Two south London fellows called Alan Lancaster (bass) and Francis Rossi (guitar) founded the band "The Spectres" in 1962. At that time, mr. Rossi preferred to call himself Mike after one of his second names. In 1966, the band changed their name to "Traffic", shortly thereafter to "Traffic Jam". The lineup consisted of Lancaster, Rossi, John Coghlan (drums) and Roy Lynes (keyboard). A year later, the band changed name once again to "The Status Quo". Rick Parfitt (guitar) joined the band. Their first hit record, "Pictures of Matchstick Men", was released. "The" was soon omitted from the name of the band, known thereafter as just "Status Quo" In 1970, an LP, "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon", was released. The album showed that the band was heading towards a heavy rock'n'roll style. Roy Lynes had now left the band. The first release of an album on Vertigo came in 1972, "Piledriver" showed that Quo intended to play a heavy, guitar-dominated boogie-rock'n'roll. (A decision that made them one of the greatest bands ever.) The release of "Hello!" in 1973 made it clear that their rock'n'roll intention wasn't an accident. In my opinion, this album is one of the greatest rock'n'roll ones ever recorded. The seventies went on, with Status Quo releasing albums, of which one was the wonderful "Live". In 1982, the band member John Coghlan quit, and the record "1+9+8+2" released this year had a drummer called Pete Kircher. Andy Bown, a keyboardist who had been playing with Quo since 1977, was from now on considered an official member of the band (As well as Kircher). In 1984 the band announced that they were going to break up. The "End of the Road Tour" was a total success. In 1985, the band reunited for one night to play the opening of the "Live Aid" show. When everyone thought that the story was over, the band released an album called "In The Army Now" in 1986. The line-up was now Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Andy Bown, John 'Rhino' Edwards (bass) and Jeff Rich (drums). 1986-2000, the line-up didn't change. In May 2000, the drummer Jeff Rich quitted Quo. New drummer is Matthew Letley. Status Quo is still going strong.
Status Quo is one of Britain's longest-lived bands, staying together for over 30 years. During much of that time, the band was only successful in the UK, where they racked up a string of Top Ten singles that ran into the '90s. In America, the group was ignored after they abandoned psychedelia for heavy boogie rock in the early '70s. Before that, the Quo managed to reach number 12 in the US with the psychedelic classic "Pictures of Matchstick Men" (a Top Ten hit in the UK). Following that single, the band suffered a lean period for the next few years, before deciding to refashion themselves as a hard-rock boogie band in 1970 with their Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon album. Over the next 25 years, the Quo have basically recycled the same simple boogie on each successive album and single, yet their popularity has never waned in Britain. If anything, their very predictability has ensured the group a large following.
The origins of Status Quo lie in a London-based beat group called the Spectres. Francis Rossi (vocals, guitar) and Alan Lancaster (bass) were the core members of the Spectres from their inception; within a few years, the band had addied drummer John Coughlan and organist Roy Lynes. The Spectres released three unsuccessful singles before changing their style to psychedelia and adopting the name Traffic Jam and releasing the unsuccessful single, "Almost But Not Quite There." After it flopped, the group added Rick Harrison (guitar, vocals), formerly of the cabaret band, the Highlights. When Harrison joined the band in August 1967, the group again changed their name, this time to Status Quo.
At first, Status Quo backed British solo artists, including Tommy Quickly, while working on their own material. "Pictures of Matchstick Men," the group's debut single, was released toward the end of the year and quickly shot to number seven on the UK charts; within a few months, it was a number 12 in the US as well. The immediate follow-up single, "Black Veils of Melancholy," was a flop, but "Ice in the Sun," written by former British pop star Marty Wilde, became Status Quo's second Top Ten hit in the fall of 1968. Over in America, the single barely registered, squeaking to number 70; it was the last time the group would ever chart in the US.
For the next year, Status Quo tried to replicate the success of their first two singles with similar psychedelic material, but they had little luck. Finally, they revamped their sound -- and jettisoned organist Lynes -- in the summer of 1970, debuting their new heavy, bluesy boogie rock with the single "Down the Dustpipe." The single reached number 12, yet the full-fledged hard-rock album Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon didn't gain much attention. Status Quo began playing concerts regularly across England, slowly building up a strong following in England. Following well-received sets at 1972's Reading and Great Western festivals, the band became a hot property. The group signed with Vertigo Records and their first single for the label, "Paper Plane," cracked the Top Ten in early 1973, while their first album for Vertigo, Piledriver reached number five. Later that year, Hello entered the charts at number one, while its accompanying single "Caroline" reached number five. Also in 1973, keyboardist Andy Bown, formerly of the Herd and Judas Jump, became the band's unofficial keyboardist.
Throughout the '70s, each album Status Quo released went into the Top Five, while their singles -- including the number one "Down Down" (1974), "Roll Over Lay Down" (1975), "Rain" (1976), "Wild Side of Life" (1976), and a cover of John Fogerty's "Rockin' All Over the World" (1977) -- consistently hit the Top Ten and frequently went gold. Since they were experiencing a great deal of success, they didn't change their sound at all, they just kept churning out the same heavy boogie. America basically ignored Status Quo, yet their eponymous album managed to chart at 148 in 1976. Nevertheless, they were an English phenomenon, and England continued to support them even when pop music was undergoing drastic changes in the late '70s.
Following the release of 1980's Just Supposin', drummer John Coughlan left the band in 1981 to form his own goup, Diesel. Former Original Mirrors drummer Pete Kircher replaced him; his first appearance with the group was 1982's Never to Late. Druing the early '80s, tensions escalated between bassist Lancaster and guitarists Rossi and Parfitt, who were the group's main songwriters. Lancaster left the band after performing with them for a final time at Live Aid. He subsequently took Rossi and Parfitt to court to prevent them from using the name "Status Quo." Lancaster lost his battle, and the name became the property of the guitarists.
Once the lawsuit was settled, Rossi and Parfitt assembled a new band, hiring bassist John Edwards, drummer Jeff Rich, and keyboardist Andy Bown, who officially became a member of the group. The new lineup continued Status Quo's remarkable success, as they racked up a number of new Top Ten singles and hit albums, as well as consistently selling out concerts across England and Europe. In 1994, the group had its second number one hit of its career, with the football anthem "Come on You Reds"; the single was recorded with the football champions, Manchester United. By the mid-'90s, Status Quo had scored 50 British hit singles, which was a greater number than any other band in rock & roll's history. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide (from mp3.com)
Pop Music for the younger generation in Pakistan. Nermin Niazi sings some of her pop songs from the 80's and 90's. Feisal Mosleh composed much of the music. Some of the songs were recorded in England and others in Lahore and Islamabad, Pakistan. A few of the newer songs have been recorded in California, USA. Nermin and Feisal are both children of the famous Pakistani film and TV music artistes, Nahid Niazi (renowned singer) and Moslehuddin (accomplished music director). (from mp3.com)
Knife in the Water emerged from the thriving Austin scene in 1997, showcasing a sound influenced equally by indie, ambient pop, and skewed Americana. Led by the vocals and guitar of Aaron Blount, the band also included vocalist/keyboardist Laura Krause, pedal steel player Bill McCullough, bassist Mark Nathan, and drummer Cisco Ryder. The self-released Plays One Sound and Others appeared in 1998; it enjoyed a strong local response and was a critical favorite. The band headed out on tour, making it all the way to New York City in the process. Red River followed from Overcoat two years later, and garnered even more press with its more focused, yet no less morose sound. Tours with acts like Calexico followed, and the German label Glitterhouse picked up River for wider distribution. Austin indie Peek-A-Boo took up the cause next, offering the full-length Book of Spells in 2000 and the Crosspross Bells EP two years later. Knife in the Water continued to tour and/or play shows with types like Archer Prewitt, and also made their yearly appearances at Austin's South by Southwest. In August 2003, Knife reissued its first two albums, remastered and complete with bonus tracks and new artwork, on Aspyr Media. While the label was primarily known as a video game imprint, the band was one of its first music-only signings. Aspyr also released the Cut the Cord LP, which Glitterhouse had issued for Europe only the previous May. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide (from mp3.com)
Chris Agnelli and Robbie Nelson made names for themselves as two of Ireland's top DJs but soon found themselves elevated to superstar status after their first single as a production team, "El Ni�o," became one of summer 1998's top Ibiza anthems. Spun by many of the top trance DJs and featured on high-profile albums such as Paul Oakenfold's Tranceport, "El Ni�o" laid the foundation for the duo's newfound career as producers. Their follow-up, "Everyday," which found them moving in a more melodic direction, peaked at number 17 on the U.K. charts, while their third single, "Embrace," did nearly as well, peaking at 29. In late 2000, the duo released their first album, Hudson Street, which featured the duo producing a wide variety of styles outside of the progressive trance anthem template. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide (from mp3.com)
French DJ Alex Gopher joined the ranks of his electronic counterparts such as Daft Punk, Les Rhythmes Digitales, and Cassius with the release of his debut album You, My Baby & I in mid-2000. His combinations of jazz and blues fusion and technology makes for an original demeanor versus his club/dance compatriots. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide (from mp3.com)
Dyno, Italian dj and producer, since he was 16, he finds out his passion for electronic music.
The buying of the first synthesizer means the start of an accurate research of sounds going from Techno, to Trance, through Hard Trance until Minimal Techno which is the result of a continuous r&d which comes true for the first time in 1995 with the release of his first single "DELTA 9 T.H.C."
Right from that point he starts collecting a long list of single releases working with the labels Hard Brain, Iron Sound, Expanded Music, Molto Records, The Saifam Group, Arsenic Sound, Overdose, Gas Records ,Bonzai Records by using for some productions the pseudonym Star Alliance, Jhwh, Soundyno, Panama, Onyd, Stonhenge and Gleylancer.
His producer career gives him the chance to start djing in the best clubs.
Michael Leonhart is a jazz trumpeter, a multi-instrumentalist, and singer/songwriter and an accomplished session musician. He has appeared on over 70 albums by a wide variety of pop, jazz, and hip-hop artists. Some of his performing and/or recording credits include A Tribe Called Quest, David Byrne, James Brown, and Lenny Kravitz. Leonhart also played trumpet and wrote horn arrangements for Steely Dan's 2000 comeback album, Two Against Nature. He then joined the band on tours of Japan and Europe. These achievements are all the more considerable given that Leonhart was only 26 at the time of this writing. But his earliest major achievement occurred at 17, when he won the Grammy for Best High School Musician in the U.S. Leonhart's debut as a leader, Aardvark Poses, was issued by Sunnyside in 1995. The follow-up, Glub-Glub, Vol. 11, appeared in 1997. In addition, Leonhart appeared alongside Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, and other emerging jazz greats on Perico Sambeat's 1998 album, Ademuz. ~ David R. Adler, All Music Guide (from mp3.com)