The End
That’s all folks. Thanks so much for all your questions, and to the Status Quo lads, Francis and Rick, for answering them so brilliantly.
Here they are with a Vine sign-off:
Updated
dickybaker ponders:
Right Parfitt, how come after a life of excess all areas youre still in better shape than I am?
lorimerhotshot asks:
Are you sitting comfortably in your chair?
Guardian contributor Not really, The chairs themselves are really quite uncomfortable. And having been sitting down for the last two weeks rehearsing the acoustic sets, it's making my Fleetwood hurt a bit. Hahaha..
volvocommie asks:
My friend wears denim wherever she goes, and says she’d like to get some of your records. What’s a good album with which to start?
Guardian contributor The current one called Aquostic (Stripped Bare). It's not too loud, not too quiet, it's just right. Alternatively, one of the greatest hits because you get a bit of everything on there.
beadleclaw gets serious:
Hi guys, what’s your favourite biscuit?
Guardian contributor Rick: A JB, ginger biscuit. No idea why we call them that. It just started off like that and that's how it's stayed, 'I'll have a JB'. I like them because without a cup of tea, a biscuit is too dry. Without a biscuit, a cup of tea is too wet. And if you dunk a ginger biscuit before you have a sip of tea, it gives the tea such a great edge, such a great taste.
Rod Stewart: "one of the lads"
Aidan Quo Johnson asks:
Over the years you’ve played with lots of other popular rock bands such as Queen and Rod Stewart. Do you have a favourite band that you’ve shared the bill with at a gig? Either because they’re great guys or you love their music?
Guardian contributor Rick: We've known Queen since the 70s and always loved them. Freddie was a lovely man...person we should say. I've always loved playing them. One of the best bands we've shared a bill with was Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. They were like us on stage, the entire band was into it and working, which I'd always seen as Quo's forte. ZZ Top were good, a little strange though. They had a lot of trouble following us, because we'd gone out and done this whole hard-hitting set and then they came out and were so laid back, which is their thing, but it took over an hour to get the audience in it, but after that it was great. They were very strange people...maybe they didn't like us because I called the bass player a wally. Rod Stewart. Nice bloke. Really down to earth. One of us. One of the lads.
"I do like Haim… I also find Taylor Swift great"
Rose Harrison asks about contemporary music:
Do you like bands like Royal blood,what New bands do you tip? Did you know Johnny rotton was a fan❓
Guardian contributor Francis: Who are Royal Blood? The last thing I heard that people liked were some American band that I can't remember the name of...Fall Out Boy...I thought they were tremendous. And Haim. But generally unless a band has been around for 5 years and has a profile, I don't know them. But I do like Haim. One of our sons was at Reading the year before and so I watched them on telly and I think they're great. My musical taste is extremely broad. I also find Taylor Swift great. She's marvellous. I like women, yep. Johnny Rotten? Yes we did know that. Somebody told us that they'd heard an interview with him and he was talking about us. We kind of bypassed one another in the 80s. We were everything the punks were against. It's funny how age does that...because they weren't that far removed the punk thing and us. We do admire John Lydon, we've got a lot of respect for him these days. He's one of the few people who says what he feels. He doesn't care who he's talking to. He just says it how it is. Like Russell Brand talking to Jeremy Paxman. I saw a whole different side to him. His attitude towards Paxman, who is well known for putting people down and steering the interview where he wants to go, was great. He was completely out-punched by Russell Brand. Before that I'd just seen this scruffy bloke on stage trying to be funny. He was just one of those people we'd never found funny. We don't think he would be a leader, but he would be a damn fine advisor to politicians. We don't vote either. It doesn't make any different whatsoever. We just wouldn't know who to vote. All politicians lie, and we can't stand politicians. Politicians and golfers...don't like them.
troyka asks:
I read that John Peel was a Quo fan..did you ever meet him or listen to his show?
Guardian contributor We met him a few times. The interesting thing was that when we had Matchstick Men out in the whole psych thing, he liked us. That's when i understood showbusiness, when he saw us later on and dumped us. I saw him a few years later and he apologied. And he subsequently became quite a fan. John Peel was one of those iconic people in music...who command respect because of how they are so diligently researching music all the time. Jo Whiley..Gary Crowley...those people.
batfunk asks:
Would you ever consider revisiting your 60s sound and writing a new album using Pictures Of Matchstick Men as the template?
Guardian contributor It would be difficult to revisit that because that's what we did then. We were copying then what was around at that point trying to find an an identity. it doesn't seem like that would be possible in any way, shape or form, trying to put your mind back to how it was then. So, no is the short answer.
nigel mellor asks:
Francis and rick, if i gave you both a million pounds would you record an album with Alan and John as the frantic four?
Guardian contributor It's not a question of money, it's a question of ethics and whether it would be the right thing to do. I'd go as far to say as if we did it, wouldn't do it for the money, we'd do it because we'd want to do it. Having completed two tours with them, which were great and enriched a lot of peoples lives, we think it's best left completely now while it's still platinum. Funny how that saying still sticks..a million pounds..haha.
TimSAFC asks about breaking the boycott:
Do you regret playing Sun City in the 80s’ & thus breaking the United Nations cultural boycott in apartheid South Africa?
Guardian contributor No. When we were down there, various people like Tina Turner had been there. We did not play to a segregated audience and we had a mixed race crew. We weren't informed that it was supposed to be a segregated audience, otherwise we never would have gone. It was a ploy designed by a certain person working within our organisation to bury us...Who was it? We'll call them Deep Water...they took a lot of money off us. So we had to formally apologise to the UN in the end and that was the end of the matter. We climbed out of the well after that. Various acts decided they would never work with us again and all of them worked with us subsequently...
Andy Chesterman asks more about the role of radio:
With the lack of airplay in the mid-90’s - to early 2000’s, is the support from R2 a welcome surprise or does it reflect improved output from the band?
Guardian contributor We're all past that and just happy to have come through that period. We had to find an alternative way to survive without getting played on the radio. So we did some outrageous publicity stunts to promote our albums. It was around the time we did four shows in one day - Glasgow, Birmingham, Sheffield and London.
razclaut asks:
What reason did BBC radio give for stopping playing your music?
Guardian contributor It wasn't a reason. They dropped every act over 30, it wasn't just us. We went into partnership with them for a show for their 25th anniversary and we both turned the gig down when our manager mentioned it to us. And then they came back to us and said their listeners had voted for us. So we played it. And as soon as the show was over, they dropped us from the playlist. We learned that you shouldn't take on Mother. You're not gonna win. We have a very good relationship with them now.
Joanna Barker would like to know:
Rick will you write a book on mens style ? You always look amazing and need to teach these youngsters how to dress most stylishman on earth xx and great naked to *wink
Guardian contributor I don't think that I would be much use to youngsters. The way they seem to be dressing these days with the low belt and their bums hanging out. There's nothing the matter with it, I just think it looks stupid. Thank you for the compliment, I don't consider myself to be one of the best dressed men on earth, but I do like to look smart. And I wouldn't dream of advising anyone else how to dress.
WillDuff asks:
How do you keep the early songs - I mean the rocky ones from the early 70s - fresh for yourselves - and your audience?
And are you pissed off, Francis, that your guitar playing doesn’t get as much respect as it should?
Guardian contributor The fact that you play some of the songs again, they're new each night as you're in front of new people each night. And I don't think my guitar playing deserves much credit. I'm a lot better player than I was when I was 20, but not to the level that people should talk about it. I don't have a favourite guitar player, but my favourite artists is Jeff Lynne. He is what I would consider a genius "bastard". I didn't go to the ELO show in London recently, I did watch it on TV and I will buy the DVD. It was pretty much flawless that show...bastard.
"I used to get really quite upset with Paul Weller"
neilo23 asks:
Is it true that you lent a teenage Paul Weller equipment to play a gig in a pub? I always liked that story as your musical styles are quite different and it makes you sound like nice blokes.
Guardian contributor Francis: Yes, we taught him a lot and I used to get really quite upset with Paul Weller and the guys in The Jam as they tried to distance themselves from us. Rick: I helped Weller played his first chords. His dad asked me to come round and play him a few chords. He used to live in Woking near me. I lent him an amplifier and we never got it back. It's been a long running joke...30 years later and I'm still asking 'where's my f*cking amp!'
"Probably a Saturday afternoon doing a crossword with a dog on the lap nowadays is better…"
diggorycertain asks about the joys of rocking out:
Is there anything better in life than rocking out with a telecaster live on stage ?
Guardian contributor I could think of many things...it's one's point of view I suppose. Probably a Saturday afternoon doing a crossword with a dog on the lap nowadays is better but people probably don't want to hear that. So yes...sometimes it really is better than sex. Sometimes the thought of playing the Telecaster when you see a tour schedule in front of you when it stretches the whole page you think 'oh no'. But once you get out there and get into the bubble, it gets good. Sometimes it's marvellous, sometimes it's mundane. We very much enjoyed making the new album but rehearsing it's been torture because the arrangements are so different and we haven't ever done anything live like this before. I think we all share that fear having never done an acoustic show before, it's vastly different. It comes as a bit of a shock because an acoustic guitar is a totally different animal. And you have to use different muscles, and that hurts...
Tellycaster asks:
Did John Coghlan play the tamborine on Rocking All Over The World (the song)?
Guardian contributor No...It was Frank Rocotti and he was probably one of the most expensive people to play on our albums. he's one of the top session men. I don't think John could play the tambourine...
judgeschneider wonders about respect:
Does the band get the respect it deserves for all its achievements down the years? Also, if you could turn back time, is there a decision or event you would change?
Guardian contributor I don't think we sit here saying we should have more or less respect. Some people respect us, some people don't. I don't think we'd try to change anything really. It's been what it's been. It's been beyond our expectations really...we never would have imagined that we'd had 61 hit singles and over 40 hit albums.
Tellycaster asks:
Why does Mountain Lady end like it does?
Guardian contributor We remember it was written...Alan Lancaster wrote the song...it was just after he met Stevie Nicks so the song was about her. If it ended abruptly it was to make a change to the usual fade. That was a f*cking mistake...
Status Quo are in the building…
AndyOC asks:
You guys are legendary for rocking all over the world. Have you been to most of the world’s countries? In which place did the people most rock along with you?
Guardian contributor We've played pretty much everywhere in the world over the years. Once place we haven't been is India. Or China. Of all the places we have done, which is the rest of the world, we were very taken with Australia in the earlier days...that's too far to go for a gig now! It takes you a week to get over flying there.
Mike Grace kicks things off:
I feel many of these are going to be bad puns on title names or comments about songs having a similar tune, so I’ll go for something proper.
Is there a real difference between playing a song as young men and playing the same favourites decades later?
Guardian contributor You probably play it more exuberantly when you're younger. And more confidentially when you're younger.
Post your questions for Status Quo
After five decades in the business, Status Quo’s Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt have become veterans of double-denim stadium rock. Having sold over 100m records, they’re responsible for some of rock’s biggest hits – and some of its most ridiculed ills, from mullets to air guitar.
Their varied musical output has been just as colourful as their personal lives. In the 1960s, they found fame with their psychedelic-influenced single Pictures Of Matchstick Men. By the 70s, they had moved onto stadium-ready guitar anthems from Caroline to Down Down and Whatever You Want. In the 80s, burned out from drink and drugs, they split up for a year before regrouping to open Band Aid with Rockin’ All Over The World. But the reunion was brief. Frontmen Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt carried on playing as Status Quo as other band members parted, which led to a lengthy legal battle over the Status Quo name. Another court battle – an attempt to sue Radio 1 in 1996 for refusing to play their music – reportedly cost them over £500,000.
In 2013, the original lineup of the band came together for the first time in 30 years for a UK tour to mark their 50th anniversary and they’re now about to release an acoustic greatest hits album, Aquostic (Stripped Bare). To mark the occasion, Francis and Rick will be joining us to answer your questions. Post them in the comments below, and they’ll endeavour to answer as many as possible between 11.30-12.30 on Monday 20 October.
Updated
How do you know that? Just because I look in better shape...I don't know. I fail to understand it myself sometimes because I do feel pretty fit really for my age and I don't know how I manage to keep a fair complexion, and I've got all my hair. It must be the good old Parfitt genes I guess. But thank you very much for the compliment. Much appreciated at my age. At 48...haha. Do I miss the party lifestyle? Not at all. In fact I went to a party at a club a week ago because it was my son's 40th birthday and after an hour, I decided that I had to go because the music was too loud and I wanted to go to bed and that was at 9.15pm. How times have changed. I couldn't bloody wait to get home to bed.