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On this day, 12 January 1972, rock band Status Quo played Cardiff University on their Dog Of Two Head Tour.
The band had recently released their 4th studio album Dog Of Two Head. At the time of recording, the band consisted of Francis Rossi (credited on the sleeve as Mike Rossi), Rick Parfitt (credited as Ritchie Parfitt), Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan (credited as John Coughlan).
They had released a non-album single that March, a Rossi/Young song called "Tune to the Music", but it was not a hit. The band then set to work writing and recording a new album. A couple of the songs, such as the opening track "Umleitung" (German for 'diversion'), had been written the previous year.
In 1972 the band left Pye Records and signed with the heavy rock and progressive label Vertigo Records. Their first album for Vertigo, Piledriver, was released in 1972, going Top 5 in the UK. Piledriver heralded an even heavier, self-produced sound.
This album was essentially the stylistic template for their next four albums, Hello! (1973), Quo (1974), On the Level (1975) and Blue for You (1976). Hello! was the band's first UK No. 1 album, while Quo reached No. 2 and On the Level and Blue for You both also reached No. 1. In 1976, they signed a pioneering sponsorship deal with Levi's. The following year the group released a double Live! album, which reached No. 3 in the UK.
