QUEEN of the whole wide world

“Queen Of The Whole Wide World”
BUZZ: Newspaper Article Oct- Nov 2012 (#20-T)

In the wake of the much anticipated “Freddie Mercury” film, with Sacha Baron Cohen, I thought I would cover certain aspects of “Queen” this time round.

>Doing All Right< Sometime in 1963 Brian May (Brian Harold May: 19 Jul 1947: Hampton, UK) a 16 year old boy & his Dad built a guitar. Brian dubbed this the "Red Special" made from the wood of a fireplace & motorcycle & bicycle parts. Interesting note here, my drummer, Pat, from our old band "Palace Guard" sometime in 1985 made friends with one Chris Jagger (yes, Mick's brother). Chris was a huge 'Queen' fan and Brian allowed Chris to make blueprints of the "Red Special", Chris sent a copy to my drummer friend Pat who in return gave me a copy of the Blueprints off the original Brian May "Red Special" In 1968 college students May & Tim Staffell (Timothy: 24 Feb 1948: Isleworth, UK) formed a band called "Smile" they auditioned drummer Roger Meddows Taylor ( 26 Jul 1949: King's Lynn, Norfolk UK) & recorded the 45 single "Earth" b/w "Step On Me" #72977 Mercury in 1969 as well as 4 other tracks in 1969, one being "Doing Allright". Their demo was sent to Apple Records, legend has it McCartney loved their Logo. Meanwhile Staffell became friends with a fellow art student Freddie (Farrokh Bulsara: 5 Sep 1946- 24 Nov 1991 Zanzibar, Tanzania, who later changed his name to Mercury in 1971). Freddie was a fan of the band 'Smile' so when Staffell left for another band sometime in 1970. Freddie joined the 2 remaining members and got a new bass player, one Barry Mitchell and became 'Queen' at Freddie's suggestion. Freddie even created the 'Queen' crest in art class incorporating the band member’s zodiac signs into the logo. I will point out ultimately Staffell did not do too bad for himself after leaving the band, as he went on to help create "Thomas The Tank Engine” In Feb 1971 the band found their final bass player in John Richard Deacon (19 Aug 1951: Oadby, UK) >Great King Rat< Having been together for a few years the band recorded a demo & recorded their 1st LP from Dec 1971 through Nov 1972, and finally in Jul 1973 Queen "1" was released. An unbelievably great LP, not to mention, their debut, and a very progressive effort, favorites of mine are: "Liar" "Jesus" & "Son And Daughter" In Mar 1974 the band released its 2nd LP titled "2" a concept LP, with one side being "White" and the other being "Black" I personally feel this is their greatest work, bar none. Stand out tracks for me are: "Ogre Battle" "Father To Son" & "Loser In The End" also the 45 single for "Seven Seas of Rhye" has a Non-LP track "See What A Fool I've Been". Later this same year in Nov 1974 the band released their 3rd LP "Sheer Heart Attack" a real departure from their 1st 2 efforts, delivering a few styles of music, and scoring their 1st of many chart hits with "Killer Queen" #12 on the Billboard Charts in May 1975. My favorites are: "Tenement Funster" "She Makes Me" & "Now I'm Here". >Profit’s Song< And then came the song of all songs, the band releases "A Night At The Opera" in Nov 1975, the 1st of 2 titles of Groucho Marx film titles used for their LPs. So much has been written about this album, what more can I really say about this one? This LP yielded 2 hit singles "Bohemian Rhapsody" released in Oct 1975, and hit #2 (nope not a #1) on the charts & "You're My Best Friend" #16 in Jul 1976. Although here are my favorite tracks from the LP: "I'm In Love With My Car" "Death On Two Legs" & "Sweet Lady" Listed below is the setlist of a Queen concert from this time period to give you an idea of what the band played live in concert. >Now, I’m Here … In Concert< 24 Dec 1975 London, UK @ Hammersmith Odeon (Available on Audio & Video) Now, I'm Here Ogre Battle White Queen Bohemian Rhapsody/ Killer Queen /March Of The Black Queen/ Bohemian Rhapsody Bring Back That Leroy Brown Brighton Rock/ Son And Daughter Keep Yourself Alive Liar In The Lap Of The God's ... revisited Big Spender/Jailhouse Rock /Stupid Cupid/ Be Bop A Lula/ Jailhouse Rock Seven Seas Of Rhye See What A Fool I've Been God Save The Queen The band toured the USA 8 times between Apr 1974 to Sep 1982. Once when I interviewed Bruce Kulick of KISS in 1990, I asked him "How can you be in one of the biggest bands in the world and still be so level headed and cool to your fans" Kulick replied "I met Brian May of Queen in the 70s when Queen was on top of the world and he was so kind to me, an unknown, at the time, I decided then, that if Brian May can be that way at the height of his fame, then I should be too" >Long Away< The band well on their way to super-stardom releases "A Day At The Races" in Dec 1976 with the lead 45 single "Somebody To Love" charting at #13 in Dec 1976 & "Tie Your Mother Down" #47 in Mar 1977. Everyone has their own opinions, that being said I do not feel this was a strong follow up to the previous LP. Here are the tracks I favor: "White Man" "You And I' & "Long Away" Then the band strikes gold once again in Oct 1977 with "News Of The World" & the double "A" side single "We Will Rock You" & "We Are The Champions" a #4 hit in Feb 1978 they did release 2 other singles from this LP however the other failed to chart as high as the 1st single. My personal favorites, and this is one hard, as this is a great LP, "Fight From The Inside" "Get Down, Make Love" & "It's Late". The original cover painting was done by Frank Kelly Freas in Oct 1953 titled "The Gulf Between". I heard on a radio interview Groucho Marx was flattered Queen used 2 of his films names for album titles and offered the next title they might use was "At The Circus" the band passed on that title however, there was a bootleg record LP put out on Rodan Records #SLA- 0007 using the title "Duck Soup" (another Marx film) of the concert on 13 Mar 1977 Seattle, WA. @ The Arena. >If You Can’t Beat Them< Well, for me here's where the bottom falls out for the band. "Jazz" was released in Nov 1978, while they had a huge double "A" side hit once again with "Bicycle Race" b/w "Fat Bottomed Girls" #24 in Jan 1979, this LP is a miss for me, much like "Day At The Races" I feel the band became once again too creative trying once again many types of music, that was just lost on me, however I did like these tracks "Fun It" "Let Me Entertain You" & "More Of That Jazz". In Jun 1979 the band released their 1st "Live Album" which contained a "Hard Rock Version" of "We Will Rock You" which I feel is equally as good as the original. Then in an unusual move for the time the band release a 45 single "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" in Aug 1979, their 1st #1 on the charts, with No follow LP until "The Game" was released in Jun 1980, containing their 2nd #1 "Another Bites The Dust" from Oct 1980. The 2nd 45 single "Play The Game" from this LP contained the Non-LP "B-Side" "A Human Body" my favorite tracks from this one are: "Rock It" "Save Me" & "Sail Away Sweet Sister" >In The Space Capsule< Following the trend of the past few years the band try yet again something different, a film soundtrack "The Flash" in Feb 1981 while there were some shining moments in "The Hero" & "Flash's Theme" I personally find this one a little hard to get into. I find the film awful except the brilliant color scheme. Then in Oct 1981 the band team up with David Bowie to release "Under Pressure" #29 on the charts b/w the Non-LP track "Soul Brother" the "A" side was featured on the 1st "Greatest Hits" album, later on "Hot Space" was released in May 1982, This would be their last album for Electra Records. The tracks I prefer from this LP: "Calling All Girls" "Las Palabras de Amor" & "Life Is Real". The band decide to take a year off in this time period 1983 & May releases the "Starfleet" EP in Oct 1983 with Eddie Van Halen on Lead Guitar. Also this year would find the band on a new record label; Capitol Records. Interesting note, during the CD boom from 1987 to 1990 No Queen albums originally released on Electra were commercially available on CD, Capital Records did release a "Promo" only "Best Of" CD in 1989 #DPRO- 79591 in anticipation of releasing the catalog, this did not come to fruition, until in 1991when Hollywood Records offered the band more money & a better percentage of royalties. >Show Must Go On< The band did continue to record, release records and tour up until Freddie's death in Nov 1991 (oddly enough KISS' Eric Carr died the very same day 24 Nov 1991) with several of the releases being really good, however they never really regained the success of their heyday, and I do have to wind this down at some point, and I do not want to cover the Paul Rogers period what so ever. So I leave you with this Brain May quote: "Who wants to live forever" MrZERo aka: RL Schwinden www.MrZeros.Com 1744 Lexington & Larpenteur St. Paul, MN. 55113 "Nerd Is The Word"