Back to Back (Status Quo album)

''Back to Back'' is the sixteenth studio album by English rock band Status Quo and released in November 1983. For the first time in the group's history, it featured four singles, "Ol' Rag Blues" (highest position No. 9), " A Mess of Blues", originally a hit for Elvis Presley (No. 15), " Marguerita Time" (No. 3), and "Going Down Town Tonight" (which reached No. 20 in a different, re-recorded version to the album version.) The album entered the UK chart at its highest position of No. 9.

It was the last album to feature original bass guitarist Alan Lancaster, as well as drummer Pete Kircher.

Production

Lancaster co-wrote the first single, "Ol' Rag Blues", with Keith Lamb, lead singer of British bands The Kase, Sleepy Talk and Mr. Toad, and founder and lead singer of Australia's successful glam rock band Hush. Lancaster was angered when the production company declined to release the version featuring his lead vocal (which has since been made available as a bonus track on the 2006 remastered reissue), in preference to that featuring the voice of Francis Rossi. He also made no secret of his dislike of "Marguerita Time", which he thought was too pop-orientated for the group.

When they appeared on BBC's ''Top of the Pops'' to mime to the single, his place was taken by Jim Lea of Slade, who were also on the programme that week. The ''Top of the Pops'' performance was also notable for Rick Parfitt falling into Pete Kircher's drum set near the end of the song while the song kept playing. On the DVD ''Hello Quo'', Parfitt claims that he had planned this action, although many people thought he was drunk. On the same DVD, Alan Lancaster also said that he wasn't so concerned with "Marguerita Time" as he was with "Going Down Town Tonight", which – according to him – was not a Status Quo recording and featured no Status Quo musicians apart from Francis Rossi.

Release

The fourth and the final single, "Going Down Town Tonight", was released in 1984. A different version was included on the album '' Back to Back''. "Going Down Town Tonight" was written by a songwriter/pianist Guy Johnson. Johnson had originally approached Rossi with some demo pieces in 1981 and Rossi later signed him to his publishing company Dump Music. The song was re-recorded and extended for this release. The picture sleeve featured a cartoon drawing of the band by Rob Fletcher, an artist who has also worked extensively with Bob Young.

"Too Close To The Ground" had also been a planned single, as adverts in the press announced that it was to be the band's new single.

Track listing

The 2006 remaster has a snippet of Bernie Frost singing "I've Got Tears In My Ears From Lying On My Back In Bed Crying Over You" by Homer and Jethro at the beginning of "No Contract" and a slightly longer fade, extending the runtime by almost twenty seconds.

2006 remaster bonus tracks

2018 Deluxe Edition bonus tracks

Personnel

Status Quo

*Rick Parfitt – guitar, vocals
*Francis Rossi – guitar, vocals
*Alan Lancaster – bass, vocals
* Andrew Bown – keyboards, backing vocals
*Pete Kircher – drums, backing vocals

Additional personnel

*Bernie Frost – backing vocals
*Tim Summerhayes – engineering
*Steve Churchyard – engineering
*Chris "Props" Ranson – instrument technician

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Back To Back (Album)
1983 albums
Status Quo (band) albums
Vertigo Records albums
Albums recorded at AIR Studios