Clipping details
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| Title: | Ex-Quo man slams Sun City gigs |
| Notes: | Alan Lancaster's response to Quo's gigs at Sun City in South Africa in 1987 |
| Year: | 1987 |
| Country: | UK |
| Publication: | Sounds |
| Author: | Jane Arena |
Ex-Quo man slams Sun City gigs
ONE PERSON not stopping off at Sun City selling hits for a million bucks in blood money is ex-bassist and founding member of Status Quo, Alan Lancaster.
"I'm 100 per cent against it," he said last week. "The circumstances around the (Quo) Sun City appearances have got to be pretty serious because obviously they tried to keep it quiet. If I was in the band it certainly wouldn't have happened."
Alan's been living in Australia since 1979 and was commuting to work with Quo in Europe up until last year.
And he's been busy since with Australian supergroup, The Party Boys, founded in 1982 by Kevin Borich and Paul Christie of The Borich Express.
He joined forces with the band after his 25 years with Status Quo came to an end, a relationship that soured, he told Sounds, because other members of the band began producing what was essentially solo material under the Status Quo name. Alan objected.
"I didn't leave. I was kind of squeezed out," he says. "It was a very hurtful situation."
And although there's a tinge of bitterness in his voice (he refers to the group now as Pseudo Quo), Alan is genuinely excited about working with The Party Boys.
Founded on the concept of a band without an agent, the band was originally intended as a holiday for members of Australia's top bands. Quick success in that country turned it into a permanent vacation for Christie and Borich, and it briefly attracted the talent of Joe Walsh and James Reyne, among others. And eventually they had to hire an agent.
The current line-up (which also includes John Brewster, Richard Harvey, and John Swan) have just completed the band's fifth LP, 'The Party Boys', set for UK release early in the New Year.
Meanwhile, the single, 'He's Gonna Step On You Again', has already received airplay since its release here two weeks ago.
Success Down Under has garnered The Party Boys the support slot for AC/DC's Australian tour in February, and the band hope to announce their own UK tour in March.
"There is no pressure in this band," says Alan. "It's an actual joy to go onstage. This band is complete joy."
JANE ARENA
Image caption: ALAN: RIGHT to party