status quo band tour 2023

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Status Quo  

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Status Quo are a rock band that formed in 1962. Hailing from Catford, London, England, they are one of the most consistently successful groups of all time, who have more UK hit singles than any other band and play huge shows all over the world to this day.

For a band who’ve become something of a byword for steady, water-treading reliability in the world of rock and roll, Status Quo have had a pretty weird old career when you think about it. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the fact that they’re still going as strong as ever, half a century after they started and a good few decades after the brand of boogie rock that they continue to play to this day became stale in the eyes of the record buying public. Yet, here they are, still able to sell out arenas across the globe, still able to to score top ten albums and still able to slay festivals in their sixth decade together as a band. Really, you couldn’t make it up if you tried.

I suppose it makes sense that the band formed in secondary school. There’s something profoundly “boys own” about the band and they’ve never quite lost that feel that they’re still schoolboy scamps who made good at heart. I mean, what else can you say about two sexagenarians who posed nude on their latest album cover with acoustic guitars preserving their modesty? Anyway, the band began in 1962 as The Scorpions, formed by lead guitarist and singer Francis Rossi, and original bassist Alan Lancaster. A year later they changed their name to The Spectres, added John Coghlan on the drums and by 1966 The Spectres were signed to Piccadilly Records. However, success would not come easily to the band, and their first couple of singles sank without a trace.

This would all change in the following year however, since back in 1965, Rossi had become close friends with fellow guitarist and singer Rick Parfitt. The pair had vowed to work together on some kind of musical project but nothing came of it until 1967, when Rossi completed the vintage Quo line-up by adding Parfitt as co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist. Not for nothing was this Quo line-up referred to as the “Frantic Four”. Also in 1967, the band discovered psychedelia, which was to be their making as a band. That’s right, Status Quo, them of the four chord barroom boogie rock, got their big break with a psychedelic rock song. Namely 1968’s “Pictures Of Matchstick Men”.

The song was an astonishing hit, reaching the top ten in the U.K and Canada, whilst also reaching number 12 in the U.S. However, try as they might, they failed to make lightning strike twice and after their second album tanked they went back to the drawing board. What they came up with would change their lives forever, and the band abandoned psychedelia in both sound and look, in favour of hard rock, faded jeans and white T-shirts. In 1970 they debuted this new look and sound in the album “Ma Kelly’s Greasy Spoon” but it wasn’t until 1972 that it began to catch on. ’72 was the year they signed to renowned hard rock label Vertigo, and with “Piledriver”, their first album on the label, they had a top five hit album, a run of three hit singles and the rock world was suddenly their oyster.

Since then the band’s only rivals have been legends like The Stones and The Who. Jagger and Richards’ band are to this day the only band to have more hit albums on the UK charts than them, and it’s estimated that they’ve played 6000 live shows in total to over 25 million people. However, what makes them so vital is that while members come and go, the band lives and dies with Parfitt and Rossi, whose friendship and collaboration has been the constant driving force of the band. Few other bands can lay a claim like that, just like few other bands can lay as convincing a claim to being true national treasures as Status Quo can. Highly recommended.

Live reviews

Recent shows have seen Status Quo play in a reformed version of their classic seventies line-up of Francis Rossi (guitar, vocals), Rick Parfitt (guitar, vocals), Alan Lancaster (bass, vocals) & John Coughlan (drums) regularly referred to now as The Frantic Four.

They played a brilliant set based on the seminal 1976 "Live!" album, that is a bluesier, heavier version of Quo. I'd happily watch this version of band do the same set every year from now until the end of time but all good things have to come to an end and it's likely from now on the line-up will revert to the more familiar "Party Quo" line-up.

"Party Quo" are still led by Rossi & Parfitt and feature long time Quo members John Edwards on bass, and Andy Bown on keyboards along with a drummer, most recently Leon Cave. They are likely to play bigger venues and more often than not manage a Christmas tour of the UK.

The set list still features songs from the band's seventies peak and you're likely to hear plenty of heavy rock classics such as Caroline, Paper Plane, Down Down & Roll Over Lay Down. However, with "Party Quo" you'll get more of the more recent hits like Whatever You Want, Rocking All Over The World and In The Army Now.

Either line-up will give you a couple of hours of great rock'n'roll and even if you only have a passing fancy in the band you're almost guaranteed to have a good time. I've seen the band in various line-ups over 30 times and have enjoyed every single one.

Status Quo remain one of the best live bands you're likely to see which is pretty impressive for a bunch of musicians who are old enough to collect their bus pass.

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Status Quo are still as unbelievable live as they have ever been, playing true to their names as legends of Rock n Roll. The band has been one of the biggest musical names in British rock history since they formed back in 1962. It is incredible to think that they are still going strong, and that many of their classic 70s hits are still huge anthems today. The crowd that lined up to watch the band perform proved how popular Status Quo still are and always will be: there were young teenagers, 20 somethings, families and rock veterans in the crowd, all equally excited to see the iconic band live. Status Quo did not disappoint. They hashed out a number of classic 70s hits such as ‘Caroline’ and ‘Paper Plane’ as well as fan favourites such as ‘Whatever You Want’ and ‘Rocking All Over the World’. Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt led the vocals and guitars, and both received an incredible reaction from the crowd. They were joined by the rest of the Frantic Four in a reformation of the band’s classic line up from their golden years.

I left in a glass half full mood.

Don't get me wrong, the concert was excellent and on a rough calculation, this was my 50th Quo gig. Francis Rossi is the best frontman in rock. Ritchie Malone was an able deputy for the missing Rick Parfitt. Alas, it was the last night of the electrics. I will no longer be able to rock along with the mighty Quo.

That's why I left the gig, although mightily fulfilled, a little sad.

The Quo have been there to rock out to, for most of my teens and then adult life.

Goodbye to the electrics I will miss it.

If you feel inclined to do the odd electric gig though in the future, I'll be first in line for tickets.

Quo will always be my musical love, the music, the stage presence and that catchy boogie riff. Audiences around the UK will miss them, but memories will remain forever. I love the Quo and I don't care who knows it.

A great night and the 98th time I've seen them and one of the best yet. The set list was much as you would expect it, but at least you know what you are getting! The band seemed to be really enjoying themselves last night.

With support from REO Speedwagon who I've not seen before but they rocked! Playing for 1 hour with an impressive stage set for a support band.

Plus the Lounge Kittens which were better than I expected doing about 30mins

The 6.35 start time caught a few people out, but a good value gig.

I saw Status Quo at the beginning of the month at the Bournemouth International Centre. Francis Rossi is the only one of their classic lineup but the Quo still rock throughout the night, performing a good variety of new songs and their classic hits. Francis provides good humour all round and interaction with the audience. More highlights included a rocking encore of ‘Burning Bridges’, and a medley of many of their old hits that they couldn’t fit in full rolled into one.

Would see again

Saw Quo at Bournemouth 9th December and what an amazing night. After years of promising ourselves to go we were not disappointed. Francis Rossi brings such energy to stage and as always has the crowd eating out of his hand.

His sense of humour and obvious enjoyment of being on stage still shines through. Bought tickets for brother as early Christmas present he said probably best Christmas present ever had. Thank you to all the group for giving us a proper show.Long may you continue.

Fantastic Acoustic performance - 9 in the band. Rossi very much on form. Non stop hits - played 1.5 hours non stop with very little talking. Back to back music. Prefer the acoustic shows. I'd recommend both the show and the venue but not the prices inside. £9 something for a small bottle water, small Diet Coke and 2 bags of crisps. £4.50 per tub for ice cream and there was only chocolate flavour available. Take your own refreshments with you would be my advice.

Fantastic night and everything you expect from the mighty Quo. What was a surprise was the amazing support act Cats in Space. They were probably the best support group I've ever seen. Downloaded their albums and I would pay just to see them in future.

Back to the Quo; as brilliant as always. Really enjoyed last year's acoustic show and sadly miss Rick. The band did a great job of carrying on and long may they continue.

To night out. Thank you Songkick.

Uriah Heep opened, and my god can they still sing and play! Those oldtimers knocked it out of the park....

Then Status Quo came in with medley after medley and just rocked it oldschool! The venue was also very well organized and everything went according to plan, because both bands were very punctual.

It was really worth it purchasing the golden circle ticket, because it wasn´t too expensive, but still very confortable and not completly full.

as i went with my partner i have been 2 times he has been 118 this band may be getting on a bit but they sure know how to rock and put on a good show starting with Caroline at 9 pm and finishing with burning bridges at 10.30 pm with lots in between amazing don't for get the warm up band cats in space a very good choice very good seats all in all 11 out of 10

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Status Quo is not due to play near your location currently - but they are scheduled to play 33 concerts across 5 countries in 2024-2025. View all concerts.

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Scarborough Open Air Theatre | Scarborough, UNITED KINGDOM

The piece hall | halifax, united kingdom, salt & tar, bootle canalside | liverpool, united kingdom, latest setlist, status quo on december 17, 2022.

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EmslandArena, Lingen, Germany

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The British boogie rock band founded by Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster have with a career spanning more than 50 years and countless hits.

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When Status Quo’s sixth studio album, Hello! , was first released nearly 40 years ago in September 1973 and jumped straight into the UK albums chart at No. 1 it was the culmination of persistence, constant gigging and a creative transformation the likes of which most groups would never attempt let alone survive. Almost unbelievably Status Quo are still going strong, still touring, still making the commercially successful, no-nonsense boogie-rock records that capture the imagination of air guitarists the world over. Many such axe was raised in tribute to the sad passing of founder member Rick Parfitt in late 2016.

If Status Quo was an American band they would be worshipped as Gods, as it is they are just good blokes, the very epitome of great British musicians who know how to put on a great show and make records that have sold many, many, millions.

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Their roots can be traced as far back as 1962 when, still at school, Mike (later to become Francis) Rossi, Alan Lancaster and Alan Key (who later left the group) formed a band called Scorpions that then transformed into a five-piece called Spectres. Almost five years later, during which time they’d secured a contract with Piccadilly Records, released three unsuccessful singles and played a summer residency at Butlins in Minehead, they became Traffic Jam for a couple of months and released another single that flopped. Clearly, a change of direction and fortune was needed if they were to continue – another guitarist Rick Parfitt was recruited, the name Status Quo was adopted, flower-power outfits were donned and at the end of February 1968 they suddenly had a No. 7 hit single with the psychedelically-tinged ‘Pictures Of Matchstick Men’. Momentarily in tune with the times, they had a follow-up No.8 hit with ‘Ice In The Sun’ in October but then faded almost as quickly as they’d bloomed, two albums and five subsequent singles in the next two years making very little impression on the charts or the record-buying public.

At the beginning of 1970 though there were signs of yet another change in direction. ‘Down The Dustpipe’, with its straightforward riff and wailing harmonica, was their most successful single since ‘Ice In The Sun’ and gave an indication of where Quo might be heading, and the album released later that year, Ma Kelly’s Greasy Spoon , reinforced that suspicion. One more personnel change – long-time keyboard player Roy Lynes had had enough – reduced them to the classic quartet of Rick Parfitt (guitar/vocals), Francis Rossi (guitar/vocals), Alan Lancaster (bass/vocals) and John Coghlan (drums) that during the next 10 years or so enjoyed truly enormous success. They embarked on an astonishing and unprecedented run of 11 consecutive Top 5 UK albums and only one of the 15 singles they released in that period failed to make the Top 20. A more dramatic turnaround in fortune is hard to imagine and they basically did it by adopting the simple expedient of stripping away all pretension, muso-instrumental doodling and unnecessary elaboration from their music, honing it, in its most primitive form, down to three chords, donning t-shirts, jeans and trainers in favour of kaftans, and then working their socks off.

Their new, raw and ecstatically infectious boogie-rock appealed immediately to an audience that wanted loud, solid, uncomplicated rock to dance to – music to have a good non-cerebral time to. The crowds who saw them at the 1972 Reading and Great Western Festivals will attest to that. Another album, Dog Of Two Head , released at the end of 1971, was just too early to benefit from this new impetus and then the band went a whole year (unheard of in those days) without troubling record retailers until they made another career-changing move and signed to Vertigo, ironically a label known more for its top-heavy roster of largely obscure prog-rock bands than as a home for no-nonsense, riff-based boogie. Nevertheless, in January 1973 they released what was Status Quo’s fifth album, Piledriver . A Top 5 album containing the No. 8 hit single ‘Paper Plane’, it nailed the formula that, with some tweaking and augmentation, the band adopted from thereon, and it truly marked the emergence of a powerful and lasting presence in rock music. The beauty of their recorded music was of course that, unlike a lot of their contemporaries, they could play it live and actually add something to it – energy, power, more guitar! – rather than delivering a diminished album listening experience. And audiences worldwide lapped it up.

Quick to ride the crest of this wave, in September of 1973 they released what many Quo aficionados still regard as their tour de force. Entirely self-written, self-produced and packaged in a stark black sleeve that mirrored the new minimalist approach to their music,  Hello! entered the UK album chart at No. 1 and has been in the intervening 40 years, a constant steady seller. The press was predictably a bit sniffy and condescending about it, as they have been with a lot of Quo’s recorded output – NME said mysteriously that the band were “slaves to a musical cliché rather than masters of it” although Jon Tiven in the US Zoo World opined more generously that the album was “pure chunka-chunka music  a la  Canned Heat , taken to a much higher level”. Hello! also contained the band’s first Top 5 single – ‘Caroline’, the first of a string of 1970s Top 10 hits – ‘Break The Rules’, ‘Down Down’, ‘Rain’, ‘Wild Side of Life’, John Fogerty ‘s ‘Rockin’ All Over The World’ and ‘Whatever You Want’ – that meant that Quo were supreme on three fronts – Top 5 albums, Top 10 singles and huge concert draw. Unbeatable.

The other 1970s albums were  Quo  (No. 2 in the album chart),  On The Level  (No. 1),  Blue For You  (No. 1),  Live!  (No. 3),  Rockin’ All Over The World  (No. 5),   If You Can’t Stand The Heat  (No. 3) and  Whatever You Want  (No. 3) and by the end of the decade their sound had become perceptively more polished, as outside producers were used, but without losing any of its edge or ability to deliver the primal, unfussy music that their fans adored and demanded.

The 1980s were a time of continued all-round success if on a less stable footing. 1981 saw the departure of founding member and drummer John Coghlan to be replaced by ex-Honeybus member Pete Kircher, and this line-up lasted until the band’s appearance at Live Aid in July 1985. Around that time they also recruited two ex- Climax Blues Band members – drummer Jeff Rich and bassist John ‘Rhino’ Edwards – plus keyboard player Andy Bown who had actually been an on-off member of the group since 1974 but for contractual reasons couldn’t until now be counted as such. Original bass player Alan Lancaster had already departed in less than amicable circumstances (the tried and trusted cliché “musical differences” was quoted – they’ve recently patched up these differences apparently) and actually tried to stop the band continuing as Status Quo. It would have taken more than that to stop the Quo juggernaut though and the band went on to record their  In The Army Now  album. This line-up was actually the longest lasting (1985 to 2000) and in that period enjoyed seven Top 20 albums and eight Top 20 singles. One personnel change since has seen Matt Letley replace Jeff Rich on drums but essentially the band has retained, through the dominant Parfitt/Rossi axis, the same persona and character.

To this day Status Quo continue to tour and play large, prestigious gala concerts, arenas and festivals on a regular basis and, almost as a mark of their rock-establishment status, Rossi and Parfitt were awarded OBEs in 2010 for services to music and their work for various charities. In 2011 they released their 29th studio album, Quid Pro Quo , and, almost as regular as clockwork, reached No. 10 in the album chart. Last year they announced a new venture that promises to raise a few eyebrows – the band’s first feature film, a comedy, starring themselves and set in Fiji! And on a more prosaic note last October a two-and-a-half-hour documentary film was released in cinemas and on DVD. Titled Hello Quo! it charts the band’s history in uncompromising fashion and does much to place their commercial, achievements into some kind of perspective within the framework of rock history. The film reveals some surprising devotees such as Paul Weller , Jeff Lynne and Brian May , who appreciate the talent and expertise it takes to distil and refine a sound and to remain true to a clear, uncluttered vision.

Sadly, the death of Richard John Parfitt, on Christmas Eve 2016, in Marbella, Spain – aged just 68 – is bound to disrupt the Status Quo modus operandi. He was such an integral part of the sound, the look and the fun that a Quo sans Rick is hard to fathom. For the time being, we return to Aquostic (Stripped Bare) and Aquostic II: That’s A Fact , the last studio albums to feature this remarkable musician who gave so many such pleasure.

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STATUS QUO Release the new ‘Official Archive Series’ starting with ‘Vol. 1 – Live In Amsterdam’

12 August 2023 The Rockpit

The iconic Status Quo has release the first volume of the new ‘Official Archive Series‘ brought to you by earMUSIC. ‘ Vol. 1 – Live In Amsterdam’ is available from today, 11 August 2023, on strictly limited and numbered CD and vinyl editions, as well as on digital formats. As with each forthcoming release in this series, this official and fully endorsed recording features a carefully curated selection of iconic Status Quo performances, including classic hits spanning their extensive catalogue, deep cuts, and fan favourites. Each track is a testament to the band’s enduring popularity and musical prowess.

The next volume will be released in November and was recorded in London, so keep your eyes peeled!

The ‘Official Archive Series’ will offer exceptional sound quality and great packaging throughout, featuring photography by Christie Goodwin. The Series has been freshly mixed and mastered by Eike Freese and Laurin Halberstadt at Chameleon Studios Hamburg.

‘Vol. 1 – Live In Amsterdam’ was recorded in the Dutch capital on 19 October 2010 on the band’s ‘Pictures Exposed World Tour’. The setlist at the Heineken Hall was representative of the rest of the ‘Pictures Exposed World Tour’ with the line-up of Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Andrew Bown, John ‘Rhino’ Edwards and Matt Letley delivering an avalanche of Quo classics, as befitted a tour celebrating ‘40 Years of Hits’.

Get it and listen to it here: https://StatusQuo.lnk.to/ArchiveVol1PR

The first release sets the bar high for what is due to follow, but each album in the Status Quo ‘Official Archive Series’ captures the raw energy and infectious enthusiasm of a Status Quo live performance; no matter where in the world. With their trademark sound, powerful guitar riffs, and irresistible hooks, the band delivers an unadulterated rock ’n’ roll experience, and this collectible series is a great way to celebrate one of the greatest live acts ever.

More information: www.ear-music.net/status-quo-catalogue

Formats: Ltd. 2CD Digipak Ltd. 3LP (Black Vinyl/180g/Gatefold) Digital

Track listing:

• Something ‘Bout You Baby I Like
• Don’t Drive My Car
• Softer Ride
• Beginning Of The End
• Hold You Back
• The Proposing Medley
• The Oriental
• Creepin’ Up On You
• Living On An Island
• In The Army Now
• Roll Over Lay Down
• Whatever You Want
• Rockin’ All Over The World
• Junior’s Wailing
• Rock ‘N’ Roll Music / Bye Bye Johnny

Vinyl Side Split: A: 1-4; B: 5-8 C: 9-11; D: 12-15 E: 16-18; F: 19-21

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Status Quo set to release twin live releases in August

  Status Quo are to release a pair of ‘twin’ live albums, ‘Down Down & Dignified At The Royal Albert Hall’ and ‘Down Down & Dirty At Wacken’ on 17 August through earMUSIC. These releases […]

Status Quo – Aquostic II – That’s a Fact

01  That’s A Fact 02  Roll Over Lay Down 03  Dear John 04  In The Army Now 05  Hold You Back 06  One For The Road 07  Backwater 08  One Of Everything 09  Belavista Man […]

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"The nearest thing to Quo you'll ever get - fantastic!" - Jeff Rich (Status Quo more...

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The British Invasion that failed: why Slade, Status Quo, the Sweet and Dr. Feelgood never conquered the USA

Slade’s Noddy Holder and Jim Lea join Status Quo’s Francis Rossi, the Sweet’s Andy Scott and Dr. Feelgood’s Wilko Johnson (in one of his final interviews) to explain what did – and didn’t – go down in the ’70s

The influence of American music on British acts – and vice versa – is well documented and has been going on since the birth of rock ’n’ roll in the ’50s. The tables were turned in the ’60s with the British invasion, led by the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and the Who. But since the ’70s, it’s fair to say that the influence going back and forth across the Atlantic has been evenly balanced. 

In spite of the global cross-pollination of musical influences, there remain acts who are massively successful in their native territories yet fail to achieve very much of note any further afield. Many British acts have achieved almost global dominance yet have failed to score more than a handful of hits, at best, in the United States. 

From a sales point of view, the figures speak for themselves: Status Quo are still active and have racked up total sales of approximately 118 million. Slade split up in 1992, having scored sales of more than 50 million worldwide since their first hit in 1970. Sweet were glam-pop superstars in the early ’70s, scoring an amazing run of 16 hit singles between 1971 and ’78, with album sales in the region of 35 million. 

Dr. Feelgood’s sales were relatively modest compared to the three previous chart heavyweights, but as precursors to the punk explosion in Britain, they heralded a vital new approach to making music. Songs cut to the bone, running at three minutes or shorter, and with an image that was lifted by numerous punk acts. 

Their influence spread across the Atlantic to America, when Blondie’s drummer, Clem Burke, brought their debut album, Down by the Jetty , back to New York with him in 1975. It became glued to turntables at parties with all the prime movers on the NYC punk scene in attendance – and taking notes.

Slade, Quo and Sweet all came up through the same club circuit in the U.K. in the ’60s. They knew each other from the numerous occasions when their paths would cross, and all served their time honing their songwriting chops and learning how to work a hostile crowd. 

Dr. Feelgood came up through the U.K. pub rock circuit, which was largely based in London, and saw an explosion of back-to-basics rock ’n’ roll and vintage Stonesy R&B, played in sweaty barrooms to rabid punters, desperate for a fix of something other than the glam pop excesses of the early ’70s or the tired old prog and pomp rock dinosaurs. If this sounds like a familiar tale – the birth of punk – you’re right. 

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Except for one key point: It wasn’t the likes of the Sex Pistols and the Clash who started that ball rolling; it was the brutal, relentless bands such as Dr. Feelgood, and their contemporaries, Ducks Deluxe, the Count Bishops and Eddie and the Hotrods who paved the way.

Slade had formed from the coalition of two bands, the N’Betweens and the Vendors. Having released a handful of singles between 1966 and ’69, the band signed to a new label, Fontana, changed their name to Ambrose Slade and released their first album, Beginnings , in 1969. 

The album, which was made up of covers of the American hard rock acts such as the Amboy Dukes and Frank Zappa, wasn’t successful, but the arrival of new manager (and former Animals bassist) Chas Chandler, the man who guided Jimi Hendrix to stardom, changed everything. 

He took over the reins, instructed the band to start writing their own material and watched them explode into the most successful singles band in the U.K. between 1971 and 1974, outselling everyone from David Bowie to T. Rex. They even became the first band since the Beatles to score a single entering the charts at Number 1, a feat they repeated three times. 

The secret to Slade’s success was their songs, penned by singer Noddy Holder and bass player Jim Lea, who was the musical brain behind the band. A virtuoso violinist as a schoolboy, he abandoned the staid world of orchestral ensembles for the hedonistic joys of the three-minute classic. 

Lea wrote all the music and often came up with key phrases for choruses and titles, leaving singer Holder to fill in the gaps with bawdy tales and a mirrored top hat full of double entendres…

Piledrivers

Slade made their first earnest attempt to try to break open the world’s biggest market – the U.S. – in 1974. Holder remembers how different the American audiences were from what they’d been used to everywhere else in the world.

“It was a very strange experience,” he says. “Half the audience was out of it; they were just stoned out of their trees. We were an out-and-out rock ’n’ roll band trying to get audience participation going, but the audience just didn’t have any energy. Visually, I think we probably looked like four spacemen up there.” [Laughs] 

The Americans didn’t get us at all. Instead of playing to a rabble-raising crowd, all you could smell was pot Jim Lea

Lea agrees: “The Americans didn’t get us at all. Instead of playing to a rabble-raising crowd, all you could smell was pot. We were really big on getting the crowd involved live. We really made that a big part of our act from day one – maybe we even invented it. When we got to America, no one was doing that, really pulling them in and getting them to be a part of the show, singing and stamping and clapping along. Nod was fantastic at that.”

Interestingly, there were plenty of key figures in the audience taking notes, including future members of Mötley Crüe and Kiss. Noddy again: “Gene Simmons and Nikki Sixx told us they’d seen us live when they were younger. Kiss were a perfect example of taking our thing to the nth degree – people were waiting for a change, and that worked well for Kiss. Then there was the MTV thing, which didn’t exist before. We’d have been perfect MTV fodder.”

Status Quo, to this day one of the biggest bands in the world, had a couple of minor American hits at the tail end of the ’60s with Pictures of Matchstick Men in 1968, six years after they formed in 1962. 

That single and its followup hit, Ice in the Sun , were very much of their time – a mix of light psychedelia and pop that bore little resemblance to their later blues ’n’ boogie approach, which has served them well since Down the Dustpipe broke into the U.K. charts in 1970. 

Quo realized that all they really wanted to do was wind their amps up to the max and rock out, abandoning the pop elements and replacing them with their own particular blend of heads-down, no-nonsense, boogie. The cover of the band’s 1972 album, Piledriver , tells you all you need to know, without even needing to hear a note of their music. 

Quo managed the neat trick of keeping the blues and rock elements of their music real, while also knowing their way around a memorable melody. The riff masters have scored an amazing total of more that 70 hits to date – and counting.

Founding member, guitarist and singer Francis Rossi remembers their first forays into the U.S. circuit. “When we first went to America, I remember we went to this Travelodge in La Brea [in Los Angeles], which was a shithole, really, but light years ahead of what we’d been staying in in England – 24-hour TV, beautiful showers, etc., but the funniest thing was when the phone rang in the room and Rick [Parfitt, rhythm guitarist] and I just looked at each other and went, ‘Fuck, it’s just like on the TV.’ [Laughs]

Everything was almost a little intimidating to a degree – the accents, the full-on confidence everybody seemed to have Francis Rossi

“Everything about America was so wow, you know? For most bands going over to America in the early ’70s, it was the first time we’d ever been there, so all we knew was what we’d seen on TV and movies. It wasn’t really that common to go to the States for a holiday back then. 

“The first time we went to California, we just thought, ‘Wow, for fuck’s sake!’ I loved it, but you certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be poor in California in 1973. [Laughs] What that meant was that everything was almost a little intimidating to a degree – the accents, the full-on confidence everybody seemed to have.

“I think, though, with hindsight, that if we’d had someone based over there, working for us, he could’ve given us a shakeup, maybe said, ‘Come on, you fucks, pull it together,’ you know?”

Rossi thinks that’s one of the key reasons Quo didn’t break the U.S. market. “Our manager told us we needed management in the U.S. When the idea was presented to me back in about 1971, I didn’t realize the importance of having representation in the States and rejected the suggestion. 

“Unfortunately, what that meant was that whilst we were getting support and promotion during the time we spent in America, we had nobody working for us at all when we weren’t there. I think that happened to a degree for Slade and the Faces as well. 

“There was also the well-known fact in the ’70s that if you wanted to get radio play you very often had to sweeten the deal with a couple of grams of coke for the DJs when you gave them the album – all those kinds of things that we didn’t have in place. I think, looking back, we should have been prepared to give away a percentage of our management for some U.S. representation, [because] if things had taken off, it would have paid for itself many times over.”

The Sweet Life

Sweet were ’70s glam-rock superstars around the world and had more success than Slade and Quo stateside, but nothing like the level they enjoyed in dozens of other countries. They had one of the strongest images at a time when British pop music was overflowing with outrageous, over-the-top acts. 

Singer Brian Connolly cut a distinctive figure, and with his long blond hair, he was an instant teen heartthrob. The rest of the band adopted the glam look wholesale, with bass player Steve Priest unafraid to take things to the extreme, even dressing up as a camp Adolf Hitler on one memorable TV performance. 

Guitarist Andy Scott, the last man standing, as the three other band members have now passed on, continues to tour with a new lineup of Sweet, playing festivals all over Europe.

Scott remembers that Sweet spurned the first chance they had to crack America for a deliberate career-driven reason. “ Little Willy reached Number 3 in 1973, but we didn’t go to America to promote it, as we were advised that if we did, we’d forever be associated with that song, and it would probably limit our future opportunities,” he says. “Following that, Blockbuster just about scraped into the top hundred, but then Ballroom Blitz broke the top 10 again. 

“We didn’t travel over to work in America until 1975, when Capitol, our American label, released a different version of our Desolation Boulevard album, which did really well. It included Fox on the Run , which reached Number 5 in the U.S. charts and also included Ballroom Blitz from a couple of years earlier. It made for a strong album as there were quite a few hits on it from the U.K. and America.”

We had quite a big stage show, with films projected behind us, a huge lighting show, a drum solo... and a 6-foot-high penis that would spray the audience when we did our version of J.J. Cale’s Cocaine Andy Scott

Sweet committed a lot of time to touring America in the mid-’70s. “We did a warm-up show in Seattle then did our first really big date at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in 1975,” Scott says. “It sold out in minutes and there was a huge buzz about us. We got a fantastic response. 

“We followed that with a headlining tour. When we were playing America in ’75 and ’76, we had quite a big stage show, with films projected behind us, a huge lighting show, a drum solo where Mick [Tucker] would play against himself on the screen and a 6-foot-high penis that would spray the audience when we did our version of J.J. Cale’s Cocaine . I think if we’d been taking that show out six or seven years later, things could have been quite different for us.”

Nikki Sixx has often mentioned the influence Sweet in particular had on his vision for the kind of band he wanted Mötley Crüe to be – a blond singer fronting a band with three black-haired musicians. 

“Yeah. I was told, and I’m not certain it’s true, that when [Sixx] placed the advert for a singer for the band, it said, ‘Glam rock band in L.A. Wanted: lead singer – Brian Connolly, please’ – or words to that effect,” Scott says. 

There can be no doubt from a musical and visual perspective that the Crüe of Too Fast for Love (1981) clearly drew a huge inspiration from the Sweet, although perhaps the addition of a hint more metal was the extra ingredient that was required to take them to stadium-filling rockers. That and the push of MTV, which is something Holder thinks could’ve made a huge difference for Slade. 

“We were ahead of our time,” he says. “The visuals and everything – we would have been perfect for MTV.” Scott is in total agreement: “MTV would’ve been a game-changer for us when you think about how visual we were, with Brian’s image and Steve’s outrageous visuals.” 

Dr. Feelgood came along after the glam years that saw Slade and Sweet explode into megastars, and just before the punk explosion. The visual chemistry between the band was beyond intense. Lee Brilleaux, who died in 1994 from lymphoma at age 41, had an aggressive vocal style that was mirrored in his image, looking permanently on the edge, ready to do some serious damage to anybody who might want to disagree with him. 

Guitarist Wilko Johnson’s feverish darting across the stage would occasionally be punctuated by leaps into the air, and the rhythm section looked like a pair of gangsters from London’s East End. Johnson, who we interviewed not long before his November 2022 death at age 75, recalled that everything was in place for the Feelgoods to crack the U.S. market. 

“When we signed with United Artists, our deal was for everywhere in the world except America,” he said. “We were really making an impact and consequently we attracted a lot of attention from some American record labels. 

“The key moment was when we played the big party for Led Zeppelin after they’d done their five Earl’s Court [London] shows in May 1975, and Robert Plant had asked if we’d play the huge party afterwards. There were a lot of big names from the American industry there. Ahmet Ertegun was really excited by us and was interested in doing something, and CBS eventually signed us after that. 

“We’d released our first album, Down by the Jetty , at the start of 1975 and we’d release our second, Malpractice , at the end of the year. Next thing we knew, we were flown over to their annual convention to play a spot. They were all into us and were planning to really get behind us as a band.”

Meeting SRV in Austin

Plans were set in motion to expose American audiences to the unparalleled might of the live Feelgoods experience. “We actually did two fairly substantial American tours in 1976 after we played at the convention,” Johnson said. “We played all over the States, including the so-called hip venues like CBGB and the Roxy. 

“We found, when we got to America, that we were meeting a lot of bands who knew our music and were really into us like the Ramones and Talking Heads. It looked like things couldn’t fail for us. [Laughs] 

The thing about Down by the Jetty was I fought for us to play it live, in the studio, with no instrumental overdubs, and I also insisted we do it in mono. My ego was unrestrained at that time Wilko Johnson

“I remember we did get to see some of our heroes. I saw Jimmy Reed at Antone’s in Austin with the Fabulous Thunderbirds backing him. I remember meeting Jimmie Vaughan’s brother, Stevie Ray, who said, ‘Aren’t you in Dr. Feelgood?’ and asking us about Down by the Jetty , being amazed that we recorded it in mono. 

“It kind of showed the reach that album had. The thing about that album was I fought for us to play it live, in the studio, with no instrumental overdubs, and I also insisted we do it in mono. My ego was unrestrained at that time. [Laughs]

“Once we’d just released Stupidity , our live album that went straight to Number 1 in the U.K. in 1976, CBS wanted us to make our next album, which would turn out to be my last for the band, Sneakin’ Suspicion , with an American market in mind. They found us an American producer, Bert DeCouteaux, who’d worked with a lot of great artists. 

“They didn’t release the first three albums, so the intention was to launch us with Sneakin’ Suspicion to the American audience. We were getting a fantastic response everywhere we played in America. I can remember when we played the Bottom Line in New York it was exceptional. 

“I think our timing was perfect, getting in on the punk/new wave movement; we’d been influential to both in the U.K. and, it turned out, in New York as well.”

Inter-band problems and some unfortunate management decisions started to undermine the band, and surefire success started to look like a distant dream. 

“One part of one of our tours was where we were supposed to support Kiss at a stadium show in Mobile, Alabama. We weren’t fans of Kiss at all. [Laughs] Something happened at the venue with our manager and the band or their management, and he came back to tell us we weren’t doing the show. 

“I remember CBS turning up and their guy was absolutely beside himself – he couldn’t believe we were pulling out. [Laughs] The funniest part of that experience was that our next date was scheduled for Memphis, and I was sitting there pondering the whole fuckup when I realized, as a huge Dylan fan, that I was stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis blues again.” [Laughs] 

Things took an even worse turn soon afterwards. “Unfortunately, things weren’t happy in the band. I was freaking out a bit because we were doing all this touring, but I was also under pressure to come up with the songs for the fourth album. There was a lot of friction in the band, and the divide came down to the rest of the band against me. 

“Everything was boiling over when we were recording Sneakin’ Suspicion at Rockfield Studios in Wales. Things came to a head when they were all drunk and doing coke and I was speeding, and by the morning it came to the point where they threw me out of the band. 

“Naturally, CBS were freaking out then, as they’d got rid of the band’s only songwriter. [Laughs] They’d put a lot of money into us, and they could see everything was falling apart. Everything was pointing in the right direction, but the band imploded. By the time the dust had settled, they had a new guitarist, but the momentum was gone, and I formed a band called the Solid Senders, which I don’t have fond memories of.”

Coincidentally, at the same time Dr. Feelgood were attempting to make headway in America, Slade had decided to spend a couple of years living there, thinking the only way to really make an impact was to apply the same intense touring workload that had enabled them to dominate the U.K. and most of the world. 

Holder: “Our U.S. manager said we need to spend more time touring the States, so we made that decision to spend two years of solid gigging in America. 

It improved us as a band because we had to work hard to win over U.S. audiences in some areas, but we really were the wrong sort of band for a lot of places. The East Coast and Midwest were great, but the West Coast was just too laid back, too much into the singer/songwriter vibe. We were considered too heavy for AM radio, but FM was playing our album stuff, which was weird as we were considered a singles act.”

Quo and Slade played some dates together in America in the mid-’70s. Noddy remembers: “Francis Rossi said that if we weren’t careful we’d end up losing our home audience. He told me that Quo were going back to the U.K. because it seemed too risky to endanger their success everywhere else for the sake of cracking America.” 

We thought what if we spend X years chasing that American dollar and we don’t break through, we could end up losing some of what we already had Francis Rossi

Rossi remembers the conversation: “I did think there was a danger of them losing their core support if they spent too much time away from the U.K.” In fact, Slade’s sales and chart placings did start to slip at that time, but whether that was due to their absence or just the changing tastes of a fickle record-buying public is impossible to say. 

“I remember the notion was that you’d work a territory back and forwards and then move on to another then consolidate what you’d done,” Rossi says.

“I was looking at a map of California and I thought we aren’t even going to live long enough to do justice to California – it’s that big. [Laughs] We had a discussion as a band that we were doing really well everywhere else in the world, making great money, that we thought what if we spend X years chasing that American dollar and we don’t break through, we could end up losing some of what we already had.”

When Status Quo opened up Live Aid in 1985, it seemed the perfect chance to try to capitalize on their higher profile. Rossi recalls: “Live Aid didn’t make any difference. We didn’t even really want to do it, so we just said we’d go on first to get it out of the way, but ironically, that opening clip was what got shown all around the world time and again on news channels.

“It didn’t have any impact on our sales – not that we were doing it for that reason anyway – we just did it as a favor. If we’d been thinking about capitalizing on opportunities I suppose we could have done some stuff in America on the back of it, but that never entered our minds.

“Having had this discussion, though, you’ve really made me think whether we should have gone back and tried to have another go at America. I know there are a lot of bands in America, rock and punk, that have told me they really liked what we did, and I always have to ask them how they even knew our music.” [Laughs]

Slade returned to the U.K., having to finally admit defeat on their quest to replicate their worldwide success in America. They found that the changed music scene in the U.K. in the mid-’70s, with the U.K. in the grip of punk, wasn’t as welcoming as the scene they’d left a couple of years earlier. 

“I don’t know if it was our absence, or just that things had changed so much in the U.K.,” Holder says. “There was a whole disco explosion as well, which really wasn’t something that had anything to do with a band like Slade.” Lea agrees: “I think that’s right, in a way. 

“When there’s musical uncertainty it always seems to turn to dance music. With a band you get a group of guys together with personalities, you know, but the dance/disco thing was very producer-orientated. Things weren’t noisy anymore. The Bay City Rollers did really well in the U.K. and in America, and I suppose they kept a small bit of that glam spark going – but tastes did change.”

Sweet found that while they had a degree of success in America, sales back home were slowing down for them as much as they were for Slade. Unfortunately for Sweet, relationships in the band also started to fall apart, which hastened their demise. Connolly left in 1979, which was a hard blow to sustain, but then when Priest left in 1981, it caused the band to temporarily split. 

“Ed Leffler, who was a well-known figure who’d worked with the Beatles and the Osmonds (and later Van Halen), managed us when Desolation Boulevard came out and we were doing quite well, really,” Scott says.

“What he said, we did, because we had a lot of faith in him, but that ended up to our detriment, because by the end of the decade we had fuck all left in our pockets because we’d spent too much money touring. We tried to pull things together again a few times over the years with Steve, but he never really wanted to commit to playing.”

Having had this discussion, you’ve really made me think whether we should have gone back and tried to have another go at America Francis Rossi

If there is a common theme amongst why Slade, Sweet and the Feelgoods didn’t take America by storm in the way that they’d become accustomed to elsewhere, it seems to be a matter of bad luck – or simply bad timing. 

For Slade and Sweet, the arrival of MTV 10 years sooner was probably all it would’ve taken. For the Feelgoods, relations had deteriorated too far by the time the opportunity arrived. For Status Quo, a pragmatic decision was taken that has perhaps been proven to be the correct choice with hindsight, as they continue to fill stadiums around the world. 

Rossi is somewhat rueful when he looks back, though: “I think, again with hindsight, that it was probably a mistake to opt out of trying to crack America and continue to work the rest of the world. 

“I guess we possibly worked the other markets where we were doing very well to death, but it’s easy to look back and see what you should have done differently. We were doing exceptionally well everywhere else, and of course we all had families, and security is important to some degree, and we decided to take things the way we did.”

The four bands discussed here are arguably the four most important British bands to fail to really make an impact in America, but there are many more acts worthy of further investigation, including the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Wizzard, Cockney Rebel, Mud, Japan, the Jam, Ian Dury and the Blockheads, the Stranglers, the Buzzcocks and the Specials, to name just a handful.

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Mark is a freelance writer with particular expertise in the fields of ‘70s glam, punk, rockabilly and classic ‘50s rock and roll. He sings and plays guitar in his own musical project, Star Studded Sham, which has been described as sounding like the hits of T. Rex and Slade as played by Johnny Thunders. He had several indie hits with his band, Private Sector and has worked with a host of UK punk luminaries. Mark also presents themed radio shows for Generating Steam Heat. He has just completed his first novel, The Bulletproof Truth , and is currently working on the sequel.

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