News

Status Quo – Live At The BBC

• 13th Sep 2010

The unique relationship with those two great British institutions, Status Quo and the BBC is celebrated on “Status Quo Live At The BBC” which is issued by UMC on 24 October 2010. The release will be available on a range of formats: 2CD ‘best of’ collection / DVD / 4CD box set and a limited edition collectors’ 8 disc complete set.

Status Quo’s unbelievable career has largely been built upon their unassailable reputation as one of the world’s greatest live acts and it is that prowess and power that underlies this collection.

This release is collated from all of the BBC owned Quo recordings that still exist in the archive and charts the inexorable rise of the band: from the first steps made as The Spectres, the brief incarnation as Traffic Jam and then the glory days as the mighty Status Quo. The BBC gave the band a platform and support at crucial stages in their career and thus “Status Quo Live At The BBC” should be seen essentially as an alternate Greatest Hits, a musical growing up in public.

“There’s no doubt that the Beeb played a big part in getting Status Quo off the ground, and I’m just as excited by this anthology as the fans will be,” commented John Coghlan, adding: “It’s about time it came out.”

This incredible archive represents the last great unreleased set of recordings in the Quo catalogue. The collection has been brought together by trawling the BBC archives, but also by inviting contributions from fans. The BBC had a habit of wiping tapes after they were broadcast which has meant that some of the Corporation’s output has been lost for ever. However thanks to fans recording broadcasts at home a couple of gems have been reclaimed here for this set.

Sessions for shows hosted by the likes of David Symonds, Dave Lee Travis, Steve Wright, Ken Bruce and more are included here, as are live performances such as the legendary and much-bootlegged Paris Theatre set from 1973, and shows in Wembley, Birmingham and Brighton. Classic performances and, of course, classic tracks: this collection brings together everything of real significance from the psychedelic styling of‘Pictures Of Matchstick Men’ to the true Rock thumpers of the 70s to the tracks that made the band a household name, ‘Rockin All Over The World’, ‘Caroline’, ‘In The Army Now’, the list goes on.

Fully supported and endorsed by the band – the current line up but also the original incarnation of Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan – “Status Quo Live At The BBC” is a triumphant collection of the defining moments of a truly seminal British rock act, as witnessed, broadcast and archived by the voice of the nation, the BBC. A set to be treasured.