Everything You Need To Know About Queen!
If you didn't already know, the four men in the beautiful picture to the left of the page is Queen; (from left to right) John Deacon, Roger Taylor, Freddie Mercury and Brian May. In this blog I will be giving you the history of the band and also some of my opinions on Songs and Music videos.
Let’s start off by talking about Smile, a band at Imperial College formed of Brian May, Roger Taylor and Tim Staffell. This band formed the basis of Queen. Smile’s biggest concert, away from Imperial College and pubs in Roger’s hometown, was in February of 1969 at the Royal Albert Hall as part of a benefit show. It is hard to imagine looking back now, what would’ve happened to the band if Tim didn’t leave. However, Freddie seemed to have always been in the picture when it comes to the music created by Taylor and May. In the documentary ‘Days of our lives’ May recalls how Freddie would come to them after shows full of ideas. May states that Mercury “Would always say ‘You guys are brilliant, brilliant! But you should do this, and you should do this!’” Freddie’s time finally came in the spring of 1970 when Staffell left Smile to join the band ‘Humpy Bong.’ All that was missing was bass player John Deacon. It wasn’t until February the next year that the missing piece of the band joined. And then Queen was born.
Now that we know about how the band was formed we should look into each of the members separately so we can talk about their best songs and moments. Each of the boys were misfits in their own rights and in some ways it is crazy that they even ended up in a band together but we are all glad that they did or we wouldn't have had the beautiful band which is Queen.
First let's talk about Freddie Mercury or Farrokh Bulsara as he was born. On the 5th September 1946 Farrokh was born in Zanzibar. He moved to London as a young adult and that's where his 'life began again' as it were. Freddie studied Graphic Art and Design in university where he met Mary Austin his first girlfriend and love of his life. Even
inspired said song. The thing Mary didn't know for a while is that he was questioning his sexuality. In the mid-seventies he had his first affair on Mary with a man and by December of 1976 he came out and they decided to end the relationship. Freddie embraced his sexuality mainly in America until he decided enough was enough and settled down with an Irish man called Jim Hutton. Jim became sort of a saviour to Freddie as he became someone Freddie could trust after what happened with previous 'lover' Paul Prenter. Freddie was known for his eccentricity on stage but people who knew him personally always talked about how he was a kind and caring spirit. Either way he is a beautiful soul who was taken too soon.
Next lets talk about the John Deacon or as he is more well know, Disco Deaky because of his beautiful dance skills. He was the shying one of the boys but when the alcohol was poured that's when the moves and jokes came out of him and he seemed to be a different person. John married a lucky lady called Veronica and they had six kids together, so I guess he wasn't shy in every way. John Deacon wasn't keen on singing but wrote some great hits like 'I want to break free' and 'You're my best friend.' as well as being able to pull off short shorts like the one in the gif above.
Onto Roger Meddows Taylor shall we? Roger Taylor was born in Kings Lynn on the 26th July 1949. The drummer was recognised for his unique sound quite early in his career. Not only is he
an amazing drummer but also a great songwriter. One of his most talked about songs (and certainly the one with the most interesting story) is 'I'm in love with my car.' The story about his efforts of getting the song on B-side of Bohemian Rhapsody is a funny one. After Freddie refused the idea, Roger didn't give up deciding the best way of convincing the other man was to lock himself in a cupboard and threatening not to come out unless Freddie changed his decision. In the early years he was known to have a lot of sexual partners but when he settled down became the father of five children or is it six.
Onto Brian May, not only is he a guitarist and a clog enthusiast but he somehow still has time to be an astrophysicist and animal rights activists. This man loves his badgers and hedgehogs. He built a beautiful guitar called The Red Special which he built with his dad, this guitar is basically his fourth child and the one he probably likes the most. Parents shouldn't have favourites but Brian May does for his guitar. What else is there to say about this wonderful man. He is a beauty, and grace and will punch you in the face; if you threaten The Red Special. He wrote such hits as Fat Bottom Girls which he wrote obviously about John Deacon (joking) and We will rock you which is now an anthem for everyone and the rest. Safe to say that Brian is still rocking away with his fellow band member Roger are doing pretty well for themselves.
The band queen has played at many venues through their time touring; from small pubs to sold out arenas here is just a few that stick out to me. You couldn’t talk about Queen concerts without mentioning the iconic live aid. Previous to this Queen took a break from each other. Even to this day Queen’s slot at live aid is still creates the exciting feelings that it would have when they actually performed it. One of the reasons that is believed to be the reason that Freddie was so excited to perform at live aid is his father’s words ‘Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds.’ Earlier in their career Queen played at the local theatre, now know as The Mayflower, The Gaumont. On the 27th of May 1977, during their ‘A Day at The Races’’ tour, Queen made a stop in Southampton to play at The Gaumont. They performed such hits as; ‘Killer Queen’ and ‘Death on Two Legs (Dedicated to…) which we now know was dedicated to Queen’s original manager Norman Sheffield. I guess no one can get away with messing with Queen. When I visit The Mayflower, I find it crazy to believe that Queen had ever inhabited the place and sincerely regret not being born in the 70s. We talk about the next venue in the upcoming interviews, however I feel it is important to give a slight background to the importance of the Knebworth concert. On the 9th August 1986 singer Freddie Mercury performed live for the last time on the last date of the Magic tour. Over 120,000 people attended the concert, including a few of the teachers I interviewed, and although Henry Cobbold is quoted to say that ‘It was fantastic. They were at the top of their game.’ Freddie was hiding his pain that came with the HIV infection that later developed onto AIDs.
In 1975 the song Bohemian Rhapsody made its way into the nation’s ears, providing a fresh new perspective to music. At the time it was one of the most expensive and complex songs about. The song itself took three weeks to record and a further four hours and £3,500 to shoot the video which created a snowball effect of artists filming promos to accompany their songs. The promo video was created with the purpose of getting the song on Top of the Pops as they were aware that the song would be too complex to perform live. The song stayed in the UK top charts for nine weeks. The song has and is still seen as Freddie Mercury’s baby as he was closely involved with every part of the song knowing exactly what he wanted it to sound like in his head.
Let’s look into the bands solo albums, the song you just heard was Future Management by Roger Taylor the Drummer of Queen from his Fun in Space album. Other solo albums from Taylor include Strange Frontier, Happiness? And his 2013 album Fun on Earth which may be seen as a sequel album to Fun in Space. Roger Taylor was also in a band called ‘The Cross’ in 1983-93 as a side project alongside Queen. However, Taylor was not the only one of the band to take some time off towards a solo album. Guitarist Brian May released Back to the light in 1992 after Mercury’s passing with such songs as ‘Too much love will kill you’ and ‘Driven by you.’ May also decided to start 2019 by releasing the song ‘New Horizons’ which appears to celebrate the flyby of Ultima Thule around Pluto. Mercury was another member of the band to release solo music, including some of the songs written and performed with Montserrat, during his career with Queen. The album Messenger of the Gods displays the majority of his solo work including the song we are about to play ‘Living on my own’ where the music video was shot at Freddie’s 39th birthday party. Unfortunately, John Deacon never recorded a solo album however he has written songs for films such as Biggies: Adventure in time.
Throughout the years after Freddie Mercury’s death there have been many documentaries on his life alongside ones focused on Queen. However, one of the first that decided to show it in a film like documentary including re-reacted scenes is the Channel 5 ‘ Who Wants To Live Forever’ Documentary starring John Blunt as Freddie Mercury. It tells the story from after Live Aid up to his death, in a raw and emotional retelling whilst still giving Freddie the dignity that he deserved. Last year a new take on the way the Queen story is presented came in the form of 2018 Biopic ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, starring Rami Malek, Gwilym Lee, Ben Hardy and Joe Mazzello as the band. The film follows the story in a tamer way, bringing in a new generation of younger fans that way. Brain May and Roger Taylor helped with the process very closely to make sure that their story and Freddie was respected. The film going on to win awards at the SAGs, BAFTAs and Golden Globes and 5 nominations at the Oscars which will take place on the 24th February.
Let's hope the film wins big at the Oscars and the cast say strong friends even when they move onto different movies. We love you all Rami Malek, Ben Hardy, Joe Mazzello and Gwilym Lee!! (And all the rest of the amazing cast and crew.
And to the Band Queen; We love you, keep being you!!!