YMMV / Status Quo

• And You Thought It Would Fail: There were initially some doubts that they would be able to make a good album without Rick Parfitt. Indeed, one of the reasons for making Backbone was to prove that the death of a core member did not mean the death of Quo. Fortunately, it ended up being one of their best-received albums since Heavy Traffic.
• Audience-Alienating Era: Many of their fans agree that one occurred, but when it began is the subject of much debate. Was it when they stopped producing the music themselves? Or was it when John Coghlan left and the Frantic Four ceased to be? Or was it the 80s and/or 90s in general?
  • Francis Rossi argues that two occurred. The first happened in the '80s, when he was at the height of his cocaine habit, which resulted in albums like Ain't Complaining. The second was in the late '90s, and had more to do with the band's image than their music — their new manager, David Walker, used his PR expertise to boost the band's public profile like never before, but as the '90s dragged on, Rossi felt that this popularity was coming at the expense of their credibility as a band.
• Awesome Music: Start from "Pictures of Matchstick Men" and go from there. Or better yet, go here.
• Broken Base: It's generally agreed that there are two main types of Quo fan. There are those who will listen all types of Quo, regardless of style or lineup. Then there are those who only consider the heavy, Hard Rock of the "Frantic Four" to be proper, pure Quo and aren't keen on anything made after the late 70's when the band started experimenting with synths and different production techniques.
  • The Aquostic album was already a divisive subject, but the release of Aquostic II is even more so. There are those who would be happy to hear another one given the unexpected success of the first one, and those who think the concept would have worked better as a one-off and claim the band are just milking the idea now. And of course there are some who were against the idea from the start.
  • The decision to carry on without Rick has not gone down well in certain sections of the fanbase. By contrast, others have responded by arguing that Rick would have wanted to give the fans a show whether he was with the band or not.
• Covered Up:
  • Few are likely to know that "Rockin' All Over the World" was originally a John Fogerty song. Or that "In The Army Now" was originally recorded by the Dutch duo Bolland & Bolland. Or that "Something 'Bout You Baby I Like" was originally a hit for Tom Jones.
  • Hank Thompson’s "The Wild Side of Life" is a well-known song in its own right, but casual listeners are likely to be more familiar with Status Quo’s version (which drops the "the" from the title).
  • "The Party Ain’t Over Yet" was written by occasional collaborator John David and is best known as the lead single from the 2005 Quo album of the same name, but it was originally recorded by country singer Patty Loveless in 1997.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: The Quo of the '60s was very much a Psychedelic Rock band (as can be heard on their first two albums, Picturesque Matchstickable Messages and Spare Parts), until they switched to their characteristic hard boogie rock sound in the early '70s.
• Epic Riff: Many, many of their songs contain these.
  • Special mention would have to go to "Caroline", "Paper Plane", "Whatever You Want" and "Down Down".
  • That instantly recognisable riff from "Pictures Of Matchstick Men".
• Fan Nickname: If you just say "Quo" people will know who you mean. The classic Rossi/Parfitt/Lancaster/Coghlan line-up also got "The Frantic Four".
• Funny Moments: Alan Lancaster couldn’t appear in the promo video for “Rockin’ All Over the World” because he was in Australia at the time and refused to fly back to the UK. The solution? Replace him with a life-sized puppet.
• Moment of Awesome: Opening Live Aid in 1985 with "Rockin' All Over The World".
• Narm: The squealing synths on "Going Down Town Tonight".
• Narm Charm: “The Power of Rock”, a fun (if somewhat dated) stab at ‘80s arena rock with the added bonus of a gorgeous guitar solo.
• Signature Song: Most would argue "Rockin' All Over The World", despite it not actually being their song, but also "In The Army Now", which is a Black Sheep Hit and Covered Up song as well, and "Whatever You Want", are serious contenders.
  • Besides their three main contenders, the songs that are the most well-remembered are "Pictures of Matchstick Men", "What You're Proposing", "Down Down" and "Caroline".
  • Then, if you want to go by album...
    • Picturesque Matchstickable Messages: "Pictures of Matchstick Men".
    • Dog of Two Head: "Gerdundula", which is surprisingly popular despite its failure when released as a single.
    • Piledriver: "Paper Plane".
    • Hello: "Caroline", and not far behind "Roll over Lay Down".
    • Quo: "Break the Rules".
    • On the Level: "Down Down".
    • Blue for You: "Rain" and "Mystery Song".
    • Rockin' All Over the World: the famously Covered Up Title Track.
    • If You Can't Stand the Heat: "Again and Again".
    • Whatever You Want: the Title Track.
    • Just Supposin': "What You're Proposing".
    • Never Too Late: "Something 'Bout You Baby I Like".
    • 1+9+8+2: "Dear John".
    • Back to Back: "Marguerita Time".
    • In the Army Now: again, the famously Covered Up Title Track. The other singles from the album did see kind of a revival recently.
    • Ain't Complaining: "Burning Bridges" - also the only track on the album that is still fairly well-known as well as the only one Rossi seems to like, since the album is a general Creator Backlash.
    • Don't Stop: "Fun, Fun, Fun".
    • Under the Influence: "Twenty Wild Horses" - surprisingly, while not a big hit, it lately became one of the most popular songs by the band among fans.
    • Famous in the Last Century: their Cover Version of "Old Time Rock 'n' Roll".
    • Non-album singles: Their covers of "Wild Side of Life" and, especially, "The Wanderer".
    • Medleys: "The Anniversary Waltz", which was the band's last top 10 single.
• Squick: Rossi has no problem talking about the time his cocaine-ravaged septum fell out in the shower. For some time after, a party trick of his would be to stick a cotton bud through the hole.
• Sweet Dreams Fuel: "All the Reasons".
• They Changed It, Now It Sucks!: "It just isn't Quo" seems to be a common response to any changes in direction or sound. See Broken Base above.

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