More Rosebud - Francis Rossi
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How did Francis Rossi and Status Quo become British rock legends?
Hello, I'm Giles Brandworth, and this is more Rosebud, which means I'm not alone in our studio. I have with me my producer and friend Harriet Jane. Hello! Harriet, we don't often talk about music
you
and I. From your girlhood, what are the bands, what are the performers that resonate still in your head.
Oh well I was um an eighties child, so I was obsessed with pop music as a from about the age of nine, eight. Goodness. I used to buy smash hits, learn all the lyrics. If something comes on the radio now I could still sing all the words to to hundreds of eighties songs. But I loved Juran Jaran, I loved Wham, I loved Aha. I uh in this interview that we're about to play today, we there's talk of live aid. I mean that was a huge event in my life and I'll never forget it. Yeah. So I loved music. I still love pop music and I love that Period in particular, the eighties.
Well you mentioned Live Aid, nineteen eighty five.
Yeah.
The big Bob Geldof moment. Yeah. And we are going to be meeting today somebody who was central to that. The first act.
Yeah.
The The first act on stage. The first act on stage. He's going to talk about that. It is the man who created. Status quo.
Yes.
Uh Francis Rossi.
Yeah.
And his story is completely extraordinary.
It is. It's the char it's the story of a working class boy from South London, done good.
Done not just good, but super good. I mean because the s his success is phenomenal. I mean the number of records sold, the number of I mean just completely amazing. Basically it all began in the seventies for them. Can you remember any of the d uh maybe it's before your time, it's more my time. Uh albums like Pile Driver, uh, On the Level. Songs like Paper Plane, Caroline, Down Down, I think that was the number one hit.
Yeah.
Any of anything you can do? Well probably you can do the one from that day.
Yeah, I mean everyone knows Rocking All Over the World. What were the other songs, the big songs they had in that time?
Whatever you want.
Whatever you want, dun dun whatever you need, dun d yeah. They've they've got a lot of groove, energy, drive, rhythm, and he talks about that. It's rock and roll.
Rock and roll. What you're proposing.
Yeah.
What is fascinating to me about is so much his story is fascinating personally, his family, his relationship with his mother, which is really a roller coaster relationship, his relationship with his father who is of Italian heritage, his mother comes from Liverpool, the Catholic faith when they were young, all of that is fascinating. His um three big relationships, his eight children, all of that is intriguing.
The ice cream business.
The ice cream business. But one of the most amazing things to me in the conversation is him describing him and Rick Parfitt.
Yeah.
Their combination.
Their chemistry.
Their chemistry. The X factor.
Yeah.
And he analyzes that in a riveting way.
He does. He analyzes the energy they create on stage and through their dual playing of guitars and there was something he's describes the energy Rick Parfitt's able to create by keeping this rhythm, driving rhythm going. And then his Francis Rossi's interaction with that. It's very interesting and i he describes a sort of alchemy that he can't even really describe, which is obviously the sort of sound of status quo. Quite quite interesting to hear something. I think this is one
of our most remarkable conversations because it does a number of things. It's a human story that is very intriguing. I think he reveals two sides of his personality. He is a Gemini. And there are two sides to him, which I think come to the fore. It's got what you would expect, I suppose, from somebody of his generation, status quo. It's got sex, drugs, and rock and roll. True. At the heart of the story. Yeah. It's also got Well The challenge of his relationships in his life His eight children, the daughter he didn't speak to for seventeen years. It really is a very rich episode, but I Very much liked him, didn't you?
I loved him. What a charmer.
A real trauma and he looks so smooth, the earring I loved the way he explained the earring away.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Francis Rossi and Status Quo become British rock legends?
0:19–4:56
2
What was Francis Rossi’s childhood like in his South London family?
4:56–22:33
3
How did school and his Italian heritage shape Francis Rossi?
22:33–26:56
4
How did Francis Rossi form his first band with Alan Lancaster?
26:56–35:57
5
How did Francis Rossi meet Rick Parfitt and build Status Quo?
35:57–41:25
6
How did alcohol and cocaine affect Francis Rossi’s rock career?
41:25–45:23
7
What was Status Quo’s experience opening Live Aid in 1985?
45:23–50:55
8
How did Francis Rossi’s relationships shape his family and personal life?
50:55–1:00:30