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Post by charliechops on Dec 4, 2020 0:07:21 GMT
I am not surprised they played Sun City... but thats my view of Francis and Rick just follow the money. But they weren't alone.. Dame Kiri Janette Te Kanawa, Elaine Page, Frank Sinatra, Queen, Elton John, Linda Ronstadt, Julio Iglesias, The O'Jays, Ray Charles, Boney M., Black Sabbath, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner, Dionne Warwick, Laura Branigan and Thomas Anders all played as well. Although in fairness to Bev Bevan he refused to play when he was in a version of Black Sabbath and left rather than play there. I'll tell you who didn't play Sun City. Don't ask me how I know... At 3.28 , it’s very nice to see Alan , who has swapped his sleeveless leather End of the Road tour jacket for a black one !
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gav
Veteran Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 2,150
Favourite Quo Album: On The Level
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Post by gav on Dec 4, 2020 0:46:44 GMT
There was something at the time. I remember Francis saying in an interview that he'd lost respect for Dave Edmunds after he'd produced Rollin' Home and Red Sky. Not sure if they fell out or just that the decision was taken not to use him for the album. Almost like these two tracks were a dummy run and it wasn't the sound they (or Francis) wanted or hoped for. I remember that with great clarity. I was baffled and quite miffed by it - not because I am a rampant Dave Edmunds fan, or even because I think they are the two best tracks on the album (I do), but because .... if you don't want tracks that sound like Dave Edmunds produced them, then why ask Dave Edmunds to produce them??? Francis said something along the lines that it was all embarrassingly old fashioned, traditional, 1960s or something of that nature. I thought one of us, me or him, had missed something somewhere ... I'm still puzzled to this day. Maybe your theory is the one!
Maybe, you know, Dave wanted them to sound like Status Quo, and of course, Francis was having none of that.
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ant
Rocker Rollin'
Quo covers & more https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfcyZng8z03-RpOhdWdawvw
Posts: 624
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Post by ant on Dec 4, 2020 16:50:13 GMT
When it comes to production we should remember that it was the 80s! It was the standard to have the instruments separated, awful drum sounds, Rino-style bass. Many pop/rock bands were 'updating' their sounds. They all sound bloody awful now, of course but I guess Quo felt they had to change to survive. And they did survive, of course. While they may not have made the music many of us wanted, they did some good stuff and got a further 30+ years of career out of it.
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Post by charles on Dec 5, 2020 2:09:54 GMT
When it comes to production we should remember that it was the 80s! It was the standard to have the instruments separated, awful drum sounds, Rino-style bass. Many pop/rock bands were 'updating' their sounds. They all sound bloody awful now, of course but I guess Quo felt they had to change to survive. And they did survive, of course. While they may not have made the music many of us wanted, they did some good stuff and got a further 30+ years of career out of it. I disagree. I don't think many new Quofans were drawn to this 'good stuff', while we were leaving in droves. It was only after some years that some of us reconnected with the band because they actually produced better (not sublime) material.
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mortified
4500 Timer
Posts: 5,841
Favourite Quo Album: Hello!
Favourite other bands.: Talking Heads, Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow, Gary Numan, Alabama 3, ZZ Top, Paul van Dyk, Jeff Beck, Bowie, Gerry Rafferty, Band of Skulls, UFO, S.A.H.B
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Post by mortified on Dec 5, 2020 7:42:28 GMT
The fan base began to change. There will have been a number of factors responsible for that.
As already mentioned, many existing fans left in large numbers because the new musical approach just wasn't for them. The chart positions of albums since then tells you that. But they remained a huge draw live for many of these same 'lapsed' fans.
Age; people change. Their tastes change with them and their personal responsibilities grow. Music takes a back seat.
New fans came on board. This was either deliberate or as a consequence of the music changing. Some of it was definitely deliberate. Appearances on light entertainment shoes such as Cannon & Ball, Des O'Connor Tonight and Richard Digance indicated they wanted to head in that direction in terms of appeal.
Nothing has changed in that respect. You'll find Quo (or a member or two) on The One Show, This Morning or Loose Women. You won't have seen them perform on Later with Jools Holland or The White Room (a show I thought they were to be on a couple of decades ago).
Basically, it became more important to be popular than it did to be seen to be too serious. I don't know why. To portray an element of seriousness doesn't seem a bad thing to me. Fear of showing any sort of seriousness seems to have been an overriding factor.
And just how it comes across to me.
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Post by frozenhero on Dec 14, 2020 21:51:54 GMT
...the literal, military interpretation. I know that's what the song is about... I actually researched a bit on the Bolland original. Turns out that the whole album "The Domino Theory" was a concept record about the Vietnam War! (Francis changed the lyric a bit to remove the direct reference, although the background is still rather obvious.) I used to think Quo improved the song but now realizing that it's part of a bigger whole might change my opinion on this. Sort of like when Joe Cocker does "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window", which always sounds a bit odd to me taken out of context.
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mortified
4500 Timer
Posts: 5,841
Favourite Quo Album: Hello!
Favourite other bands.: Talking Heads, Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow, Gary Numan, Alabama 3, ZZ Top, Paul van Dyk, Jeff Beck, Bowie, Gerry Rafferty, Band of Skulls, UFO, S.A.H.B
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Post by mortified on Dec 15, 2020 8:26:21 GMT
I have to admit, I was disappointed with the changing of the lyrics when they re-recorded In The Army Now in 2010. It altered the entire meaning and intention of the song, pretty much turning it on its head. But then you could hardly record something intended to raise funds for the army and use an anti-war/anti-armed forces song
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Post by markquo on Dec 20, 2020 9:56:52 GMT
I just ask myself How did Rossi get it so wrong? Cheers
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gerh
Grizzled Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 2,948
Favourite Quo Album: 'Hello' [and 'Quo Live']
Favourite other bands.: Zappa, Kansas, Rush, Deep Purple, Yes, Richard Thompson, Horslips, Rory Gallagher, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest etc etc. [ANYONE but Kiss!]
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Post by gerh on Dec 20, 2020 15:23:28 GMT
I just ask myself How did Rossi get it so wrong? Cheers Years of dedicated practice. G
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Post by azza200 on Dec 20, 2020 19:37:46 GMT
I just ask myself How did Rossi get it so wrong? Cheers cocaine..
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jcb
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 77
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Post by jcb on Dec 20, 2020 20:44:11 GMT
Wrong....yip, kept the name alive and the band going, more hits, more albums, massive tours.....where did it all go wrong? Don’t think it did. And long may he continue.
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Post by unspokenwords on Dec 20, 2020 21:39:58 GMT
Looking back now I can see why so many people were cynical and sneered at the band. At one time in the 1970's it was something (the criticism) I felt defensive about.
The band effectively became two bands.
The musical band (ie FF era) that produced the creative music, and the band that performed as the supreme rock band live.
The other side was a lighter side that was created on their appearances on Top of the Pops etc., as the lads from down the road, chuckle brothers, light hearted and out for a laugh and nothing more. This then descended in to farce under the management of David Walker where no trick was below them to try to get publicity. Rossi refers to it as 'prostituting' himself. Sad and pathetic really.
I can now see why many laughed at Quo and thought they were a joke. Here was a band with a rock image and rock credentials acting like cretins and wanting to be amongst Donny Osmond, David Cassidy and the likes of St Winifreds Schoo Choir singing "there's no one quite like grandma' etc.,
When I see these performances on day time TV etc., (infrequently thankfully) I cringe and think:-
'Hell this is the band I like(d)! What an embarrassment. No wonder many hated seeing them and laughed at them. They actually deserved the mockery.'
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Post by azza200 on Dec 21, 2020 8:16:59 GMT
They sure did take the light entertainment showbiz route in the 90's which made them lose their rock credibility
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Post by blagult on Dec 21, 2020 10:43:59 GMT
They sure did take the light entertainment showbiz route in the 90's which made them lose their rock credibility Would it not be fair to say they lost most of their Rock credibility in 1977 ? Out of 7 albums released after BFY as the FF or most of the FF only 2 had any credibility as Rock Music. Maybe even just WYW as I’m including NTL Loosely. Love that album justfor the record !
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Post by curiousgirl on Dec 21, 2020 13:44:54 GMT
I just ask myself How did Rossi get it so wrong? Cheers I understand your view, because I've wondered the same myself. But what if he wasn't being himself in those early days? Yes he enjoyed blues/shuffles but he wanted to be one of Everly Bros, sing pop songs. What if he simply couldn't keep up the pretence any more? I'm simply grateful that we had those years that I love so much.
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