Hello Quo

The ultimate blue collar chug-rock dinosaurs Status Quo get their own bio-doc, and much like the band, ‘Hello Quo!’ starts out unpretentious and highly entertaining, loses focus in the middle, then makes a surprise rally in the final stretch. The ‘Spinal Tap’ parallels are frequent and hilarious: short-trousers blues combos and a brief but memorable psychedelic flirtation; bassist Alan Lancaster’s Steptoe drawl and a revolving array of drummers and keyboard players. The filmmaking is far from revolutionary, but the talking heads – Quo participants past and present, plus fans including Cliff Richard and Paul Weller  – are informative and amusing (Jim Davidson’s inevitable appearance notwithstanding). And there’s simply no arguing with the music, particularly in the early period: if you can hear ‘Paper Plane’, ‘Down Down’ or even ‘Rockin’ All Over the World’ and not wish you were 17, long-haired and drunk in double denim, you’ve a heart of stone.