Gobsmacked to find this on HN. Thank you. It is worth noting that the critics had little interest at all in Queen during the band's heyday. They loved Bruce Springsteen and Elvis Costello. Queen, Klaatu, Kansas, Styx, Led Zeppelin, Yes? Not so much. The attitude toward Freddie changed when Freddie was sanctified by virtue his death.
One of the stories that impressed me most was Freddie's innate solidity as a musician. He did the piano parts and many vocal parts in "Bohemian Rhapsody" at night--before the drum part was recorded. So Roger Taylor (who also sang the highest parts in that and other Queen songs) ended up using Freddie's part as a click track.
Yep - that documentary that I posted on here "Inside the Rhapsody" has Dr. Brian May talking about Freddie being an absolute metronome on the piano - with no click track to play to. Apparently his sense of time and control over the instrument was second to none. That documentary is well worth 27 minutes of anyone's time.
In June, I was working in Switzerland installing a multi-petabyte storage array for the Montreux Jazz Digital Project (http://metamedia.epfl.ch/montreux_jazz_digital_project/archi...), and during a break in work, myself and a colleague were taken to the home of the late Claude Nobbs, founder of the Festival.
The building houses the original recordings of the festival performances (everything from 2" Ampex to digibeta and beyond), plus an overwhelming collection of memorabilia from the guests that stayed in the house and chalets around the grounds; we saw a David Bowie kimono mounted like a large picture on a wall, motorbikes, guitars and other musical instruments, electronic audio equipment from numerous decades, jukeboxes, lots of model trains (Claude collected them)...and Freddie Mercury's piano. Having psychopathic tendencies (so my Mrs tells me), I don't get emotional about many things, but running my fingers across the piano was spine tingling - I really felt in the presence of greatness.
I was alive and into music this time and I don't think what you're saying is true at all. Almost all those bands were insanely popular in they're heyday - that's why it's called they're heyday, generally. Are you claiming they were on the radio and filling stadiums and making headlines... But the critics were ignoring them?
The one I might grant you is Yes, but that's only because they were a little eclectic. But while we could argue about when their best years were do remember that MTV played "Leave It" on repeat for 24 hours once, partly taking the piss but still. For an under appreciated band that's some crazy exposure.
I think "ignore" in that comment meant "dismissive". The critics were dismissive of Queen during its popular period probably because of the lighter weight songs such as "Another One Bites the Dust" and "Radio Ga Ga". A song like AOBTD sounds like something that a glam metal band could do. A song RGG sounds like something a lot of teeny boppers would sing. Yes, those songs are still loved today and will be always included on any Greatest Hits compilation.
However, it's the rule-breaking songs like "Bohemian Rhapsody" that is very "critic friendly" and with the death of Freddie Mercury, its stature as a magnum opus keeps growing. A song like that influences critics to re-evaluate Freddie's and Queen's artistic merit.
Another One Bites the Dust is their best disco track and gets people singing in Berlin clubs still. I've head that and Radio Ga Ga to be played in the best nightclub in the world and the whole audience was singing along.
The production values of these tracks are amazing. The use of synths and the beats. Knowing something about music production myself I can't help but enjoy hearing some of these 80's megahits.
And John Deacon is very underrated. Easily one of the best bass players in the world. And made some of their biggest hits too.
Not that they were ignoring them - more like they had a negative view of Queen. Freddie started to refuse giving interviews to the press and tabloids were all over the place reporting on his private life.
It seems to me that I heard their stuff a lot in the late 1970s in the US. Take that for what it's worth for their popularity; we knew they were around.
I honestly don't recall any particular apathy or dislike of Queen while they were active. I do recall many articles of their musicianship, but perhaps that was regional, and/or the things I read then.
Anybody who still has doubts about the prodigious musical genius that was Freddie should take the time to grab a cup of their favourite beverage and sit down to watch & read:
I rather like the way he's humble when discussing the talent of his band mates and what went into making "Bohemian Rhapsody". There's not a lot of "I", but a lot of "they" or "Freddie" or "we". He doesn't seem to feel he needs credit for his part at all.
Not just that, but he was a sincere person as well who cared deeply about his music and his work. Until the very day he died. So much dedication is unheard of.
Mercury aside, I find it interesting how the music industry was balanced. Tech was heavier and less versatile, makes the whole thing more humane (even though these events were enormous, the spirit is different, as if the whole society was swimming along in this new mass spread musicale thing).
That said it's a pleasure to see mercury talking to the crowd, heart warming. Best goes first...
Rock Montreal is also a great live performance. I wish I was alive at the time to have experienced it. The production quality of this live album was superb.
> Later on in life he grew a moustache, probably to try and cover his teeth
I don't think it was for that reason. The time when he grew a moustache is when he started to frequent the gay scene and most folks in that scene used to have the moustache as well.
And his early days in Queen show him with a perfect shave.
> And then there was a revolution in Zanzibar, and Freddie’s family migrated to England.
That's funny to think about an alternate reality where this move would not have occured, and his whole life would have turned completely differently. He would never have met Brian May (one of the most talented guitarists ever) and even if he had tried to become a Musician on his own, he may have failed (his solo albums after Queen were big flops).
> . If he hadn’t become a rock musician, I think he would have grown up to be a successful artist or fashion designer.
He did actually study design in University. Strange that the interviewer did not pick that up. He dropped then to become a full time musician. This is well known.
Freddie is the one who designed the Queen logo, btw.
I discovered a Queen cassette(The Game) when I was a kid on a cargo boat my dad bought and captained down to the Caribbean from England.
It was amazing hearing them for the first time. My parents couldn't understand how I liked this noise(particularly "Another one bites the dust").
Once in my teens and armed with the internet, I did a lot of reading up on Freddie Mercury. He was a hell of a musician and a show man!
I guess sometimes it's good to be an old fart. I saw them in 1985 or 86, I don't remember which year. They put on a hell of a show. It was amazing to see them entertain a whole stadium.
My one regret too... I've got their "Live at Wembley Arena" on DVD, and I would give my right * to have been there and experienced that. Queen at the top of their game.
My two older brothers went to see Queen in the mid 80's, my mother wouldn't let my dad go as she was worried about his safety ... he jokes that he's never forgiven her for that ...
The walls between the living room and my bedroom only let a few bass freq. As a funk teen I dropped everything to find who made this bassline. Surprising answer.
He was the first true rock idol for a 4-year old me. I remember rocking and acting like Freddie when I saw Queen performing on television around the year 1988. He was a god to me and when my mother told me he died it was quite hard for me to understand.
Too bad the times were different, he could've been a great role model for young gay boys.
One of the stories that impressed me most was Freddie's innate solidity as a musician. He did the piano parts and many vocal parts in "Bohemian Rhapsody" at night--before the drum part was recorded. So Roger Taylor (who also sang the highest parts in that and other Queen songs) ended up using Freddie's part as a click track.