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(from scrapbook 3, page 18)

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Status Quo play heavy music. Rocking, rolling boogie with a foot-stomping rhythm that pounds into your brain. They look the part too, with long, long hair, scruffy denims and a frenzied stage act that drives the fans really wild.

It is hard to believe that they started out as a teenybop band, geared strictly to singles work; their only aim to get into the charts with hits like Pictures of Matchstick Men. Back in the mid sixties, Status Quo were smooth-suited, lacquered-haired Mods, and as far as they were concerned their career was going nowhere, fast! Sure, they had singles in the charts and the fans liked them, but they weren't doing what they really wanted to do.

1969 was the turning point. A song that they had written themselves, In My Chair, was a big hit, and this encouraged them to write more of their own material. As lead guitarist and vocalist Francis Rossi put it: "We started believing in our own stuff." They grew their hair, stopped wearing fancy stage clothes, and they began to concentrate on aggressive, heavy metal rock.

At first, times were bleak but Status Quo were committed and they stuck it out, gradually establishing a following especially on the college circuits. The students could identify with them and they found that they established a good rapport with their audiences. Although Quo have had plenty of hits in the charts, for them it's the live appearances that really count. "The band lives for the next gig," says Francis Rossi. "That's what it's all about – playing. It gives you a helluva good feeling to see people enjoying themselves and knowing that you've helped them to do it."