlait pas. C’était çà qui nous aidait à survivre. C’est pourquoi, nous nous séparions le crédit des écritures. " Roll over Lay down " a été écrit par Rick et moi en premier, ensuite Francis a trouvé le riff et Bob a écrit quelques paroles. Alors, nous ne voulions pas laisser John hors du coup et j’ai suggéré de l’intégrer dans les auteurs. Il en fût de même pour " Lonely light " que j’ai écrit avec Francis, mais comme, à l’époque, j’écrivais avec Rick et Francis avec Bob, nous avons décidé de les mettre aussi. Et bien sûr, John également.

Aviez-vous des discussions dans le groupe, concernant les titres à garder et ceux à jeter pour faire vos albums ?

Non, parce que nous n’avions jamais assez de titres. Mais quelquefois, lorsque j’écrivais des titres, en particulier, c’était difficile d’obtenir des autres qu’ils les jouent convenablement. Francis et Rick étaient plus intéressés par leurs propres compositions.

Il est évident qu’après " Whatever you want ", le dernier véritable album de groupe, chaque membre semblait aller dans sa propre direction ?

C’est exact. Quand quelqu’un écrivait une bonne chanson, les autres se précipitaient pour y ajouter leurs propres idées. Puis ça s’est terminé. Certains titres sont sortis complètement différents de ce qu’on voulait. Exemple pour " Ol Rag Blues ". Je l’avais composé , il ne restait plus qu’à le mixer. Quand nous sommes revenus, Rick et moi, nous nous sommes aperçus que Francis avait été secrètement en studio pour réaliser le mixage du single ainsi que de tout l’album. Je peux te dire que Rick et moi avons détesté çà. De plus, les titres étaient meilleurs avant que Francis ne les mixe. Hélas, par la suite, ces choses là ont persévéré.

Je pense que vous n’étiez pas heureux de vous retrouver en studio alors ?

C’est difficile à dire parce que quand nous jouions ensemble, nous étions vraiment heureux. Vraiment, c’était beau. Pourtant, c’est vrai qu’il y avait beaucoup de problèmes. Francis avait beaucoup de problèmes et tout le temps. Mais il restait très secret. Rick aussi avait souvent des problèmes. Moi, j’arrivais au studio plein d’enthousiasme alors que chacun paraissait quelquefois anéanti. C’était dur de dominer çà. Nous étions heureux dans un sens et pas dans un autre. Hors du groupe, Francis et Rick avaient une vie à problèmes. Quant à John …c’était John.

Alors qu’il jouait avec Status Quo, John avait la réputation d’être sauvage et indiscipliné alors que c’est un gars sympa voire timide.

Tu sais, c’est très frustrant d’être dans un groupe et de ne pas savoir ce qui s’y passe. C’etait le cas de John. Pourtant, il était le premier qui faisait tout son possible pour le groupe et pourtant il était traité comme un moins que rien. Notre management l’ignorait, les autres gars aussi, c’était comme s’il n’existait pas. Il était très frustré de cette situation mais n’en parlait pas. Il ne savait pas quoi faire pour s’en sortir. C’était vraiment embarrassant pour lui.

T’es tu senti coupable de son départ ?

Je me suis blâmé entièrement lorsque John est parti et je lui ai dis mais lui s’est senti le seul et unique responsable de sa décision. Tu sais, nous ne pouvions pas nous permettre financiè- ment d’avoir quelqu’un à la traîne. Nous sommes des hommes, nous avons des familles à nourrir. Nous ne pouvions pas nous permettre de passer des mois en studio à boire ou à déconner. Nous étions là pour travailler.

En fait ce que tu dis c’est que John ne voulait pas travailler ?

Si, il voulait bosser mais il voulait uniquement jouer de la batterie. De même Francis et Rick jouaient de la guitare et c’est tout. C’est facile à dire : Moi, je joue de la batterie, moi je joue de la guitare. Mais il faut travailler les morceaux, apprendre les choses que l’on doit jouer et çà, personne ne voulait le faire. Ils pensaient que çà viendrait naturellement, soudainement. En fait, ils oubliaient, qu’au début de Status Quo, nous étions assis pendant 12 heures par jour dans la même pièce à répéter, à jouer ensemble. C’est pour çà que c’était bon. Et puis le succès est arrivé alors ils ont soudainement pensé que ça viendrait naturellement mais çà ne se passe pas comme çà. Comme je te l’ai dit, je me suis senti responsable du départ de John. Ca s’est passé aux studios de Montreux en Suisse. Nous avions passé les deux premiers jours à travailler sur les parties de batterie et puis soudain, John est parti brutalement en balançant sa batterie au travers de la pièce. Je ne pouvais pas supporter cela alors j’ai dit aux autres : Nous avons besoins d’un autre batteur pour faire l’album. En effet, nous avions passé des mois à écrire des titres, enregistré des démos et tout et tout … J’étais vraiment contrarié.

As-tu pensé que John quittait Quo pour de bon et que la solution envisagée était définitive ?

Non, pas du tout. C’était juste pour faire cet album. John aurait pu revenir si les choses s’étaient mal passées. Mais nous avions besoin de quelqu’un pour faire l’album. S’il était bon ou mauvais batteur, nous l’aurions su rapidement et nous n’aurions pas enregistré avec lui mais bien sûr, on l’a fait. Cependant, John aurait pu revenir et dire : Allez les gars, laissez-moi reprendre les baguettes et oublions tout. Mais non …

Mais vous ne l’avez pas contacté après ces incidents pour régler les problèmes ?

Ce qui s’est passé c’est que Francis a fait venir Pete Kircher, qui était quelqu’un avec qui j’avais un peu travaillé à Londres, pour faire des démos. Pete est un gars sympa et un grand batteur mais il n’avait pas la magie qu’avait John. John avait réellement quelque chose en plus. C’était vraiment un bon batteur. Quand John est parti, Pete est arrivé rapidement. L’idée n’était pas de se débarrasser de John , non, mais je pense que Francis avait déjà çà dans la tête. Notre management semblait aussi heureux du départ de John, pensant à la publicité faite autour du groupe. Tu penses, un membre de Status Quo s’en va …

Pendant ce temps, Andy Bown est devenu un membre permanent du groupe.

Environ une année avant que ça se produise, j’avais dit à Andy : Tu sais, je pense qu’un jour, tu deviendra un membre permanent du groupe. Et j’ai rajouté : Pourtant, je pense que ça sera mauvais pour nous.

Qui a pris la décision si tu étais contre alors ?

Ce fût Francis. Tu sais, quand j’étais en Australie, il n’y avait pas de balance dans les décisions concernant le groupe. Francis avait les mains libres . Quand j’étais là, c’était différent. Néanmoins, Rick allait souvent dans le sens de Francis mais quelquefois, il était de mon avis. Quand j’étais absent et qu’il y avait des décisions à prendre, Francis disait : Nous n’allons pas téléphoner à Alan en Australie, tout le temps, pour lui demander son avis ".De plus, Francis incitait John à quitter Status Quo . John était perdu et c’était très mauvais. On lui avait promis une augmentation de salaire qui n’est jamais arrivée. Réellement, Francis voulait virer John pour faire venir son ami, Pete Kircher. Alors, bien sûr, Andy fût appelé car il se rangeait toujours aux cotés de Francis. Rick a dit " O.K ". Il était très souvent d’accord avec Francis. La camaraderie dans Quo était touchée. John était souvent à l’écart et pourtant il était l’un d’entre nous, un membre du groupe.

L’album " 1+9+8+2 " a surpris et n’est pas très bon. Des commentaires ?

Quels titres sont sur l’album ? Je ne me souviens plus. Ah oui ! Tu vois, le problème est que Francis ne voulait pas que l’on travaille sur ses compositions. Il les faisait avec Bernie Frost et c’est tout. Et puis, il fallait les enregistrer comme lui le voulait. C’est notamment ce qui s’est passé avec " Jealousy ". Il y avait la façon Rossi et la façon Status Quo. Et bien, sur l’album c’est la version Rossi-Frost qui apparaît et non celle du groupe. Francis voulait de plus en plus contrôler la situation, il voulait se montrer. Il voulait que Rick et moi, nous le respections et puis Rick a pris la même attitude, il voulait que Francis et moi le respections. Ce n’était pas du tout comme çà au début de Status Quo mais la drogue a tout changé.

" 1+9+8+2 " présente un manque évident de direction musicale, les membres du groupe semblant s’éparpiller. Alan, des commentaires ?

Bien, ça a commencé avec l’album " Rocking all over the world ". Avant, nous avions produit tous nos albums et il y avait une cohésion. Et puis Pip Williams est arrivé. Il a commencé à créer de nouvelles techniques d’enregistrement sans rapport avec la musique du groupe. C’était mauvais pour nous mais Francis était impressionné. Il est vite devenu ami avec Pip. Petit à petit, Pip considéra Francis comme le leader du groupe, ce qui n’était pas du tout le cas. En fait, Francis était le membre faible du groupe. En fait de leader, c’était plutôt le dernier de la ligne. Après " Rocking all over the world ", nous n’aurions pas du retravailler avec Pip car la seule chose de l’album qui soit bonne c’est le single qui porte le même nom. Attention, ce n’est pas un mauvais album. C’était bien dans le sens ou tout le monde était enthousiasmé à l’idée de faire des choses nouvelles mais quand " If you can’t stand the heat " est sorti en 1978, le groupe entier savait que c’était mauvais. Et puis Francis a voulu en refaire un avec Pip et c’est pourquoi il a encore produit " Whatever you want ". Mais là, nous étions co-producteurs…

Dans le livre " Just for the record ", Francis a déclaré que tu étais contre l’enregistrement du single " Rocking all over the world ". Bizarre, non ?

Oui, complètement, c’est un non sens. Je ne sais pas d’où c’est venu. Il est vrai qu’il m’arrivait, comme les autres membres du groupe, d’être contre l’enregistrement de certains morceaux. Je ne voulais pas faire " Marguerita time " alors que tout le monde voulait le faire. Alors j’ai dit : O.K, bossons-le et faisons-le. Francis a dit que j’avais essayé d’arrêter ça mais c’est faux. Quant à " Rocking all over the world ", c’est faux. C’est une véritable nouvelle pour moi. En ce qui concerne l’album, c’est un petit album sympa, sans plus. Il faut bien admettre qu’en le regardant de plus près, ce n’est quand même pas super.

Vous l’avez enregistré en Suède. As-tu des souvenirs précis ?

Oui, je me souviens que c’était sympa. Ma femme était venu et faisait, tous les jours, la cuisine pour le groupe et pas un mot de remerciement. Nous étions satisfait de l’album à un certain degré mais je dis bien un certain degré parce que nous l’avons enregistré avec une autre approche. Francis était toujours avec Pip, parlant des titres, de ce qu’il voulait et ne voulait pas. C’était comme si Pip travaillait avec Francis Rossi et non avec Status Quo. Pip suivait les instructions de Francis sans se soucier de l’avis des autres.

C’est à partir de là que les problèmes ont surgi ?

Oui, ça coïncide avec l’arrivée de Pip William. Pourtant, au début j’avais de l’estime pour lui quand il nous traitait tous à égalité. Il venait souvent chez moi, dans le Surrey, et on répétait. Et puis, au début, nous étions impressionné par ses techniques d’enregistrement.

Qui a eu l’idée de travailler avec Pip Williams ?

C’était une idée de Colin Johnson, notre manager, qui pouvait paraître bonne.

Au sujet du single " Rocking all over the world ", qui a voulu l’enregistrer ?

C’est Rick. Personnellement, je n’aimais pas la version originale mais quand nous l’avons fait en studio, c’était vraiment bien. On l’a joué tous ensemble, en harmonie, et c’était vraiment beau. On a retravaillé quelques détails. J’aime vraiment cette chanson et d’ailleurs je la joue toujours sur scène avec les Bombers.

Quels sont tes titres préférés de tes années Status Quo ?

Disons Pictures of matchstick men, Roadhouse blues, Rocking all over the world, Rain, , Down down, Accident prone, Backwater, Roll over lay down, Big fat mama, Whatever you want, Over the edge, Break the rules, Softer ride …

De quel album de Status Quo es-tu le plus fier ?

C’est difficile à dire. Tous les albums enregistrés avant " Rocking all over the world " étaient supers. Mais j’ai quand même été heureux de faire " Rocking all over the world " et " If you can’t stand the heat ". Malgré tout, nous avons toujours eu de bonnes vibrations.

Y avait-il qu’en studio qu’il y avait des problèmes ou bien y en avait-il aussi en tournées ?

Non, en tournées, nous étions heureux, c’était vraiment super. Il faut dire que Rick et Francis n’étaient pas très bons en studio. Rick ne savait pas comment travailler en studio. Quand à Francis, il connaissait les bonnes pièces mais il ne savait pas les mettre bout à bout pour arriver à un bon résultat. Moi, je connaissais car je possédais mon propre studio et j’avais l’habitude de ce genre de choses. Pourtant, ils voulaient mixer leur composition. Je me souviens, une fois, je suis arrivé au studio et ils écoutaient tous un enregistrement du groupe. Je leur ai dit : C’est super, les gars, mais il y a un léger bruit strident sur toute la longueur du morceau. Personne ne l’avait entendu et ils allaient mixer avec ça, je ne pouvais pas le croire. De plus, Francis ne supportait plus d’aller en studio avec nous. Il ne voulait plus que l’on travaille tous ensemble. Finalement, après " Whatever you want ", nous avons décidé de ne plus travailler avec Pip Williams. Alors, Francis a voulu travailler avec John Eden. Nous avons enregistré " Just supposin’ " . Puis quand nous l’avons terminé, Francis a voulu que nous restions en studio pour y enregistrer d’autres morceaux. C’était logique, rester en studio pour avoir un autre album. Mais même si l’aspect économique n’était pas négligeable, pour moi, il n’y avait pas de sens créatif. Bon, je l’ai fait car je savais que si chacun y mettait toute son énergie, nous pouvions le faire. Hélas, " Never too late " est un album raté.

Tu dis que " Just supposin’ " et " Never too late " ont été enregistrés en même temps ?

Oui, exactement, les deux ont été enregistrés en Irlande. Francis avait une passion pour ce pays et voulait enregistrer ici. Mais " Never too late " est à jeter. Nous n’aurions jamais du faire ça. Ca aurait pu si physiquement nous étions bien mais nous étions crevés. Nous venions de faire " Just supposin’ " alors pourquoi poursuivre immédiatement avec un autre album ?

Tu mentionnes que, malgré les problèmes rencontrés en studio, vous étiez vraiment heureux de jouer ensemble en tournées. Quels sont les moments les plus mémorables ?

Manifestement, faire l’ouverture du Live Aid au stade de Wembley est l’un de nos meilleurs moments live. Le dernier concert de " End of the road ", en 1984, au Milton Keynes, restera toujours gravé dans ma mémoire. Bien sûr, il y a aussi le concert pour le " Prince’s trust " au N.E.C en 1982. Il y a notre premier concert en 1962, dans le club de mon père, le Samuel Jones Sport. Et puis tous nos concerts que nous ayons faits au Greyhound de Londres.

L’ouverture du Live Aid est la dernière chose que vous ayez faite ensemble. Comment cela s’est il passé ?

En fait, c’est Iain Jones qui m’ a prévenu que Bob Geldof nous voulait pour faire l’ouverture du Live Aid. Moi, j’étais pour et je lui ai dit : Oui, super, je veux le faire. Puis, Iain m’a dit que Francis était contre. Alors, j’ai dit à Iain : Ecoute, Dis à Francis que s’il ne veut pas le faire, je m’assurerais de faire savoir à tout le monde pourquoi il n’y avait pas Status Quo. Et bien, après, il ne s’est pas passé beaucoup de temps pour que Iain me recontacte pour dire que Francis était d’accord.

Parlons de Iain Jones, qui l’a choisi comme manager ?

Encore Francis. Iain était technicien des claviers d’Andy Bown. Pour être honnête avec vous, je n’ai jamais vraiment apprécié ce gars. Il y avait quelque chose en lui que je n’aimais pas mais je ne saurai pas dire quoi. Néanmoins, je pensais que je n’avais pas à le juger et que c’était probablement un type bien. J’habitais en Australie et lui et Francis s’entendaient à merveille. Peu de temps après, Bob Young fût viré et Iain est devenu notre tour manager. D’une certaine façon, à jouer au lèche cul avec des gens comme Iain, Pip William et Colin Johnson, Francis dégradait Status Quo. Il faisait beaucoup de choses en arrière de nous. Il concoctait beaucoup avec Colin Johnson et certains projets étaient réalisés sans que Rick ni moi en ayons connaissance. Evidemment, ça causait beaucoup de frictions au sein du groupe car ce n’était son groupe, il ne lui appartenait pas et le fait d’en être le chanteur principal ne l’autorisait pas à faire ce qu’il faisait. Cela ne nous plaisait pas. Il est évident que Iain Jones avait beaucoup de considération pour Francis. Ils devinrent de grands amis en même temps que Iain devint notre tour manager. Bob, donc partit mais à l’époque de son départ, nous étions tous d’accord car Bob se comportait de plus en plus comme le cinquième membre de Status Quo et avait de plus en plus d’exigence. Quelquefois, il contestait nos projets et ça devenait pénible. Cela dit, c’était un grand tour manager, probablement un des meilleurs du métier. Il commençait à demander plus d’argent pour l’écriture des morceaux et Francis était d’accord pour lui donner une partie de sa part, de la mienne et celle de Rick. Alors …

Au sein du groupe, y avait-il des discussions concernant les changements de management ?

Non, pas vraiment. En 1979, j’ai commencé à m’intéresser de plus près à l’aspect financier du groupe. Je me demandais où passait l’argent. Nous n’en recevions jamais beaucoup. Tout était réinvesti dans le groupe. Enregistrer des albums coûtait très cher et c’est pourquoi John a dû partir car nous perdions beaucoup d’argent à ne pas fournir un travail correct. Vous pouvez penser que Status Quo faisait beaucoup de frics mais non. Tout le monde gagnait beaucoup d’argent sur Status Quo sauf … Status Quo. En 1984, quand nous avons fait " End of the road ", chacun voulait faire assez d’argent pour pouvoir se retirer mais, en fin de compte, nous en avons perdu. D’ailleurs, après la tournée, Rick était cassé, il n’avait plus un sou en poche. En 1985, au moment du Live Aid, il avait perdu sa maison, son studio. Il habitait un petit appartement, n’avait plus de permis de conduire, rien … C’est pourquoi, je suis revenu d’Australie, à mes frais, pour l’aider. Personne ne l’aidait pas plus Colin Johnson que Francis Rossi. Comme il l’a mentionné dans sa biographie, Rick était au bord du suicide. Donc, comme je l’ai dit, je suis revenu d’Australie et ai jeté un œil sur la comptabilité du groupe et là, je me suis aperçu que nous étions littéralement arnaqués. Rick le savait mais avait peur de faire quelque chose pour que ça change. Il était alors d’accord pour que Colin Johnson parte mais voulait qu’il devienne son manager personnel. C’était ridicule. Rick rejetait Status Quo et voulait continuer en solo. Puis son album ne s’est pas fait et il a été anéanti. Il en fût de même pour Francis. Mais, à cause de tout ça, je n’ai pas pu réaliser mes affaires. J’avais payé mes enregistrements et rien ne s’est fait.

As-tu entendu les albums solo de Francis et de Rick ?

Oui, je les ai entendus. Le matériel que Francis avait enregistré était bon avec de bons rythmes. J’ai habité avec Rick quelques temps et j’ai écouté ses morceaux. Comparé à l’album de Francis, c’était plus frustre. Il y avait de bons passages mais pas suffisamment. Puis, quand je suis arrivé avec mon propre matériel, la compagnie de disques n’a pas voulu me produire. Ils avaient dépensé beaucoup d’argent pour Rick et Francis et n’avait plus rien à me consacrer. Alors, le matériel que j’avais enregistré était destiné au futur album de Status Quo. Si j’avais encore fait parti du groupe, vous auriez entendu des titres comme Escape, Running in the shadow, Aim high. Ces titres ont donc été interprétés par les Party Boys et les Bombers. Alors que je travaillais au futur album de Status Quo, Francis et Rick faisaient leur album solo secrètement.

Tu as vu Status Quo en live à Goteborg en Suède en 1995. Que penses-tu de leur performance ?

J’ai vraiment trouvé ce concert fastidieux. Ca manquait de sens et de réalisme. La plupart des titres étaient joués beaucoup trop rapidement. C’est bouleversant pour moi de voir Rick et Francis dégrader à ce point le nom et l’image de Status Quo.

As-tu rencontré le groupe pendant leur passage en Australie en mars de cette année ?

Non, lorsqu’ils sont venus, j’avais un problème familial à régler. Mais j’ai eu Rick au téléphone quelques semaines avant et puis à nouveau quelques semaines après leur passage.

Quant à une reformation du Status Quo original, penses-tu que les portes soient définitivement fermées ?

Tu sais, je ne vois pas les portes définitivement fermées, mais je ne les vois pas s’ouvrir non plus. Je pense que ça vaudrait vraiment la peine de nous réunir tous les quatre pour faire un nouvel album. Nous pourrions encore le faire. D’ailleurs, le nombre de mails me provenant des fans du monde entier est tout simplement incroyable.

Enfin, Alan, une dernière question. Il semble qu’il y ait encore beaucoup d’amertume notamment entre Francis et toi. Est-ce le cas ?

Non, je ne suis pas rancunier de ce qui s’est passé. Je suis juste un peu en colère dans le sens ou ils ont brisé ma vie. Je n’ai rien vu venir. Ce n’est pas comme s’ils m’avaient dit : Tu sais, Alan, l’année prochaine, nous voulons te remplacer, pouvons-nous nous arranger ? Mais, non, ça s’est fait très sournoisement. Ils m’ont laissé dans une situation ou je ne pouvais continuer ma vie. Et je me suis battu pour ce que j’avais. Je suis en colère pour ce que Francis et Rick ont fait. Ils ont été mes amis pendant 25 ans, mes meilleurs amis. C’est très dur pour moi de leur pardonner s’ils ne sont pas désolés. Je sais qu’ils sont désolés mais ils ne me le diront pas. Pourtant, je pourrais les pardonner. Bien qu’ils soient désolés de cette situation, ils ont continué à dire des saletés sur mon compte. Je ne sais pas pourquoi ils ont fait ça. Mais vraiment, j’aimerais pour moi, John , Francis et Rick que nous jouions encore tous ensemble comme de véritables amis. Quelquefois, j’ai cru que j’avais vécu 25 ans dans le mensonge. Francis était mon meilleur camarade comme Rick. Nous ne faisions qu’un. Ce serait extraordinaire de se retrouver et de sauver notre amitié. Alors, nous pourrions dire : O.K, il y a eu des différents entre nous mais maintenant, c’est O.K.

Interview Matt Letley at the 28th of januar 2001 in Leeuwarden

FA = fanclub

Matt = Matt

FA: At the moment you are playing for more than a year with Status Quo.What do you think of the rest of the band?

Matt: They are all cool guy's who just like of what they are doing!They all are doign a perfect job. I like there positive attitude!

FA: What do you think of the Quo fan?

Matt: Very royal. Last year I met some at a drum clinic in Rotterdam.

FA: What is the most worst thing you've encountered during touring with Status Quo?

Matt: Once I fall over during the end of ROLD when I tried to catch up my drum stick which I just before had send into the sky.I fall backwards at my head, I took some lights with me during my fall.I waa pritty dizzy. Luckily for just a short notice and I could play on.

FA: What is your favourite Quo song?

Matt: I think I must say RAIN. This was the second Quo single I bought back ik 1976. The first single I gought was ROLD a year before

FA: Which Quo song do you like the best to play Live?

Matt: 4500 times, also because of the fact because it turns over in RAIN.

FA: Which Quo song do you think is really bad?

Matt: Sorry, this question I don't understand

FA: What kind of things are you doing on the day of a gig?

Matt: Mostly we travel to the city where the gig is given. In the afternoon there is the soundcheck. At 18.00 hours I eat and rest a little. An hour and a half before the gig I begin my warm-up. Making my muscles a bit losen up, a little bit off weight lifting and approx. 30 - 40 minutes playing practice at a practice drumpad. Than it's cloths changing time and time to ROCK!

FA: What do you do after the gig??

Matt: Resting. A show with Quo you can compare it with 10 km hard running during the olympics. Sometimes I'm still sweating after an hour when the gig was ended. So I try to keep calm, eat a lot of pasta and drink gallons of water. Sometimes I drink a bear at the local cafe

FA: What do you think is the worst of touring?

Matt: Missing the family defenitly!!

FA: What was the highlight until now for you?

Matt: I think the tour through Australia. Magnetic Island and Sydney are nice cities. Together with Rhino, Paul and Mike Hrano we've climbed the Sydney Harbour bridge in Sydney.

FA: A question of the time before the Quo. What was the highlight of that time?

Matt: I did a lot of concerts with other artists. The tour with A-HA wa awesome back in 1988. We did a complete tour in Europe, Japan and Brazil. Also I played in Holland back in 1977 with the London Youth Jazz Orchestra. Furthermore I did a lot of Television shows here in England with Snowy White and Kim Wilde. This all took place back in 1988.

FA: Oke thanks a lot for your time and last but not least....Do you want to say anything to the members of the Army?

Matt: Yes, I know that the former Line-up had existed for approx. 15 years. I wasn't sure how the Quo fans would react at my appearance. Luckily it wans't any problem at all. Therefor I want to thank all fans for there support and KEEP ON ROCKING!!!

Interview Paul Hirsch at the 28th of januar 2001 in Leeuwarden

FA = fanclub

Paul = Paul Hirsch

FA: What is your full name?

Paul: Paul Hirsch

FA: What is your day of birth?

Paul: I was born at 12 november 1953

FA: Are married?

Paul: Yes,

FA: Do you have any kids?

Paul: Yes we have three children

FA: Where do you live at the moment?

Paul: Bushey, Herts IK

FA: Do you have any Hobbies?

Paul: Yes, Music, watching soccer, eating and drinking, radio TV, The children, I'm always busy.

FA: What do you think of the rest of the band?

Paul: All crazy, one big happy family

FA: What is your favourite Quo song?

Paul: Down the dustpipe.

FA: Which song to play live?

Paul: Dirty water.

FA: Do you know any bad Quo song?

Paul: I'm not crazy off Living on an Island.

FA: What do you do at the day of the gig?

Paul: Eat-souncheck-eat-show-drink.

FA: and after the show?

Paul: check if I can hear anything.

FA: What do you find the worst of touring?

Paul: Nothing at all.

FA: Do you have anything to say to the members of The Army?

Paul: yes, tread me well.

Matt Letley has been with Quo for over 15 months. Francis, Rick and Rhino have all said in interviews that they are knocked out with his playing and the way he has fitted into the band. Quo fans worldwide have said that since Matt has joined the band have sounded heavier and tighter, in fact he has been accepted by everyone as a great addition to the mighty Quo and a worthy successor to Jeff.

Stef Elliott, in his review of Quo's gig at Warwick Castle for www.ukrocknet.com said this:

"Just one final word though about Matthew Letley. I think this guy has made the biggest difference to this band since the changes from psychedelia to Rock 'n' roll in the early 70's. Having spoken to Rhino before the gig at length about this subject, I can only agree with him that Matthew was born for this job. So Matthew thank you. Thank you for revitalising and giving a bloody good kick up the arse to arguably the Worlds best Rock 'n' Roll band ever!"

Matt is coming up to his first album recording sessions with Quo and is also a month or so away from his second UK tour, so I asked him a few questions about being in Quo.

Matt, thanks for agreeing to do the interview, firstly a few questions about your first year with Quo...

It must have been hard to have to learn all those songs at such short notice, how did it feel on the first few gigs?

Looking back the first few shows were hard going because although I was familiar with a lot of the songs, there were a lot of arrangements for the live show to remember. Also the physical demands of playing drums with Quo is something that is difficult to prepare for. Rehearsals help but the whole thing increases in intensity for the actual show. Having played with them for over a year now I find it easier - I think my body has acclimatised!

How does playing with Quo differ from other bands you've been in?

Quo is totally unique which is probably why they have enjoyed such longevity. There is a certain "edge" a kind of "driving forward" feel which I have to keep in check, hopefully! It's not always that easy but when it's locked in, there's nothing quite like it.

On 'The Tour That Never Ends' as Rhino puts it, do you find the amount of touring tiring, and do you like being on the road that much?

I do like touring, which is just as well, because this year is particularly busy. It's the travelling and disrupted sleep patterns that I find tiring. It's just a case of finding the right routine, as much as one can, to do what is necessary to stay healthy for the gig.

How is the relationship with other members of the band, as you all spend so much time together, how do you get on?

We all get on very well - they are tremendous fun to be around. Also I think we know when to give each other space so that everything stays on an even keel.

Quo seem to have a great crew and the tours seem well organised, how does this compare to other bands you've played with?

You're absolutely right we do have a fantastic crew and the whole organisation is second to none. This "behind the scenes" contribution to the show is vital.

Fans have remarked that you seem to have made the band sound heavier. It looks like a lot of physical work up there, do you work out to keep fit, or is drumming with Quo enough?

I do warm up before the shows with some stretching exercises and also some rudimentary drum exercises on a drum practice pad, but other than that I tend to conserve my energy.

Looks like you sweat a lot on stage, do know how much weight you lose on a gig?

During the show I lose a lot of fluids and I can normally wring my shirt out at the end! I'm not sure how my weight changes but it would be interesting to find out.

You're just about to start work on your first album with Quo, are you looking forward to it, and do you like recording as much as live playing?

Yes I am looking forward to it and it will be interesting for me to see how they work in the studio.

From your point of view, what differences are there in playing in the studio and playing live?

It's all about performance and coming up with a take that everyone's happy with. You don't have an audience in a studio so you have to raise your game, if you like, on your own. But there will be lots of inspiration from the other guys and of course Mike Paxman who is a great producer. I worked with Mike on a couple of Judie Tzuke tours in the 80's but more recently in the studio with Rhino on his solo album Rhino's Revenge and then earlier this year with Nick Rossi. Mike is excellent at drawing out that special performance.

What drummers do you like, and what are your main musical influences?

There are many drummers I like. I was brought up on jazz as well as being into the Beatles and the Stones. The first drummer I remember seeing 'live' was Buddy Rich who I thought was awesome. I think I was seven at the time. I bought his album called "The Driver", the first album I ever bought and played it continuously. In my teens I was interested in ELP, Genesis, Yes and Frank Zappa, as well as Quo ( I remember buying "Rain" and "Roll Over"- still got them!). In my mid teens I was more into jazz/funk and listening to anything Steve Gadd played on. Nowadays I like anything which is good - classical, jazz, rock, whatever!

There has been a fair bit of discussion amongst fans about why you wear headphones with Quo, why headphones instead of in-ear monitors... or are Quo miming (yeah right!!) ??

My drum tech Toot recommended that I wear headphones simply because the sound quality is better than the in-ears. I also find they close out a lot of the on stage sound so that I only hear what I need to hear coming through the headphones. That's the theory anyway, Rhino isn't exactly the quietest bass player in the World!

Favourite Quo song, to play, and to listen to?

I do enjoy playing the 4500 times and Rain part of the set. As far as listening, a song which Andrew wrote called "Confidence" is among my favourites.

What do you do when you're not touring?

Mend things around the house, DIY, all the usual stuff. I'm interested in astronomy and I like climbing mountains. I did manage to climb the 3 highest peaks in the UK, within a week, during a David Essex tour a few years ago. I guess it's true, "all drummers are mad"!

What did you do before you became a professional drummer, did you have any other jobs?

I went to school. No I've never had a proper job!

Do you play any other instruments, do you write songs and do you sing?

I play a bit of guitar and keyboards and I do write but I'm not sure if the material I create would ever be suitable for Quo.

What's your best and worst memory of your first year with Quo?

I think the highlight was playing Wembley and doing a good show there. It's sometimes easy to get caught up with the occasion of the big show in London but I was pleased with the way it went.

The worst was probably falling off my stool at the end of a song, in Germany! I leant back to catch a stick I had hurled into the air, went too far, the stool went over. I rolled off my riser, hit the deck head first and my legs continued their momentum knocking over some speaker cabs and lights behind me! CRAAASH!!! I didn't know where I was! I'll try not to do that again in a hurry!

Finally, has you life changed since you joined Quo, if so... how has it changed?

It has changed in that I am now part of a band. Most of the gigs I've done in the past have been on a freelance basis so after being hired to do a tour or an album or whatever, that would be the end of it and I would move onto the next project. Now when I go home I am still the drummer with Quo. For me that was something that took a while to get used to but as we say on tour a lot, " It's not a bad life really". I don't think I've changed as a person - I'm still as quiet as ever!

Thanks for doing the interview Matt, and I hope you will keep drumming with Quo for many years to come.

So do I, and I'd like to take this opportunity to thank you Gert and all the fans for giving me such a warm welcome during my first year with Quo.

Cheers!

Interview with Gert Ohlsson 16-08-2001

Interview with Status Quo at the 28th of januar 2001

FA =Dutch fanclub

RI = Rick

FR = Francis

Matt = Matt

Paul = Paul Hirsch

FA: Allready the Quo is back in Holland. What is your reaction on this?

FR: It's good to be back in Holland. We love this flat country!!

RI: Also the public, our fans, are great here in Holland.They allway's have a lot of volume, also tonight it was great.I'm sure the present people, approx. 6000, had a great night.

FA: Maybe you've sometimes hearded that the dutch fans are somewhat TO present.What do you think?

RI: We just love this. When we give a gig we always know where the dutch fans are in the crowd.The orange ballons are an indication but aten't the main reason.

FR: For us as the Quo the Dutch fans are the best there are.

RI: To come back at the orange balloons. keep taking 'm with you, we love it.

FA: When the gig's are given in this year in london we promiss to take them with us.

FA: How did you feel about getting the Edison Award here in Holland.

RI: It's allway's nice tho get these kind of prices. It meansd that we're still popular.

FR: The only rare thing I remember about that night was the fact that Bolland and Bolland, writers of the song "In the Army now" weren't to happy with the load volume off the present Quo fans in the hall. Another fact was that this was the first gig without Jeff Rich.

FA: To come back at the night of the proms. How did you experience this?

FR: When we've said we will take part at the night of the proms we where all ready sorry.Now we say, if the same question comes again we certainly will do it again.

RI: Did you notice how many beautiful woman there where in the choire and orchestra?

FA: As you maybe know there are plans to bring out a tribute CD.What do you think about the fact that there are so many coverbands of status quo

RI: We don't know anything about the fact that such kind of a CD will come. Some times ago I talked to francis that it would be a great Idea to play in a big hall together with all the coverbands playing "Down Down". Maybe it will happen some time.

FA: During the years you've written lot's of songs.Isn't hard to keep the motivation?

FR: NO it isn't hard at all. We still find the motivation. At the moment I am working very hard together with Bob Young with writing songs. I must say it works very refreshing.

FA: What can we expect of the new coming album?

RI: It's going to be an album like "Under the Influence", maybe better.There will be no covers only own written songs.

FA: Will you ever consider to make a cover CD again?

FR: I sincerely promiss that it will never happen again.

RI: I fully agree to this.

FA: Last year you have toured with the band in Europe and Australia.What's the tour scheme for this year?

RI: This year we will do Germany, Sweden, Denmark and several summer festivals.Certainly we will not go to Australia this year. Maybe, and I mean maybe we will play in America.

FA: Is there a chance that you will come to Holland again?

RI: We would love to do that. If it was up to us we would come more often to Holland. But for some reason this doesn't happen.

FR: It's certainly not our fault. We never get a clear answer to this.We will try to get the reason why.

FA: How is it with Andy Bown?

RI: I've talked to him yesterday. It's going reasonably well with him. In fact it's the only thing I can say about it. We've agreed to say nothing about it to the outside world.

FA: Is Paul Hirsch a good replacement for Andy?

FR: He certainly is, but Paul is from another planet. He never sweat's and never get's wet.When we come from stage we are very wet of the sweat. He doesn't have one drop.

RI: I even think when you push the wright button by Paul he begins to talk Dutch!

FA: Is it allready known when the new album will be presented?

FR: No, not quite. We're very far with writing the songs but all the songs must be taped and furthermore.

RI: But it is a fact that the new abum is presented later on in 2001.

FA: What does it mean for you to work with Eagle records?

FR: Not all that great. It are all very nice people but in our point of view Eagle Records is a bit to small for us.They aren't capable enough to do the right promotion for us as Status Quo.

RI: Fortunately there are more record companies in the world.We don't have to rely only to Eagle records.

FA: Matt Letley, your new drummer, is playing for the Quo for about a year now.What are your experiences untill now?

FR: He is the best drummer we've had until now and I really mean that!

RI: Matt brings us at a higher musical level. Everything he does is right and makes it easier for us to play the real Quo sound.

FA: Why does Matt has headphones during the concerts?

FR: You certainly noticed we where earphones during the concert. Matt prefers headphones. It has the same reason as our earphones.

RI: If we are honoust we also would prefer headphones but the trouble would be we certainly would lose them during the gig.

FR: Now I think about it, should Matt listen to Beethoven during the gig?

FA: If we as fanclub say that Status Quo still is very popular do you agree with that?

RI: Sure, certainly. Only the fact that we on regular basis are invited in several countries to get prices say's enough I think.

FR: Also we are still very frequently asked for gig's for radio and television shows.

FA: In the past you've written so many numbers for your records. Do you still know all these numbers?

FR: To be honest, no. A lot of the songs I don't remember anymore. Lately I listened to some songs where only B-side's of single's where printed. I was astonished when I heared the songs, much of them I had allready forgotten.

FA: Do you have any idea how many Collection CD's lately have appeared on the market?

FR: To be honest I don't have any LP ot CD of Status Quo at home. It sounds uncredible but it is really true.

RI: No we really don't know. At home I had one Cd and that is "The other side of Status Quo" but I haven't the faintest idea of how I got it!

FA: Another CD question.What is or are the reasons of the fact that your latest single "Old time Rock and Roll" is so hard to get at the CD store?

FR: Which single, do we have a new single than? No seriously, for this single the promotion activities of the record company was very poor. Almost none of the radio broadcasters did know of the fact that there was a new single of us. And as you know, if they don't know a new single exists than the single isn't played.

FA: Again and Again you are asked for interviews in which mostly the same questions are asked. Doesn't this bore you?

RI: No not at all. It's a part of the game. To us it means we still are popular.There are times you don't like it at all to do it but as in everyones work that's part of the game.

FA: At the moment we are living in the year 2001.What's the planning of how long Status Quo will continue with Rocking?

FR: As long as the fans want us we will keep on playing. If it is up to us we will continue for years.

RI: I fully agree.

FA: This interview will be placed in the next "The Army" Do you have anything special to say to the Dutch Fan club crowd?

RI: I want to thank the Dutch fans for there support which is going on and on. For us it's very stimulating to keep on going.

FR: I fully agree with the the statements Rick made. I also want to add thet it would be very nice that you lot will keep on making so much noise during the concerts.This is great, awesome. And oooohhh yeah, what I wanted to say to you for a long time.....My favourite colour is Orange.

FA: At the moment you are playing for more than a year with Status Quo.What do you think of the rest of the band?

Matt: They are all cool guy's who just like of what they are doing!They all are doign a perfect job. I like there positive attitude!

FA: What do you think of the Quo fan?

Matt: Very royal. Last year I met some at a drum clinic in Rotterdam.

FA: What is the most worst thing you've encountered during touring with Status Quo?

FA: What is your favourite Quo song?

Matt: I think I must say RAIN. This was the second Quo single I bought back ik 1976. The first single I gought was ROLD a year before

FA: Which Quo song do you like the best to play Live?

Matt: 4500 times, also because of the fact because it turns over in RAIN.

FA: Which Quo song do you think is really bad?

Matt: Sorry, this question I don't understand

FA: What kind of things are you doing on the day of a gig?

FA: What do you do after the gig??

FA: What do you think is the worst of touring?

Matt: Missing the family defenitly!!

FA: What was the highlight until now for you?

Matt: I think the tour through Australia. Magnetic Island and Sydney are nice cities. Together with Rhino, Paul and Mike Hrano we've climbed the Sydney Harbour bridge in Sydney.

FA: A question of the time before the Quo. What was the highlight of that time?

FA: Oke thanks a lot for your time and last but not least....Do you want to say anything to the members of the Army?

FA: What is your full name?

Paul: Paul Hirsch

FA: What is your day of birth?

Paul: I was born at 12 november 1953

FA: Are married?

Paul: Yes,

FA: Do you have any kids?

Paul: Yes we have three children

FA: Where do you live at the moment?

Paul: Bushey, Herts IK

FA: Do you have any Hobbies?

Paul: Yes, Music, watching soccer, eating and drinking, radio TV, The children, I'm always busy.

FA: What do you think of the rest of the band?

Paul: All crazy, one big happy family

FA: What is your favourite Quo song?

Paul: Down the dustpipe.

FA: Which song to play live?

Paul: Dirty water.

FA: Do you know any bad Quo song?

Paul: I'm not crazy off Living on an Island.

FA: What do you do at the day of the gig?

Paul: Eat-souncheck-eat-show-drink.

FA: and after the show?

Paul: check if I can hear anything.

FA: What do you find the worst of touring?

Paul: Nothing at all.

FA: Do you have anything to say to the members of The Army?

Paul: yes, tread me well.

Interview With Francis Rossi About 'Perfect Remedy'

G: So the recording of the album was done in Nassau, or most of it?

Francis: The greatest percentage of it was done there, about 85-90%, but we did more in the time – in the initial period of recording the album - then we have done in a long time. I did about two or three vocals here, actually lead vocals, and one or two guitar solos. Most of it was done before we left. We got to a position where we were basically ready to mix and then go through each track and pick out if it needed a bit more guitar or something added. So each track needed bits doing to it as we were mixing. We worked in a slightly different way than usual, rather then work to long on one track at any time, whether it was guitar over dub or whatever we were doing, we'd get the sound and then as soon as that was done, move. Even if it worked or didn't work. If it didn't work we left it as it was, and moved on. It's very easy to get fed up with the tracks, and so we didn't get to much of that this time. Normally if you work on a track so many times you come to mix it and you're sitting there two days then you really are pissed with it. The only time we got to hear them that much was whilst mixing, which was good 'cos they were always quite fresh to us each time, where as normally you hear them day in and day out, which is not good. The workload was much greater, what we got done, so that when we got back home we worked a five day week instead of seven, which is a bit silly because you pay the extra two days anyway. But I found it was better, more clear- headed, and we were working from 11.30 or 12 till 10 at night in Nassau, but everyone was really healthy – probably people don't want to hear that sort of thing!

G: Did you find there were to many distractions?

Francis: No, you got basically permanent weather and beach, and I'm not really interested in that sort of thing, although I woke up every day at 7.20, shower, take the bike out – 'cos we all had bikes for the exercise, when you're in the studio it is a great way to get flabby – do a bit of exercise, wake Jeff up at about 8.20, have a cup of tea, go down the hill for breakfast, to the place where we eat, come back and make a few phone calls, go out on the bikes and ride for 10 – 15 miles, end up at the beach across the road and a quick 10 minutes in the water – which again is a bit of exercise – maybe half an hour in the sun, then into the studio and work. We were routining in the evening, learning whatever number we were going to do the next day, going over it in the evening, 'cos we went through them all once in a week. So we start maybe after dinner. All this thing about working through the f****** night, how it got tagged on to rock 'n 'roll I'll never know. Everyone seems to think they can work better at night. It's got nothing to do with night, it's when your awake. If you just happen to wake at 6 – 7 o'clock at night when your body starts to wake, then fine. But if you routine at night, by the time you come in in the morning they've done a couple of rough tapes of it to see what it sounds like, so you know where you are. So at midday, when everybody is on the money, everyone is definitely awake, between midday and 3 or 4 o'clock are the most productive hours. We got most of the track in that time, did any dubbing and checking over. Then go out to dinner and after dinner routine the next track. It worked really, really well. In fact I want to do it again like that, because everybody was up. It's been a really good album. I think it is going to be better received then the last one, the last one obviously wasn't received well – that is a nice way of saying it flopped, isn't it?

G: I liked things like 'Who Get's The Love'

Francis: Yes, I thought it was a great track but I think we could have recorded it better.

G: What happened to the track called 'The Fighter?

Francis: If you want the truth, the record company wanted me to take it off. So I conceded and took that off and another one called 'It's Alright'. When your confidence is a bit under, which it was at the time - and there were reasons, I said alright, we'll take it off. And we took 'Burning Bridges' off as well, and it was to go out on the B - Side of 'Running All Over The World'. It wasn't until we played Wembley and threw in the jig in that the MD said to me it'll be popular. And I said "I know". I did know, I knew it'd be popular, it's not me being big headed, or anything stupid. I only happen to know about a certain section we appeal to, I know they're going to like that, or I know they won't like it.He said "Oh you were right". I said I knew I was right. He said perhaps we should take it of the B-side, and I said yeah perhaps we should, and then he conceded it might possibly be a single. People get very worried about being twee, and whether we're a bit too nice. If we purposely try to sound rough, raw, whatever you want to call it, as we were fifteen or more years ago that would be really false, that would be against everything we've ever tried to do. We've always tried to do exactly what we're doing at the moment, this is how it is. For argument's sake, not knocking him to much - but I suppose I am - Bowie's new album 'Tin Machine' - he's gone out of the way to say we are going back, even the video with people jumping off. To me that is badly, badly false, but maybe it is acceptable from Bowie. Like with 'Burning Bridges' in particular, people said it is a bit twee isn't it? What do you mean twee? If you play it with a really raunchy guitar does that make it any different? So it's a jig. Status Quo always did little jigs and reels in commercial pieces. It makes people happy. I got really annoyed and frustrated, which is why I decided to take this album and say "Right, nothing happens on this album unless I'm there". Which the band are all fine with, and the producer's fine with, and it turned out so much better. Whereas I think the last album didn't sound like that. I think there's some very good material on that album, but a lot of that album's problem was me I think - I didn't take to much interest in the album, for whatever reason. I thought, well we have a producer, I'll leave it to him: it's about time I left it to somebody. I was wrong. Whatever my input is, it's part of it so I should be there. So I've stopped drinking, stopped doing everything else, and payed attention. So I get here at ten in the morning, we start at ten here - that was unheard of a couple of years ago!!

G: What happened to sex 'n' drugs 'n' rock 'n' roll?

Francis: Yeah, but if we start at ten, we have dinner about 5.30 or 6, and I leave maybe 8 or 9 o'clock, and so much more gets done. It's certainly paid off. I have a feeling it'll be successfull, but even if it is not I'll still feel better because I tried and took part, and it still feels and sounds to me like it should do, whereas 'Ain't Complaining' didn't. I wonder what went wrong, it seemed that it was going to be such a good album to start with and something went wrong somewhere, whereas this one so far hasn't gone wrong. We're remixing one of the tracks today, which is the first one we mixed. Usually the first mix is going to suffer.

G: What's the title of the new album?

Francis: 'Perfect Remedy'. We've always looked down the tracks we have to see if there's anything that could possibly be a title or if we could work of something from that. The thing I thought was quite good was after the 'Army' album - and we were all quite pleased with the 'Army' album - and as I said we were pleased with 'Ain'tComplaining' at the time, so we had that thing of trying to get a happy medium between the old approach and the fact that there are two new players. There's no way we can be like Status Quo in '75 because two of the players that were there are not here. But this one we thought would be the 'Perfect Remedy' . Plus I like to get the title out of the way, get it done - you can go into all sorts of things, and six month later you think what were we on about. An album title and the whole thing goes straight on its success rate. If it's a flopp then you say well hold on, but if it is a big album it doesn't matter what it is called. What was that one Marillion had a while back, 'Clutching At Straws', which wasn't that big for them, but it looked like, 'Oh dear......'

G: That they were clutching at straws

Francis: But if it had been huge than it would be 'blinding title, great'.

G: But that's part of rock and the risk factor, you don't know quite how the magic pulls it together

Francis: Oh I agree, there's so many things. Like take Def Leppard - the first I heard of them they'd done eight million albums. Jeff had been doing things with them. The time they take - I know how they record and stuff like that. With the feeling about samples and that we shouldn't be doing this - which I tend to agree with - along comes Def Leppard and eight or nine million pieces on an album nobody played on. It's completely sampled. Every single piece is sampled. So if you're not carefull you think, 'Well that's the way to do it then'. But now everyone's saying no that's not the way these day's, we don't want that, it's going back to this - but they go and shift eight million pieces. Who's right and who's wrong here? So as I said when we came to do this one, I said the only way I know how to do things is to play. It's no good me looking over there and thinking what happens if......'cos I'm not over there, you know, I'm not in that area, I can't deal with that. This is how we do it and that's it. This album to me, no matter what happens to it, I'll be pleased with it because it sounds meaty, sounds like they are in there playing it, and I like to hear that on a record

G: Who's written the songs this time round?

Francis: I've done seven or eight of them, there's one of Andrews, one of Andrew's and John's, one of John's and Jeffrey's, one of Pip's and Richard's. It's good. More than that, I'm pleased with it - I like it.

G: When's it going to be out - September?

Francis: The single should be out at the beginning of September. I haven't got a schedule for the album yet. I suppose that'll depend on how successfull the first single is, and so on and so on. Years ago they used to say the single is coming out there, the album is coming out there, and that's it. It isn't quite like that anymore.

G: What are the plans for touring?

Francis: we're doing a few shows in the Middle East in October, more as a warm-up, and we're doing some shows in Britain towards the end of the year. Then I want to do another album. I've enjoyed this one so much I decided that if we do another one straight off, while we're in the mood and up for it, which will then take us through to middle of next year, and then we can tour through the middle of next year, plus again we'll know how this album will have done. So if we go touring next year without making an album, we'll be so far behind for the next album it'll be silly.

G: Plus it breaks up the touring/recording syndrome.

Francis: Yes and it's a long time since we've done two albums straight off. As far as we're concerned it'll seem like two straight off.

G: Do you have any plans for a new live Video?

Francis: Yes there is talk about it, but I don't know when. We might have a compilation coming out soon because it's their right to do that. I dare say we'll tape some of the shows later in the year. This album seem to have quite a bit of material that's easy enough to go straight in and do it, There isn't too much problem there. Hopefully we like to get quite a few new things in the set, but there is still the problem if you take six songs from the new album, which is quite possible I think, then which six do you take out, do you take out 'Dirty Water' 'Hold You Back' 'Don't Waste My Time' or what? I can't take them out because we like them too much and the audience likes them too much. So the only other alternative is maybe to take out one or two and put six in and do a longer set. Simple!

Interview With Rick Parfitt

Can you tell me about the new single?

Rick:Well it is twenty five years since I first met Francis at Butlins and we wanted to do something special. Our Manager came up with the idea to put together some of the songs we've liked over the years. So we went through the Guinness book of hit singles and came up with about thirty songs. We went to work on putting them together, in four sides. Then we whittled it down and took the best two sides, of the four. Consequently we now have a medley of some of our favorite songs. Many of which have influenced us over the last twenty five years.

What better way to celebrate the twenty fifth anniversary.

Rick:Yes. It is the happening thing to do. A must for parties. If I have a party I'll play it! Music video's might be on TV for four or five minutes but they sure take longer to make. The original idea was for the 'Anniversary Waltz' video was for the band to change clothes at each change of song (sounds a bit rude but you know what I mean) and for Francis to stay the same. Anyway, the idea was dropped and they decided to use the juke box theme. The band had originally wanted to invite just fan club members to take part in the video, but it was such short notice that we couldn't contact everybody. So, Radio 1, announced that any fans were welcome to go along and appear on the video. The video was filmed in two parts, the fans being filmed during the day and the band in the evening. Just filming the band took three hours. Then the whole thing had to be mixed together which was another mornings work. I'm sure you'll all agree the end result has made it all worthwhile.

On the 10th October it will be twenty five years to the day that Rick and Francis first met up at Butlins in Minehead. Francis playing with 'The Spectres' and Rick with the cabaret outfit 'The Highlights'. To celebrate the anniversary Quo are playing a special concert at Butlins' Sommerwest World.

Rick:It is gonna be fun. Apparently there has been over twelve thousand applications to come and see the gig and the concert halls only hold three thousand people, at a push. It is going to be so nostalgic for Francis and me to go back and see the changes. I suppose it is a treat for the Fans, but it will be just as much a treat for Francis and me. The band will be doing a first by playing on two different floors of the building at the same time! They will be playing 'live'in one ballroom and because of the capacity restraints there will be a huge video screen in the ballroom underneath showing the gig to those unable to get upstairs. A special train has been chartered to take the band accompanying press from London to the Camp. The band are throwing a celebrity silver jubilee party. Holiday makers at the camp can get complimentary tickets to see the show. Combined with the single, I feel it all slots into place.

The last album 'Perfect Remedy' wasn't as successfull as past Quo albums. What went wrong?

Rick:Good songs but I think on reflection, there was lack of direction. I think we recorded it wrongly but it has taught us something in as much that we've got to leave the rough edges in and keep that Quo raw sound. We will be recording the next album in a "semi" live situation, just using a mobile as opposed to sitting in a studio and recording each instrument seperatly. The single (Anniversary Waltz) was recorded in "one take" without any edits and I think you can tell the difference.

The next studio album is due to be recorded early next year, with a possible summer release. Have any new songs been written yet?

Rick:I've written three songs with Francis, four with Pip Williams (the bands producer) and one with Rhino. There is still a lot of writing to be done, but on the strenght of what we've done so far, I think it is going to come out really good. It will be in a different vein to the last two albums, much harder and recorded in a "live" type situation. It should turn out more like a Quo album that I feel the fans will want.

After the "End Of The Road" tour both Francis and Rick started recording solo albums. Francis (with his song writing partner Bernie Frost) released two singles but Rick's solo album, provisionally titled "Recorded Delivery" has never been released. What happend? Rick: Well it took painstakingly long to do, went over budget and it was never released. It wasn't a bad album, I'm not saying it was a great album, but I feel it should have got an airing. Particularly the track "Halloween", which is still one of my favorite songs and was re - recorded by Quo. A few of the songs have appeared as Quo b - sides, but we used my original recordings.Some of Francis' solo album material has also been re - recorded and issued by Quo. His solo album had been given the provisional title "Flying In Debris", but has yet to be released. Rick has made several appearances with other artists over the Years. One of which was with Jimmy Nail's hit single "Love Don't Live Here Anymore"(a cover of Rose Royce 1978 hit).

How did you get involved? Rick: I'm always up for doing something different. Roger Taylor (Queen) was producing the single and asked me to go along. I'd worked with Roger

before and it was good fun. I thought the video was good.

Some fans have been asking why the earlier Vertigo material isn't available on CD yet?

Rick: Personally I don't think it would work. If you listen to some of the earlier Beatles' albums I think they've lost their realism going on CD. For example take "Piledriver", it was such a raw album it just wasn't meant for CD. The UK December tour plans seem to be going well. The tickets have now nearly sold out.

Any plans to change the set list around? Rick: We are keeping the basic set list, but there will be some new songs included.

GO TO PART 7

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