Thursday, April 19, 2012

Q is for Queen



They were fun. Many of their songs still make me smile. A few here are from the 1970s, but “Another One Bites the Dust” and “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” were from the 1980s. Besides, MTV played all these videos. And Queen participated in Live Aid, so they were still relevant in the 1980s.


“Bohemian Rhapsody”:


“Crazy Little Thing Called Love” was on MTV all the time:


You can’t find too many popular songs about a bicycle:


But my favorite Queen song is the duet between Freddie Mercury

(the lead singer of Queen) and David Bowie:


I was saddened when Freddie Mercury died of AIDS. He was diagnosed in 1987, but hid his condition. He made a statement a little over 24 hours before he died:


“Following the enormous conjecture in the press over the last two weeks, I wish to confirm that I have been tested HIV positive and have AIDS. I felt it correct to keep this information private to date to protect the privacy of those around me. However, the time has come now for my friends and fans around the world to know the truth and I hope that everyone will join with me, my doctors, and all those worldwide in the fight against this terrible disease. My privacy has always been very special to me and I am famous for my lack of interviews. Please understand this policy will continue.”


There was controversy because many thought he could’ve spoken about his condition earlier, instead of denying it for a couple of years. There was so much prejudice and misinformation at the time. He could’ve helped.


“Goodbye ev’rybody, I’ve got to go,

Got to leave you all behind and face the truth

Mamaaaaa oooh,

I don’t want to die,

I sometimes wish I’d never been born at all.”

- “Bohemian Rhapsody” Queen


35 comments:

  1. So heartbreaking :( I think there are going to be a lot of Queen posts today for those writing about music.

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  2. I still believe there is no purer and more beautiful voice than Freddy Mercury's (Radiohead's lead singer is up there for me too)!

    Queen holds a special meaning for me because at that very same time we had a family member die of AIDS (and he LOVED Queen) and so every time I hear a song, I say a little hello to him.

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  3. There's this fab fab BBC documentary about Queen at the moment (or just finished) and watching it - I really get the sense of just how amazing this band was but Freddie Mercury was a truly unique and uniquely talented individual! Take care
    x

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    1. Old Kitty, thanks for telling me. I'll have to look up the documentary.

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  4. I once sang on a karaoke stage to Bohemian Rhapsody. It was epic!

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  5. Thanks for a great post! Freddie Mercury had the best voice ever. The best.

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  6. Queen is an awesome band. It's such a shame about Freddy Mercury. Truly amazing talent.

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  7. I love Queen. Fat bottomed girls is the ultimate motivational workout song.

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  8. Glad Old KItty posted that about the documentary. I'd love to see that.

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  9. Theresa, Freddie Mercury is my all-time favorite vocalist. Reading all of this just put a sobering chill -- not in a bad way -- into me.

    I guess I don't think it's one man's responsibility to have shouldered the ignorance of the world when he himself was dying. To this day, I respect his statement and the way he handled the enormous twin pressures of his mortality and his public life.

    I continue to revel in his magnificent talent. My favorite of your posts for the A - Z.

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    1. Suze, he denied being gay and then denied having AIDS. It wasn't an easy time to come out about either--I understand that completely. After all, people are still nasty now. But there was so much hate at the time, so it would've helped a lot of people who were also suffering if he'd admitted it sooner.

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    2. While that may be true, Theresa, how can we expect anyone to do that? How can we place that much responsibility on someone else? He chose to do what he felt was best for him and, while that is often not considered the bravest or the rightest thing, we have no right to judge his choices.

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    3. I think if he'd been more open about those very personal aspects about his life, it would have been a media feeding frenzy. And I think he, and the people closest to him who must have counseled him in his choices, had some inkling of that.

      Personal details are not public domain until the individual chooses to divulge them -- and that dignity should remain inalienable, in my view. It seems to me those people who have been positively influenced in the decades since his death were the ones who would have received it in the right spirit then or later as the whole story came out. Those who remain judgmental, self-righteous and who prey upon juicy morsels of gossip for their own sake (not necessarily the same people for all three) tend also to persist in their habits, and his having lain his agony bare would have had no magical effect on that segment of the population.

      Just an opinion. Still maintain this was a great post.

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    4. Brooke, it was a terrible time. I remember taking a creative writing class in 1987. A jock in my class wrote an essay about how all gays should be shipped to their own island, so the rest of us wouldn't get AIDS. I mentioned, calmly, that heterosexuals got AIDS too, so that really wasn't a solution. He yelled, "What are you, a lesbian?" At the same time, our theatre teacher was trying to raise awareness about how AIDS was affecting everyone by creating a play with teens who'd contracted the disease through various methods. At the time, there was no medication to keep it as HIV, so it was a death sentence. Gays were easy targets to blame for the illness. I wished they'd had more defenders.
      But I understand why he didn't come out--he had a right to privacy.

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    5. Suze, I agree on a personal level it would be a lot to ask him to do. It's easy for me to say--I was neither gay nor famous then (or now). I appreciate the nice words about this post.

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  10. I was at school for his statement, and the announcement of his death. There was a very eerie feeling both times, and the radio just played Queen songs for the entire day. No one could quite believe it.

    I watched the same documentary that Kitty mentioned (I think) and you get a much better understanding about why he kept it quiet. Bascially he was a very private person, and he lived for the music. The footage of him filming his final video shows just how ill he was at that point.

    Under Pressure is one of my favourite songs too - I saw Bowie perform it once, not quite the same, but still brilliant.

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  11. I looooove Queen! (I mentioned them for "Q", too -- it was hard not to!) Freddie had one of the best voices ever.

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  12. Yeah what a pity to lose such a talent so early.

    I also love Under Pressure.

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  13. Love Queen! Can't help but turn up the volume and sing along :)

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  14. Since I'm a private person I understand his motivation.

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  15. Queen takes me back to high school - how they played the songs at basketball games (we had a good team:). Makes me wonder what else they would play at sporting events had Queen not done those songs.

    Have a great weekend! :)

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  16. Under Pressure is my favorite too. Such a fantastic collaboration.

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  17. I'm giving a shout out to Wayne's World for bringing second life to Bohemian Rhapsody in the early '90s. That was my Mtv generation and the video tie-in to Wayne's World was on all the time.

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  18. Queen was an awesome group and Freddie had sooooo much talent.

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  19. Queen was such a great group and certainly a popular choice for today's letter. "Under Pressure" is a great song. I also especially liked "I Want to be Free" and "Radio Ga Ga". So many great songs.


    Lee
    Places I Remember
    Wrote By Rote
    An A to Z Co-host blog

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  20. I love Queen and Freddie Mercury is missed :(

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  21. OMGoodness I loved Queen!!!!!!!!!!! I almost burst out in dance at the gym today when Another One Bites the Dust started playing.

    Thanks for making me smile, Theresa...

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  22. Bohemian Rhapsody is one of those songs that make my life richer. Just the intricacy of it, both lyrics and music and voice. Wow. One of the all-time greats, Mumma Mia piccolo...

    Denise

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  23. I love Queen. And I forgot about the Bicycle song. It's unusual, yet catchy.

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  24. Queen is one of my all time favorite bands. Egad! Beautiful music. I am singing their songs in my head right now. :-)

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    1. I saw Queen perform in Dublin in the 80s, the best concert I have ever been to, Freddie M. was the ultimate showman and they had a walk way around the audience and I still remember Freddie Mercury standing an inch a way from me, such a thrill. I also lived in London when he died and what a sad day it was.:)

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  25. Bohemian Rhapsody - best rock song EVER. Yes, I know all the words. Ah, Freddie, you are missed.

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