As well as touring and recording Quo spent a lot of time in television studios, which John says he enjoyed greatly. The waiting around didn’t bother them too much as there was usually other bands to chat to and drink with if they were performing on a music show, and almost invariably girls to chase too.

Quo performed on a huge number of television shows, and the recognition factor went off the scale accordingly. John says, ‘I always enjoyed doing television. I think we all did. Playing Top Of The Pops was always a thrill. It’s such an institution and you know that so many people will see you. It was such fun, and it meant that you’d really made it.’

On many occasions the band was required to mime to their songs. The record was played in the studio, and over transmission, and the solo singer or group had to pretend that they were performing it. It made life easier for the production team and minimal changes were needed between acts. It was utterly illogical in musical terms, but for years it was how British pop TV worked.

There would be a large fold-back speaker behind the drum kit, and John would try as hard as he could to appear to be really playing; "I did actually hit the drums, but not very loudly." A lot of drummers didn’t bother keeping up the pretence, just as a lot of guitarists lost the will to strum real chords and pluck real notes. The Faces, miming to Maggie May, dispensed with the charade and played football on stage instead.