Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular Music

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

STATUS QUO

UK rock group popular for decades. Lineup: Francis Rossi (b 29 April 1949) and Richard Parfitt (b 12 October 1948; d 24 December 2016), guitars and vocals; Alan Lancaster (b 7 February 1949) on bass, John Coghlan (b 19 September 1946) on drums, all Londoners. The began as the Spectres in school and made singles; then were Traffic Jam, then abandoned harmony pop and boogied into the charts as Status Quo. They toured the USA but were far more successful at home. Of over 30 hits in the UK, over half were in the top ten; about 30 albums plus compilations, of which first was Picturesque Matchstickable '68; first to chart was Piledriver '73 (no. 5); Hello '73, On The Level '75, Blue For You '76, 1982 were all no. 1. There is always something to be said for Status Quo music, but they threatened to sue the BBC '96 because their latest single (a cover of an old Beach Boys tune, but no. 5 in the UK charts) wasn't being played: having benefited for years from the radio accent on 'youf' culture, they now objected to the network's new policy of attracting 15-year-olds.