From the Makers of... is a compilation album by British rock bandStatus Quo, released in 1982. In the era before CDs, the three-disc/double cassette album was the most comprehensive resume of the band's career at the time, containing all their top 20hit singles up to that point and several selected album tracks. The third disc was a recording of a live concert at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, England for the Prince's Trust charity: the disc was subsequently re-released as a stand-alone live album in 1984, titled Live at the N.E.C. The album's name comes from the caption that was placed on the back cover of each of the band's studio albums throughout the 1970s: "From the makers of..." followed by silhouette drawings of the covers of the albums immediately preceding that release. From the Makers of... was available in three formats:
a boxed set of three vinyl albums
a "Special Edition" circular metal container of the same three vinyl albums
a boxed set of two cassettes
The 36 tracks are listed across four sheets, titled "HIT SINGLES AND STAGE CLASSICS in historical order", starting with "Pictures of Matchstick Men". Each title is accompanied by an appropriate picture. The final page chronicles the band's history year by year, from their beginnings in Peckham, South East London, in 1962 through to the set's release in 1982. The album reached number 4 in the UK Album Charts.
In 2010 the complete concert was released for the first time when the BBC included not only "Dirty Water" and "Down Down" but also "Forty-Five Hundred Times", "Big Fat Mama", "Roadhouse Blues", "Rain" and "Bye Bye Johnny" in a 7CD+1DVD collection called Live At The BBC.
Track Listing (cassette set)
Cassette One - Side One
"Pictures of Matchstick Men" – 3:09
"Ice in the Sun" – 2:12
"Down the Dustpipe" – 2:04
"In My Chair" – 3:18
"Junior's Wailing" – 3:32
"Mean Girl" – 3:54
"Gerdundula" – 3:21
"Paper Plane" – 2:56
"Big Fat Mama" – 5:53
"Roadhouse Blues" – 7:28
"Break The Rules" - 3:39
"Down Down" – 3:53
Cassette One - Side Two
"Bye Bye Johnny" – 4:42
"Rain" – 4:35
"Mystery Song" – 4:00
"Blue for You" – 4:06
"Is There a Better Way" – 3:30
"Again and Again" – 3:38
"Accident Prone" – 4:06
"Wild Side of Life" – 3:16
"Living on an Island" – 3:54
"What You're Proposing" – 4:15
"Lies" – 4:00
Cassette Two - Side One
"Rock 'n' Roll" – 4:04
"Something 'Bout You Baby I Like" – 2:57
"Dear John" – 3:10
"Caroline" – 5:30
"Roll Over Lay Down" – 5:59
"Backwater" – 4:36
"Little Lady" – 3:26
Cassette Two - Side Two
"Don't Drive My Car" – 4:14
"Whatever You Want" – 4:27
"Hold You Back" – 4:46
"Rockin' All Over the World" – 3:50
"Over the Edge" – 4:27
"Don't Waste My Time" – 4:18
From Cassette Two, Side One, track 4 onwards, all tracks were recorded live at the Prince's Trust Concert at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham in 1982.