There are a couple of articles on Status Quo here at Glory Daze, but not nearly enough to be substantial, by 1975, Quo had already released a swag of LP’s, ‘On The Level’ would be their eighth.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Status Quo
ALBUM: On The Level
LABEL: Vertigo
SERIAL: 9102 002
YEAR: 1975
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: England
LINEUP: Alan Lancaster – bass, guitar, vocals * Francis Rossi – vocals, guitars * Rick Parfitt – vocals, guitars * John Coghlan – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 Little Lady * 02 Most Of The Time * 03 I Saw The Light * 04 Over And Done * 05 Nightride * 06 Down Down * 07 Broken Man * 08 What To Do * 09 Where I Am * 10 Bye Bye Johnny
WEBLINKS: Site Link
Background
You have to take your hat off to these long-standing English stalwarts of rock. They’ve been around in one form or another since the early 60’s, which makes them as elderly as the Rolling Stones! There are a couple of articles on Quo here at Glory Daze, but not nearly enough to be substantial. By 1975, Quo had already released a swag of LP’s, ‘On The Level’ would be their eighth.
Released in February 1975, the band had preceded its release with the single ‘Down Down’, which went to #1 on the singles charts. It would remain their only #1 single throughout their lengthy career.
The Songs
As a set of songs, this is as boogie oriented for a British band as it gets. As we all know, Quo’s playing strategy isn’t very complicated, but it’s pretty infectious nonetheless. With songs like ‘Little Lady’, ‘I Saw The Light’, ‘What To Do’, the rampant ‘Bye Bye Johnny’ and of course ‘Down Down’, the Quo trademark is reinforced. There are a couple of moments where the quartet tone it down for a bit.
‘Most Of The Time’ is initially an acoustic piece, but turns into a burning blues effort, the solo straight out of the Jimmy Page solo-book. For something different, ‘Where I Am’ is a shimmering acoustic guitar laden affair, with no trace of boogie to be found!
In Summary
Status Quo were riding high in popularity, and along with a handful of other British bands such as Queen, Slade, things were looking very rosy in the land of Blighty. ‘On The Level’ would receive numerous reissues over the years, including CD’s with extra bonus tracks. Refer to the list above sourced from Discogs.
In later years, it would be revealed that even Prince Charles was known to own a Status Quo album or two in his collection. And if you live in Australia, Status Quo have been reinvented thanks to their TV commercials for supermarket giant Coles, and their integration of ‘Down Down’, as it referred to a drop in supermarket prices. Aah the things we do for money!
Video
Entire Album (Select Tracks)
