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(from scrapbook 2, page 5)

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STATUS QUO
1991 OR BUST!
THAT'S WHEN RICK PARFITT AND FRANCIS ROSSI ARE PLANNING TO RETIRE, AGAIN...

"There was a time," laughs Rick Parfitt looking over at Francis Rossi, "when, if we got stuck in a room together, we didn't have a clue what to say to each other." He leans towards Francis, fiddles with his tie, messes up his hair ("not much left is there, eh?") and tweaks his ear. Francis smiles good humouredly and waits for the ordeal to finish. A couple of years ago when Status Quo were disintegrating, the two of them could barely stand the sight of each other.

"We'd been workaholics for 15 years," considers Rick, "and I suppose we just drifted apart." Not just personally but musically as well - Francis wanted to do lots of "country rock stuff" and Rick preferred "the powerchord hard rock ZZ Top side of things". They also got very fed up of playing live so in 1984 they "retired" for good, planning just to get together occasionally to record a new LP. Meanwhile they both recorded solo projects but Francis Rossi's singles with his writing partner Bernard Frost flopped and Rick Parfitt's solo LP never even got released.

"We just got generally browned off," says Rick, "and so we had a natter and thought 'well, we are Status Quo - what are we doing just sitting round?'"

So, the best of mates once more, they decided to "go full steam" again. There was only one problem - Status Quo had always had three members, the third being bass player Alan Lancaster. But Francis had decided that he never wanted to work with him again - they didn't get on, Alan lived in Australia and, says Francis, "It's a bit petty but it was very difficult when we went out together because it was always us two and not Alan who got recognised."

So they restarted the group without him, and now, admits Francis, things are going better than at almost any time since 1962 when he, as a sprightly 23-year-old called Francis Dominic Michael Nicholas Rossi (he used to prefer to be called Mike) refused to join the family's Italian ice cream business and began to play in a group called The Spectres. One day in the summer of 1965, during a summer season at some dodgy resort, he met a bloke called Ricky Harrison (as Rick Parfitt like to be called in those days) in a trio called The Highlights. A couple of years later, just after The Spectres had changed their name - first to Traffic then to Traffic Jam then finally to Status Quo - "Ricky" joined and - hey presto! - by the beginning of 1968 they were in the charts with a swirly psychedelic pop song called "Pictures Of Matchstick Men".

"-We were pop stars like A-ha for about ten minutes," remembers Francis. By the beginning of the '70s they had discovered their real strength - relentlessly repetitive "boogie" songs which they've continued to do ever since. But as the 70s wore on and the hits continued they got more and more "complacent" and "full of ourselves".

"I went mad money-wise," remembers Rick a little sadly (he's recently had to declare himself bankrupt). "I used to charter jets for the sake of it. I chartered a 14 seater Corvette jet because I was a bit browned off and I decided to go and see Francis in Ireland."

Gulp. And he wasn't exactly that sensible when he got there...

"We always do 'lookalikes' explains Francis, "spotting people who look like famous people and giving each other points for how accurate they are. Richard walked into this coffee shop..."

"Fell in, more like," giggles Rick.

"... and," continues Francis, "there was this woman sitting there and he goes over to her - "that's Katie Boyle (famous "advice" columnist for the TV Times), 8 points for Katie Boyle!' - and gets down on his knees in front of her..."

There was only one problem...

"It was Katie Boyle," guffaws Rick. "She was really nice.. considering."

These days they're concentrating on the music again: they've just recorded "the best album we've ever done - we're so excited by it", and they're determined to keep the group going.

"We've promised ourselves we'll keep on going for five more years," says Rick, "until 1991."

And now they'll only be worrying about the really important things in life. Like... shopping. "We're just basically normal, everyday people," insists Francis, "going down the pub and stuff. But going shopping in the supermarket is a little, er, tricky..."

It's not just being stopped for autographs that's a problem - because they're famous they're simply too embarrassed to buy any of the things they really want. "I would never," Rick says, "be seen with a toilet roll in my hand."