STATUS QUO: Boogie Rock Brilliance with Drummer JOHN COGHLAN

Status Quo are one of Britain's longest-running bands, staying together for over six decades. During much of that time, the group was only successful in the U.K., where they racked up a string of Top Ten singles over the decades. In America, the Quo were ignored after they abandoned psychedelia for heavy boogie rock in the early '70s. Before that, the band managed to reach number 12 in the U.S. with the psychedelic classic "Pictures of Matchstick Men"

Following that single, the group suffered a lean period for the next few years before the band members decided to refashion themselves as a hard rock boogie band in 1970. The Quo have basically recycled the same simple boogie on each successive album and single, yet their popularity has never waned. If anything, their very predictability ensured the group a large following.

The guys started out as The Spectres with Francis Rossi (vocals, guitar) Alan Lancaster (bass) drummer John Coghlan and organist Roy Lynes. The group added Rick Parfitt (guitar, vocals) and changed its name to Status Quo.

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. 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.

John Coghlan left Status Quo in 1981 – during rehearsals for the band’s 20th Anniversary album in Switzerland. Tensions had developed and John left to form his own band. By 1983 his own band featured a selection of respected musicians, comprising; guitarist Ray Majors (ex-Mott and British Lions), bass player Ian Ellis (ex-Savoy Brown and Steamhammer), and keyboard player Jeff Banister.

That same year John Coghlan teamed up with a trio of other well-known musicians called the Rockers. The four man line up boasted John on drums, Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy’s frontman) on bass, guitar and vocals, Chas Hodges (from Chas ‘n’ Dave) on keyboards and Roy Wood (ex Wizzard, ELO and The Move) on guitar and vocals.

Coghlan continued to tour regularly playing with various musicians. He began working with Alan Lancaster in Australia who was putting together a band with Australian guitarist John Brewster, called the Bombers. John worked with The Bombers for a year but returned to the UK in 1990.

John Coghlan started working with his own band, John Coghlan’s Quo, during the late 1990s. By that time, Status Quo had scored 50 British hit singles, which was more than any other band in rock & roll history at the time.

This week John Coghlan joins us to explain what those heady days were like, why he left the band in 1981and what life holds for him today.

If you'd like to learn more about John Coghlan follow these links: http://www.johncoghlan.com/ and check out his new book SPUD https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coghlan-Quo-Steven-Myatt/dp/1899750479

To check out what Status Quo are doing these days head for https://www.statusquo.co.uk/

If you have any feedback, comments or suggestions for future guests on this show, please contact me https://abreathoffreshair.com.au/