Hello
Wild Horse
Posts: 41
|
Post by Hello on Apr 24, 2019 15:31:53 GMT
Would the PLC idea actually have been a commercial success if it had come to fruition if Rick was still here? My feeling is that it would have been with Rick's star quality presence lending it weight and the old school fans behind it. Obviously a lot of love out there for Rick given his posthumous solo album did so well.
|
|
mortified
Administrator
This is no' gettin' the bairn a shirt
Posts: 5,560
|
Post by mortified on Apr 24, 2019 15:47:11 GMT
It might have been. At least in the short term. But even the reunion was running out of steam a bit. It probably just made it past the finishing post before it collapsed. Enthusiasm was waning a little. Certainly, the initial interest in PLC I think would have been reasonably high. Not arena high but possibly theatres. It would then have depended on the material they produced (if any) and the set list of the gigs, which I think could have been very interesting and refreshing. However, I'm not 100% convinced about Rick's commitment to things like rehearsals and songwriting. I'm also not sure how fit Alan would have been to take it on for any length of time. But other than those slight doubts, I'd have been keen to see what they came up with.
|
|
Hello
Wild Horse
Posts: 41
|
Post by Hello on Apr 24, 2019 15:54:20 GMT
Yes I reckon they would have needed an album to promote to go out on tour with and a lot of backing from sources such as Classic Rock mag to lift the profile. I heard some speculation that a couple of tracks had been worked on but not sure if this is true. To be honest they would have needed a fourth member for lead guitar to give it weight too.
|
|
|
Post by snakelady on Apr 25, 2019 7:03:06 GMT
Many old Quo fans would've bought a PLC record no matter the quality, simply because of the personnel involved and to prove a point to Francis. Although would there have been a physical product at all ? In 85/86 record companies weren't interested in line-ups without Francis, can't see that having changed since ..
I doubt it would've been sustainable though. Had they toured it, I assume the audience would've been more or less the same JC's Quo gets these days, at least after the novelty factor would've worn off. Would Rick have been happy though having to play much smaller venues and clubs again with crammed dressing rooms and tiny stages ?
After Rick's passing there's no money and management any more to support the project. So I doubt it'll stand a chance and that's independent from quality of music or who they'd have chosen for lead guitarist.
I actually wonder who'd have been the frontman at live performances - Alan or Rick ? With Alan the more dominant and stubborn character out of the two, I'd assume it would've been him, no matter if Rick was the far more widely known.
It's all speculation of course, but given the circumstances now, I doubt it'll ever see the light of day.
|
|
mortified
Administrator
This is no' gettin' the bairn a shirt
Posts: 5,560
|
Post by mortified on Apr 25, 2019 7:31:53 GMT
Many old Quo fans would've bought a PLC record no matter the quality, simply because of the personnel involved and to prove a point to Francis. Although would there have been a physical product at all ? In 85/86 record companies weren't interested in line-ups without Francis, can't see that having changed since .. I doubt it would've been sustainable though. Had they toured it, I assume the audience would've been more or less the same JC's Quo gets these days, at least after the novelty factor would've worn off. Would Rick have been happy though having to play much smaller venues and clubs again with crammed dressing rooms and tiny stages ? After Rick's passing there's no money and management any more to support the project. So I doubt it'll stand a chance and that's independent from quality of music or who they'd have chosen for lead guitarist. I actually wonder who'd have been the frontman at live performances - Alan or Rick ? With Alan the more dominant and stubborn character out of the two, I'd assume it would've been him, no matter if Rick was the far more widely known. It's all speculation of course, but given the circumstances now, I doubt it'll ever see the light of day. I'm not sure about that although, as you say, we'll never know. There's a world of difference, though, between John Coghlan's Quo and a band fronted by Rick Parfitt and Alan Lancaster. Those two were two-thirds of a legendary front three and wrote a lot of Quo's best stuff in the past. I also think the sales of Rick's solo album last year give an indication of how it might have been accepted at first. Whether it would have had the legs is another matter. As a one-off project, I personally believe it would have been relatively successful. And I actually wish they'd had the chance to try it out, even if it was just a side project outside of Quo. There's no loyalty issue here, as we can see from recent releases/tours/books
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2019 8:16:44 GMT
Many old Quo fans would've bought a PLC record no matter the quality, simply because of the personnel involved and to prove a point to Francis. Although would there have been a physical product at all ? In 85/86 record companies weren't interested in line-ups without Francis, can't see that having changed since .. I doubt it would've been sustainable though. Had they toured it, I assume the audience would've been more or less the same JC's Quo gets these days, at least after the novelty factor would've worn off. Would Rick have been happy though having to play much smaller venues and clubs again with crammed dressing rooms and tiny stages ? After Rick's passing there's no money and management any more to support the project. So I doubt it'll stand a chance and that's independent from quality of music or who they'd have chosen for lead guitarist. I actually wonder who'd have been the frontman at live performances - Alan or Rick ? With Alan the more dominant and stubborn character out of the two, I'd assume it would've been him, no matter if Rick was the far more widely known. It's all speculation of course, but given the circumstances now, I doubt it'll ever see the light of day. I'm not sure about that although, as you say, we'll never know. There's a world of difference, though, between John Coghlan's Quo and a band fronted by Rick Parfitt and Alan Lancaster. Those two were two-thirds of a legendary front three and wrote a lot of Quo's best stuff in the past. I also think the sales of Rick's solo album last year give an indication of how it might have been accepted at first. Whether it would have had the legs is another matter. As a one-off project, I personally believe it would have been relatively successful. And I actually wish they'd had the chance to try it out, even if it was just a side project outside of Quo. There's no loyalty issue here, as we can see from recent releases/tours/books I'm with Mortified on this one. I 'm only one person but I have zero interest in JCQ, Quo songs played so slow they're nigh on unrecognisable. Rick and Alan on board, that's a different kettle of fish. Rick found the pace of the songs slow (see Shepperton Jam) so hopefully he'd have given them a kick to speed things up. (I'm assuming here that there'd have been established Quo songs as well as the new PLC stuff). I'd definitely have gone to a gig, whether I'd have gone to several gigs would depend on lots of factors, primarily whether I enjoyed the first one. Sadly, as we all know, those gigs will now never happen. I dearly wish the songs would see the light of day, no one's going to get rich from it but it would mean the world to so many Quo fans, myself included.
|
|
|
Post by snakelady on Apr 25, 2019 8:34:56 GMT
Many old Quo fans would've bought a PLC record no matter the quality, simply because of the personnel involved and to prove a point to Francis. Although would there have been a physical product at all ? In 85/86 record companies weren't interested in line-ups without Francis, can't see that having changed since .. I doubt it would've been sustainable though. Had they toured it, I assume the audience would've been more or less the same JC's Quo gets these days, at least after the novelty factor would've worn off. Would Rick have been happy though having to play much smaller venues and clubs again with crammed dressing rooms and tiny stages ? After Rick's passing there's no money and management any more to support the project. So I doubt it'll stand a chance and that's independent from quality of music or who they'd have chosen for lead guitarist. I actually wonder who'd have been the frontman at live performances - Alan or Rick ? With Alan the more dominant and stubborn character out of the two, I'd assume it would've been him, no matter if Rick was the far more widely known. It's all speculation of course, but given the circumstances now, I doubt it'll ever see the light of day. I'm not sure about that although, as you say, we'll never know. There's a world of difference, though, between John Coghlan's Quo and a band fronted by Rick Parfitt and Alan Lancaster. Those two were two-thirds of a legendary front three and wrote a lot of Quo's best stuff in the past. I also think the sales of Rick's solo album last year give an indication of how it might have been accepted at first. Whether it would have had the legs is another matter. As a one-off project, I personally believe it would have been relatively successful. And I actually wish they'd had the chance to try it out, even if it was just a side project outside of Quo. There's no loyalty issue here, as we can see from recent releases/tours/books It might be a big difference for us plus a handful of die hard fans, but even the majority of Quo fans doesn't have a clue who Alan is or don't care. He hasn't been a band member for well over 30 years. Since then and even before (Francis mentions in the book when the double act thing started and how Alan was less than happy about it) the band has mainly been Francis and Rick. I've mentioned my experience from the FF gig, how the self-titled long term fan beside me had no clue who Alan was and thought he was drunk. Merely talking about Quo with fans on mbs and similar hardcore fans is not representative of the interest and knowledge of the common and garden Quo fan. Most fans (not just Quo) simply don't care as much about bass players and drummers as about guitarists and frontmen. As mentioned in my first paragraph above I too do believe a record would've done reasonably well just because of who plays on it and who not . It wouldn't have sold as well as Rick's album did though, for the simple fact they'd all have been alive, so the ghouls wouldn't have grabbed a copy. As much as we may despise this behaviour, it is a simple fact of life these days, has been for a while actually. The remark about 'a lot of Quo's best stuff' is simply down to taste. It definitely isn't according to mine. The percentage of songs written by them on the live album isn't representative of the band's overall output. And two of Alan's tunes are covers, a third written with Francis .. I too think it would've been relatively successful as a short term one-off (relatively being the keyword). Not because there's no loyalty issue though, but because there is one .. .
|
|
Dark
High Flyer
Posts: 128
|
Post by Dark on Apr 25, 2019 10:05:32 GMT
I’d have thought that if PLC were to tour it would be akin to the venus Rossi played to support One Step at A Time. Though Rossi maybe has a slightly higher profile than Rick by being the frontman, I wouldn’t say it is that much greater. Add in Lancaster and Coghlan, and you would get a decent coverage in the specialist rock press regarding the three of them going out without Rossi, to generate enough numbers for those size of venues I’d have thought.
I wonder how the live band situation would have been handled. Do they recruit a singing lead guitarist to front the band and cover the Rossi sung Quo tunes they perform. Or do they just get a lead guitarist and have either Rick or Alan do the in-between song banter at gigs and only perform songs they originally sang on.
|
|
mortified
Administrator
This is no' gettin' the bairn a shirt
Posts: 5,560
|
Post by mortified on Apr 25, 2019 10:34:16 GMT
As always, it might all have come down to the marketing. Create enough of it (like the reunion, like Aquostic) and people would have gone along; the die hard, the curious and the completely ignorant. Most audiences are made up of that demograph. I'd certainly have gone, possibly more than once, and I'd have bought any product. But I buy most Quo related product Certainly the music. The size of venue is difficult to speculate on. But Rick would have been fine with the facilities wherever it was. He was happy to trot along to the O2 in Glasgow and Manchester Apollo simply because of the nature of the gigs during the 2013 reunion. Neither of those would make any luxurious venue list; not out front anyway It's funny but I like to think that Quo (and management) could have accommodated such a project while keeping Quo together. They'd never have outsold or outstripped Quo, any more than Francis or Rhino do. But I suspect they wouldn't have given it the time of day. In the end, we've all been told that Rick pretty much couldn't play anymore so it was never going to happen even if Rick was still alive. Pity.
|
|
|
Post by noproblems on Apr 27, 2019 20:22:06 GMT
Would PLC have been successful?
1) How would "successsful" be defined? Filling venues such as Hammersmith Odeon Apollo on a regular basis would count as sucesssful. Filling St. Albans Arena or Stevenage Gordan Craig Theatre would not - the latter two venues are for tribute bands.
2) Who would go? At first, thousands. Later, those who see Alan and John as gods.*
3) Francis may have given his blessing to the project, but that's all it was - a project, nothing permanent.
4) As someone else in this thread pointed out, who would supply lead guitar?
Anyway, as many have pointed out - we'll never know.
* If they're so good, why are they not so successsful post-Quo? It's a blunt question, but I believe it needs to be asked.
|
|
|
Post by snakelady on Apr 28, 2019 7:01:22 GMT
Yep, the marketing would've been important, mortified, as it would not have reached the same audience the FF reunion did as an important ingredient would be missing: Francis and with him the name - Status Quo. Even the reunion success was drying up and - not to forget - it did cause confusion. There were enough general fans who had no idea what FF meant and simply went to see a Quo gig. And (as much as we despise it) left disappointed because they didn't get to hear RAOTW, Army or WYW. So had Duroc got behind it and Rick would've been the face for it in interviews and general promotion it might've had moderate success for one album and one tour. Now, with no promotion from Quo management and the Quo staff to work on it ? Hmm ..
|
|
mortified
Administrator
This is no' gettin' the bairn a shirt
Posts: 5,560
|
Post by mortified on Apr 28, 2019 12:39:15 GMT
Yep, the marketing would've been important, mortified , as it would not have reached the same audience the FF reunion did as an important ingredient would be missing: Francis and with him the name - Status Quo. Even the reunion success was drying up and - not to forget - it did cause confusion. There were enough general fans who had no idea what FF meant and simply went to see a Quo gig. And (as much as we despise it) left disappointed because they didn't get to hear RAOTW, Army or WYW. So had Duroc got behind it and Rick would've been the face for it in interviews and general promotion it might've had moderate success for one album and one tour. Now, with no promotion from Quo management and the Quo staff to work on it ? Hmm .. I'm not sure about that. These people can't be ruled out altogether - I'm sure there must have been one or two - but they will have been a very small minority. The first reunion tour was very well subscribed and very quickly at that; tickets were more or less gone in a day. That's very much more quickly sold out than the current band. Or rather the band as they were at the time. That was never going to last; only the most blinkered would think it was forever. Well, now they know.... I tend to subscribe to the view that one PLC album and tour would have been moderately successful. After that, I'm not so sure. I personally couldn't see it having permanent or ongoing success. The world has changed; Quo fans have changed. Even the most enthusiastic of us. And it certainly wouldn't have had any degree of success without Rick on board. Lead guitarist? I remember years ago on the old message board Mike Hrano saying in answer to some wise-cracker, "what makes you think Rick can't play lead?" The point was made that Malcolm Young never played lead with AC/DC except in the very early days but he was a very good lead guitarist. But marketing and image dictated that Angus took on that role. Just thinking out loud
|
|
|
Post by snakelady on Apr 28, 2019 16:10:14 GMT
Yep, the marketing would've been important, mortified , as it would not have reached the same audience the FF reunion did as an important ingredient would be missing: Francis and with him the name - Status Quo. Even the reunion success was drying up and - not to forget - it did cause confusion. There were enough general fans who had no idea what FF meant and simply went to see a Quo gig. And (as much as we despise it) left disappointed because they didn't get to hear RAOTW, Army or WYW. So had Duroc got behind it and Rick would've been the face for it in interviews and general promotion it might've had moderate success for one album and one tour. Now, with no promotion from Quo management and the Quo staff to work on it ? Hmm .. I'm not sure about that. These people can't be ruled out altogether - I'm sure there must have been one or two - but they will have been a very small minority. The first reunion tour was very well subscribed and very quickly at that; tickets were more or less gone in a day. That's very much more quickly sold out than the current band. Or rather the band as they were at the time. That was never going to last; only the most blinkered would think it was forever. Well, now they know.... I tend to subscribe to the view that one PLC album and tour would have been moderately successful. After that, I'm not so sure. I personally couldn't see it having permanent or ongoing success. The world has changed; Quo fans have changed. Even the most enthusiastic of us. And it certainly wouldn't have had any degree of success without Rick on board. Lead guitarist? I remember years ago on the old message board Mike Hrano saying in answer to some wise-cracker, "what makes you think Rick can't play lead?" The point was made that Malcolm Young never played lead with AC/DC except in the very early days but he was a very good lead guitarist. But marketing and image dictated that Angus took on that role. Just thinking out loud We merely had one reunion tour here and the name 'Frantic Four' may have been known in the UK, but it had never been used here, hence was completely unknown to the vast majority. In consequence it were definitely more than a very small minority who were taken by surprise by the set that was played. The reunion tour did sell well here too, but they nearly always do and certainly not within days. Different countries - different Quo backgrounds - different experiences .. Without Rick it's not PLC Quo though, just LC Quo .. or JC's Quo with special guest AL. Rick lead guitarist ? Hm, he'd have had to practise for that .. . Wouldn't have made sense anyway. He was a great rhythm guitarist - people would've wanted him as the outstanding PLC rhythm guitarist and not as an average lead guitarist. And who'd have played rhythm then ?
|
|
|
Post by noproblems on Apr 28, 2019 20:37:38 GMT
As always, it might all have come down to the marketing. Create enough of it (like the reunion, like Aquostic) and people would have gone along; the die hard, the curious and the completely ignorant. Most audiences are made up of that demograph. I'd certainly have gone, possibly more than once, and I'd have bought any product. But I buy most Quo related product Certainly the music. The size of venue is difficult to speculate on. But Rick would have been fine with the facilities wherever it was. He was happy to trot along to the O2 in Glasgow and Manchester Apollo simply because of the nature of the gigs during the 2013 reunion. Neither of those would make any luxurious venue list; not out front anyway It's funny but I like to think that Quo (and management) could have accommodated such a project while keeping Quo together. They'd never have outsold or outstripped Quo, any more than Francis or Rhino do. But I suspect they wouldn't have given it the time of day. In the end, we've all been told that Rick pretty much couldn't play anymore so it was never going to happen even if Rick was still alive. Pity. The PLC idea had been floating around for about 12 - 15 months before Rick's death, but it never got off the ground while there was the opprtunity. That may suggest that Rick wasn't too hot on a string of pub gigs or even the tribute band circuit, or that it was "all four or nothing".
|
|
|
Post by snakelady on Apr 29, 2019 7:51:09 GMT
As always, it might all have come down to the marketing. Create enough of it (like the reunion, like Aquostic) and people would have gone along; the die hard, the curious and the completely ignorant. Most audiences are made up of that demograph. I'd certainly have gone, possibly more than once, and I'd have bought any product. But I buy most Quo related product Certainly the music. The size of venue is difficult to speculate on. But Rick would have been fine with the facilities wherever it was. He was happy to trot along to the O2 in Glasgow and Manchester Apollo simply because of the nature of the gigs during the 2013 reunion. Neither of those would make any luxurious venue list; not out front anyway It's funny but I like to think that Quo (and management) could have accommodated such a project while keeping Quo together. They'd never have outsold or outstripped Quo, any more than Francis or Rhino do. But I suspect they wouldn't have given it the time of day. In the end, we've all been told that Rick pretty much couldn't play anymore so it was never going to happen even if Rick was still alive. Pity. The PLC idea had been floating around for about 12 - 15 months before Rick's death, but it never got off the ground while there was the opportunity. That may suggest that Rick wasn't too hot on a string of pub gigs or even the tribute band circuit, or that it was "all four or nothing". You're probably right. The whole PLC project wasn't launched and publicly supported by Rick either. If I remember correctly it were either John or Alan. Understandably so - Rick had a well paying day job with Quo and it gave him the much bigger limelight. Whereas the others, especially Alan didn't have much of either without Quo. Rick had loved the reunion tour with the fan reaction it gave them, but he might have realised that PLC would never have reached something even close to it. What he wanted was some solo success, as up till then he was the only band member who never had any solo album out. Sadly he never lived to see its release.
|
|
|
Post by craydarr on May 1, 2019 6:04:59 GMT
Doesn’t Fran state in his new book that he was asked to contribute but declined?
If that’s the case I wonder if it was before or after he heard the material.
|
|
mortified
Administrator
This is no' gettin' the bairn a shirt
Posts: 5,560
|
Post by mortified on May 1, 2019 6:26:19 GMT
Doesn’t Fran state in his new book that he was asked to contribute but declined? If that’s the case I wonder if it was before or after he heard the material. I still haven't read the book. I'm ploughing through a Tudor historical fiction thingy at the moment. One step at a time Francis is fairly single minded. At times. Or I get that impression. If he was asked to contribute, he'd simply see it as yet another reunion project and he simply wasn't interested. He'd have known it would have been marketed in that way. He knows the business well enough to see that one coming.
|
|