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(from scrapbook 3, page 5)

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QUO - AT END OF THE ROAD

STATUS QUO members Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt successfully resisted a court injunction to deny them the use of the group name, which had been brought by fellow member Alan Lancaster in the High Court last week.

A happy Parfitt said afterwards: "The Status Quo has been preserved!"

Lancaster had sought an injunction preventing Rossi and Parfitt from using the name until a dispute between him and the other two had been settled.

In a court affidavit, Lancaster, who has lived in Australia for the past six years, claimed that he had lost faith in the band's management. The band's "financial situation was poor" and he had suggested that the group should record their new album in Australia without a producer. No agreement was reached, and Rossi and Parfitt, worried because the band was behind with its recording commitments, started recording in England without him.

In reply, Rossi said he still had complete faith in the band's management. Lancaster's complaints "had caused tension within the band" and his residence in Australia meant that he had neglected promotional commitments.

The dispute over the new album, which has been recorded but not delivered, marked "the end of the road" between them and Lancaster.

Lawyers for Phonogram Records, to whom Quo are contracted to deliver the new album, made it clear in court that while they were happy and willing to accept recordings from Rossi and Parfitt without Lancaster as Status Quo, they would not accept recordings by Lancaster without Rossi and Parfitt as Status Quo.

Phonogram also made it clear that the injunction would be in nobody's interest, least of all Lancaster's. Faced with a split, they were now prepared to release Lancaster from his contracts.

Summing up. Mr Justice Knox said that if the injunction were granted, there was little doubt that Status Quo would cease to exist. He recognised that co-operation between the three had come to an end and that Lancaster had a claim against the other two. But the best way to preserve the assets of the group was to allow Rossi and Parfitt to continue using the name Status Quo.

The lifting of the injunction hasn't ended the dispute between Lancaster and Rossi and Parfitt but it does mean that a new Quo single will be released in a few weeks and the album will follow later.

Rossi said later: "As far as we're concerned it's the most sensible decision all round. It's given us renewed enthusiasm. We can't wait to get back to work and we can promise the Quo army that they wont be disappointed."