Posted in: News, Trivia Q & A | No Comments | October 5, 2021
Q. Who wrote Status Quo’s hit song ‘Rockin All Over The World’?
A. John Fogerty (formerly of Creedence Clearwater Revival)
It made its debut on Fogerty’s second solo album (John Fogerty) in 1975.
Status Quo recorded their own, heavier arrangement of Fogerty’s song for their 1977 album Rockin’ All Over the World.
During the recording of Status Quo’s music video to the song, bassist Alan Lancaster was living in Australia. He had refused to return to the UKfor the recording, so he was replaced by a dummy with a bass guitar in the video.
At Live Aid, Status Quo began their set (and thus the event itself, being the opening band) with “Rockin’ All Over the World” which first became an unofficial anthem for the event when the BBC used it to advertise their TV coverage. Coldplay performed a portion of the song at Live 8, with lead singer Chris Martin singing the chorus during the song “In My Place”, after much was made of Status Quo’s absence from the concert in the British media.
Other versions of this song have been recorded by The Georgia Satellites and Bon Jovi, and also by artists outside the English-speaking world such as Dutch Bertus Staigerpaip, German Wolfgang Petry and Spanish Platero y Tú (outro of “Si tú te vas” song). Carl Wilson recorded it on his 1983 album Youngblood, and The Beach Boys themselves added the song to their live act in the mid-’80s. Bruce Springsteen has performed the song a number of times during his famous live shows, and it was the final song played in his 2009 Working on a Dream Tour. During Hard Rock Calling 2012, Springsteen appeared on stage with Fogerty to perform the song with him.
The song has found a usage in the sports world as well. In 1988, to support Sport Aid, Status Quo re-recorded the song as “Running All Over the World” with slightly amended lyrics. It reached #17 in the UK Singles Chart. Another re-recorded version appeared on their album Riffs in 2003.
