Status Quo
Status Quo is a legendary British rock band founded in London in 1962. The founders are Alan Lancaster and Francis Rossi. The group holds the record for the most singles released (63). Their worldwide circulation of records is 118 million copies (for 2008), the group performed 106 times on the Top of the Pops TV program, which is also a record. In terms of the number of albums (32), they are second only to the Rolling Stones.
The history of the group "Status Quo" began in 1962 when three students of the Sedgehill School - Francis Rossi, Alan Lancaster and Alan Key - got together and formed a band (two guitars and an organ).
In 1968, after numerous performances, Status Quo released their debut album Picturesque Matchstickable Messages, which combined elements of freakbeat and psychedelic pop rock.
The single "Are you Growing Tired of My Love" (which only climbed to # 46 in Britain) was followed by a second album, "Spare Parts", arguably the weakest in the band's history.
In 1970, the guys made their first serious attempts in the direction of hard rock with the release of their third album "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon", from which two singles were released: "Down The Dustpipe" and "In My Chair".
After that the guys try to play a little with their sound style and release their fourth studio album "Dog Of Two Head", after which some music critics began to attribute the group to the direction of hard rock and even heavy metal.
This was followed by years of touring, releases of singles from previous albums, and worldwide fame.
So, in 1980, there was a relative lull in the history of the group, which gave rise to rumors of its possible breakup, but finally the collection "12 Gold Bars" appeared on sale, then the studio album "Just Supposin '", from which the singles "What Your Proposing" were released and "Lies / Don't Drive My Car".
Then followed the release of albums: "1 + 9 + 8 + 2" and "Back To Back".
The follow-up "In The Army Now" rose to the top ten: "Rollin Home", "Red Sky", "In The Army Now" and "Dreamin '" were released as singles.
After that, the group was waiting for more than one European tour.
In 1991, "Status Quo" took center stage at the Brit Awards, receiving the Outstanding Contribution to British Music award.
1995 "Status Quo" celebrated a series of triumphant concerts at festivals in Europe and Scandinavia and recorded a new album "Don't Stop", and released the book "Quotographs", which collected more than 250 photographs taken by Rossi and Parfitt.
The 1997 world tour was interrupted in April when Rick Parfitt underwent heart surgery. In October the double compilation "Whatever You Want" - "The Greatest Hit" was released.
In 2000, Status Quo released the album Famous In The Last Century, which was released on DVD. Shortly after the Shepherd's Bush gig, drummer Jeff Rich left the band and was replaced by Matt Letley. Instead of Andrew Bone, who announced that he should be with his family until the end of the year, Paul Hirsch temporarily joined the group. In 2002, Andrew Bone returned to the lineup, with him the band recorded the cover album "Riffs".
The success of the single "Jam Side Down" marked another record: "Status Quo" became the first group in history to hit the top twenty in the UK for five decades. On September 13, 2002, the band was invited to perform in the 200th Anniversary Top of the Pops program.
On September 19, 2005, another studio album "The Party Ain't Over Yet" was released, from which the single "All That Counts Is Love" was released separately. The band became the winner of the UK Festival Awards 2005 in the category Best Festival Feel Good Act ("The best festival group of good mood").
On September 17, 2007, Status Quo released their studio album In Search Of The Fourth Chord, which was preceded by the release of the single Beginning Of The End.
The new album, "Quid Pro Quo", was released on May 30, 2011 via Tesco Entertainmen in the UK. Elsewhere, the album was released on May 27 via earMUSIC / Edel.
