Never Too Late is best remembered today as drummer John Coghlan's final album with the band he'd served since the early '60s. The bulk of the set, however, was actually cut during the same sessions that produced the previous year's Just Supposin', although it's a struggle to say which of the two came out with the better songs. Neither is what one would describe as a classic Quo disc, but nor are they as disposable as some of the band's later releases. Indeed, any record that includes the bright bonhomie of "Something 'Bout You Baby I Like," the new album's biggest hit, is sure to have a few things to recommend it.
Following the wake of Picturesque Machstickable Messages From the Status Quo, Spare Parts tries to imitate the psychedelic sound that was so fashionable at the time. The disc is known for being one of the less-fortunate made by the British band, and they have even despised it on some occasions. In fact, 1969 was going to be the most dismal year in the story of Status Quo. Urged by Pye's request to reach the charts at any rate, the songs in the record reflect the band's frustrated attempts to please the company. The result is an irregular album that does not reach the imaginative sound of their earlier songs nor the brightness of their subsequent records.
You don't sell 128 million albums worldwide without putting in the graft and Status Quo are, quite possibly, the hardest working band in Britain. Alan G Parker's documentary Hello Quo, specially re-edited for the BBC, recounts the band's epic story from the beginning - when south London schoolmates Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster formed their first band with big ambitions of rock 'n' roll domination, quickly adding drummer John Coghlan and guitarist Rick Parfitt.
Status Quo, also known as The Quo or just Quo, are an English rock band whose music is characterized by their distinctive brand of boogie rock.
The group's origins were in "The Spectres" founded by schoolboys Francis Rossi and Alan Lancaster in 1962. After a number of lineup changes, the band became "The Status Quo" in late 1967, finally settling on the name "Status Quo" in 1970. They have recorded over 60 chart hits in the UK, more than any other rock group in history. 22 of these have reached the UK Top Ten.