Hi derryquo,
I'm impressed with your open letter and think you make some interesting points there.
Status Quo have been an important part of my life, too. I'm talking the 70s here. I never cared who their manager was at the time or who produced them or whether they made any mistakes.
I just liked Quo for what they were to me - the band members AND their music.
But with IYCSTH, I felt cheated for the first time, and I wasn't particularly keen on the Supposin' album or Never Too Late. So I gradually lost interest in the band and their music. I had other things to do with my life that were more important to me than being angry with a band.
And here it comes: I left Quo behind, and no regrets. I still enjoyed their older output, but Quo weren't part of my life any longer.
There were no message boards around at the time of course, and my friends had never been interested in Quo, except for one or two. So that was that.
My question is: Couldn't other so-called die-hard fans have left it then and there, too? Right after 21st July 1984? Or did they all cling to that famous infamous line, "We won't be splittin' up, we will be a band as normal"?
Why put up with what became of Quo in 1986? Why follow a band that had hardly anything in common with the band everyone remembered from before 1984, or, say, July 1985?
The music had changed, the members had changed, their style of clothes had changed, their prancing around on stage had changed.
Why put up with all that? Pray tell.
I was blessedly unaware of all that, well, maybe not really unaware, but untouched by it all.
I found Quo again in 2000. I liked most of their music they came up with over the years, and I gradually got used to the 'new' band members.
Why would anyone try so desperately to 'like' or to 'follow' a band whose music, whose members they can't stand? Why would fans of old go on and on about the old band and keep on comparing it to the 'new' one? Why would they use the 'new' media, i.e. the message board(s), in order to slag the 'new' band off?
The original Quo were gone in 1984, lost forever to boogie rock history.
Is it really all those 'hardcore' Quo fans longing and hoping for something to happen, to break through, to explode? To wipe out the 'current' band members and see them replaced by the original members? Shouldn' t it all have stopped in 1984, 85?
Quo chose a different path then. There have been other managers, producers, band members, 'new' fans. Attitudes, styles, tastes have changed over the years. Mine, too, BTW.
Of course it was some sort of revelation seeing the original band play live again. And it did help the two remaining and longest-standing band members to improve their playing, and one of them allegedly found out how 'polished' 'current' Quo were. He also realised he wanted it to be more like
Let's ROCK than just
Let's rock.
And rock they did. And still do.
I do prefer their older records to their 'newer' material. I could listen to their 70s records over and over again whereas some of their more recent albums don't get played so much.
But that's my choice.
If I didn't want 'current' Quo, I wouldn't go and buy their records or go see them live. But I do, and I love seeing them play live. I know I will miss them when they stop playing their electric gigs at the end of this year.
If I didn't like a product, I wouldn't go and buy it. I'd just let it be. Again, that's my choice.
So what are the so-called 'die-hards' clinging to?
I agree that the stagnant setlist is a nuisance. I agree that Quo might appear lazy or take their fans for granted. But I think they aren't and they don't. I think they really try to give the fans what they want, and seeing the crowds at Quo gigs you couldn't honestly think the band were doing anything wrong, could you? They just don't play the stuff fans of old would want to hear. They aren't the band fans of old would want to see. But
that band doesn't exist anymore, even though it reappeared for a short while three years ago.
I have no idea what the band have in store for us. I'm sad that they will give up playing electric gigs at the end of this year. I would certainly love to see Rick, Francis, John and Alan play together again one last time.
50 years of Quo, that is definitely something. They have achieved a lot, and they should celebrate their anniversary accordingly.
I don't know if Simon Porter can be held responsible for everything. It's probably not the case.
Thanks for reading.