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.
When My Mind Is Not Alive
Status Quo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Every night in my mind your face flies by me
Then the morning light comes to bring reality
But my dream lingers on, a little while for me
Then I wake to see a world full of misery
Lots of people rushing by, they don't know what they wanna be
Soon the day draws to its end and pretty soon I'll be
Back with you in my mind because I want to see
When my mind is not live, I see you there before me
The lyrics to Status Quo's song "When My Mind is Not Alive" describe the experience of someone who is unable to shake thoughts of a loved one from their mind, even when they are not physically present. The first two lines state that when the singer's mind is not "live," which could mean not fully awake or present, they see the person they long for in their thoughts. This imagery reinforces the idea that the memory of this person is always present in the singer's mind, even when they are not actively thinking about them.
The next two lines of the song describe the disappointment the singer feels when they wake up and realize that the person they long for is not actually with them, and that they must face the realities of their own life. Despite this realization, the memory of the person they are thinking of lingers for a while longer, emphasizing the difficulty the singer has in disentangling their thoughts from this person.
The chorus repeats the idea that when the singer's mind is not "live," they see the person they long for, implying that this is a constant experience for them. The final lines of the song suggest that the singer is resigned to this state of mind and is content to continue dreaming of this person. The lyrics, therefore, capture the experience of someone who is struggling to move on from a past love and is haunted by their memories.
Line by Line Meaning
When my mind is not live, I see you there before me
When I am not mentally present, I visualize you as an imaginary figure.
Every night in my mind your face flies by me
Every night, I see your face in my thoughts.
Then the morning light comes to bring reality
Upon waking up, reality comes back.
But my dream lingers on, a little while for me
However, the dream stays with me for a little while longer.
Then I wake to see a world full of misery
When I'm awake, I see the harsh, unhappy reality of the world.
Lots of people rushing by, they don't know what they wanna be
Endless people are hurrying past, unsure of their life purpose.
Soon the day draws to its end and pretty soon I'll be
As the day comes to an end, before long, I will be back...
Back with you in my mind because I want to see
...imagining you again in my mind, because I desire to do so.
Contributed by Gabriel C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Ian Garbutt
This has been one of my favourite tracks from Status Quo.... for the last 50 years!!! Happiness Happening at 68!!!❤❤❤❤
Meh
I could tell this was great within the first 20 seconds
Edward Pacheco González
¿Por que la gente desconose este tipo de musica?... Supongo que en 1968 era muy dificil competir con The Beatles, The Doors, Stones, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin... The Turtles... Cuantas bandas del llamado "Garage Rock" y el "Psychedeic Rock" con muchisimo talento y creatividad quedaron el olvido al ser opacadas a finales de los 60s...
Felipe Rafael
verdad mas las personas gostavam mas de Beatles infelizment
Jaime Ordoñez Palacios
No están olvidadas
O que no estamos aquí
Solo que la gente no quiere ponerse bien drogada jajajaja
belisario guerra
Original: Status Quo ( U.K. ) - When my mind is not live ( R. Parfitt ) ( 1968 ). Covers: Los York's ( Perú ) - Mi mente en ti ( 1970 ). Fabienne Delsol ( France ) - When my mind is not live ( 2004 ). The Colour Collection - Quand mon esprit n'est pas vivant ( 2020 ).
belisario guerra
You are welcome Bruja !
belisario guerra
You are welcome ! Ian Scothron.
ΓΙΩΡΓΟΣ ΑΝΑΓΝΩΣΤΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ
@belisario guerra ς
Minka de Groot
And now in 2020 : The Colour Collection "quand mon esprit n'est pas vivant"