Hello! | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 28 September 1973 | |||
Recorded | 1973 | |||
Studio | IBC Studios, Portland Place, London | |||
Genre | Boogie rock [1] | |||
Length | 39:08 | |||
Label | Vertigo (UK) A&M (USA) | |||
Producer | Status Quo | |||
Status Quo chronology | ||||
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Singles from Hello! | ||||
Hello! is the sixth studio album by the British rock band Status Quo. Released in September 1973, it was the first of four Status Quo albums to top the UK Albums Chart.
Keyboard player Andy Bown and saxophonists Stewart Blandamer and Steve Farr played on "Blue Eyed Lady". This was Bown's first appearance on a Status Quo album; he guested on several subsequent releases, and became an official member of the band in 1981. Blandamer and Farr also played on "Forty Five Hundred Times", which featured piano by John Mealing.
It was the first Status Quo album on which drummer John Coghlan was credited with songwriting, although Francis Rossi has said in an interview that the credit was given to Coghlan by himself and his co-writer, Bob Young, at the request of their management to even out songwriting royalty income, with "Roll Over Lay Down" and "Softer Ride" both having been in fact been written by Rossi and Young but the credit being shared or given to others. [3]
1973 started for Status Quo with the chart success of their first album for their new record company Vertigo, Piledriver , and its single "Paper Plane", leading to their first top ten entry on the album charts and a long-awaited return to the top ten of the singles chart. As a result, Status Quo's previous record company Pye decided to release a single from their 1971 album Dog of Two Head . The single, Francis Rossi and Bob Young's "Mean Girl", reached No. 20 upon its release. It was backed by the Rossi/Parfitt composition "Everything", taken from the band's 1970 album Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon .
In August 1973 the only single from the new album, Rossi and Young's "Caroline", was released, reaching No. 5. It was the group's first single to reach the UK top five. Its B-side was a non-album track titled "Joanne", written by Alan Lancaster and Rick Parfitt.
Hello! was released in September that year, and became the most successful album the band had ever released. Initial copies of the record on vinyl came with a large black and white poster of the group. One track on the album, "Softer Ride", had been previously released as the B-side to the "Paper Plane" single from their previous album Piledriver.
No other singles were issued from the album, although a live version of "Roll Over Lay Down" appeared on a three-track EP released in May 1975, which reached No. 9 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 2 on the Australian Singles Chart.
This was the band's first album to feature the band's name written in the now-familiar font used on most subsequent album covers.
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
In a retrospective review, AllMusic criticized the over-simplicity of many of the songs and overindulgence of some, while praising the energy. They concluded that the album manages to be effective and enjoyable in spite of its flaws, concluding, "Clearly the product of a band at their commercial and creative peak, Hello! wears its strengths and weaknesses well: not particularly flashy or intelligent, but without exception confident, comfortable and fun." [1]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
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1. | "Roll Over Lay Down" | Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster, John Coghlan, Bob Young | Rossi | 5:42 |
2. | "Claudie" | Francis Rossi, Bob Young | Rossi | 4:05 |
3. | "A Reason For Living" | Parfitt, Rossi | Parfitt | 3:45 |
4. | "Blue Eyed Lady" | Lancaster, Parfitt | Rossi, Lancaster | 3:53 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Lead vocals | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
5. | "Caroline" | Rossi, Young | Rossi | 4:16 |
6. | "Softer Ride" | Lancaster, Parfitt | Rossi | 4:02 |
7. | "And It's Better Now" | Rossi, Young | Rossi | 3:20 |
8. | "Forty Five Hundred Times" | Parfitt, Rossi | Parfitt | 9:50 |
Chart (1973–1975) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [4] | 19 |
Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) [5] | 6 |
French Albums (SNEP) [6] | 35 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [7] | 11 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [8] | 6 |
UK Albums (OCC) [9] | 1 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Australia (ARIA) [4] | Platinum | 50,000^ |
France (SNEP) [10] | Gold | 100,000* |
Netherlands (NVPI) [11] | Gold | 25,000 [11] |
Sweden (GLF) [12] | Gold | 25,000 [12] |
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland) [13] | Platinum | 50,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [14] | Gold | 100,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Status Quo are a British rock band. The group originated in London and was founded in 1962 by Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster while they were still schoolboys. After a number of name and lineup changes, which included the introduction of John Coghlan in 1963 and Rick Parfitt in 1967, the band became The Status Quo in 1967 and Status Quo in 1969. As of 2022, the group have been active for 60 consecutive years.
Whatever You Want is the twelfth studio album by the British rock band Status Quo.
Dog of Two Head is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Status Quo, released by Pye Records in November 1971.
Quo is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Status Quo. Issued in May 1974, it reached #2 in the UK. Like its predecessor Hello!, it consisted entirely of songs written or co-written by the group. The album features guest musicians Bob Young and Tom Parker, who played harmonica and piano respectively on "Break the Rules".
Rockin' All Over the World is the tenth studio album by British band Status Quo. It is their first to be produced by Pip Williams. Released in November 1977, it reached #5 in the UK.
Piledriver is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Status Quo, released in 1972. It was the first to be produced by the group themselves, and their first on the Vertigo label. It peaked at number five in the UK and included several favourites that would be featured frequently in live concerts.
Blue for You is the ninth studio album by English rock band Status Quo. It was released in March 1976, and is the last album until 1980's Just Supposin' that the band produced themselves.
Live! is the first live album by British rock band Status Quo. The double album is an amalgam of performances at Glasgow's Apollo Theatre between 27 and 29 October 1976, recorded using the Rolling Stones Mobile Studio.
If You Can't Stand the Heat... is the eleventh studio album by English rock band Status Quo. Recorded at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, Holland, and produced by Pip Williams, it was released in October 1978 and reached number three in the UK Albums Chart. The sleeve notes that Aphex Aural Exciter was used in the recording process. Unusually for a Status Quo record, a brass section, the David Katz Horns, was used, as well as a backing vocal trio: Jacquie Sullivan, Stevie Lange, and Joy Yates.
Just Supposin' is the thirteenth album by Status Quo. Co-produced by the group and John Eden, it was recorded at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin. Released on 17 October 1980, it entered the UK albums chart at number 4.
Rocking All Over the Years is a compilation album by English rock band Status Quo. The album contains all Quo's UK top 10 singles. Almost all songs have been shortened.
Never Too Late is the fourteenth studio album by English rock band Status Quo, co-produced by the group and John Eden. Released on 13 March 1981, it had been recorded at the same sessions – at Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin – as its predecessor Just Supposin'. It reached number 2 in the UK Albums Chart.
Riffs is the twenty-sixth studio album by the English rock band Status Quo, released in November 2003. Ten tracks were cover versions of pop and rock standards, the other five were re-recordings of songs they had previously issued during the 1970s. The initial release also included a bonus 9-track DVD, featuring footage recorded for television programs and also the video for the 2002 Top 20 hit "Jam Side Down", from the band's previous album Heavy Traffic, recorded on HMS Ark Royal.
Live at The N.E.C. was the second live album by rock band Status Quo which was recorded at the National Exhibition Centre. It had originally been released as part of the 3-LP box set From the Makers of... in 1982. In 1984 the recording became available as a separate album.
Live Alive Quo was the third live album by English rock band Status Quo and was broadcast live on BBC Radio 1 as part of the station's 25th Anniversary 'Party in the Park' celebrations in Birmingham, England. The concert was watched by nearly 125,000 fans.
"Mean Girl" is a single released by the British rock band Status Quo in 1973. It was taken from their November 1971 album Dog of Two Head.
"Roadhouse Medley " is a single released by the British rock band Status Quo in 1992. It was included on the album Live Alive Quo.
Quid Pro Quo is the twenty-ninth studio album by English rock band Status Quo, released in May 2011. The album debuted at number 10 in the UK Albums Chart and featured 14 new songs, as well as the 2010 version of their 1986 hit "In the Army Now" which was re-recorded in support of the Help for Heroes and British Forces Foundation charities. The accompanying Official Live Bootleg album features 12 older songs recorded by the band in concert in Amsterdam and Melbourne in 2010. In the UK the album was only available at branches of Tesco stores for its first week before being released conventionally on the band's Fourth Chord label on 6 June 2011.