Hello! (album)



Hello! is the sixth studio album by the British rock band, Status Quo. Released in September 1973, it was the first of four Quo albums to top the UK Albums Chart. It was also the first Quo album on which drummer John Coghlan was credited with songwriting.

Keyboard player Andy Bown and saxophonist Stewart Blandamer both played on "Forty-Five Hundred Times". This was Bown's first appearance on a Status Quo album, although he would guest on most subsequent releases, and become a permanent member of the line-up a few years later.

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 & 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, Rossi and Young's "Mean Girl" reached #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 #5. This was the group's first single to reach the UK top five. Its B-side was a non-album track called "Joanne", written by Alan Lancaster and Rick Parfitt.

The 8-track album was released in September the same year. It 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 8 tracks on the album, only 6 of them were new. "Caroline" had already been heard by the public due to its single release, whereas "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.

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
Allmusic gave the album a mixed retrospective review, criticizing the over-simplicity of many of the songs and overindulgence of some, while praising their enjoyable energy. However, 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."

Track listing

 * 1) "Roll Over Lay Down" (Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster, John Coghlan, Bob Young) — 5:38
 * 2) "Claudie" (Francis Rossi, Bob Young) — 4:06
 * 3) "A Reason for Living" (Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt) — 3:46
 * 4) "Blue Eyed Lady" (Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster) — 3:54
 * 5) "Caroline" (Francis Rossi, Bob Young) — 4:18
 * 6) "Softer Ride" (Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster) — 4:02
 * 7) "And It's Better Now" (Francis Rossi, Bob Young) — 3:20
 * 8) "Forty-Five Hundred Times" (Francis Rossi, Rick Parfitt) — 9:53

2005 reissue bonus track

 * 1) "Joanne" (Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster) — 4:06 (originally the B-side of "Caroline").

2015 reissue multi fodigi deluxe edition cd2

 * 1) "Joanne" (Rick Parfitt, Alan Lancaster) — 4:06 (originally the B-side of "Caroline")
 * 2) "Caroline" (Francis Rossi, Bob Young) - original demo fast
 * 3) "Caroline" (Francis Rossi, Bob Young) - original demo slow
 * 4) "Don't Waste My Time" (Francis Rossi, Bob Young) - live 1973 Reading Festival
 * 5) "Caroline" (Francis Rossi, Bob Young) - mono
 * 6) "Caroline" (Francis Rossi, Bob Young) - stereo edit
 * 7) "Is it Really Me/Gotta Go Home" (Alan Lancaster) - live 1973-04-10 Dublin National Stadium

Personnel

 * Francis Rossi - guitar, lead vocals
 * Rick Parfitt - guitar, piano, vocals
 * Alan Lancaster - bass, vocals
 * John Coghlan - drums, percussion
 * Andy Bown - Keyboards