John Coghlan was interviewed by well-known Australian singer and TV presenter, Ray Burgess, on 90.1 NBC FM (Sydney's first full-time community radio station) on 9th January.
Ray led into the interview by playing "Junior's Wailing" from the "Live!" album, before the in-studio interview with John started - and took up the next hour or so of Ray's show.
They opened by discussing the origin of the name "Frantic Four" before looking back on John's Quo career, during which he talked about the ATC band and meeting Rick & Francis through rehearsals with that band and then getting the Butlins Minehead gig.
Ray then played "Pictures Of Matchstick Men" and "Down The Dustpipe".
Talk moved to the change of sound in the early 1970s, which John credited to Bob Young. He mentioned playing universities and colleges, where they saw Led Zeppelin and John spoke fondly on his love of John Bonham. This was a natural segue into playing Zep's "Rock and Roll".
James Morley from "12 Gold Bars" then joined the interview by phone from his home in Western Australia. He talked about the idea for a "12 Gold Bars" band and how it came about with the other musos involved.
The circumstances that led to the band playing with John were discussed next. Ray Burgess was attending the National Songwriting Awards and had John as his guest. James was also there and found out that John was there, they got chatting and the idea of a gig together came naturally from that conversation - incredible serendipity!
John said the band had sent him their setlist and asked him, "what do you fancy"? So he chose "Wild Side Of Life", "Accident Prone", "Whatever You Want", "Living On An Island", "Roadhouse Blues", "Caroline" and "Rockin' All Over The World".
With James signing off (and calling Quo fans "rabid fans"!), Ray played John's favourite song, "Mystery Song", and then "Wild Side Of Life".
Ray threw in some good promo for the "SPUD" book and quipped that John "must be drowning in money"! Turning to drumming influences, John mentioned Brian Bennett (of The Shadows), Bobby Elliott (of The Hollies), Phil Collins (of Genesis), Ringo Starr (of the Beatles), John Bonham (of Led Zeppelin) and Buddy Rich.
Ray played Phil Collins' "In The Air Tonight" and "Down Down" next.
John went on to describe "the magic" of Quo's rhythm section, driven by Rick's downstrokes only style (noting that this is something the tribute bands rarely get right). He said that he doesn't like the term "retirement" and is enjoying his latest project doing jazz versions of Quo songs.
Ray then played "Whatever You Want" and "Rain", before wrapping up the interview. John said they were leaving Australia on 22nd January and they'd done a lot during their trip. He mentioned them staying with the Lancasters at Breakfast Point and that Gillie was heading to Melbourne to enjoy the tennis, her passion!
The closing shot was "Roll Over Lay Down", again from the "Live!" album.
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John Coghlan made a one-off guest appearance with "12 Gold Bars" at famous music pub, The Bridge Hotel, in Sydney on 11th January.
We got to the venue in Rozelle at about 7pm and enjoyed catching up with a few familiar faces. The band arrived with John and his wife Gillie shortly after we got there, as did Dayle Lancaster and her son David.
Doors opened at 8pm and we headed in to secure spots at the front of the fairly narrow stage. The band room was hot and filled up quickly, with folks piling in with the announcement that the Q&A session was about to start at 8.45pm.
Ray Burgess (who interviewed John on the radio during the week) was an excellent host for the Q&A and he asked John many of the same questions he'd covered in the radio interview. John looked well and answered pretty well, telling many of the same stories he always tells but occasionally sounding a little slurred in this speech. He seemed to enjoy himself, though - especially laughing at his own jokes! The Q&A was a fun way to start the evening's entertainment.
With the Q&A wrapped up, it didn't take long to get things in order for "12 Gold Bars" to take the stage to a packed house, as advertised at 9.30pm. The theme music to the "The Professionals" TV show (a mainstay of UK TV in the late 70s and 80s) was probably wasted on most of the crowd, but it set the scene - these are professional musos during a professional job of playing Quo!
They kicked off with "Down Down" before an epic full version of "Slow Train", they did an incredible job of it. As they and the audience were now well warmed up, it was non-stop rocking with "Again and Again", "Break The Rules", "Backwater" and "Rain" before we got a break as they introduced John onto the stage. The steep and dark steps up to the stage were a challenge but he made it up and took up his rightful place behind the drums. He got started with an easy opener in the shape of "Wild Side Of Life" and it was immediately apparent the slowing of pace and his unique shuffle style, which led to this song having a much more country feel than usual. Next up was a real surprise (and not usually part of the 12 Gold Bars setlist) in "Accident Prone". This song which is apparently one of John's favourites (and also Francis's) and it was a great to hear it getting a live airing. Wrapping up part one of the set was "Whatever You Want", seeing John getting more up to speed and getting a great reception from the crowd.
A short break was welcome - the band were sweating and so were we! The long intro to the album version of "Mystery Song" heralded the band's return to the stage with their own drummer taking the stool once more. "Mystery Song" was a blast before "What You're Proposin'" and then a potent uninterrupted section of the set, kicking off with a stonkingly heavy rendition of "Roll Over Lay Down", into "Paper Plane" then "Big Fat Mama" and "Hold You Back" - we were knackered by the end of those! John returned to the drums to close out the second half with a gentle start again in the form of "Living On An Island", before a moody version of "Roadhouse Blues" and closing out with "Caroline". The band left the stage (apart from John who couldn't be bothered) very briefly before coming back on to close out the show with "Rockin' All Over The World" (including a decent stab at the intro from their resident female keyboard player).
This was a brilliant gig, seeing "12 Gold Bars" in fine form, replicating Quo's recorded sound very well and showing great respect to John and his efforts on the drums for seven songs of their set.
John hung around for a while after the gig to sign stuff brought along by some of the fans, before heading off.
During our brief time in Sydney, we also decided to recreate a recent photo John posted on his Facebook, by visiting The Occidental Hotel in the Sydney CBD!
Francis appeared on the Word In Your Ear podcast with Mark Ellen, David Hepworth and Alex Gold on 18th January.
The following podcast episode description is a great summary of what Francis discussed in this half-hour interview.
"Something happens when he walks out under the lights. He can never predict what but he's programmed to perform. As he has for over 60 years and will again when he sets out on a 63-date tour in April peppered with stories of an extravagant life and billed as 'an evening of Francis Rossi songs from the Status Quo songbook and more'.
He looks back here at the acts that showed him the way (Gene Pitney, Slade, ZZ Top, Mott the Hoople and "my uncles, the Stones"), Butlins in Clacton, the "elfin" David Bowie, the value of "dying on your arse", the evolution of the Status Quo shuffle, the sight of a sea of denim, opening Live Aid (and why the other acts were envious) and memories of Dog Of Two Head and Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon. "There’s a handful who are talented," he says, "and the rest of us are just winging it and getting by."
Listen to the full interview here or watch on YouTube here.
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Andy Bown was interviewed by Ed Rogers on the US's Atlantic Tunnel radio on the "Rock N Soul Radio" stream on 19th January.
Ed played a few of Andy's older solo songs to lead into the interview, viz. "My Love" (from "Sweet William"), "Open Your Eyes" (from "Gone To My Head"), "P.S. Get Lost" (from "Gone To My Head") and "Drowned In Texas" (from "Come Back Romance, All Is Forgiven").
The 30-minute interview came next and it was a fascinating and well-directed discussion. Andy is rarely interviewed so it was good to hear him chatting about his career, his life and the business in general. His musical history is genuinely interesting and Ed was well-researched to drive a great interview.
After Andy's interview, Ed played a number of other songs involving Andy, viz.
Ed closed out his show by playing another of Andy's solo efforts, "Please Remember Me" (from "Gone To My Head ").
The two-hour show can be downloaded here. Andy's interview starts at 18 minutes into the show and lasts for 30 minutes.
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Francis was interviewed by the Hit Channel on 23rd January. There were atypical questions in this interview and it can be read in full here.
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In the lead up to his live show with Mick Wall on 30th January, Rhino was interviewed by him on his podcast on 24th January.
The fun half-hour interview can be heard here.
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Rhino was interviewed by Mick Wall and Jon Hotten at West Hampstead Arts Club on 30th January.
The intimate venue was sold out and it was great to hear Rhino sharing his varied history in the music business, as well as telling many Quo-related stories. He was very willing to chat and chose to extend the interview and take audience questions too.
The full 90-minute interview was recorded for Mick's podcast and can be heard here.
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Francis took part in a 30-minute interview on Be Somerset with Jenna Myles.
It was yet another promo piece for his 2025 solo tour but Jenna was well researched and asked some particularly probing questions about Francis's friendship with Rick, which yielded some surprisingly candid and open responses from him.
This excellent interview can be heard in full here.
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