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Hello! (album)

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Hello!
Studio album by
Status Quo
Released28 September 1973
Recorded1973
StudioIBC Studios, Portland Place, London
GenreBoogie rock[1]
Length39:08
LabelVertigo (UK)
A&M (USA)
ProducerStatus Quo
Status Quo chronology
Piledriver
(1972) 		Hello!
(1973) 		Quo
(1974)
Singles from Hello!
  1. "Caroline"
    Released: 31 August 1973 [2]

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 a permanent member of the line-up a few years later. 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]

Background

[edit]

1973 started for Status Quo with the belated chart success, in January, of the 1972 releases on their new label Vertigo, 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. Of the eight tracks on the album, six were new: the recording of "Caroline" had already been heard by the public as a single release, and "Softer Ride" had served as the B-side to the band's "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.

Reception

[edit]
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
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]

Track listing

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
1."Roll Over Lay Down"Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster, John Coghlan, Bob YoungRossi5:42
2."Claudie"Francis Rossi, Bob YoungRossi4:05
3."A Reason For Living"Parfitt, RossiParfitt3:45
4."Blue Eyed Lady"Lancaster, ParfittRossi, Lancaster3:53
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Lead vocalsLength
5."Caroline"Rossi, YoungRossi4:16
6."Softer Ride"Lancaster, ParfittRossi4:02
7."And It's Better Now"Rossi, YoungRossi3:20
8."Forty Five Hundred Times"Parfitt, RossiParfitt9:50

2005 reissue bonus track

[edit]
  2. "Joanne" (Parfitt, Lancaster) – 4:06 (originally the B-side of "Caroline").

2015 deluxe edition CD 2

[edit]
  1. "Joanne" (Parfitt, Lancaster) – 4:06
  2. "Caroline" (Rossi, Young) – original demo fast – 2:09
  3. "Caroline" (Rossi, Young) – original demo slow – 3:08
  4. "Don't Waste My Time" (Rossi, Young) – live 1973 Reading Festival – 4:20
  5. "Caroline" (Rossi, Young) – mono edit – 2:42
  6. "Caroline" (Rossi, Young) – stereo edit – 2:42
  7. "Is it Really Me/Gotta Go Home" (Lancaster) – live 10 April 1973, Dublin National Stadium – 25:17

Personnel

[edit]
Status Quo
Additional personnel

Charts

[edit]
Chart (1973–1975) Peak
position
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

Certifications

[edit]
Region Certification Certified units/sales
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.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Hello! - Status Quo | Album". AllMusic. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  2. ^ "Willow, Whip My Hair, Single". Bpi.co.uk. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  3. ^ Rossi's autobiography 'I Talk Too Much' and Rossi / Young interview
  4. ^ a b Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  5. ^ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  6. ^ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – S". Infodisc.fr (in French). Archived from the original on 22 October 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2012. Select Status Quo from the menu, then press OK.
  7. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Status Quo – Hello!" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  8. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Status Quo – Hello!". Hung Medien. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  9. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  10. ^ "French album certifications – Status Quo – Hello!" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 4 February 2021. Select STATUS QUO and click OK. 
  11. ^ a b "Status Quo: A Dutch "Gold" Sales Award for the Album "Hello", December 1975". Bonhams. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Status Quo: A Swedish"Gold" Disc Award for the Album "Hello", 1974". Bonhams. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Status Quo erhält eine Platin Schallplate für mehr als 50.000 der Schweiz verkaufte Alben,, Hello! (August,1973)". Directupload.net. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  14. ^ "British album certifications – Status Quo – Hello!". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
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