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(from scrapbook 2, page 16)

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QUOS PUT A ROCKET UP THE SENORS

STATUS QUO ended their Spanish tour on an explosive note - with a wild firework party on their luxury bus.

Startled senors ran for cover as the coach careered along country roads blasting aerial bombs and rockets out of the doors.

Hellraiser Rick Parfitt, 40, says: "I made a cannon in the bus with an old piece of piping we found. I put loads of ballast round it to hold it steady and taped it to the floor.

"Then I loaded up these huge fireworks I'd bought down the road in Madrid and let fly.

"There was so much muck and smoke flying about that our manager Ian Jones was black from head to foot.

"I also put some bits of fruit and veg, like brussels sprouts, in the barrel and blasted them out with the fireworks. It was a sight to behold but I suppose we were lucky not to get nicked."

The band, who claimed their tour was going to be alcohol-free, launched their dangerous stunt after a sell-out tour of Europe.

Earlier, guitarist Rick had horrified other motorists by holding a laser disco on the bus as it went along the motorways.

Rick's partner Francis Rossi, 39, who is recording Quo's new album in Nassau, says: "Rick has always been crazy. In the early days we used to take it in turns to drive.

"If Rick saw the road he wanted to be on, he'd never let a little thing like a field get in his way. It'd be straight through the fence, past the cows and on to the next road."