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.
In My Chair
Status Quo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My ears were burning
Her feet started walking, now
They started turning
My eyes were half open
But she didn't see me there
We ran along walking 'cross the rooftops in my chair
And we started moving
A man in a helmet
Said, what's that you're using
My eyes were half open
But we didn't see him there
Put the car back in my pocket
And I'm still here in my chair
My teeth were laughing, now
We couldn't stop smiling
We danced to the Mystery Band
Without even trying
My eyes were half open
But we didn't see them there
We ran along walking 'cross the rooftops in my chair
In the song 'In My Chair' by Status Quo, the lyrics describe a surreal experience where the singer sees a woman walking and starts following her. He is in a chair and uses it to move through the rooftops, which is possible in the dream-like state of the song. As he follows her, he feels a sense of burning in his ears and his heart starts racing. However, she doesn't notice him and keeps walking. They then start dancing to a band that suddenly appears without even realizing it. The surreal nature of the lyrics is made more apparent by the repeated description of the singer's "half-open" eyes, suggesting that the events could be interpreted as a dream or daydream.
The lyrics of 'In My Chair' can be interpreted in different ways, but they can be seen as a metaphor for the idea of escaping reality. The singer has entered a dream-like state where he is in a chair and can travel on the rooftops, suggesting that he has left behind the constraints of the real world. He then sees a woman and feels an attraction to her, but she doesn't even notice him. He then dances to a band without even trying, suggesting that he has let go of his inhibitions. The repetition of the phrase "my eyes were half open" further emphasizes this idea of being in a trance-like state.
Line by Line Meaning
I saw her talking, now
I noticed her talking
My ears were burning
I felt embarrassed by what she was saying
Her feet started walking, now
She started to walk away
They started turning
She turned her feet while walking
My eyes were half open
I was not fully aware of the situation
But she didn't see me there
She didn't know I was present
We ran along walking 'cross the rooftops in my chair
We imagined ourselves walking on rooftops while sitting in my chair
Had a car in my pocket
I had a toy car
And we started moving
We pretended to drive the car
A man in a helmet
A stranger with a helmet on
Said, what's that you're using
Asked what we were playing with
Put the car back in my pocket
Stopped playing with the toy car
And I'm still here in my chair
I am still sitting in my chair
My teeth were laughing, now
I was laughing hard
We couldn't stop smiling
We were happy and couldn't stop smiling
We danced to the Mystery Band
We imagined dancing to our favorite band
Without even trying
It came naturally to us
My eyes were half open
I was not fully aware of the situation
But we didn't see them there
We didn't notice anyone around us
We ran along walking 'cross the rooftops in my chair
We imagined ourselves walking on rooftops while sitting in my chair
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: FRANCIS DOMINIC MICHAEL NICOLA ROSSI, ROBERT KEITH YOUNG
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@neonskyline1
Awsome song,I hate blues but Quo take it to an interesting level,Rossi is a great guitarist !
@bradigrebien-samkow8947
An underappreciated indisputable classic. 1970! So mellow to my teen ear then. Lovely.
@BigJulieWasDead
This is awesome. Thanks very much for posting it. I just happened across it by the luck of the draw and how good is it ! Pity they didn't keep this raw guitar sound going...just about the best thing I have heard of theirs.
@brentclarke1347
I've loved this band for over 36 years, they amaze me how long a band can be together for so long.
@quoeffinmad
Glad you enjoyed it mate - Quality like this deserves to be readily available!
@jaime099
"This is a song that helped us get us where we possibly are" Rossi Live '76. It's just beautiful.
@stephenackerman2236
Possibly the best track they ever cut.
@scouser691
Poor mans canned heat as they were known as. Luv the early stuff, still listen to "dog of two head" album. Saw them live in New York city a few years ago, small crowd (they never cracked America) Still one of the best live bands I've ever seen.
@7colliemac
Yeah true.. I was a huge Quo fan.. but my mate in America didn’t cotton on to them.. preferring Hendrix & Led Zeppelin. Love this song.
@dadmamouth
classic, simple rock. you cant beat it