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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Taken from
"Sounds" magazine, May 31 1986
BACK ON THE ROAD
STATUS QUO, who spent 92 years taking their waistcoats and song around the globe before calling it a day two years ago, have since decided that enough was not quite enough. So, with the aid of two new members and some Grecian 2000, they've returned. PAUL ELLIOT gets down down. GREG FREEMAN goes blue for you.
Almost everyone has a little place in their heart for the Quo, Britain's best loved hard rock band ever. 'Down Down', 'Rockin' All Over The World', 'Wild Side Of Life'...they weren't just any old blistered 12-bar boogie blasts. At least they didn't seem to be. They were a part of the '70s, a bristled, scruffy reaction to the gauche sophistication elsewhere.
It was somehow important that Quo got in there and greased up the charts, hits flowing with a frequency matched only by that with which those lived-in chaords reared their tousled little heads.
If you've never rocked a leg or nodded a head to a Quo song, then obviously you were never 14, never pissed, never at a a rock gig.
We're all a little older now, though. Quo are too - and in all honesty, they sound it. 'Rollin' Home', their first single release in nigh on two years (a spit in the ocean in the context of their 24 year history) is a pleasant ramble through familiar boogie country, but it's also proof enough that Quo's days as the inspiration for future hard-rockin' favourites (like the young Iron Maiden befoe) are long since past. It's a record that smacks of 'has-been' antiquity in a rock climate inflamed by a welter of vicious death-metal hellhags. However, Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi, ever present mainmen, are happy enough with it, as they are with the re-shuffled band line-up which chalks up it's debut on the single.
Beside the old guitar pairing remains skeletal Andy Bown on keyboards, with ex-Climax Blues bassist John Edwards and drummer Jeff Rich filling in for the departed Alan Lancaster and Pete Kircher.
On a rainwashed afternoon south of the Thames, the Parfitt & Rossi show, mugs of tea in hand, look forward once again to the long and winding road. Does 'Rollin' Home' mark the return to their gruelling album/tour routine of yore?
Francis: "To a point, yeah. Hopefully, by the autumn we'll be out on a proper tour in Britain."
You'll be taking it at an easier pace, though, right?
"Only a little. We can only do four nights before me voice goes. At least some people lose a good voice, I just lose mine..."
Isn't the prospect of a lengthy tour a daunting one?
Rick: "No, I'm excited about it. I don't know whether it's gonna be a mammoth tour like we've undertaken in the past. Y'see, a three-hour set for 90-100 gigs is just too much."
Was there any question of you laying the Quo name to rest?
"Nobody would know who we were, would they?"
Francis: "The point is , sinc e'76 or '77 Richard and I have been doing most of the promo work, we've basically been the front people as such, and to knock that on the head would be stupid. You could have been here saying, What the bloody hell did you drop the name for? And in the end, people would have referred to it as Quo at some time or other..."
Rick: "We've worked hard to make Status Quo the name that it is, so there's no point in dropping it, just like there's no point being Quo, in just sitting around doinfg sweet FA. We stopped touring planning to make records and bits'n'pieces, but after two years off the road you get up every morning and think, What the bloody 'ell am I gonna do today, y'know? You could write a few songs but there's no real satisfaaction in it and life becomes very grey. So, we had a natter and decided to get back on the road again..."
"Coupled with Live Aid," adds Francis, "which really pumped the adrenalin back into us."
Rick: "The reaction at Live Aid was unbelievable, so we thought, Let's get out and do something."
Francis: "And it don't half hurt. Blimey, it hurts."
Rick: "And when we came to start recording the album it was so much more interesting than before."
The album? What'll it be called?
"A long player..."
A RETURN TO old ways after a two year break and a rethink. It'll look in many critics' eyes as if Quo are hard up - either for ideas or money.
"What can we say?" Francis shrugs.
Rick: "They could say that, but the tax bill doesn't pay itself, does it? And we're certainly not hard up for ideas . Again, having had the two years off, there's a rejuvenated feeling about us two, and the injection of the two new members has put so much more life into the band. We've got to work hard again, we're not safe or sure of selling out, whereas before we'd got a bit complacent about the whole thing."
Talking of complacency, isn't there a danger of you getting blasé when you're able to feed people with 'last tour' promises and then have them lapping up more gigs, more records etc., a couple of years on?
Francis: "No, 'cause as far as I was concerned it was the last tour. I didn't think I'd change my mind but we all have a right to do so. I still wasn't particularly keen, even after Live Aid, to go back on the road with the band as it was , 'cause within a week we would've ended up with that same blasé feeling. One thing I personally used to hate, in the late '60s and early '70s, was the way people would split up and reform just to sell tickets. We've never needed to do that."
Rick: "I tell you what, I honestly beieve if we'd got this line-up together and it wasn't good then we wouldn't go with it. The fact is that this line-up is shit hot , it seriously is. You ain't seen it yet, but when you do you'll know what I'm talking about. It is seriously good."
STATUS QUO's 'End of the Road' tour created an overwhelming demand for tickets throughout the country. As a punter, I too paid (I think) £7.50 for the privilege of witnessing one of a week's 'final' Hammersmith Odeon shows. I was left disappointed by an over-long performance, but that's neither here nor there. The point is that there were many thousands like me who dug deep for a slice of nostalgia. Whether you enjoyed the gigs or not, you caould at least fall back on the satisfaction that you'd been there as that revered rock 'n' roll institution sweated it out for (near enough) the last time. That was 1984. This July Quo play four outdoor shows with Queen, and there's an autumn tour to follow. They've decided to go a bit further on up the road. Clearly, Milton Keynes wasn't Quo's last stand.
Seriously Francis, do the people who paid the £15 or whatever for the Milton Keynes show, or over the odds to the touts anywhere (two third-row tickets went for £40 each on one night at Hammersmith) have reason to feel cheated by this comeback of yours?
"I think they'd feel a bit cheated by the touts, not us. The band is not as it was then. If you wanted to sound corny you could say that it 's a 'new chapter' and all that shit, but it is , it does feel new.
Rick: "I think, in general, the Quo fans'll be over the moon that we're going back. I think it's what they wanted, and to be honest that's what half of 'em expected ."
"We'd genuinely had enough," Francis contiinues. "We'd been doing, like, a continuous world tour for 15 years, there was aggro in the band, and I think this break has done us the world of good."
Rick: "We've come back fresh, we've got new ideas."
Francis helpfully cleasrs up the details of a recent European jaunt. "We did eleven shows, some in Dhabi, some in Abu, Some in Grecos, some behind the Iron Curt-ron..."
Rick: "If you'd seen the equipment we played on in Athens you wouldn't have believed it. The Marshalls were out of the ark."
Francis: "Talk about mark ones ... All of that's good for us, though. It's like discipline, as opposed to being so comfortable before."
Rick: "The satge in Abu Dhabi was about 25 feet up. It was on a beach."
Francis: "They'd had somebody in there about a week before, they'd got the stage set up, and then the f***ing tide came in! There was water all around 'em and they couldn't get off..."
SO WHAT have the Quo been doing since their last tour? Charity football matches, that sort of thing?
Francis: "Oh, funny bollocks!"
Rick: "Football matches, heh, heh, heh."
Francis: "Well, we'd done Live Aid and Band Aid, and we'd had high hopes for some solo stuff which so far hasn't been released."
Rick: " I wanted to get out on the road again long before Francis. After only six or seven months I was getting pretty pissed off."
How many more ends of the road can there be?
"There'll be one more."
Francis: "If you asked me how long we're gonna go on for, I'd say probably about another five years."
So, on reflection, was n't the last tour an empty gesture?
"No. It finished a certain phase for us."
It must be strange for you to go back as a support act...
"Well it's not really supporting . That's the bit that hurts, and that's why you said it. They call it 'Special Guest'. It'll be great for us to do it. The reason Queen have asked us, apart from being chinas, is because Quo have always been renowned for putting bums on seats."
Do you think it's fair to say that the success of 'Rollin' Home' depends as much on cracking the pop market through Top Of The Pops and radio airplay as reaching the rock audience by touring?
Francis: "Always has been. The thing that seems to make 'pop' a bad word is that it's popular and commercial. We've always been commercial. Our success can only be due to the fact that we have a melody in a hard sounding band."
Rick: "It's the same now. John and Jeff have fitted in perfectly. All we need is a couple of good guitarists and someone who can sing
Rock Open Festival
mit Sky`s Shadow, Birth Control, Status Quo
22.06.2002 Wilhelm-Dopatka-Halle Leverkusen
Als ich das erste Mal den Namen " Status Quo " gehört habe muß ich so zwölf Jahre alt gewesen sein, damals tourten die Jungs als Vorgruppe von "Queen" durch die Welt. Im Laufe der Jahre ist mir die Band nicht weiter aufgefallen, was mich im Nachhinein sehr ärgert....
Zum großen Finale des 10. Leverkusener Rock
Open Festivals in der Wilhelm-Dopatka-Halle
hatte man also kurzerhand Status Quo eingeladen, eine Band
die seit rund 30 Jahren im Rock N Roll Zirkus vertreten ist und
bis heute keine Ermüdungserscheinungen zeigt.
Die erste Band an diesem Abend waren "
Sky`s Shadow", die schon zum dritten Mal an dieser
Konzertreihe teilnahmen und die Zuschauer anfangs doch sehr
verwunderten. Zarte Geigenklänge erfüllten die Halle,
durchbrochen von harten Gitarrenriffs. " Stroke of
Fate", der erste Songs der Jungs um Pascal Lüders schlug
buchstäblich ein wie eine Bombe. Eine etwa fünfminütige
instrumentale Rockoper als Opener zu nehmen ist schon sehr
gewagt, das
Publikum war auf jeden Fall begeistert, wann sieht man schon mal
eine so junge Band mit so komplexen Songstrukturen ??. Wer sich
selber ein Bild machen möchte sollte sich ein Demo
der Jungs besorgen, auf kann man den Klängen lauschen.....
Zur nächsten Band Birth Control gibt es eigentlich nicht viel zu sagen, die deutsche " Krautrock" Combo spielte wie gewohnt ein sehr gutes Set, diverse Drumsoli von Schlagzeugsänger "Nossi" rundeten die Sache ab. Kaum zu glauben das es diese Band immer noch gibt, 1983 nach dem Tod von Bruno Frenzel löste sich die Band auf, zehn Jahre später startete man einen Neuanfang. Mit Sascha Kühn am Bass und Rainer Wind an den Tasten hat man wohl jetzt endlich, nach diversen Umbesetzungen, die richtige Mischung gefunden.
Nach wenigen Minuten Umbaupause war es dann endlich soweit, Status
Quo betraten unter großem Applaus die Bühne. Zwei Songs
später kochte die Halle bereits über, Francis Rossi und Rick
Parfitt hatten den Fuß auf das Gaspedal gestellt und meine
Wenigkeit ärgerte sich bereits diese Combo nicht schon früher
live gesehen zu haben. Die beiden " Rockopas" strahlen
eine solche Energie aus, das kann man gar nicht beschreiben das
muß man einfach live miterlebt haben.
Rock N Roll pur, einfach gestrickt, mehr als 5 Akkorde kommen wohl im keinen Quo Stück vor aber wen interessiert das schon. Status Quo sind mit Sicherheit in ihrer musikalischen Entwicklung in den 70èr Jahren steckengeblieben, musikalische Trends haben sie bis heute getrost ignoriert, Erfolg haben sie aber immer noch und das mit Recht.
"In the army now", "Whatever you want" "Rockin' all over the world" , um nur einige Höhepunkte zu nennen und ein fulminantes Medley alter Rock N Roll Klassiker ließ die Wilhelm-Dopatka-Halle in ihren Grundfesten erschüttern. Nach 2 Stunden purer Extase verließen die Quo`s mit der Gewißheit eine 1A Show geliefert zu haben die Bretter, mir hat es sehr gut gefallen den Anderen 2000 Leuten auch.
Rocking all over the woods
BY PAUL JEEVES
BOOGIE legends Status Quo are set to
rock on wood this summer when they play a concert in the middle
of a Yorkshire forest.
The picturesque wildlife sanctuary of Dalby Forest on the North York Moors will reverberate to the 12-bar strains of the perennial rockers when they wheel their Heavy Traffic world tour into the Forest at the end of June.
But as rock classics such as Down Down, Caroline and Whatever You Want thunder out in Dalby surround sound, the forest's usual inhabitants such as roe deer and badgers are sure to be sent scurrying for cover.
The huge forest is situated on the southern slopes of the North York Moors national park and the southern part of the forest is divided by a number of valleys creating a 'Rigg and Dale'. But it will be the interesting rock formations that will have Quo's denim clad bastion of fans foraging among the pines and spruces to see their heroes. The Quo, who have notched up chart hits in five decades and have had more chart hits than any other British band, will be playing in the setting of Adderstone Field on Sunday, June 22. Dalby Forest has been around almost as long as the Quo, having been formed in the ice age – and has previously staged an RAC rally.
But the noise of cars will pale into insignificance as the band, who were billed in the 1970s as the loudest rock act in the world, fire into action. The forest is a home for birds such as the crossbill and that elusive summer visitor the nightjar, but district forester and Quo fan Peter Green says he is sure the wildlife will be able to cope with the noise.
He said: "It's going to be a great night although I don't think we could have found a louder band to come and play. I'm sure the animals will run for cover but it will only last for a couple of hours. It's great for the forest because it raises our profile and will hopefully attract lots more tourists. The actual venue can accommodate 4,000 so I'm sure it will sell out very quickly indeed."
Quo are used to playing concerts in unusual venues. Last year they launched their latest album aboard aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal while in 1999 they played an intimate pub gig at The Duchess in Leeds.
paul.jeeves@ypn.co.uk
04 February 2003
Markus Thiesen
ROCK SOLID: Quo is still rocking all over the world
There are different kinds of musical performance. Some artists feel they have a mission to change the world, whilst others have the mission to just change people's lives for one night, even if that only means they go home a little happier.
Francis Rossi of Status Quo revealed he had no illusions about which camp he fits in when he talked to Devon Online during a recent visit to Plymouth, having played in one of Britain's most successful live draws for some 35 years. And though some people might decide to take things easy after such a long time in showbiz, Rossi has a slightly different outlook. "We're always busy," he says. "I mean, perhaps I'm lucky really. I remember complaining to somebody with us years ago in the late 60s when we were having trouble getting work. I remember saying to this guy: 'All I want to do is work', and that's all I've done since then. So, I got what I wanted." In fact, he's been working so much he can't actually remember when Status Quo started. "We did our first gig and formed in 1962, but I met Rick [Parfitt, Quo's other guitarist] in 1965. Some of the dates go from the first gig and some go from when I met Rick. I give up now!" And, in some ways, it was the band that should have never survived. Despite incredible chart and concert success in the 1970s, Parfitt and Rossi found themselves broke in the mid-80s after drugs and management problems. They then found themselves in court when former bass player Alan Lancaster was trying to gain custody of the name of the band. Parfitt and Rossi eventually won, put together a new band and have been playing ever since.
But even in the early days, Rossi wasn't sure they quite had what it takes: "I always thought we were the band least likely to break, and if we did break we were the least likely to survive because of the style of music, the simplicity of the music. "I never understand why we've lasted so long. Whether it's the determination we had, maybe it's because Rick and I do like this kind of music. If I've gone to a club or gig or somewhere and a band starts that shuffle, they start a bit of blues, I've gone, I've got to listen." But how does he keep the enthusiasm for playing some of the same songs for most of those 35 years? There was even a rumour that Rossi wouldn't play the hit Caroline anymore. He sets the record straight: "There was a time I didn't WANT to play Caroline anymore," he explains. "It's not so much playing it in front of people, it's the rehearsals. When you have to go and rehearse in front of a brick wall, it's stone cold, there's nobody there, it doesn't mean anything. "But when we open the set with Caroline, which we do at the moment, people's faces are like: "Yes!!". "Some people want to hear Caroline, they go: 'Yes. Thank you, thank you'. And I cannot struggle all this time to get into this business, to be accepted in this business, and then say: 'No, that's beneath me now'. That's a horrible thing to do to your audience."
The band has also seen one or two changes in the past year, with drummer Jeff Rich deciding to leave and being replaced by Matthew Letley and keyboard player Andrew Bown having some time off. But the odd change does have a positive effect, as Francis has found out. "I don't think I've been as enthusiastic about the band for 10 or 15 years. I think it's really perked me up and spurred me on. I mean, I have heard all the new material for the new album and I'm wriring with Bob Young again [with whom he wrote Caroline], which a lot of people are really pleased about, and so am I. "And I'm genuinely here thinking: 'We've got a new drummer and that's really good, I'm writing with Bob and that's very good. We're going on tour. Just done a fantastic tour of Australia and my ticket's coming up and it isn't bad'. I don't think there are many jobs I could be in at 51 and still be enthusiatic about." And a little warning for fans when the band hits the stage some 40 years after first going on the road: "It'll be a Status Quo gig. We try and make each show better than the previous one. We really get off on that vibe and I can't wait to do it again."
So, they're still rocking all over the world.
Rockin' all over the bar
Rock veterans Status Quo are toasting the release of their new
album Under The Influence - by starting a tour of UK pubs. The
group kicked off 10 dates at the Ruskin Arms pub in Manor Park,
east London, on Monday.
The 32-year-old group performed for 1.5 million fans in 12 countries last year - now they are playing to just a few hundred people in small venues across the UK. For bandmate Francis Rossi, it makes a refreshing change from Status Quo's usual run of stadium shows.
"We do a stadium tour every year, so it makes a change for us to do this kind of thing. "Last year we played Cambridge Corn Exchange as a favour to someone and it was quite good. The audience like to be in close confines with a band, so they can really taste and smell it. And they really will tonight." Parfitt added: "Anyway, the album's got a pub sign on the front of it. If it had a stadium on the cover then we might be doing a tour of stadiums." The pub regularly plays host to local bands, and before the Ruskin Arms show, manager Teresa Marshall was looking forward to welcoming her biggest act yet. "It's all very exciting. I'm just hoping it passes off alright. This was one of the places where Iron Maiden started out, but that was before my time," she said. The band asked fans to write in to a national newspaper to nominate their local pub for a gig. More than 10,000 entries were received, which were whittled down to a final 10. The Ruskin Arms was nominated by regular Sandra Punt, 45. "I've followed them all during their career. They used to play here years ago," she said. "I just love their music." Her 25-year-old son Lee - himself a Quo fan - persuaded her to nominate the pub. "I said I'd have no chance, but he said I should go for it, and here I am today. "It's unbelieveable, I can't believe it. I'm stunned," she said.
STATUS QUO - Heavy Traffic In Our Hemisphere
By Martin Popoff
With three dates left in North America, UK boogie titans Status Quo cap of a tour (in honour of their new, all original album Heavy Traffic) that has taken the band, for the first time, to Brazil and Mexico. Word of advice: the band are one of the most exhilarating live acts I've ever seen. Catch them NOW on much smaller stages they are regularly used to playing (A recent Wembley Stadium gig was sold out). The dates are: March 5 at Club 279 in Toronto, March 7 at Cricket Club in Irvington NJ and March 8 at B.B. King's in New York City.
"I like the Mexican people and I like Mexican food but the pollution is something else," comments an always entertaining an accommodating Francis Rossi. "We literally had nose bleeds and difficulty with breathing. We played this place, Neza that is literally a city within a city. You know, I've seen shit before, but this was unbelievable. Oh, unbelievable. That was the only problem. It was really nice playing there. The first night there were about 10000, the second night they were about 5000. But very, very strange."
And what kind of crowds were you getting in Brazil?
"Brazil were about 2500, 3000 (ed. two dates were logged). They were nice as well because we had never been there before, never expected it. There it's really grim too but the venues were fantastic, lovely venues, really together. Really enjoyed playing there. There's something about the Latino people, same as the Spanish. They react to the vibe of the music. They don't necessarily have to... although they respond to the hits, the ones they know, once they're off on the rhythm of the thing they're off on it and they really enjoy it. But again a great response. But we don't expect large crowds here. In the 1970s, we didn't have too good of a... maybe we had an anti-American or anti this side of the world thing and we didn't rate very well. And we were losing money and we made a decision that we could lose too much and lose it all. And I do wish we carried on, because I do like playing this side of the world. I like everything about it. I know America has a bad rap, but my wife's a Yank anyway, so I'm alright then."
So still, after all these years, one of your unfulfilled missions is to do a little better in the states? (note: this is talking to a band that some figures have them selling 100 million singles and albums worldwide, through 35 years of boogie mathematics).
"Oh yes, it's funny though, I never measure it on money. It's always on the idea of selling pieces. It doesn't relate directly to money for me; it's like an afterthought. I'd probably be happy with 3 to 5000 people here, which is probably a lot elsewhere but in this country is not particularly huge. I don't have that top of the world-ish type of vibe. But I don't know, if we could come here and do 20 or 30 shows a year, maybe a bit more. It should be easy in this country. I would really love it, really love it. It's a bit strange being the age I am and still have this drive, and still have this thirst to do that, you know? Same with Canada. I'd like to do it there. I have a daughter who lives there. It's just like when I get to these places, I'd like to do it. I suppose it's because it's new, or new to us."
How has the band changed in the last two or three years?
"It's changed in the last two, three years. Our drummer we had left and we got a guy called Matthew Letley, and there's something about his physical dynamic of playing with the band that perhaps we had kind of missed. He's given us a new confidence, which in the last few years... the band kind of adopted an attitude. Rick and I particularly had lost the thing of, 'We know what we want to do.' We had a manager where, we kind of left it to him, 'What do you think?' And things were going on, perhaps in retrospect, where we didn't know we wanted to do. We did a few covers albums and it was getting to be a problem doing these covers albums because we sell shitloads of them but they're no good to us. They don't feel good at all. It's, I don't know... I think we still have one in the can we don't want to do. But in terms of the set, there are the classics I suppose, the ones we're known for; they have to be in there. We aren't one of those acts that says, that isn't us. I find it very strange, people our age who decide to go out and find they can't do their old material. It becomes very kind of petty. 'Oh, I couldn't do that, it's not me.' It is us! It's who we are. But having said that, we're so pleased with Heavy Traffic, and the whole vibe and the change in the last two years. I started writing with Bob Young again and that kind of galvanized everybody in the band. We recorded the album very much in the way that the early ones were recorded, in a large room with a lot of overspill, the band working as a team; there was no layering, the band played it down there. And the record sounds like it, which I used to love when I was younger. One always comes to mind. When I was listening to a Who record when I was 16 or 17 and I could always envision this bunch of guys in a room really happening and really actually getting off. And I think we actually lost that in our sound. It had to do with a manager who was very dictatorial and we were always, 'What do you think we should do?' Although we weren't always keen to do what he said. It was only in the last two years where we said, no, this is what we want to do. This is why we're here, I think. He wouldn't have wanted us to go to Mexico or Brazil; too nasty. But perhaps there wasn't necessarily anything in it for management. Or perhaps he didn't see that, that we can do new territories. But it appears we can."
Taken form
"Sounds" magazine, April 9 1988
20 No6 AND A PINT OF COURAGE BEST PLEASE
Celebrating their 37th hit single, STATUS QUO ain't
complaining. FRANCIS ROSSI and RICK PARFITT don't even get
ruffled when ROBIN GIBSON drags them into a political discussion
about their Sun City gigs.
Flicking open my cigarette packet I offer an Embassy to Francis Rossi with the timeless question, "Fag...?"
"See?! I f***in' told you that would happen!" he howls at Rick Parfitt, and they're engulfed in a sea of chortling. Today is the day Francis' story about his son coming out of the closet is splattered over the front of The Sun sprinkled with memorable Rossi quotes like, "I even call him a big faggot". By The Sun's standards, it's a masterpiece of tasteful journalism. But I get the feeling that were it the nastiest hatchet job of the year, the man would still be cackling over jokes about fags.
Parfitt and he are people who really don't give much of a toss about anything, in public ... except Status Quo. They're nice chaps! They're charming. They're good lads, even though they're 38 and 40 and look it. They wear white Marks & Spencer socks. They sit in the Phonogram office talking like they're a new young band, waiting to do it all, when I've come along to ask them how it feels to have done it all.
STATUS QUO are irrepressible. What do you want to know about their latest single, 'Ain't Complaining'? If you like Quo you'll love it. It's a bit of a rocker, it's as naggingly memorable as all their other songs and it's their 37th hit single. Their forthcoming album will be their 22nd. Their attitude is a blend of lust for life, and a cynicism they'd probably prefer to call realism.
Take their approach to making records.They still love to batter out the same old boogie (albeit a little mellowed by age), but they're quite happy to hand their results over to their producer Pip Williams and let him turn it into a state-of-the-art disco mix. "Well, as long as it sounds good," agrees Parfitt, "yeah, we'll do it."
"But to a point" adds Rossi, "we got bludgeoned into it. Because you can't do a single anymore without doing a 12-inch. But it's best to leave it to Pip. He has the sweat on those....and the last three or four have been good ."
Parfitt: "We've just come along with technology. And also, you know, we've got a bit better. But the days of going in and lining the stacks up against the wall, turning them up to full f***ing blast, doing the record, then going down The Marquee that evening and playing it exactly the same, those days are gone."
How comfortable do you feel with this new approach?
"Oh very" grins Rossi. "Because as we said we knock 'em out. We record the track in the regular way, and if it's gonna be a single Pip makes the 12-inch. Me, personally, for years I was dead against any form of modern technology. I wanted to go in and be pure and all that shit. It was just a joke. Rubbish. Stupid ideas. But in '67, '68, we'd gone through the whole thing of being shown how to dress, how to record, what material to do. We were even told by our agency what numbers we were going to start the set with! So everything we did after that, from '69 to the mid '70s, was a total rejection.
"I vividly remember the Queen single coming out - whether it was 'Bohemian Rhapsody', or the other one, " he ponders, scratching his head, "and thinking that I didn't want to like it. I knew what they'd done, and I said, We're not gonna do that. It's not real. But in the end the punters out there don't know. They just hear the record and think, Fine. So it's a bit stupid for me to say, No, we won't do that sort of thing. So now we just do whatever's necessary. We're in this business because we like it" he says, "and we wanna sell more records this time than we did last time. Not less. Whether or not that's capitalist, I don't know. But I wanna broaden the audience."
ADMITTEDLY this enthusiasm has only been rekindled by their satisfaction with the new Quo line-up that emerged after the departure of founder/bassist Alan Lancaster. Lancaster himself has been busy lambasting his former mates in The News Of The World, but Parfitt dismisses the article as 'piffle' - it was a slew of allegations about himself and Rossi being drug-fiends and generally all-round bad guys - and concentrates on how much he's looking forward to their upcoming tour.
But surely both of them must wake up some morning and think, Well, what the hell am I doing here, still in Status Quo, and virtually starting afresh with a new line-up after about 25 years on the road?
"To a point" grins Rossi. "To a point, yeah" adds the succinct Parfitt, "and to a point, no. Because I'm starting to get really proud of what we've done. Some years ago I wasn't. I was starting to cringe a little, like, who the f*** are we, and what are we trying to do? But everything seems positive again now. We know where we're heading."
Where are you heading?
"Well we're heading north next week, and it really does feel good." Rossi: "Whatever we've done, we've done it. And not many people have."
This is all a bit vague. It's even vaguer when Parfitt talks about 'the grit' and still being there 'to go for it'. But they are obvioulsly enthusiastic. I just don't understand what they're going for.
"To make the band bigger, to sum it up" insists Rossi. "That's what any band does. You make an album, you make a single, and unless you're like the so-called punk revolution, and you don't wanna make records, or be successful..."
"We're just trying to push another rung up the ladder" continues Parfitt. "Trying to make ourselves bigger, I've always underplayed it before - people have always said, You're such a big band, and I'd say, Oh, not really, no. But I'm starting to see it a bit now."
On the other hand, it wasn't just the shock of finding a rhythm section with whom it was a joy to play that convinced them to reform after their brief 'retirement'.
"There were financial rewards as well," says Parfitt. "I'm not gonna say we did it just strictly for the love of it. But with the line-up it was great to get back on the road in every respect. Before that there was a lot of bad feeling in the band. It wasn't fun. And if you'd sat here and asked, Do you still get a kick out of it, we'd probably have said no. Or we'd probably have lied and said yes."
Rossi says its the adulation, the standing in front of 10,000 people who think he's great, that he missed as much as the actual gigging. "Alright" he admits, "you know you're not great. But they think so..."
OF COURSE, one reason why nearly everyone with a mouth to shoot off thought Quo were'nt great at all was their shows at Sun City last October [1987]. At the time Rossi and Parfitt refused to comment on their actions, leaving statements to a spokesman, but now they're basically unflinching in their belief that they did nothing wrong. They fancied the sun and a bit of a rest.
"Anyway, we played to a mixed audience" insists Rossi. "And if you really want to get into the situatiuon, you're allowed to play in the States, in Australia, in Northern Ireland. So, what the Australians have done to the Aborigines, that's OK is it? What the 'Yanks' did to the blacks? What they do over in Northern Ireland? Don't tell me they're not doing it. We've been to those places and they are. If you're in Ireland and you're a Catholic, you can't get a f***ing job! That was happening to my grandparents, and they're only just sorting it out now. Just so happens I'm a Catholic....
"The fact is that this is just across the road. We're brilliant at that, us lot. We've got all this shit going on here and we say, F*** that, let's go over here and say, you shouldnt be doing that."
Rossi is obviously disturbed by the amount of flak they've taken over the issue and goes on at some length, quite passionately, with arguments that are mostly old and hoary. The crux of the matter is that Quo profess not to believe in sanctions, or in toeing the line of the cultural boycott. Any argument is simply going to end in stalemate.
Rossi will go as far as admitting that he feels 'bad' that they've been there but he won't agree that his action has done any damage. In the end he asserts that anyone who wants to take him to task over what he's done should have been there themselves. Detractors can only say they find it 'hard to believe' that Quo played to the sort of audiences they claim.
Did you get a lot of money for doing it?
"Yeah. We get a lot of money wherever we go. What's the odds?"
What actually stinks a lot more than Quo's acton, and in fact vindicates their argument that no one is really applying effective sanctions, is the UN's behaviour over the affair. Quo were blacklisted (i.e., added to the Register of Entertainers, Actors and Others Who Have Performed In Apartheid South Africa, after their appearances). But in February this year [1988], following a letter from the group saying they wouldn't do it again, their names were dropped from the blacklist. And the accompanying note from the UN also managed to "express appreciation for your support for the international campaign against apartheid". Huh??
On this evidence the blacklist is yet another prime example of pissing in the wind. Why run it in the first place if anyone who apologises after the event is struck off, and congratulated into the bargain? As Quo blithely point out, they were'nt the first and they won't be the last.
ROSSI and Parfitt obviously find it bizarre to be talking about the politics of their work; for them such things don't really exist. They just bowl along being Status Quo, gurgling happily over their new publicity pictures, making videos with Griff Rhys-Jones, farting conspicuously and admitting that, God, they look old.
"We are old" Rossi points out. "Mind you, when we were 18, 25 was old. To be in a rock 'n' roll band at 25, you were finished. I could never have seen us doing it. But if Chuck Berry can do it, and Mick Jagger...and old Sting! And he's new!
Like I said, irrepressible. Are you rich enough to retire?
"Well," smiles Parfitt, "it depends how the investments turn out. On paper, yeah, I suppose we could knock it on the head. But we don't do it for the money. Like, you've just asked the question - what else could we do? I don't know..."
"I would miss being him" adds Rossi, referring to his public doppelganger. "When we stopped, I missed it. I had to own up and say, Yeah, I like that. I need that and I wanna be him again. Fine. Bollocks. I don't care what anybody thinks."
Rockin' all over the Phil
by Peter Grant, Liverpool Echo
FRANCIS Rossi loves upsetting the Status Quo.Not his fellow band members, but those critics who say the denim-clad rockers are as faded as their jeans.Their new album Heavy Traffic is riding high in the charts, their last single entered the Top 10, and they are now looking forward to a lengthy UK tour.
Francis, the pony-tailed one, is in buoyant form." I just love our new album," he says. "Have you heard it yet mate? What do YOU think? Please e-mail me - tell me what you think of it.
"Every time you meet Francis his enthusiasm is infectious. He is delighted that you can't keep Quo down.
"How is Liverpool?" asks the 53-year-old musician. "I am a bit of Scouser myself - my mum was a Scouser from North Liverpool way. Myers Road."I always remember grannie's house in Crosby. It was an old and spooky type of place."And the Rossi family had an ice cream business in Southport.
"He says the band love playing in the city and are looking forward to their gig at the Philharmonic later this month.
"Liverpool is special to us. The audience are so up for a good night." We played the Summer Pops and that was one fantastic night."We all loved that big tent atmosphere. We all reckon that was one of the highlights on that tour - playing with The Beach Boys."There was a real 'battle of the bands' feel. I don't know who won though.
"Status Quo are renowned for their exhaustive schedules. The band are literally rocking all over the world.One of their tours was even called Rock 'Til You Drop and their sense of fun is undiminished.They have launched albums at Madame Tussauds in London, bowling alleys and on one occasion they arrived for a press conference in Spitfire planes.This time around they are letting their new album speak for itself.And it does - volumes.
"I think the single Jam Side Down was the weakest track on the album but it was very popular," says Francis. "My own favourite is a rocker called The Oriental.
"The band, now in its 35th year, play the Phil on October 29.
"It's always tough selecting sets because Quo fans have their own favourites just like we do, " he says."We like to think there's something for everyone. People will be able to see where we are coming from. Everyone says that there's the Quo three chord sound, but we have always progressed."When you think of Pictures of Matchstick Men and Paper Plane we moved on. Look at In the Army Now."On the new album we do one song using only one chord - that should annoy and upset a lot of people.
"Francis insists Quo will never stop: "I am 53 - seven years off turning 60. Look at Paul McCartney - he's 60 and he's selling out all over the world, doing 21 Beatle songs."They were unique. The Beatles could do anything and everything.
"But Quo are no strangers to covering classics. They frequently release 'cover' albums featuring material from Dion's The Wanderer to Steeleye Span's All Around My Hat.
Francis, who lives in London with his American wife, says: "One of my favourites is from a Liverpool band - The Searchers - and a great song with jangly guitars called When You Walk In The Room.
"The band has a loyal core following and Francis says they have the last laugh after some DJs refused to play their material."We never said 'told you so, but . . . told you so. Ner, ner, ner, ner, ner!
"Francis believes their relationship with the media has been a major 'plus'."Sometimes though they take us too seriously. One girl from the tabloids asked me if I liked sex."She didn't wait for an answer. I said I like women's shoes - but with women in them!"Then this bizarre piece appeared claiming I don't like sex and I am no good at it. Well, the truth is I do like sex - whether I am any good at it or not!
"He says his white powder sniffing days are well over, though he does still drink - but not to hellraising proportions.
"I actually like a glass of sangria - but don't go putting it in the ECHO that I like girlie drinks."Being in Status Quo is a great job. We record, tour and play to fans who want to hear us. Not a bad deal."Not a bad life at all."
Rockin' all over the Ark 31.07.02
Rock band Status Quo launched their new album Heavy Traffic with a concert on the flight deck of the Navy's carrier HMS Ark Royal yesterday. A crowd of 600 Quo fans and service men and women packed the deck to watch the veteran band in action.The group played their latest single, Jam Side Down - the video for which was filmed over the course of three days on board the carrier as she returned this summer from the Mediterranean and Exercise Dynamic Mix.In addition to songs from their album, Status Quo couldn't resist playing a number of old favourites. To the stains of 'Whatever You Want', the assembled crowd, some in Naval uniform, some in their best Quo T-shirts, rocked along with their air guitars.'In the Army Now' caused a few problems, as lead singer Francis Rossi started with the original lyric then under crowd pressure switched to the Navy before finally singing 'In the Forces Now'.In the crowd, OM Kevin Moffat said about the gig: "It was absolutely tremendous. The last time I saw them was about 20 years ago."I will definitely be buying the single."
Song By Song - The"Under The Influence" Album Explained
Twenty Wild Horses (Rossi/Frost)
FRANCIS: "I wrote this in the garage one afternoon
while my father-in-law was making a tool bench for me and the
wife. All the kids were running about and all that. Bernard
(Frost) had came up with a piece the previous day and I'd said
"Oooh. that's quite nice" and then I came up with a
piece the day after. Whenever Bernard and I are doing lyrics.
sometimes we have an idea of what a song is going to be and,
other times, it just kind of comes out and we follow it as it
goes. And the idea of "Twenty wild horses and five hundred
men" we thought "Oh, blimey - now what do we say about
that?" So, basically. the story developed about a guy that
had been accused, I suppose, of something, and has been found out
and is paying for something that he didn't do. But there's no
deep meaning to the lyrics other than the fact that it sounded
good..."
Under The Influence (Rossi/Frost)
FRANCIS: "We had the tune
and in fact: part of the melody, the chorus - or the idea of that
melody in the chorus - I remember playing on the piano when I was
probably 15, maybe 16. I was playing around on the piano at my
parents house and I had that (sings melody from chorus) "de
de de derr da der da deerr". And then, when Bernard and I
were writing the song, doing our writing stint, we got into that.
Again, this song came up in tempo and up in tempo... But the
lyrics... l was having some dreams. Lots of very sensuous dreams
about twos and threes and various women - and really panicking in
my sleep thinking I'd actually been unfaithful to my wife. And I
thought "Oh, no - I've done it! I`ve done that. and I swore
I'd never do it, then I'd wake and think, Oh, I haven't! But some
of the dreams were soooo vivid. I mean. I could feel bits on the
end of my dome-ious, you know? I'd come down in the morning and
go.. It was another one of those dreams! It was like WOW!!! So
the line 'I found a new amigo to help me to get my reality right'
is obviously the wife..."
Round And Round (Bown/Edwards)
RHINO: 'I wrote that in a hotel room. I just wrote the
chorus and I wrote the melody to the verse, and played it to
Andrew. He said "That`s really good" Then in
Ludwigshafen on a day off, and we sort of mucked around with it
for a while. We had great trouble with the lyrics on the verses.
The arrangement was totally worked out on it, and when we came to
do the recording, I said to Mike "Look, I've got this
song.." I played it to Mike on his own and he said
"Well, that's really good - but you`ve got to finish
it." So I went up to Andrew, and we had a few jars Then he
went of to his room, came back an hour later pissed out of his
head and said "I'll tell you, I may be pissed - but I've
cracked it.." And we sorted it out the next day.
ANDREW: "This is totally drug-orientated... Not! No,
this is just about what goes around comes around. It came from an
original idea of Rhino's where he said 'I want to do this song,
man, and the chorus has only got two chords - what do you think?'
And you think 'Yeah! Challenge!' And then, about ten minutes
later, you think 'No! Crap! Really difficult, maaan' Anyway, we
worked on it we worked and worked - and it worked out nicely.
Ended up with a lovely riff on it and a nice little set of verses
which, I think, everybody who's lazy and feckless can relate
to."
Shine On (Parfitt/Edwards)
RICK: "I wanted to do something with Rhino, because
he and I fall into the same pocket when it comes to driving, sort
of heaviness, if you like - for want of a better way of putting
it - and I wanted to do something that was a real slow, heavy
shuffle. Originally, I wanted it to be an 'Albatross', as in
Fleetwood Mac, type of thing. I had all of these ideas about
playing the bass with a drumstick, just tapping on the strings to
make it really flowing. But...it turned out how it turned out. I
knew I probably wouldn't get away with any fangled ideas, because
the band doesn't really work like that; it's got to be fairly
straight, and it either happens or it doesn't.
RHINO: "We put the backing track to this down, me,
Rick and Jeff, when Francis was ill. Rick and I wrote the song
and, although you wouldn't think so for such a simple song, it
was very long-winded. Simple songs are the hardest to write, and
we really worked hard on this. I don't care if anyone thinks this
is simple and banal or whatever; it's really tough to get an
atmosphere on a song. Anyway, we put it down, the three of us,
when Francis was sick for a few days, so he couldn't come into
the studio. In a way, it was good that we did that because Rick
is very much of the more straight ahead side. So we were just,
basically, doing 'dong der dong der dong',did it bog simple, and
then Francis was able to come along and put a bit more colour on
it.
Little White Lies (Parfitt)
RICK: "This is the song which has taken me the
longest, ever, to write. I've never spent so much time on a song.
It just started out as a little guitar riff, sometime at the
beginning of last year, when we were in Australia. I did a little
bit on it here and there, and I didn't really think about it,
then I picked the guitar up and thought 'Oh, that's nice' and
added a tiny little bit. I remember playing it to Francis and
saying 'Doesn't that sort of sound like something?' And he said
'Well, it does a bit but, you know, if you like it, carry on with
it.' So I did, and I just really put in what came into my head,
which I suppose you do when you're writing a song. It was as
simple as that, really, and some time through last year, it was
finished. I thought 'Oh, well - I've got a song. I never actually
really sat down and thought 'Oh, I must get on with that song. I
must finish that song.' I never thought that; I just kept adding
little bits, and it just evolved like that. Perhaps I could write
songs of that calibre if I spent a year on each one! I don't have
time to do that, really. But this was thoroughly enjoyable. I'd
never written a song like that before. I didn't enlist anybody to
help me with it, because I just did a bit here and a bit there.
That's just the way it happened, and it's turned out very well.
I'm very pleased with it. It's enjoyable to listen to, I find;
it's good on the ear. A lot of people have picked up on the fact
that it's very sort of Beatle-y, and that can't be bad, I
suppose.
Keep 'Em Coming (Bown)
ANDREW: "I was trying to do a song on one chord, as
far as possible, and I think it succeeded, in a certain way. It's
all about cars. I'd just bought a new car, and I got that flush
of, you know, giant penis extension, and all that. And,
underneath it all, I actually like nodding dogs and furry dice
and all of that but, of course, I couldn't be seen dead with them
in my car - but I can write about them. So I did. I think it's
turned out really, really well and, for me, it's a good bit of
the 'old' Quo with a bit of the new Quo. Mind you, I don't think
you should sing it while you're driving, you know? That's just a
safety note, just to cover my arse.
Little Me And You (Bown)
ANDREW: (In answer to my comment that this is probably the
only song in the history of music that has the words 'Sherbet
Dabs' in the lyric). "Don't you like 'em? I used to love
'em, but they were tuppence ha'penny. you know? Couldn't always
afford 'em. At one point, at a high point - one of the high
points of my life - I got ten aniseed balls for a penny so, you
can imagine, that tuppence ha'penny was laying out a lot of
dough... They were always a big thing for me, Sherbet dabs. This
song is a loving pastiche of a rockabilly song. There's a little
bit of Elvis in there, where he goes 'Uh-huh huh, huh-huh,
yay-yeah. yeah' that's 'All Shook Up'...there's lots of bits like
that in there. It's a nice, rounded hopeful song;'we're going to
do this, we're going to do that, yeah, you and me, babe. So it's
a feel-good song, a little rock 'n roll vignette with a Start,
middle and a finish.
Making Waves (Rossi/Frost)
FRANCIS: "This, again, was part of that same writing
stint with Bernard. For two of the songs, we had this line
'Johnny was a poor boy'. We kept thinking about that and so,
initially, the sang was going to be about a guy that comes and
cleans pools for rich people and ends up having an affair with
one of the employers. It ended up being about a relationship I
had been in before and which, I think, most people have been in
before; "When I was a young boy, nothing much mattered to
me. It's just another one of those love songs, in a way, and it's
always 'more, more. more making waves'; you know, in some
relationships, people love making waves. They don't like
peaceful, calm relationships - they like the friction and the
fighting and then the making up. And I hate that. That's what
this song is about."
Blessed Are The Meek (Rossi/Frost)
FRANCIS: "Well, we love this song, Bernard and I.
Again, this was in the same period where we were writing other
material. Once we start writing and it starts to flow, it gets
very exciting. Now, I usually do the same things at the same time
every day and, with this song. I'd had tea I think it was in the
summer, or the spring - and, again, my mother and father-in-law
were here. They're very nice people, we'd had tea and I wondered
off with a guitar in my hand. I sat in the garden under a tree,
and I'd just had this acoustic re-strung, put a capo on it...and
I was sitting under me tree thinking 'Not a bad life, really.'
You know, tea was over, business had shut down. I had this thing
going, played it to Bernard, we finished it - fabulous! - And we
were so ***'ing pleased with it! I love it. It's one of those
things; I go blind about this one. I don't care whether anyone
likes it or not, I'm blind to that song.
Roll The Dice (Rossi/Frost)
FRANCIS: "Bernard and I were asked to do some music
for a film - something to do with the guy that does the music for
Brookside (a popular British TV soap series) or something. I
forget his name. The thing was going to be called 'Midas Touch',
or something like that. We had this idea about a Midas touch, but
then something happened and we decided to change it all. We said
'Forget it. This person might be messing us around.' So we just
went off into the song with something else and Roll The Dice came
about."
Not Fade Away (Petty/Hardin)
FRANCIS: "This was very much John Edwards' idea. He
had a sketch on it and we thought 'Well, let's try it.' When we
first went in to record with Mike, the first song we did, I
think, was 'Don't Waste My Time', just to get a feel for playing
together again. Then we did 'Sea Cruise' and 'I Knew The Bride'.
We were starting to settle in at that time, which is when we did
this one, and really enjoyed making it. It was really great to
make. But I don't think, initially, we intended it to go on the
album because we wanted it to be totally our own material. It's a
good track, though, and it's unusual.
RHINO: "it's 90% my ideas, sounds terrible to say that - and I don't actually think that our punter is going to like this very much. I think this is probably the only track on the album I would say that about. I love 'Not Fade Away' but I think this is us being a bit self-indulgent, if you like, and I wanted to take it off the album and put 'Sea Cruise' on. I think 'Sea Cruise' is more of a Quo-ey-type one, but I was out-voted there by everybody. And I still say I'm right! But, don't get me wrong, I love it. There's bugger-all to the song, you know; there's two verses, and that's it, and the original record is something like 1 minute and 20 seconds long. So to make it into three-and-a-half minutes, you have to put some new bits in it. It's a bit like Tex-Mex music, in a way and great drumming on that track, again. I'd say that's one of Jeff's finest hours, that. David (Walker) was there in the studio when we were running this through, and I said to him 'What do you think of that?' And he said 'It sounds really...happy.' He said 'It's great - you've got to do it. It sounds light, and airy. So, there you are.
The Way It Goes (Rossi/Frost)
FRANCIS: "Yeah... We changed that. I'd never done
this before, but we'd written the song and I wasn't really keen
on the verse lyrics, particularly, so we changed them. Now I've
never, ever been able to do that before because I always find
that once the song is written, that is the song. I'm quite
fascinated with how some people come up with three or four sets
of lyrics. Anyway, we'd recorded it, done the vocal and
everything, and I said 'There's something I don't like about the
lyric...' The lyric was putting me off the song, and it was
something to do with the velvet wings, the protection of our
parents; everything you do, those velvet wings, your parents,
protect you, and they try and help you to fly but they won't
always be there. I think the lyrics we had originally were far
too explicit for my liking. They're now a bit more ambiguous. But
the song is actually about that idea; your velvet wings are your
parents.
