Dog of Two Head is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Status Quo, released by Pye Records in November 1971.
Background
Following the departure of Roy Lynes, this was the first album to feature the four-piece lineup of remaining members 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.
No singles were initially released from the album. Following the success of their next album Piledriver and its single "Paper Plane", Rossi and Young's "Mean Girl" from Dog of Two Head was released as a single and become a UK #20 hit in April 1973. When "Mean Girl" charted, the record company decided to release another single from the album, "Gerdundula". This was released in July 1973, and failed to chart. The B-side to this single was Rossi and Parfitt's "Lakky Lady", taken from Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon.
AllMusic largely praised the album's unusual stylistics in their retrospective review, commenting that Status Quo "were going to find their characteristic sound in their posterior effort, Piledriver, but never again were they going to sound as innovative and inventive as they sound here."[2]
Track listing
All songs written by Francis Rossi and Bob Young, except where noted. "Gerdundula" was written by the duo under the pseudonyms Manston and James.