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.

Queenie
Status Quo Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

A long time ago I saw you there
Sitting in a corner chair
I was looking for a place to stay
You were only hanging out and hanging around
I didn't see what I was looking for
I guess I never really knew
I was looking for a private eye
You never knew what I was talking about

Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, won't you come along and make a home with me
Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, we could settle down and make some history
Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, we could never stop it if we wanted to
Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, we could be so happy with a family
The next time I saw you was the summertime
I'm just a little older now
Things seemed to get a little better then
You went out and got a ticket taking you home
It really was a shame I didn't follow you
It would have saved a lot of time
I had to come around eventually
And ask you if you want to maybe marry me
Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, won't you come along and make a home with me
Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, we could settle down and make some history
Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, we could never stop it if we wanted to
Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, we could be so happy with a family
Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, won't you come along and make a home with me
Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, we could settle down and make some history
Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, we could never stop it if we wanted to
Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, we could be so happy with a family

Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, won't you come along and make a home with me
Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, we could settle down and make some history

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Status Quo's song "Queenie" tell the story of a man who has been searching for something, though he's not sure what it is. He remembers seeing Queenie sitting in a corner chair a long time ago, but he didn't realize what he was looking for at the time. He thought he needed a private eye, and Queenie didn't understand what he was talking about. Despite this, the man seems to have fallen for Queenie and is now asking her to come along and make a home with him. He envisions the two of them settling down and making history, being unable to stop their happiness if they wanted to. He dreams of starting a family with Queenie.

The lyrics are somewhat vague, leaving much up to interpretation. It's unclear whether the man is offering Queenie love or simply a chance at domesticity. It's also not clear whether Queenie has any feelings for the man or whether she's simply an object of his desire. However, the overall tone of the song is one of hope and optimism for a better future with someone special.

Line by Line Meaning

A long time ago I saw you there
Once upon a time, I caught a glimpse of you sitting by yourself in a corner.

Sitting in a corner chair
You were seated, all by yourself, in a corner somewhere.

I was looking for a place to stay
At the time, I was searching for a home away from home.

You were only hanging out and hanging around
Meanwhile, you were just killing time, loitering around without any specific destination or purpose.

I didn't see what I was looking for
Unfortunately, I didn't find the place I was hoping to stumble upon.

I guess I never really knew
Though it's probably because I had no clear idea of what I was looking for or how it should look like.

I was looking for a private eye
In all honesty, I thought I was in search of some kind of investigator.

You never knew what I was talking about
But then again, you weren't cognizant of what I was trying to articulate all the while.

Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, won't you come along and make a home with me
Queenie, will you kindly accompany me to find a place to call home, and perhaps ultimately settle down together?

Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, we could settle down and make some history
Our lives could be mutually fruitful if we decide to stabilize our relationship and create a legacy.

Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, we could never stop it if we wanted to
This connection is so deep and strong that we can't stop it even if we desired to do so.

Queenie, Queenie, Queenie, we could be so happy with a family
A family unit might be the missing link that will give us the ultimate joy and fulfillment we've both been missing.

The next time I saw you was the summertime
Fast forward to sometime later when we reunited in the summertime.

I'm just a little older now
I'm a little bit older than I was before, of course, and perhaps even wiser in some ways.

Things seemed to get a little better then
Things took an upward turn and I started to feel more optimistic and hopeful about my future with you.

You went out and got a ticket taking you home
At some point, you acquired a ticket that would take you back to your original place of residence.

It really was a shame I didn't follow you
In retrospect, I regret not accompanying you because it would have saved us a lot of time and effort.

It would have saved a lot of time
Had I followed you, we wouldn't have had to live with the regret and the wasted energy that came with not being together all this time.

I had to come around eventually
Anyway, eventually, I had to come to terms with what needed to be done.

And ask you if you want to maybe marry me
So, I gathered up the courage and popped the question in hopes that you might consider accepting my hand in marriage.

Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS

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