1968 - Picturesque Matchstickable 1968 -Spare Parts 1970 - Ma Kellys Greasy Spoon 1971 - Dog Of Two Head 1972 - Piledriver 1973 - Hello 1974 - Quo 1975 - Blue for you 1975 - On The Level 1977 - Live! 1977 - Rockin' all over the world 1978 - If you can´t stand the heat 1979 - Whatever You Want 1980 - Just Supposin' 1980 -12 Gold Bars 1981 - Never too late 1982 - 1+9+8+2 1982 - Live at the N.E.C 1983 - Back To Back 1984 - 12 Gold Bars Volume 2 1986 - In The Army Now 1988 - Ain`t complaining 1989 - Perfect Remedy 1991 - Rocking All Over The Years 1991 - Rock` Til You Drop 1993 - Live Alive Quo 1994 - Thristy Work 1996 - Don't Stop 1997 - Whatever You Want The Very Best 1999 - Under the influence 2000 - Famous In The Last Century 2002 - Heavy Traffic 2003 - Riffs 2004 - Xs All Areas - Greatest Hits 2005 - The Party Ain't Over Yet Rockers Rollin 4 CD BOX The Swedish Collection (2cd)
The origins of this now legendary band lie in The Spectres, a London based beat group. Founder members Francis Rossi (guitar/vocals) and Alan Lancaster (bass) led the act from its inception in 1962 until 1967, by which time Roy Lynes (organ) and John Coughlan (drums) completed it's line up.
The Spectres three singles encompassed several styles of music, ranging from pop to brash R & B, when these proved commercialy unsuccessfull the band took on a new name, Traffic Jam.
After the arrival of Rick Parfitt in 1967 the group changed it's name again to STATUS QUO.(According to the Cambridge English Dictionary Status quo means the present situation.)
In the following year their debut single, "Pictures of Matchstick Men" reached number 7 in the charts. The follow up release to this was "Black Veils Of Melancholy". Another UK Top 10 hit was scored with "Ice in the Sun".
Subsequent recordings in a similar vein struggled to follow such success, and dispite reaching number 12 with " Down the Dustpipe" Status Quo was increasingly viewed as a novelty. The song itself however indicated the musical direction unveiled more fully on "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon". The album included Quo's version of Steamhammer's "Junior's wailing", which had inspired this conversion to a simpler, "boogie" style. Gone too were the satin shirts,frock coats and kipper ties, replaced by long hair, denim jeans and plimsolls.
Dilligent live appearances build up a grass root following and impresive slots at the Reading and Great Western Festivals (1972) which signalled a commercial turning point. Now signed with the renowed Vertigo Lablel, Status Quo scored a UK TOP 10 hit with "Paper Plane", but more importantly Quo reached Number 5 in the Album Charts with "Piledriver". A subsequent release, "Hello", entered at number 1, confirming the groups emergence as a major attraction.
Each of their 70s Albums reached the Top 5, while a concistent presence in the singles charts included such notable entries s "Caroline"(1973), "Down Down"(1974), "What ever you want"(1979) and "Lies/Don't drive my Car"(1980).
Quo also proved adept at adapting outside material as shown by their version of John Fogerty's "Rockin All Over The World"(1977) Quo undertook a lenghy break in 1980, but answered roumors of a permanet split with "Just Supposin".
John Coughlan left the group in 1981 in order to form his own act, Diesel. Peter Kircher took his place. Rifts within the band between Lancaster, Rossi and Parfitt started to appear and Alan moved to Australia in 1983, but he remained a member for the next 2 years. Lancasters final appearance with the group was at Live Aid in 1985.
After winning the injunction, Alan took out against Rossi/Parfitt to stop them performing without him under the name Status Quo, Rossi/Parfitt brought in John "Rhino" Edwards (bass), Jeff Rich(drums) and keyboard player Andy Bown.
The much loved Status Quo have carved a large niche for themselves in music history by producing uncomplicated, unpretentious and infectious rock music, their track record is incredible - just to mention two noteworthy ones,
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