Another One Gone...
December 24, 2016 10:03 AM   Subscribe

Rick Parfitt, guitarist with Status Quo, has died aged 68 of complications following a shoulder injury.

Not the subtlest of bands, but good for a boogie... Whatever You Want, Caroline and (of course) Rockin' All Over the World.
posted by 43rdAnd9th (21 comments total)
 
RIP.

I'll have to crank up "Paper Plane," later.
posted by jonmc at 10:14 AM on December 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


This is the first I have ever heard of this band. Were they big in the UK?
posted by thelonius at 10:15 AM on December 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


Huge. They could be described as the Brit equivalent of Skynyrd.
posted by jonmc at 10:38 AM on December 24, 2016 [18 favorites]


a guitarist's guitarist.
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posted by spitbull at 11:00 AM on December 24, 2016


I have to admit, not being a listener I always confused Status Quo and Procol Harum. I do know that they were significant in some way, though, so the Skynyrd comparison is helpful!

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posted by rhizome at 11:04 AM on December 24, 2016


For those who don't know SQ, this 2014 Guardian article is a good case for their significance.
posted by spitbull at 11:08 AM on December 24, 2016 [3 favorites]


A Teenage Fanclub lyric ("She wears denim wherever she goes / Says she's gonna get some records by the Status Quo") prompted me to look them up, for which I'm forever grateful. I am a bigger fan of their boogie rock than their psychedelic stuff (when Ice in the Sun or Matchstick Men wriggle into my ear they stay there for days).
posted by miles per flower at 11:14 AM on December 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


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posted by Katjusa Roquette at 11:26 AM on December 24, 2016


At the school disco: all the 12 year old boys singing to the girls "roll over lay down and let me in". That was pretty hilarious, considering it was a christian school, with daily bible reading etc.
But damn, yes, another hero gone...
posted by ouke at 11:34 AM on December 24, 2016


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posted by threetwentytwo at 12:00 PM on December 24, 2016


My hippie friend Josh used to play his hippy dad's records at parties. Always liked Pictures of Matchstick Men.

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posted by cotton dress sock at 1:57 PM on December 24, 2016


I always confused Status Quo and Procol Harum. That would be Pictures of Matchstick Men, not typical of their most famous work.

Bizarrely, "Quo Bop" has zero google hits. Youtube helps a bit (ff to about a minute) but there must be something better out there.
posted by StephenB at 2:50 PM on December 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


I'm assuming it was repetitive strain injury.
posted by w0mbat at 2:52 PM on December 24, 2016 [3 favorites]


Status Quo is a standout example of the big diff between US and UK audiences. Only one single was a hit in the US, while in the UK they had 62 hit singles ... 22 in the top-10. (A Guiness record.) By 2013 they had released 30 albums.

Why I think 'Matchstick Men' hit in 1968: the guitar opening is markedly similar to 1966 Supremes hit 'You Keep Me Hangin On'. Also remarkable for being *very* tuned-in to the San Francisco sound.
posted by Twang at 5:42 PM on December 24, 2016


An interesting tidbit of Status Quo history: When Rick Allen, the drummer for Def Leppard lost his arm, Status Quo drummer Jeff Rich played alongside him until Allen was able to play on his own again.
posted by 4ster at 6:32 PM on December 24, 2016 [2 favorites]


This is the first I have ever heard of this band. Were they big in the UK?

I have always suspected that they were one of the models for Spinal Tap. Their Wikipedia page lists their years active as 1962-present and that they have been on ten different labels, all the while maintaining a let-us-say low profile in North America. You don't have that sort of career without a bit of "Hello Cleveland!" in there.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:15 PM on December 24, 2016 [1 favorite]


More probably than not, Spinal Tap was/is modeled after this wonder of nature.
posted by shockingbluamp at 7:24 PM on December 24, 2016


\m/
posted by Ber at 7:39 PM on December 24, 2016


Kind of embarrassed to say that the first time I became aware of Status Quo was when they joined forces with Coles (a major Australian Supermarket)... (Down down, prices are down) I remember the interview where they defended "selling out" in this way- referenced in this article.

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posted by freethefeet at 4:59 AM on December 25, 2016


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posted by faceplantingcheetah at 9:39 AM on December 25, 2016


When it came out I bought the 45 of Matchstick Men for our disco in Edinburgh .. never really followed Status Quo's career but sad. 'Bye Rick

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posted by anadem at 7:39 PM on December 25, 2016


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