Hello Quo DVD Review
About an hour-and-a-half into this exhaustive and comprehensive history of “The Quo”, having apparently just delivered a televised performance of one of their upbeat rock hits, a sweating Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi are asked a potentially difficult question. The interviewer, a simpering, gurning, fat-faced no mark of the most pernicious order, smugly suggests they might be “totally bored” of just playing the three chords, and haughtily asks “when they are going to learn more”. Messrs Parfitt and Rossi, who may well have been justified in violently using the man’s tongue as a makeshift unitar, act as models of restraint and humour, pretty much laughing off the ignorant buffoon’s question. It’s from this one exchange perhaps more than any other that you get a real sense of how likeable and relaxed the duo are, and how they really aren’t interested in a great deal more than playing music and having fun; and therein lies the documentary’s inherent charm.
At a shade over two-and-a-half hours in length, Hello Quo may seem like a tad overlong, but so agreeable are the members of The Quo, so full of enthusiasm are they for what they do, the film pretty much holds your attention for most of its sizeable running time.
Obviously this is helped in no small amount by the bevvy of recognisable faces that pop-up to wax lyrical about The Quo. Brian May, Jeff Lynne, Paul Weller and Cliff Richard (amongst others) all appear in support, and do a decent job of drawing your eye away from some pretty dubious denim.
All the predictable highlights are there: Pictures of Matchstick Men, Caroline, Down Down, Rockin’ All Over the World and Live Aid. As are the low-points: John Coghlan’s acrimonious departure, so too Alan Lancaster’s and his subsequent injunction; drugs, arrest and Marguerita Time.
Unashamedly pro-Quo, Hello Quo is a fitting and enjoyable biography of one the UK’s most enduring and often overlooked rock and roll acts. As the band reaches the half-century mark, Def Leppard’s Joe Elliott unintentionally sums up not just the gist of the band, but that of the film itself: “You want to just rock out, not think too hard. If you want to think, go and listen to Bob Dylan.”
Chris Banks (@Chris_in_2D)
Rating: n/c
DVD Release Date: 29th October 2012 (UK)
Directed By: Alan G. Parker
Cast:Rick Parfitt, Andrew Bown, John Coghlan ,Steve Diggle , Francis Rossi
Buy Hello Quo: (Limited Edition) DVD
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