The Intro

Status Quo are considered somewhat of a novelty these days. A stereotypical denim-clad boogie rock band, pumping out the same three-chord guitar anthems for decades. But they were enormously successful, in the UK at least. They hold the record for most hits by any single band in chart history, and in the 70s they were a credible force to be reckoned with. Yet they only topped the charts (officially) once, with Down Down, the first new number 1 of 1975. It took some time to find fame though.

Before

Status Quo began life as The Scorpions (not to be confused with the German heavy metal band) and were founded by singer and guitarist Francis Rossi and bassist Alan Lancaster at Sedgehill Comprehensive School in Catford, London. Classmates Jess Jaworski on keyboards and Alan Key on drums completed their first line-up back in 1962.

Key was replaced by John Coghlan the following year, and they renamed themselves The Spectres. They were playing weekly at a sports club until they were discovered by budding pop manager Pat Barlow, who got them gigs further afield around London. When Rossi, Lancaster and Jaworski left school in 1965, the latter quit the group and was replaced by Roy Lynes. The Spectres began writing their own material, and later that year they met guitarist Rick Parfitt while he was playing in The Highlights at Butlin’s. He and Rossi became firm friends.

A year later they signed with Piccadilly Records and began releasing singles, the first being I (Who Have Nothing). With psychedelia on the rise, The Spectres became Traffic in 1967, but after an argument with Steve Winwood over who came up with the name first, became Traffic Jam. Parfitt joined soon after this as rhythm guitarist and vocalist, and in August they changed their name to The Status Quo.

Their first hit is one of their best. Strange to think that if they never achieved anything after it, Pictures of Matchstick Men would still be remembered as a psychedelic classic. Sounding like The Troggs on acid, with a monster riff, it’s arguably the best song they’ve ever made, and their only US success. It reached number seven in the UK in 1968 and Ice in the Sun climbed to eight later that year, but the album Picturesque Matchstickable Messages from the Status Quo (yes they really called it that) failed to chart. The 1969 follow-up Spare Parts bombed too, by which point The Status Quo had dropped the ‘The’.

The 70s began with more failure. The albums Ma Kelly’s Greasy Spoon (1970) and Dog of Two Head (1971) got nowhere. Having said that, the single Down the Dustpipe in 1970 earned them a chart spot at 12, and at least they had moved on by ditching the psychedelic sounds and outfits and turned to the ‘no frills’ approach that would stand them in such good stead for years to come. Lynes had left Status Quo in 1970 and was replaced by studio guests for the next six years. They finally returned to the charts with the 1972 self-produced LP Piledriver, and Paper Plane flew to eight in the singles chart. The hits came thick and fast from 1973 onwards – Caroline and Break the Rules climbed to five and eight respectively.

Down Down, the first single from their forthcoming eighth album On the Level, was written by Rossi and Bob Young, who had been hired as their tour manager in 1968. The unsung Young is considered the unofficial fifth member of the band, helping to write many of their biggest hits and providing harmonica on stage and in the studio. Down Down was inspired by the first single by Tyrannosaurus Rex, Debora, and was originally called Get Down. It may well have been renamed due to Gilbert O’Sullivan’s number 1 of the same name in 1973. Rossi wrote the lyrics on an American tour, and claims the lines ‘I want all the world to see/To see you’re laughing, and you’re laughing at me’ were directed at his ex-wife and the British press.

Review

While far from Status Quo’s biggest fan, I think in small doses they’re really enjoyable and a breath of fresh air, and Down Down is one of their better tracks, that somehow has stood the test of time better than some of their other hits. The chorus in particular is as dumb and silly as it gets but extremely catchy and the ‘Frantic Four’ create a great wall of noise. It’s great to hear a rock band back at the top and listening to this and seeing footage of them at the time, you can see why they were so popular, before they got old and became figures of fun. Not one you can analyse much really, but that’s not a criticism in this instance.

Andy Bown became their keyboardist in 1976, also playing rhythm guitar. For the next five years, every Quo single reached the top 10 or just missed it, most notably their cover of John Fogerty’s Rockin’ All Over the World. This top three hit, with which they opened Live Aid in 1985, became perhaps their signature track. I always assumed it was one of their own songs. The title track of 1979’s Whatever You Want, another rock staple, reached number four. The album also featured Living on an Island, a rare ballad, sung by Parfitt.

The 80s started off well for Status Quo when What You’re Proposing shot to number two, but there was dissension in the ranks. Years of partying were starting to take their toll, and cocaine and booze use was through the roof. Coghlan left in 1981 and was replaced by Pete Kircher. The standard of their material was slipping, not that you’d know that from their chart placings. Everyone in the band bar Rossi hated Marguerita Time, which is a great example of where Quo went wrong in the 80s. It was too pop, too reliant on crap 80s synths, and in Lancaster’s words ‘All it did was advertise that we were a bunch of nerds’. But while many loyal fans in the ‘Quo Army’ turned their noses up, the pop fans loved it in late 1983.

The following Christmas saw Rossi and Parfitt enlisted to help out on Band Aid’s Do They Know It’s Christmas?. They were supposed to sing the ‘here’s to you’ harmonies on the bridge, but were both so hungover from the night before, their only contribution was supplying a big bag of coke and dicking about on the video. Their lines were sung by Paul Weller, Sting and Glenn Gregory instead.

Live Aid marked the end of an era as it was the last time Lancaster performed with the band. He had been living in Australia for some time, and while there he discovered a new Status Quo album was being recorded with John ‘Rhino’ Edwards on bass and Jeff Rich on drums. Lancaster took out an injunction to prevent them using the name ‘Status Quo’, which halted production on In the Army Now. It was eventually released in 1986 and the title track, an unusually downbeat (for them) cover of a song by Bolland & Bolland, was a smash-hit, reaching number two.

There was definitely a lack of inspiration becoming apparent, as they released two singles in 1990 that were just medleys of rock’n’roll hits. The Anniversary Waltz – Part One even featured Dion’s The Wanderer, which they released as a single in 1984. And then in 1994 they reworked their top five hit from 1988, Burning Bridges (On and Off and On Again) for Manchester United. Come On You Reds was written and produced by Status Quo, but sang by and credited to The Manchester United Football Squad. It was number 1 when the team won the FA Cup, and remains the only soccer song by a club team to top the charts. Only two years later there was controversy when Radio 1, under a new regime which was trying to attract young listeners, refused to include Status Quo and The Beach Boys’ joint cover of the latter’s Fun, Fun, Fun on their top playlist. To be fair, it was awful.

Rich left in 2000, and Matt Letley took up his place behind the drumkit. Five years later Rossi and Parfitt had cameo roles in ITV soap opera Coronation Street, in a storyline which involved them being sued by Les Battersby. They performed at his wedding as compensation. That December it was announced Parfitt had throat cancer but he had recovered within the year. A cover of the country song The Party Ain’t Over Yet in 2005 was their last decent-selling single, reaching 11.

In 2010 Rossi and Parfitt recieved OBEs for services to music, and it was reported they had patched up their differences with Lancaster. A charity remake of In the Army Now, credited to Status Quo with the Corps of Army Music Choir reached 31 in the charts, and is their last hit at time of writing. The following year a retrospective documentary, Hello Quo! was released in cinemas, and in 2013 their action comedy Bula Quo! came out. Yes, Rossi and Parfitt starred in a movie, in which Status Quo became involved in a mafia operation. It co-starred Jon Lovitz. God only knows what this project turned out like.

That was a big year for the Quo Army, as the classic Frantic Four line-up – Rossi, Parfitt, Lancaster and Coghlan – reunited for a series of dates that ended in 2014. Once the dates were through the previous line-up returned, but with Leon Cave on drums. Yes, the Quo seemingly go through drummers like Spinal Tap. Rossi’s schoolmate and original keyboardist Jaworski died that year.

But it was Parfitt’s illness and death in 2016 that made the headlines. He had retired from live performances that October after suffering a heart attack, but it wasn’t enough to save him. After suffering an injury to his shoulder, he died of severe infection in a Marbella hospital on Christmas Eve. It seemed unfathomable, as he and Rossi had always seemed indestructible, and inseparable. Despite this, his mourning pal decided to continue the band. Richie Malone became their new rhythm guitarist.

The Outro

Status Quo’s last album to date is Backbone, their 33rd and their first not to include Parfitt. The album sold very well, reaching number five. They appeared on the Christmas Day edition of The Great British Bake Off, performing Rockin’ All Over the World, but their tour was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, one could imagine coronavirus turning the world into a wasteland, and yet Rossi would still be stood tall, playing three chords until the end of time.

The Info

Written by

Francis Rossi & Bob Young

Producers

Status Quo

Weeks at number 1

1 (18-24 January)

Trivia

Births

20 January: Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith
21 January: Footballer Nicky Butt
24 January: Comedian Lucy Montgomery

Meanwhile…

24 January: Donald Coggan was enthroned as the Archbishop of Canterbury.