Famous in the Last Century

Famous In The Last Century
Studio album by Status Quo
Released	5. April 2000
Genre	Rock
Length	43:39
Producer	Mike Paxman
Status Quo chronology
Under the Influence (1999) Famous in the Last Century (2000) Heavy Traffic (2002)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

Famous in the Last Century is the twenty-fourth studio album by the British rock band Status Quo, released in 2000 to largely negative reviews. According to the band's autobiography, the idea to record it came from their manager David Walker, who said that they should celebrate the millennium with an album containing twenty of their favourite hits from the last century. To quote leader Francis Rossi, 'Or, put another way, another bloody covers album! We went along with it, as usual, but inside I felt like a fraud...for me it was the worst Quo album there had ever been - or ever will be!'[1]

Ironically it still reached No. 19 in the UK Albums Chart, a better position than the previous Status Quo album of mainly original material, Under the Influence. Two singles from it, "Mony Mony" and "Old Time Rock and Roll", were minor hits.

Jeff Rich left the band after recording of this album. He was replaced by Matt Letley

A DVD of the same name and featuring the same songs was filmed at the Shepherd's Bush Empire on 27 March 2000. This performance is mimed but they did a live gig after the album tracks were mimed but no video footage has ever been released. A few live tracks were b sides taken from this performance.

Track listing

1. "Famous in the Last Century" (Bown) 1:04
2. "Old Time Rock and Roll" (George Jackson, Thomas E. Jones III.) 2:57
3. "Way Down" (Martine) 2:51
4. "Rave On!" (Petty, William "Billy" Tilghman, Sunny West) 2:51
5. "Roll Over Beethoven" (Berry) 3:07
6. "When I'm Dead and Gone" (Benny Gallagher, Graham Lyle) 3:11
7. "Memphis, Tennessee" (Berry) 2:31
8. "Sweet Home Chicago" (R. Johnson) 2:44
9. "Crawling from the Wreckage" (Parker) 2:42
10. "Good Golly Miss Molly" (Blackwell, Marascalco) 2:05
11. "Claudette" (Orbison) 2:01
12. "Rock'n Me" (Miller) 2:46
13. "Hound Dog" (Leiber, Stoller) 2:19
14. "Runaround Sue" (DiMucci, Maresca) 2:29
15. "Once Bitten Twice Shy" (Hunter) 3:40
16. "Mony Mony" (Bloom, Bo Gentry, James, Ritchie Cordell) 2:58
17. "Famous in the Last Century" (Bown) 1:15

Australia bonus tracks

1. "Pictures Of Matchstick Men" (1999 Version) (Francis Rossi) 3:23
2. "Raining In My Heart" (Special Guest Brian May) (Boudleaux Bryant, Felice Bryant) 3:31
3. "Fun Fun Fun² (With The Beach Boys) (Brian Wilson, Mike Love) 3:59
4. "Whatever You Want² (Andy Bown, Rick Parfitt) 4:16

2006 reissue bonus tracks

1. Gerdundula (live) (Manston/James)
2. 4500 Times (live) (Rossi/Parfitt)
3. Rain (live) (Parfitt)

Personnel

• Francis Rossi - Vocals & lead guitar
• Rick Parfitt - Vocals & guitar
• John Edwards - Bass
• Andy Bown - Keyboards
• Jeff Rich - Drums

Recorded at Astria Studios and ARSIS Studios

References

1. Rossi, F., Parfitt, R., XS All Areas: The Status Quo autobiography (Sidgwick & Jackson, 2004)