STATUS QUO founding member Alan Lancaster said Francis Rossi “hated everything about the original band” and did his best to destroy it. Lancaster also revealed why he sued the band and that “nobody in Status Quo ever received a royalties statement” while others “made millions” off them.
Status Quo have been rocking all over the world since 1962. The original line-up was formed at Sedgehill Comprehensive School in London and Lancaster took credit for bringing in classmate Rossi “he was my first recruit.” Together with schoolmates Jess Jaworski and Alan Key they started out as The Scorpions. Lancaster said: “In those days none of us could play. We did our first gig within the first year. It’s a bit strange forming a band when you can’t play an instrument.”
Key was replaced by John Coghlan a year later and the rechristened The Spectres continued until 1965 when Jaworski left the band and was replaced by Roy Lynes.
The psychedelic pop Spectres signed a record deal in 1966, renamed themselves Traffic and then Traffic Jam, before adding Rick Parfitt and relaunching as The Status Quo in August 1967.
After limited success with their current sound on their first two albums, the band ditched psychedelia and hippy costumes and rebranded with a harder rock and boogie sound, kitted out in their signature casual denims and t-shirts. When Lynes left in 1970, the core members became the Frantic Four.
The reinvigorated line up entered their most commercially successful era, notching up numerous UK chart hits throughout the decade, including Down Down, Rockin’ All Over The World and Whatever You Want.
But then Lancaster said the “unthinkable” happened and Rossi turned on the “original’ Status Quo, starting with forcing Coghlan out in 1981.
IN 2016, Lancaster spilled the details in an interview with Australian TV: “
“Francis became… I call him the anti-Quo’ist. Everything to do with the original band he seemed to abhor. He got to dislike management, he got to dislike John, everybody in the band. Everything to do with the band, the original, he disliked. He wanted to do it all on his own for ages. One by one he gradually got to oust us all.
“It was unthinkable that one of us could leave the band – we’d just reached the top of our tree. John just got ousted by Francis. One day he came into my room and he said, ‘We’re getting so and so in.,’ Me and Rick were playing backgammon. We thought nothing of it…
“We were in Switzerland making an album and the next day John Coghlan was on a plane back home. Pete Kircher came in to substitute him, and we made the worst album we’ve ever made.
“John is probably one of the best swing shuffle drummers in the world. There’s very few that can play that stuff properly, but Francis was having nothing of it. He just wanted to get rid of him.”
IN 2016, Lancaster spilled the details in an interview with Australian TV: “
“Francis became… I call him the anti-Quo’ist. Everything to do with the original band he seemed to abhor. He got to dislike management, he got to dislike John, everybody in the band. Everything to do with the band, the original, he disliked. He wanted to do it all on his own for ages. One by one he gradually got to oust us all.
“It was unthinkable that one of us could leave the band – we’d just reached the top of our tree. John just got ousted by Francis. One day he came into my room and he said, ‘We’re getting so and so in.,’ Me and Rick were playing backgammon. We thought nothing of it…
“We were in Switzerland making an album and the next day John Coghlan was on a plane back home. Pete Kircher came in to substitute him, and we made the worst album we’ve ever made.
“John is probably one of the best swing shuffle drummers in the world. There’s very few that can play that stuff properly, but Francis was having nothing of it. He just wanted to get rid of him.”
Lancaster added: “Once John went it was easy to start getting rid of us. And it’s all to do with money as well – once one member leaves you make more money if you don’t pay them.”
However, he also pointed out that the band might be estimated to have sold up to 120million records, but they did not see all of that money: “We had more hits than any other band in the world but we didn’t sell as many copies… From my royalty statements it’s round about 35 to 40million.
“None of us in the band have ever received a royalties statement ever. We’ve never had an accounting from management. There’s lots of millionaires going around the world who’ve made their money from Status Quo. But the band themselves they struggled to get theirs.”
Lancaster went to court in 1985 and admitted he ended up spending more money than he had ever made from the band.
Asked if he was hurt by the new line-up, he said: “It was like having your child abducted and abused. Status Quo ended up costing me more money than I ever made from it because I was trying to protect it. I had to get lawyers in the end. You’re on your own. I’m not a big corporation, I’m on my own. In the end, you just have to give up.”
The case was settled in 1986 and Lancaster officially left the group in 1987. After many years apart, and based in Australia, he was reunited with Rossi and Parfitt in 2010. Rumours spread until the original Frantic Four including Coghlan announced a series of concerts for 2013 and then again in 2014.
Lancaster died aged 72 on 26 September 2021, in Sydney, Australia, due to complications from multiple sclerosis.
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