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(from scrapbook 1, page 37)

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'73 The year Quo gained status

1973 is a time to say thank you to our many, many loyal fans

words: Tony Mitchell / picture: Chris Walter

Francis (Mike) Rossi remembers 1973 as one of the most important years of his life and particularly in the long pop history of Status Quo.

"When you get a number one album you feel good, extremely good. It's something you aim for, you've dreamt and longed many a night for it to happen. You turn to the charts and see other people there at the top and then one day it happens to you.

"'Hello' seems to have been n album which with its success has sent the critics into some confusion. I think for some time we've been the group some critics have their knock at. When you get successful in sales and chart terms then people have to write copy and sometimes the people who write are not people who have been with us through the good and bad days.

"The week we were high in all the musical paper charts one major pop paper decided to review the record and didn't find all that much good in it!

"Quo always read what the writers have to say, every word and on the whole, apart from a few, we get good treatment, people like Tony Stewart and Julie Webb from the NME have always been fair.

"These are amazing days for us. We do have memories of the past when everything was a struggle, a bitter one to keep going. And we're still around, years after "Pictures Of Matchstick Men"! The thing we've worked hard for has paid off. Don't blame us for feeling really pleased about that!

"Now we can walk on stage and the people are there with us. That's marvellous, it's sweet music to our ears and gives us the big lift-off. 1973 is a time to say thank-you to our many, many loyal fans.

"We're keeping our fingers crossed that our recent State-side tour will have made us that much more a force over there. It really is a huge country and it's so easy to be just one of literally thousands of groups.

"We didn't change our programme for the visit. We do the same numbers. We try and get the audience really involved. It isn't easy by any means, for in a smaller place like Britain the word of mouth news can move much faster and people can be prepared for the call to get involved. Anyway, all the time it's getting better, as someone said years back!" Mike on Francis has thoughts about the future. Christmas is of course immediately upper-most.

After all our activity and touring, gigs and record work I'm just going to turn the heating up and lock the doors and sleep! I'm old-fashioned enough to enjoy Christmas. I've ? my wife and two kids and we're going to have a good time, I tell you! We do have a family get together on Christmas Eve and the Rossi's come together and it's quite an occasion.

"The kids have their presents placed in various spots round the house, the bed-post, the Christmas tree are two of them. I have the garden wired up with lovely coloured lights and manage to get plenty of decoration round the house itself.

"Pity 'Caroline' came out in the earlyish Autumn, we'll not really, but I was thinking of Christmas with a number one. Ah, that's just a bit of wistfulness, you can't have everything. We wouldn't release another single from an album by the way. We have this policy of just one from a new album. I think that's right."

Talking of records brought us away from Christmas and to 1974 and January.

"We aim to be in the studios and recording. We've quite a lot of material in hand, There will be a progression, but we think Quo's moving onwards is a subtle thing. There will be no sudden dramatic turns leaving half our fans wondering what has happened. We want them to be and go with us.

"Once the recording is over there's good chance of another British tour. Returning to my last point, we're not changtng overnight, rest assured!

"At this point I'm wondering whether we will be on the Christmas spectacular of Top Of The Pops. We've never done such a thing, though being in a studio and just doing one or two numbers is not our scene.

"I mean when you mime to a backing track it's not easy to really get going and then there's no deliriously happy audience giving that marvellous feeling any performer must surely love.

"And then again, you're somewhat restricted in movement and we do like a bit of strutting here and there! We think visual movement is vital.

"Anyway whatever we do we're going to make sure it's good. We don't want to get things messed-up. I mean would you? What's that about the faster you climb the faster you can fall. We've gone down once but this time we're staying around.

"Vertigo our company are absolutely knocked out with us this year. Our past one, Pye must be very happy as well, I don't think, though their re-releasing of some of our past material gave them some success.

"One of the things we don't like is seeing our old material just put out like that because we have no control. "Mean Mean Girl" is of course part of our stage act. We just had to for so many people kept asking us to do it. We can't do a revamped, up-dated version for the licence or whatever you call it lies with our past record company. Otherwise it's almost always material from our recent Vertigo days and that means things like "Paper Plane".

"Let me say for all four of us, John, Rick and Alan a great Christmas to everyone, a Happy New Year and whilst on the latter we expect to see all our fans boogieing away at our live gigs. They're going to come soon. So here's to one and all for 1974 and a happy look back at 1973!"