35 THE QUEEN IS DEAD! 2 ------------------ 14 The year was 1970. In London, the group Smile has just stopped existing. Two of it's members, Brian May and Roger Taylor begin to wonder if it's the end of their musical career. At same time, the vocalist of the band Wreckage is heard saying:"I'm not going to be a star -I'm going to be a legend!" Of course, it is Freddie Mercury. He decides that that Wreckage never, never will be famous, and leaves them. He forms a new group with Brian and Roger, taking the name Queen. They are to be completed with John Deacon one year later. Then nothing happens before June 1973, when they release a single signed Larry Lurex. EMI let them record a single, to let them show what they can. "Keep yourself alive" is released July 6th, 1973, followed by the album "Queen" July 13th. In -74, Queen takes off. They release their second LP, "Queen II", which make it to #5 in the charts. By September it reaches silver status. They release another LP this year, "Sheer Heart Attack", by many reconed as their best LP ever. It climbs to #2. England and the rest of Europe experience their first Queen-mania, as Queen starts their first major tour. Having such a successful album so early in a career is difficult, since the expectations for the next LP get so high. But those who expected a good LP, weren't disappointed. After their Japan-tour in -75, Queen starts 41working on their next LP. The first single from the LP is "Bohemian Rhapsody" a single which became a legend of it's time. It's probably one of the most complex songs ever made, as one of the sections features 180 overdubs. The song took three weeks to finish, and was 5min 55secs, quite a long song to be a hit. Freddie gives a copy to DJ Kenny Everett some days before the release, and tell him to hold on to it, and not play it. The next two days he's heard saying "Oh -My fingers slipped!" 14 times. The single stays #1 for eight weeks. When the album "A night at the Opera" is released, it holds #1 for nine weeks. It has a lot of good songs in addition to "Bo Rhap", e.g. the less known operatic song "The Prophet's Song". The rest of -75 is a feast for Queen, and -76 is no less good, as all four albums make it to the Top 20. A new album shows up, "A day at the Races". But the most memorable is Queen's free concert in Hyde Park for 150000 people. Still, "A day at the Races" makes it to #1. In -77, Queen goes touring in the U.S., with Thin Lizzy, and practically blows them off stage. In August, Roger Taylor releases a solo single, "I Wanna Testify", and the rumours are that Queen's breaking up. How wrong can one get? Queen releases an album, "News of the World", containing two of the most played tracks ever, "We are the Champions" and "We will Rock You". It puts an end to the rumours. Then nothing happens until 1978, when the 41single "Fat Bottomed Girls/Bicycle Race" is released, followed by the album "Jazz". It makes an uproar because of the poster of nude girls that comes with the album. In -79 they are asked to make the score for a movie, "Flash Gordon", and they accept. But since they are busy touring, and release a double live album, "Live Killers", they do not make the score before 1980. But, even in -80, they have to release an album on their own, it is "The Game". Then, finally, "Flash Gordon" is made in three months. "The Game" reaches #1 like many of Queens other albums. By the end of 1980, seven years after the release of their first album, Queen has sold 45000000 albums. -81 is spent touring in South America, and they start working on their next album, which is released April 19th, 1982. It's called "Hot Space", and many are shocked when it turns out to be pure disco. Still, it has one cut that becomes famous, it's "Under Pressure", a duet with David Bowie. 1983 is spent on solo projects. Then, in -84, Queen releases yet another album, "The Works", with the hit "Radio Ga Ga". They also release the single "Thank God It's Christmas" which doesn't do very well. In -85, Queen plays in Rio, for an enormous crowd. They believe it's the biggest crowd they will ever see. They are wrong. On July 13th they play at Live Aid, realizing that Woodstock wasn't the largest anyway. The make yet another film score in 14-86, this time for the $20000000,- film "Highlander"(By the way, a fantastic film!). The album is called "A kind of Magic". That summer they hold the largest stadium consert in the Eastern Block ever, in Hungary. The gig is filmed as "Live in Budapest". One more album is released, alive album named "Live Magic". 1987 is to be the year of solo projects. Especially for Freddie, who starts with the "The Great Pretender" single, and follows up with the album "Barcelona", which is an opera record. The title song is adapted for the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992. Roger Taylor releases another solo-LP with his band, The Cross. But Queen wasn't dead. On May 22nd 1989, they release yet another album, "The Miracle". For a Queen-album, it does it quite normal, entering at #1. In -89 Queen starts on what is to be Freddie's last album, "Innuendo". It is released in January 1991. At this time, Freddie starts to get ill. In the last videoes, he is so sick that they are made by massive use of special effects. The summer of -91, one Freddie's friends dies of AIDS, and on the evening of Saturday November 23rd, 1991, Freddie issues a statement to the press confirming that he suffers from AIDS. About 24 hours later, Freddie is dead. Shortly after, "Greatest Hits vol.II" is released. And also a re-release of "Bo Rhap" to support and encourage people suffering from AIDS world-wide. This way, the 20 year reign ends. But rumours say that two more albums worth 41of studio material are to be released. 2"If I'm dead tomorrow, I don't care a damn. I really have done it all." 36 Freddie Mercury 35 Discography: 24 ------------ 21: Queen 13 Jul 1973 1 "Keep Yourself Alive" and "My fairy King" makes it worth having. 22: Queen II 08 Mar 1974 1 This is the real Queen, the original stuff. Great! 23: Sheer Heart Attack 01 Nov 1974 1 Their best ever. 24: A night at the Opera 03 Dec 1975 1 A classic. You just ought to own one, 25: A day at the Races 10 Dec 1976 1 Has a lot of lovely ballads, e.g. "Teo Torriate". 26: News of the World 28 Oct 1977 1 Contains tracks as "We will Rock You", "We are the Champions", "All dead, All dead" and "My Melancholy Blues". Need I say more? 27: Jazz 10 Nov 1978 1 It contains,(among other tunes) "Bicycle Race" and "Mustapha". 28: Live Killers 22 Jun 1979 1 Queen is GOOD live, and this is 90 minutes of their very best. 29: The Game 01 Jun 1980 1 This is a good rock album, with a bit psychedelia. 210: Flash Gordon 08 Dec 1980 1 Not typical Queen, but well worth the money, if you like Queen anyway. 211: Greatest Hits 26 Oct 1981 1 A good record to start with, you get all the best from the seventies. 212: Hot Space 23 May 1982 1 The worst of all Queen albums. Pure disco. Still, it contains "Under Pressure" with David Bowie. 213: The Works 27 Feb 1984 1 Quite average really, but "Is this the world we created?" is lovely. 214: A kind of Magic 02 Jun 1986 1 You should see the film "Highlander" first, but it's workong anyway. One of the best since 1980. 215: Live Magic 01 Dec 1986 1 This isn't one of their best, and not the first I would recommend. 216: The Miracle 22 May 1989 1 This is Queen back again. Much synth, but "I want it all" is classical Queen rock. 217: At the Beeb Dec 1989 1 Early BBC recordings from 1973. Quite good really, but for the specially interested, I would say. 218: Innuendo 04 Feb 1991 1 The title track is the best, there they're back in the good old days. The record is also Freddie's last recording. 219: Greatest Hits vol.II Oct 1991 1 The very best from the eighties and the nineties, still, the first "Greatest Hits" is better. 35 Article by Oyvind Jakobsen. 2(Transferred to ASCII by Nimrod of Paragon.)