Status Quo - Biography
By Nick Castro
The Status Quo is one of Britain's all-time best loved, and surely among the world's longest-lived, rock groups, having miraculously survived for over 40 years, a constant through many radically changing eras and styles. Oddly they are hardly known at all in the US, where they have only had one hit record, their first, Pictures of Matchstick Men (1968 - Pye) all the way back in 1968, while in England they have had over 60 chart hits since then. In England they are something of an institution, and continue to sell out large concerts and make new hit records.
They began life in 1962 when teen-aged South London guitarist Francis Rossi and bassist Alan Lancaster formed a beat group called the Scorpions, which soon became known as the Spectres. They were joined by drummer John Coughlan in 1963, and the core members of the future Status Quo were in place. They played the usual kind of beat and R&B material that was fashionable in London in those days, including many songs of their own composition, and in 1966 they signed a deal with Piccadilly records and released three singles over the next year, beginning with I (Who Have Nothing) b/w Neighbour Neighbour, followed by Hurdy Gurdy Man b/w Laticia , and their last, (We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet b/w I Want It in February of 1967. None of them met with any success at all, but I Want It has now been rediscovered by fans of 1960s Beat music and is today regarded as a classic lost recording.
After the disappointment of the failure of these records, they changed their name to Traffic Jam for one further unsuccessful single on Piccadilly before changing their name one last time to Status Quo, at which point Rick Parfitt was added to the lineup on rhythm guitar and vocals. Their first single on Pye records in early 1968 was the legendary hit, Pictures of Matchstick Men, and the Status Quo was on their way to stardom. Very much in the current psychedelic/flower power vein, the song reached number 7 in the UK, and number 12 in the US. With a bona fide hit on their hands, they quickly recorded more records, including another top ten UK hit, Ice In the Sun. An album was released later that year, Picturesque Matchstickable Messages From The Status Quo, which did well in both the UK and the US.
But the follow up album Spare Parts (Pye-1969), though in many ways along the same lines as the previous record, was a flop. Realizing the reality of changing tastes and times, they decided to completely reconfigure the band, firing keyboardist Roy Lynes, who had been with them as early as the Spectres days, and opting for a more hard-driving boogie rock sound for their next album, Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon (1970 - Pye). Not only was the sound entirely different, but their look was also entirely different. No longer in Carnaby Street frills, they now had very long hair, and wore t-shirts and jeans on stage, which was actually something of a revolution at the time. This album and the next, Dog Of Two Head (1971 - Pye), were not big sellers, but they did establish a loyal cult fanbase for the Quo's new hard boogie sound.
It was the following record that really established them as a leading force in the rock and roll scene of the 1970s. They signed to the new progressive and very hip label, Vertigo, and released the even harder-sounding Piledriver (1972 - Vertigo) to tremendous acclaim and success. The single Paper Plane hit the top ten, the LP reached number 5, and Status Quo became top stars. Hit after hit followed, as well as sold out tours and television appearances. During the rest of the 70s their albums consistently reached the top 5 and they had numerous top 10 singles, including "Caroline", "Down Down" , "Rockin' All Over the World" and "Whatever You Want" . Their albums remained firmly entrenched in the hard boogie-rock sound with which they had had so much success, and Hello (1973 - Vertigo), Quo (1974 - Vertigo), On The Level (1975 - Vertigo), and Blue For You (1976 - Vertigo) do not stray from the sound for which they had made their name and, though somewhat predictable, do not fail to deliver the familiar Quo goods. The live album, Live (1977 - Vertigo) is perhaps the most powerful sampling of this unswerving period of the band.
In 1977 they decided to record with a new producer, Pip Williams, and their next two albums, Rockin' All Over The World (1977 - Vertigo) and If You Can't Stand The Heat (1978 - Vertigo) saw their sound become cleaner and more polished. Their fans were not disappointed, however, and they continued to have hit after hit. Through the new punk and new wave era the Status Quo held their hard boogie ground firmly, and they seemed as if they would just go on as a hit-machine indefinitely when in 1984 they announced that they would stop playing live shows at the conclusion of one final tour, the "End of the Road". In 1985 they played their last gig with founding member Alan Lancaster at the behemoth media event, Live Aid, but soon reformed with Rossi, Parfitt, keyboardist Andy Bown, drummer Jeff Rich, and bassist John Edwards to replace Lancaster. The new lineup recorded a new album, In the Army Now (1986 - Vertigo), which was a top ten hit, and featured no fewer than four hit singles. The busy regiment of recording and touring resumed, and the Status Quo continued to be among the most successful acts in Britain through the 80s, 90s, and into the 2000s. To date they have had over 60 hit singles in the U.K., more than any other act in British rock history.
