Dave Sweetmore column: Carry on rocking after 60 years

Fans of legendary rock band Status Quo will want to read Tameside Radio presenter Dave Sweetmore's latest piece for us...

For one of the biggest, and longest-serving British rock bands of all time, Status Quo should get much more credit than sometimes they do. 

They are a band who have inspired a huge number of budding musicians and rock stars over the years, including Paul Weller, who first picked up a guitar after seeing them live. 

They are a band who over the years have had many cool indie and rock bands cover some of their vast back catalogue, one of my favourites being Kasabian’s version of ‘Pictures Of Matchstick Men’. 

They’ve sold more than 120 million records, released more than 100 singles, and appeared on Top of the Pops more than any other band. 

Next year it will be 60 years since frontman and guitarist Francis Rossi first formed his band which was to become Status Quo. 

With the death of his long-standing sidekick Rick Parfitt in 2016, Ireland’s Richie Malone, who had been a lifelong Quo fan himself, was brought in. 

He’d already been lined up by Parfitt should anything happen to him, so when he did sadly pass away Richie Malone was the obvious, and correct, replacement. 

Although Rick Parfitt will never be forgotten, Richie Malone has stepped up to the plate, and alongside Rossi, Andy Bown, John ‘Rhino’ Edwards, and Leon Cave, brought the band into a new era. 

The band’s first album featuring Richie Malone, ‘Backbone’, released in 2019, was a five star masterpiece, and also became the bands biggest selling studio album since 1982. 

A tour to coincide with the album was postponed due to the pandemic, and the last year has been the longest time the band have had off the road since the 60s. 

Last month, Francis Rossi was a guest in the studio on ITV’s This Morning show, he was the first studio guest on the programme since March 2020. 

He announced a huge tour for early 2022, named the ‘Out Out Quoing’ tour, which sees the band play Manchester Bridgewater Hall on Monday, March 14, a tour which takes place once he’s completed a spoken word life story tour at the back end of this year.

Francis Rossi, who will be 72 at the end of this month, shows no sign of stopping or slowing down. 

Live performance is what he does, and he is second to none at it. I’ve seen Status Quo live many times, and they continuously put on a loud, faultless, no nonsense, uplifting, crowd pleasing rock show. 

Their history and live shows is why they are still one of the biggest and most loved rock bands in the world. 

Rick Parfitt’s memory will always live on, but with the energy, new era, yet same great sound that Richie Malone has brought to the band since joining a few years back, I’m sure Rick Parfitt will be looking down with nothing but pride. 

Tickets for Status Quo’s 2022 tour are now on sale via the band's website. 

You can listen to Dave on Tameside Radio 103.6FM on Monday evenings from 7pm to 9pm. Click here to subscribe and catch up on previous shows.

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