Classic Rock Radio

Status Quo: Still Doin’ It

Bob Young, Francis Rossi,Rick Parfitt

Omnibus Press

The statistics themselves are impressive enough and are in the front of the book but worth repeating here I think as they are so impressive

Over 118 Million Records Sold Worldwide

Over 60 British Hit Singles (More Than Any Other Band)

First Band To Record Top Twenty UK Hits Across 5 Decades

38 Albums In the British Charts (More Than Any Other Band Except The Stones)

Spent Over 8 Years In The British Charts

Opened The Legendary Live Aid Show

Rossi and Parfitt Awarded OBE’s For Their Services To Music and Charity

Played To More Than 216 Million People Over 6,500 Shows

Toured Over 4 Million Miles , Spending 25 Years Away From Home

See what I mean and of course they are universally regarded the “People’s Band” being very down to earth and just like their audience.

In the seven years since this book was first published the band have continued to tour made a film(Bula Quo) and of course very famously re-formed the “Frantic Four” line up of Rossi, Parfitt, Coughlan and Lancaster to the delight of their still massive and hugely loyal fan base.

This book  is made up of mostly photographs with comments and passages from both Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt. The thing is however for me it was an incredible read  and looking at the photos within the 300 plus pages I am reminded that Status Quo are one of the hardest working bands in the world. The photographs are a great mix of previously seen and plenty of previously unseen photos which will no doubt please the rabid Quo fan as much as it pleased me.

As with any book of course if you are even a casual fan of the band it will drive you back to the albums the band have recorded over their forty six plus years as a band. Being a man of a certain age I of course zeroed in on the period when I first discovered them (1972 for those interested) and those albums from Piledriver onward were a huge part of my youth. In fact I am sure both Francis and Rick have seen their fan base grow old with them. The fact that the band can command such a fervent following is a testament to all the hard work. 

I bet the guys had a great time going through this book when they were editing  it and I know that the Quo Army for whom this book is aimed at will have a similar good time working their way through it. Of course the band is due to tour the UK in the run up to the end of the year and they have also aid there will be more dates from the “Frantic Four” line up so far from keeping the Status Quo the band really are moving on which in reality is what they have been doing for more than 46 years.  As this book proves and long may that continue

"I bet the guys had a great time going through this book when they were editing  it and I know that the Quo Army for whom this book is aimed at will have a similar good time working their way through it. "

Jon Kirkman CRR

Buy It Here:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Status-Quo-Still-Bob-Young/dp/178038839X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1380727917&sr=1-1&keywords=status+quo