Songfacts®:

• By 1983, Status Quo bassist Alan Lancaster thought singer Francis Rossi's new, softer material was destroying the group. Despite the fact that this ballad reached #3 on the UK singles chart, Lancaster hated it. "It was like hearing Mick Jagger singing Humpty Dumpty, the dyed-in-the-wool rocker told Q magazine April 2013.
  
  Rossi added: "Alan said the song was 'unmanly'. He said he couldn't face his family after 'Marguerita Time.'"
• Dexys Midnight Runners loved this song. They covered the song on the B-side of their 1985 single "This is What She's Like."
• Alan Lancaster hated the song so much that he refused to appear on Top of the Pops when Status Quo performed it. Jim Lea of Slade filled in for him.
• A margarita is a sweet-tasting cocktail comprising tequila, orange liqueur, and lemon or lime juice. For full authenticity, it is drunk in a glass whose rim has been coated with salt. The alcoholic beverage is a forerunner of The Brandy Daisy, a cocktail of citrus juice and brandy (Margarita is the Spanish name for Daisy). There are many origin stories, but the most common is that Mexican barman Carlos "Danny" Herrera invented it in 1938 for the showgirl Marjorie King, who was allergic to many spirits, but not to tequila.
  
  Jimmy Buffet's 1977 hit song "Margaritaville" enhanced the drink's popularity in America. Six years later, the deceptively strong cocktail trended with UK boozers and Francis Rossi got caught up in the craze. "I'd never been a drinker until then, but they were delicious and really got you pissed," he recalled to Classic Rock. "I used to order them six at a time. For a while I got out of control on tequila."
  
  Rossi came up with the basic structure of "Marguerita Time" on his grand piano at home, then developed the song with his songwriting partner Bernie Frost over the phone.