Status Quo is a British rock band (London, England) with strong boogie line… Read Full Bio ↴Status Quo is a British rock band (London, England) with strong boogie line. The group was founded by bassist Alan Lancaster and guitarist Francis Rossi in 1962.

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.

Invitation
Status Quo Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I got an invitation from a girl I used to know back home
It was an invitation asking me to telephone
She said, it's getting lonely here
And I've been gone for close a year
I took the first flight out to meet the girl I used to know back home

She met me off the flight, a million dollars in her long red gown
With a man in a black hat just to drive us back to town

Now the faces all look the same
And all the places have the same old names
But in a year you've changed just like the girl I used to know back home
Yes, in a year you've changed just like the girl I used to know back home

Maybe it's true that I go on and on and on
Maybe it's true that I'm the lonely one alone
What can I say to you, what can I say to you?
Yes, in a year you've changed just like the girl I used to know back home

It took another year before I started getting itchy toes
And then I had to leave, but that's the way the story goes
Well I reckon if she'd made me stay
I'd never live to see another day
I took the first flight out and left the girl I used to know back home

Maybe it's true that I go on and on and on
Maybe it's true that I'm the lonely one alone
What can I say to you, what can I say to you?
I took the first flight out and left the girl I used to know back home
Back home, I left the girl back home

I left the girl back home
I left the girl back home

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of "Invitation" by Status Quo tell the story of a man who receives an invitation from a girl he used to know back home. She wants him to come and visit her because she's feeling lonely. The singer takes the first flight out to see her, only to find that things have changed in the year he's been gone. The girl who sent him the invitation is now wearing a long red gown and has a man in a black hat to drive them back to town. When they get there, everything looks the same, and the people and places have the same old names. However, the singer notices that in a year, everything changes, including the girl he used to know. He reflects on his own life and wonders if he is the lonely one. The singer leaves again, feeling as though he might not have survived if he had stayed with the girl.

The first verse sets the scene for the rest of the song, with the invitation and the reason behind it. The chorus repeats the idea that everything changes in a year, including people. The second verse reveals that the singer left again, after another year had passed, and he's reflecting on the relationship he had with the girl back home. Finally, the song ends with a repetition of the chorus and the line "I left the girl back home," which emphasizes the idea of changes and moving on.

Line by Line Meaning

I got an invitation from a girl I used to know back home
I received a message from a woman I used to know from my hometown

It was an invitation asking me to telephone
The message requested that I call her

She said, it's getting lonely here
She expressed feeling isolated and alone

And I've been gone for close a year
I had been away for nearly a year

I took the first flight out to meet the girl I used to know back home
I traveled immediately to see her in person

She met me off the flight, a million dollars in her long red gown
She greeted me in an expensive and elegant red dress

With a man in a black hat just to drive us back to town
She had a driver with a black hat to take us back home

Now the faces all look the same
Everyone looks familiar

And all the places have the same old names
The locations have not changed much in my absence

But in a year you've changed just like the girl I used to know back home
She changed over the year like the woman from my hometown

Yes, in a year you've changed just like the girl I used to know back home
She changed like the woman from my hometown

Maybe it's true that I go on and on and on
Perhaps it's accurate that I talk for a long time

Maybe it's true that I'm the lonely one alone
Maybe it's factual that I am the only one who feels lonely

What can I say to you, what can I say to you?
What can I possibly tell you now?

It took another year before I started getting itchy toes
After another year, I began feeling restless

And then I had to leave, but that's the way the story goes
I had to depart, but that's how things often end up

Well I reckon if she'd made me stay
I believe if she had insisted I remain,

I'd never live to see another day
I would not have survived much longer

I took the first flight out and left the girl I used to know back home
I traveled out as soon as possible and left my former acquaintance from home behind.

Back home, I left the girl back home
Upon returning home, I left the woman from my footsteps behind.

I left the girl back home
I left the woman from my hometown behind.

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CHERYL PARKER, GARETH YOUNG, DANNI MINOGUE, SARA EKER

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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