They began as a rock and roll freakbeat band called The Spectres. By 1967, with very little commercial success, they discovered psychedelia and changed their name to Traffic (later Traffic Jam, to avoid confusion with Steve Winwood's Traffic.) At this time the line-up also included organist Roy Lynes and drummer John Coghlan. Late in 1967 they recruited second guitarist Rick Parfitt and became The Status Quo, scoring Top 10 singles with Pictures Of Matchstick Men and Ice in The Sun. "Pictures of Matchstick Men" remains the only Top 40 hit single the group has ever charted in the United States. They have never achieved the same level of success there, that they have enjoyed in their home country.
After their second album Spare Parts they decided to change into a heavy boogie rock band. During the seventies they became one of the UK's leading rock bands, gaining a faithful following due to their excellent live gigs. They showed a great amount of energy during this decade and in the early 80s. They and are best known for songs from this era such as Paper Plane (1972), Caroline (1973), Down Down (1975), John Fogerty's Rockin' All Over The World (1977) and Whatever You Want (1979). Down Down topped the UK charts in January 1975 (their only British No. 1 single to date).
Lynes left in 1971, to be replaced initially by guest keyboard players on album, including Jimmy Horowitz and John Parker, and later on a more permanent basis on record and stage by ex-The Herd and Judas Jump member Andy Bown, though as he was contracted as a solo artist with EMI, he was not credited as a full-time member until 1982. Coghlan left in late 1981, to be replaced by Pete Kircher from 1960s band Honeybus. This short-lived lineup played its last gig in 1984 at the Milton Keynes Bowl, and reformed briefly to open the Live Aid charity event at Wembley in July 1985.
That year Rossi recorded and released two solo singles with longtime writing partner Bernie Frost. Parfitt was also working on a solo album which is still unreleased, although some tracks have been re-recorded by Status Quo and released as 'B' sides. Bass player John Edwards and drummer Jeff Rich, both ex-Judie Tzuke Band and Climax Blues Band, assisted Parfitt in the studio.
In the summer of 1985 Rossi, Parfitt and Bown, along with Edwards and Rich started work on a new album. Lancaster, who was living in Australia at the time, took out a legal injunction to stop the band using the Status Quo name on any records. The injunction was lifted after a court hearing in January 1986. Lancaster had had increasing musical differences with the group, notably during the sessions for the 1983 album Back to Back over two tracks which became hit singles for the group around that time. He had written Ol' Rag Blues, but was angered when the producers chose to release a version with Rossi singing lead vocal in preference to the one sung by himself, and he objected to Marguerita Time, which he thought unduly corny and too pop-oriented for them. He remained in Australia, forming a band called Party Boys, who had no success in Britain.
The commercially successful In The Army Now album was released in 1986, and the band continues to this day with the revised personnel. Rich left in 2000 and was replaced by Matthew Letley. Andrew Bown took a year off at the same time for family reasons and was replaced on stage by Paul Hirsh, formerly of Voyager.
According to Songfacts.com, Quo's 29th studio album, Quid Pro Quo, was released in a deluxe format exclusively at Tesco on 30 May 2011. The regular edition was released elsewhere a week later on 7th June. The LP debuted at #10 in the UK charts, the band's best chart placing for an original album since Don't Stop peaked at #2 in 1996.
Although Quo still release new material every few years, recent years have seen them release a series of greatest hits compilations and covers albums. One of the band's most recent original albums, Heavy Traffic, shows a return to classic form not seen since the late 1970s.
Status Quo have often been characterized, perhaps unfairly, as producing very simple songs, always in the same format: 4/4 rhythm, three chord structure. However, the recordings from their first decade demonstrate a diversity in musical style and complexity to rival most of the late 60s UK bands, and several of their singles and album tracks from later show considerable subtlety, not least the mainly acoustic 1979 single Living On An Island, and the 1980 album track, later a single, Rock'n'Roll, which is ironically one of the least rock'n'roll-like songs they have ever recorded.
They have a loyal group of fans in the United Kingdom, where they have enjoyed more hits than any other group in rock and roll history (over 60 as of mid-2005), as well as a big following in Europe, notably in The Netherlands.
In September 2005 a contestant on the long-running BBC television quiz programme Mastermind chose Status Quo as his specialist subject. That same year they took part in the long running ITV soap opera Coronation Street in a storyline which involved them being sued by the layabout Les Battersby.
In December 2005 it was announced that Parfitt was undergoing tests for throat cancer. All subsequent dates of the UK tour were cancelled as a result. However on 20th December it was further announced that the growths found in Parfitt's throat were benign and had been removed.
Quo have even been the subject of a Doctoral Thesis, purporting to demonstrate that their music composition skills could be favourably compared to the likes of the classical music composers, such as Beethoven!
In Autumn 2008 German techno legend Scooter released new single Jump that rock together with Status Quo.
On 1 February 2016, it was officially announced that Status Quo, in addition to the spring and summer dates already scheduled, would tour Europe starting in October. The final dates would take place in the UK towards the end of the year, after which the group would retire from playing 'electric' tours.
On 28 October 2016, Rick Parfitt permanently retired from live performances after suffering a heart attack earlier the same year. On 24 December 2017, he died in hospital in Marbella, Spain as a result of severe infection, after suffering an injury to his shoulder. Parfitt's funeral was held at Woking Crematorium on 19 January 2017. Irish guitarist Richie Malone, who had substituted for Parfitt during some 2016 live shows, took his place on rhythm guitar.
I'm Giving Up My Worryin'
Status Quo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It doesn't fit my way
I've had enough of worrying
And messing up my day
Somebody made me laugh today, it changed the way I am
He terrorised the neighbourhood so I can take the blame
If I take a look, just a little look, I know I'll be too late
Little, little, just a little late
I'm giving up my worrying
It doesn't fit my way
I've had enough of worrying
And messing up my day
It doesn't help me listening to everything I hear
It doesn't make no difference, it never is too clear
I saw a lookalike today, he was a lot to see
He was familiar anyway, he looked a lot like me
Shall I take a look, just a little look, it isn't very clear
Oh every time I look, if I take a look
Little, little, just a little late
I'm giving up my worrying
It doesn't fit my way
I've had enough of worrying
And messing up my day
It doesn't help me listening to everything I hear
It doesn't make no difference, it never is too clear
I'm giving up my worrying
I've had enough of worrying
I'm giving up my worrying
I've had enough of worrying
I'm giving up my worrying
I've had enough of worrying
The lyrics to Status Quo's song "I'm Giving Up My Worrying" describe the singer's decision to stop worrying and focus on living his life. He realizes that worrying only brings him down and ruins his day. The chorus repeats this mantra of giving up worrying as it doesn't fit his way of life. The verses add to this theme by providing examples of things that the singer has seen or heard that cause worry or confusion. For example, somebody making him laugh changed his perspective, and someone who looks like him causes him to question what he sees. However, he ultimately decides that he doesn't need to worry about these things and that it doesn't help to listen to everything he hears.
The song has a laid-back, almost jazzy feel to it that matches its message of not worrying. The instrumentation and the singer's delivery are both very relaxed, and the song's melody is easygoing. The repeated chorus acts as a sort of mantra or meditation, reinforcing the singer's decision to let go of his worries.
Line by Line Meaning
I'm giving up my worrying
I'm deciding to stop worrying
It doesn't fit my way
Worrying doesn't align with my lifestyle
I've had enough of worrying
I've gotten tired of worrying
And messing up my day
Worrying ruins my day
Somebody made me laugh today, it changed the way I am
Laughing today made me feel better
He terrorised the neighbourhood so I can take the blame
I'm willing to take the blame for someone else's mistake
If I take a look, just a little look, I know I'll be too late
If I wait to act, it will be too late
So shall I take a look, 'cos every time I look, little, little, just a little late
Should I act now, because every time I wait, it's too late?
It doesn't help me listening to everything I hear
Listening to rumors and gossip doesn't help me
It doesn't make no difference, it never is too clear
Even if I listen to rumors, it's often not clear what's really going on
I saw a lookalike today, he was a lot to see
I saw someone who looked like me today
He was familiar anyway, he looked a lot like me
Despite being a stranger, he looked very similar to me
Shall I take a look, just a little look, it isn't very clear
Should I investigate this further, even though it's not clear?
Oh every time I look, if I take a look, little, little, just a little late
Every time I investigate too late, I regret not acting sooner
I'm giving up my worrying
I'm deciding to stop worrying
I've had enough of worrying
I've gotten tired of worrying
I'm giving up my worrying
I'm deciding to stop worrying
I've had enough of worrying
I've gotten tired of worrying
I'm giving up my worrying
I'm deciding to stop worrying
I've had enough of worrying
I've gotten tired of worrying
Contributed by Cameron E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
George Mathie
Status quo delivering an uplifting message of rock and roll goodness and if you're all listening to this quo classic in 2021 I'm following this songs message
pfzt
Graham Bonnet's version is also great btw.
Robi Rock
Cowbell rules!
status quo-all
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りょうけとしお
🇬🇧🇬🇧ブリティッシュビートからのブギーロック変革による継承者!!ステイタスクオー!!!...本国イギリスではあのローリングストーンズよりも人気がある長寿的バンド..ストーンズのギクシャクしたリズムよりも..ぼくはこちらのバンドが昔から持つスピーディーなブギー感が大好き。このアルバムは..後に出る(トーキョークォー)(灼熱のライブ)の前に出た名盤。日本でもっとも売れたのは74年..オイルショックの翌年に発売された(オンザレベル)だけどね。日本ではピンクレディの解散が囁かれてた時代。
status quo-all
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