Happy, Upbeat 70s Rock Anthem Has a Very Dark Underbelly | Professor Of Rock
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- Опубліковано 27 сер 2024
- It’s about the most fun loving, let it all go, without a care in the world track that you are ever gonna hear... written by QUEEN who ruled the 70s and secured their status as rock royalty in the 80s. Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor. But Surprisingly Don’t Stop Me Now, the energetic anthem actually has a dark and sinister underbelly. And begs the question, when does having a good time go too far? Peeling back the layers on this one, you get some foreboding insight into the tragic death of one of rock’s greatest front men. So, brace yourself, because today we’re are on collision course between rock and roll fantasy and a cold dose of reality… NEXT on the Professor of Rock.
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According to the singer himself, Freddie Mercury was a man of extremes. This rock icon once said that he had a soft side and a hard side and not much in between. Mercury could be vulnerable, like a child for the right person. And other times he could be so strong that no one could get to him. Bulletproof even. But the extremes in Freddie Mercury’s were more than just emotional. It is well-documented that Freddie had quite the wild side. And by the late 70s, Queen’s accelerating fame and fortune was like pouring gasoline on the fire that was burning inside him.
Back in October 1978, Queen was touring the US to promote their upcoming album, Jazz. That would arrive on November 10th. To herald the record’s release, Freddie and his bandmates threw a lavish launch party that was about as down and dirty as you can imagine. A 400-strong guest list featured rock stars, movie stars, friends of the band, and press representatives from the Americas, Britain and Japan. That night they all got a taste of just how extreme Mercury could be.
The decadence kicked into action on Halloween Night in New Orleans, after a sold-out performance at Louisiana’s Municipal Auditorium. Located at the elegant Fairmont Hotel, guests began arriving at the stroke of midnight.
Inside they encountered an expansive ballroom decorated with trees scattered about like fairy-tale witch’s forest. Tables were decked with food and alcohol, including ice buckets of champagne and heaping pyramids of oysters, lobsters, stuffed crab and caviar. According to some accounts, cocaine circulated around the room on trays as well.
As music blared through the speakers, a provocative cast of characters served as entertainment for the partygoers. In preparation, Queen instructed their publicist to round up every freak and eccentric in New Orleans. Prowling through this Halloween forest was long list of, to put it mildly, unusual exhibitionists. Snake-charmers, fire-eaters, jugglers, contortionists, voodoo dancers, face-painted clowns, dwarves and drag queens all entertained the guests. And so did exotic dancers, prostitutes, female mud-wrestlers, and strippers dressed as nuns. Freddie was intent on putting on quite a show.
Poll: I've been thinking about this all week...Who is your pick for the greatest male rock singer of all time? NO performer... Pure voice?
Ronnie James Dio
Steve Perry
Graham Bonnet. Astonishing vocals.
Pure voice? That's a real conundrum. First thing that comes to mind is a tie between various singers from the Alan Parsons Project like Lenny Zakatek and Sergio Mendes like Joe Pizzulo.
Freddie, Steve Perry, Chris Cornell, and of course, Paul McCartney
David Armand's performance of "Don't Stop Me Now" on Interpretative Dance was absolutely hilarious!
I sat 3 bar stools away from where Freddie and Deacon stood at Cafe LaFitte In Exile, a gay bar in News Orleans. It was the first time I had ever been to a gay bar. I was terrified as I didn’t want to be seen or recognized by anyone who knew me. I noticed them as soon as they walked in. I believe it was the night before the Queen on Halloween show at the Municipal Auditorium, which I had a ticket 🎫 for the show in my back pocket. He gazed at me and I at him. It was a couple days later that I found out he was inviting people to his Jazz party here. In retrospect, it’s just as well that I never made contact with him, with what was happening with the AIDS thing and I was still very much “in the closet”. But I’ll never forget the moment when we made eye contact. Deacon, I could see was there because he was like Freddie’s loyal little brother. I’m not surprised at the meaning of the song as I already knew. There are many gay innuendos in many of their songs as well as there are also the same with other legends such as Bowie, Elton, etc. Being gay back then was still a very dangerous time so things were sort of underground or closeted.
Wait so Deacon was... just there? It's weird but not surprised, he liked the music
I love this song, always have, but I don't like to think deeply about it because I understand the darkness it hid and hinted at, and that makes me sad. I remember exactly where I was when I heard of his passing, I was about 6 months pregnant at the time and at my band at the time's guitarist's house, and it floored me. The world lost an amazing voice and fabulous personality that day, and it might have been avoided if he had found his serenity earlier. Or not; maybe never reaching fulfilment in his life early on is what compelled him to pour out all that he did into his songwriting and his performances. We can't know for sure. All I know is that I miss his voice, and there will never be another Freddie.
The 27 club days a lot. So many sad stories of isolation in public view. This song was Freddie’s life. Another excellent show. Thanks Prof.
The song certainly has grown in popularity since it’s release….I remember buying Jazz when it was released. Wasn’t one of my favourite Queen albums but over the years I find myself listening to it as much as there other albums…I always thought the production wasn’t that great…..excellent job POR!
I had completely forgotten the nude bike race. Thanks for bringing back the memory
This song is an absolute banger, however after seeing this I don't think I'll ever listen to it the same way.again. Freddie was one of, if not the best, front men of all time. I miss his incredible vocals.
A while back… England vs France in the Rugby World Cup finals… Don’t Stop Me Now followed by We Are The Champions right after England won
Some of us have lived through excess, and had the sense to eventually realize it's not actually giving happiness, maybe we should stop. I do recall for example being drunk and depressed is a bad combo, it amplifies the feeling. Grateful to be longtime sober.
My boat was named "Lady Godiva" after this song. Naked on a boat and no taxes was my thoughts. Great video you make on this!
So we'll done. Thanks again Prof.
Although I'd heard We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions & Another One Bites The Dust many times, I didn't become a real Queen fan until Wayne's World in 1992. That was the first time I'd ever heard Bohemian Rhapsody. I was blown away. I started buying every Queen album I could find in music stores. I soon found out that Freddie had recently died & the circumstances surrounding his death, & so I heard all of those great songs in a very different light. It seemed there was no shortage of foreshadowing in the music. It was almost like listening to fulfilled prophecy. It was an amazing experience that I'll never forget. I love Queen to this day. I recently purchased The Miracle commemorative box set they've just released, and it's on its way to me now!
Queen and Adam Lambert have just finished another European Tour, over 30 years since Freddie passed.
Jazz was my very first album (actually 8-track) and remains my favorite Queen album. Thanks for doing this one!
This song often makes me think of the Grateful Dead's Easy Wind. I think because the simple man of Easy Wind feels like the bookend to the excess of Don't Stop Me Now. There was a Lego commercial a bit back earlier this year that used DSMN in it. Proves how easy it is to fall it to the fanciful imagination of the song and it's sound and gloss over some of the actual words.
One fun fact about Don't Stop Me Now - Brian May once said that there is a guitar version of the song that they initially recorded. But ended up being weird so the piano version (plus the guitar solo) was kept. Thankfully for that!
Another great show, Adam! My first concert was in 1978 at the Oakland Coliseum to see QUEEN! It was amazing!!!
One of my Fave Queen albums! The song is amazing....
It's what endeared me to Freddie is his raw emotion wearing that generous and reckless heart on his sleeve especially w/ " Don't Stop Me Now! Sadly, I think we all instinctly knew his zest for life and love would take it's toll. And in the end, we would tragically lose the greatest most charismatic performer ever. His music will forever remain timeless! Thank you Professor for honoring our beloved Freddie!! ❤️
that's why Brian May doesn't like the song that much. it reminds him of Freddie.
Stop the ones that can't sing it right...my ears
I always understood the meaning. I kind of considered this one his goodbye the way it tapers off and quiets at the end.
As much as it is unfortunate. If he wasnt reckless, he wouldnt be Freddie Mercury. I don't think queen would have been the same. Its sad but it was just how he was and why we love him.
One of my fave Queen songs!
SIDE NOTE: Top Gear did more than just reference this song. In series 5 or 6 (can't remember offhand) they did a series-long survey for Greatest Driving Song Of All Time. Queen beat out heavyweights Radar Love and Born To Be Wild.
When I hear the opening piano and Freddie sing "Toniiight I'm gonna haaave a real good tiiiime" that stereo gets turned up and yes, my right foot gets a bit heavier. 🤫 ❤ 👑
Queen 1981 in St. Louis. GREATEST SHOW I'VE EVER BEEN TO...
In the UK Jazz came out with a poster of the naked girls on their bikes. I was 14 and remember jumping up and down on my bed to Don’t Stop Me Now with that poster on my wall. My mother hated that poster.
Freddie was never married to Mary though he loved her to his dying day and was godfather to her kids , their songs , like good authors , have elements of themselves , I met the shy Freddie he was a gentleman and as they all were fiercely loyal to their fans
Played this song super loud one late night outside a hotel in Kansas City years ago on business while on the phone with my girlfriend. Sang it out loud believing I was alone in the parking lot, not knowing the car I was singing in front of actually had two elderly people in it. Embarrassing for sure but what a great memory. We still to this day laugh about it. Fun song that lives on.
Freddie has been my life since the 70s
Hearing Freddie Mercury sing always brings a tear to my eye.
It makes me rock hard.... I'm talking complete steel dong!! I could run this vascular, throbbing monster through a brick wall after hearing Freddy sing
The world lost a genius when Freddie left for his next adventure. I’m just thankful for all the amazing music he graced us with before that.
Agree 100%
Yeah, his passing was definitely a big loss but what a legacy Queen leaves behind.
It was so tragic when we lost such a legend. He was awesome.
@@xxlilly_playsxxkiz9980 There were others before that made me a bit sad but his was the first 'famous' death that really hit me.
@@Elwaves2925 It was November 1991, my mother was working for an insurance company when the news came out. It devastated everyone in the workplace.
"Was it all worth it?.....yes! it was a worthwhile experience"
Hi! I am so glad I found your channel....I love these stories and Interviews! I was obsessed with Queen starting in 8th grade in my backward little town in rural Massachusetts WAY before any of my peers were....1978. Here is a story: Years later (in my 40's) I would become very close friends with a woman whose brother was Freddie's last boyfriend and sadly he also died of AIDS. Now, their mother, in her 80's and in a nursing home tells the other residents that Fat Bottom Girls was written about her!!! LOL (it wasn't but it's fun that she thinks that) As it happens, this same friend went to a middle school where her gym teacher was the mother of a guitar player in a VERY famous Boston band....yep, Aeorsmith! Joe Perry's mom was a phys. ed. teacher. P.S. My current cat is named Freddie (yes, after the great one!) Also, I DO think Freddie is the greatest male rock singer but in high school besides Queen ( Bowie & Heart) I was a great fan of musical theater and I was obsessed, really obsessed with Jesus Christ Superstar so I'd put Ian Gillian at the top of my list too (Jesus, what a Jesus.) even though I never really listened to Deep Purple.
This song help me to dig my self out of my depression. He is now very special for me.
Agree with you as you break it down..but for me, listening to it just pumps me up that I can just go out and do great things for others and enjoy life!!!!)
I found an 8 track player and inside was jazz album. I was hook. The bass sound and vocals are the best still today.
Many of Mercury's peers after years of great productivity eventually had their productivity tail off. We probably saw the majority of his output. Every fountain rubs dry
My favorite band ever! I always saw this vibrant song as kinda 'sinister', but still enjoy it though...
We need to remember that while Freddie certainly indulged himself, he didn't die of a drug overdose like so many other rock stars. Even when seemingly out of control, Freddie was still in control as his band mates would later confirm. He was killed by a killer disease, not by a life style. Up until around 1982-83 the link between sex and HIV transmission had not even been established.
Freddie and Mary were never married.
He dearly loved her but he couldn't give up loving men also. She knew that and let him go. They remained close throughout the years and he left everything to her.
It’s about Freddie com8ng out what his life was like now❤
0:16 - "It **raises** the question..."
There will be nobody like him again he was immensely creative I wish I saw Queen with Freddy Mercury before he died
Hi Prof! I have to correct you on something. Freddie and Mary Austin were engaged but never married. She said she always knew he was bisexual or homosexual and couldn't stay monogamous with her. But their love was deep enough that it prevailed despite Freddie's tastes and trysts. Keep up the good work!
She loved him enough to let him go, for him to be free to be who he was meant to be... that's true unconditional love. She is a remarkable woman.
As a singer Paul Young as a perfomer and showman Freddie
Hey, Professor! Love your giant cassette tape in the background. Think you need a giant pencil for the rewind. Lol....
The song was also featured in Shazam!
I wish I still had the poster that came with the album. It was all of the naked girls getting ready to ride. Come to think of it, I'm not sure what happened with my copy of that LP. I'm sure I wore it out like every other Queen album that I owned.
Made me cry
Love your channel
Replacing 85 bicycle seats at that point in their career was what $25/ seatbthen (maybe $100 per now)? That’s not even a slow Tuesday in Sheffield worth of sales
My favorite Queen song of all time is "Who Wants to Live Forever?"
My favorite thing about queen songs is that they each capture a moment in humanity. How ever fleeting that moment might be. I find it a sign of a truly gifted artist when they can capture and express the human condition for all to experience
As the Bobby Darin movie said ...You hear what you see.
Shaun got me into this song at the Winchester
That old Wimbledon greyhound stadium is now the home off afc Wimbledon … a famous fan owned soccer club in England that was reborn from the ashes off the old Wimbledon football team that very famously won the 1988 fa cup final ( back in the days when that final was as big in England as Super Bowls are still in the states) against the heavy favourites Liverpool … yanks may know espn fc’s Steve nicol playing for Liverpool that day and kicking most off the opponents in the air that day playing for Wimbledon was a now famous film villain mr vinney Jones ! … history is so damm crazy!
I had the game album in 1980 when I was 14 that was my introduction to Queen
Wow, turns out NOBODY partied harder than Freddie Mercury & QUEEN. The 1978 record release Halloween party is epic, top that Diddy!
I usually save this track to spin near the end of a DJ set, "Don't stop me now".
It's definitely one of my favourites. Always prefer to hear Queen's version with Freddie Mercury's astounding vocals over any cover. I keep thinking of how my eldest sister stopped in on her way up to Auckland to see Queen perform live and then stopped in *again* on the way back home to tell us what a great show we'd missed. I'm *still* fkn jealous *decades* later!
Studies have shown this song changes brain waves and makes you happier. As the song builds you feel yourself getting as carried away as Freddy. You are exhausted by the end and oddly, empty. You can't keep up with him...he leaves us all behind
in a interview I forgot which, I would have to go look again, when he was asked where he saw himself in 20 years, he joked he would be dead - which would have been in the 90's - Sadly he knew his lifestyle would catch up with him :(
i got all queen albums. Freddie mercury was the total showman it seems like Freddie be a cool guy hang out with. queen jazz album had a poster of girls on bicycles. i like all the songs on queen jazz album don't stop me now very speedy song. queen had same 4 members until Freddies passing.
"... Nothing in between," and you wouldn't want him any other way?
Enjoying yourself too much is absolutely the reason magnificent Freddie had such an early death. DJ Paul Gambaccini asked Freddie if he was moderating his sexual behaviour in light of AIDs coming along. Freddie flippently replied 'Darling, I am doing EVERYTHING with EVERYBODY! Totally caused his later demise. Studio54 was renowned for the hedonistic debauchery and drugs behaviour within its walls, a club in which Freddie loved to party on so many occasions.
The most controversial song that got banned on MTV was I Want to Break Free, it's hilarious now that it's used in a cruise line commercial! Did they even look up the history of the song? The band broke boundaries with their music, Freddie broke boundaries in the world!
I always wonder what would be like if Hendrix, Joplin,Holly basically all the ones we lost to soon what would music be like if they had lived another 20 40 years
The Yardbirds.... never seen that tee before, who designed?
And can or will Zenni put lenses in vintage frames?
The bike shop owner should have eaten the cost and sold the seats at a premium price!
Let's list all those musicians/visionaries lost that might've changed the world (or were in the process): (there are many, I'll just give 3 to start the process)
1- Freddie Mercury
2-Jimi hendrix
3-Kurt Cobain
4-
When I was in high school I did a student ambassador program to England, and our tour guide was a huge Queen fan. Every single morning, after getting on the bus (or coach, as they call it) she would play Don't Stop Me Now. Every single day, for 3 weeks. The song was engraved into my brain, and even now when I listen to it, I get that sleepy feeling you get when your wake up early to start your day. Still absolutely one of my favorite Queen songs! Rock on forever, Freddie!
For me, this song is burned into my brain via "Shaun of the Dead." Beating zombies to death with pool cues in time with the song in total juxtaposition with the happy, good time feeling of the song. A moment of great cinematic comedy.
Iconic band and an incredible song. I had forgotten about "Don't Stop Me Now" until I saw the movie Bohemian Rhapsody. Another great Queen song for you to break down would be "The Show Must Go On" released as a single in October 1991. It was credited to Queen but written mostly by Brian May, and chronicles Freddie Mercury's efforts to continue performing despite his declining health. It happens to be the last song recorded for their album Innuendo and the last single the band released before Freddie's death in November 1991. When the band recorded it in 1990, because of how his condition had deteriorated, Brian May wasn't sure if Freddie Mercury was physically capable of performing it, but in Brian's words, "he went in ... and killed it." Sadly Freddie never performed it in concert.
Brian was also quoted as saying that Freddie "lacerated that vocal".
I grew up on Queen, my parents and the radio was always playing it. They have so many songs I really like., including "Don't Stop Me Now". One of their most underrated songs is " '39 ". I feel like no one knows it exists.
I do! I love '39!
You're not alone - it was one of m favorites when I first heard A Night At the Opera, I liked the fact it was a sci-fi story but sounded more like a romantic ballad. One of the great Queen songs written by Brian May.
‘39 is a great one.
A 19th century style folk song about space travel and the tragedy of time dilation? I was totally into it. A Night at the Opera was the first album I owned!
Professor: Best video I've seen yet of my most beloved band. I'll take the counterpoint however. We got Freddie AS IS. Couldn't and wouldn't change him, he lived on his terms and passed the same way. A dialed back version of Freddie Mercury isn't him....and we can't rewrite history or wind back the clock. Fantastic video, thanks again for another job well done.
I'm reminded of the time when my niece picked us up to go to our sister's house for Thanksgiving dinner in 2018. We had to stop at the gas station to get ice? If I'm remembering correctly. She was playing Queen in her car. She said that she had went with her friend to go see Bohemian Rapsody. My young niece getting into Queen. Wild huh? Don't Stop Me Now is a kind of song you play at a party. Never knowing that how dark the song is. I never got into the lyrics of this song. You've mentioned Miley Cirus doing a cover of this song. Back in the previous decade, the 2010's. She did a party song herself called We Won't Stop, if that is the correct title? Back then, I hated that song. I hated Wrecking Ball too but We Won't Stop. Ugh! Not until I've learned about the lyrics from an episode here on UA-cam. It was a Todd In The Shadows episode. He's music reviewer. He does stuff on all the classics and the recent music. He did a twofer episode. One was the song I am talking about and some other I can't remember at the moment. The video was crazy. Plus I was reading the comments. I've learned on how dark the song was yet it was a party song. A party anthem if you will. She did another song few years or so that was far removed from the party girl, high as a kite druggy, drunkard sex fiend image she was. Cause she wanted to remove herself from her Disney, goody two shoes image. Compared to Queen's Don't Stop Me Now. At least Freddie Mercury did a good song though there's such a dark meaning behind it. It's a good song. Just one more thing. What the heck is a half night stand?
Honestly, I didn't really like Dont Stop Me Now for a long time. I have a friend that used to sing the song horribly off key, I mean it was BAD. We' be playing games on xbox and he'd be singing it. Eventually he stopped getting on xbox and I started to miss playing with him, so I'd turn the song on. Started liking it because of my buddy. We're back in touch these days and while he doesn't sing it much anymore, I occasionally remind him and we joke about those days.
The BEST band!
You should do a similar vid on the background of "Dancin' In The Moonlight".
Queen is my favorite group ever! Dont Stop Me Now is my go to song when i just can't seem to get moving.It gives me energy.I have a Queen song for every mood.Freddie inspires me .
I adore this tune, it sounds so euphoric and uplifting when you initially hear it, but then you really that it's a tad more sinister than you thought.
It is quite SINISTER. good call.
Up until today, I thought it was just a happy song. Nothing sinister.
I've known it was sinister for a long time. I completely choose to push that out of my head and just bop and dance around. It's a major escape song for me.
I thought I'd heard pretty much all of Queen's best-known songs, but I'd actually never heard of "Don't Stop Me Now" until a few years ago when I heard it on two different commercials. Looked it up, and found out that it was a much bigger hit in Britain, not in America---which explains why I'd never heard it on the radio. I could tell it was a Queen song, but I was just surprised that I'd never head of it, period.
The thing about songs is you can read a total different meaning into the same song. It’s how the song makes you feel and think. I would suggest you don’t try to read what Freddie was thinking. He once said his songs have no message or meaning.
I doubt Freddie would have acted any differently even if he had a crystal ball to see the future. True visionaries always pay a price. I have long questioned how does a band follow up the perfection of Night at the Opera and Day at the Races. Every album after those was more simplistic and mainstream oriented which was not what I listened to Queen for; their exploration of musical forms and creativity. They had created a great group sound but ceased to be so original as they once were.
Yep. i was furious with them. They were so original and unique -there was NOTHING like them. And then we suddenly got disco pop tunes and .... ugh.... synthesizers, like everyone else was doing. I was mad at them for a long time.
Yeah there's a few great tunes in the later albums, but I can't say i love any of the ones after NOTW... that was the last great one for me.
Songs like All Dead, Its Late and spread your wings were great but Get down make love showed a new direction I didnt care for. As an artist and musician I understand how your age affects your creativity and how coming up with original material becomes increasingly more difficult. I can just be grateful for the magic they made on the first 5 albums which is a much longer stretch than most bands average. Nobody can touch their brilliance from Queen 2 thru DATR. Millionaire Waltz forever! @@cathyshaw-kalloo237
Lady Godiva used to appear in F1 races in the 1950s and early 60s as a badge on Coventry Climax engines. F1 driver Jackie Stewart was a friend of the band. I am sure these two facts had nothing to do with the Lady Godiva line appearing in the song.
Jazz was the album that got me into Queen, but initially I liked Fat bottomed Girls and Bicycle Race better. Don’t Stop Me Now reminded me of ‘50s rock and roll such as Jerry Lee Lewis, so a bit of a throwback to my parents era but on speed.
Killer Queen on the radio made me buy Sheer Heart Attack. I knew these dudes had something different after listening to it several times.
we often talk a lot about Freddie Mercury's wild parties in a negative way, but compared to college parties in America,they are altar boys' parties.
As much as I like you Professor and I think you get so many of these artists and songs or albums so right that I've learned quite a bit from watching this channel but I don't think you understand Freddie as a gay man. Yes, I know that he stayed closeted until the very end (or maybe never officially came out, I don't remember but if I go look it up I'll lose this comment and I've done that too many times and then I give up when I have to rewrite the whole thing.) I'm not criticizing you on your music critiques or even in talking about the drugs but what you're missing in the analysis or maybe you tried to say it just by saying that he was divorced from Mary now but all that meant was that he was more comfortable with being gay (to himself) and he bought her a house just across the street from his. She was his best friend and it was a platonic soul mate partnership. She was always there for him until the end.
He grew up in a very religious, immigrant family that couldn't see any use for Farrokh to sing RocknRoll. They wanted him settled with a good job and a wife but thankfully for us Freddie knew that he could sing and do it really well!!! Add on to that growing up in a time period where it was illegal to be gay. When he finally feels like he has the keys to what works for him and makes him happy, not only in an emotional relationship but in a sexual one. I can see why he might have gone to a few excesses and unfortunately that was the time period when gay men were GOING OVER THE TOP WITH EVERYTHING! Not that they had any clue yet in the 70's but what they were doing in the bars, outside the bars, in the Baths especially was already spreading a virus that was going to kill almost all of the gay men of that generation.
Freddie was reacting to the idea that he was finally free (more probably in his own head than anyone else's) but for the time period...he was very brave with the risks he took. He had finally decided that he didn't care what anyone else thought about him being gay and he started THRIVING instead of just living.
To answer your question though... Yes, I would LOVE it if Freddie was still alive and making music. That would be amazing but I wouldn't take the time he had away and make him into some kind of nun. It wouldn't work. It wouldn't be the same Freddie that I love!
I hope this was understandable. Sending love, light and big hugs to all, k 🫂🕯️🕊️💗
Just another example of how reckless living has consequences.
Terrific song, always makes me feel good! I respect Freddie for who he was and what he did. 'Good' or 'bad'. If he choose to live a moderate lifestyle, it wouldn't be him, as a person or an artist.. He just lived life to the fulliest whatever that meant to him and yes faced the consequences. I'm very greatful for his unique musical legacy. Ofcourse he's missed, but at the same time, through his music he is still so right here right now with us.
I agree, absolutely!
Freddie & Mary were NEVER married
Queen saved my sanity in High School. The bus driver was always playing the top 40 station, which at that time was all Disco all the time. Every day or two there would be a little island of Freddie's magnificent voice and the rest of the band's impeccable harmonies and instrumentation just to let me know that ROCK and good taste weren't dead after all. They were moments of heaven for me. :)
I recently got reunited with Queen (SO reminded why in 1976… “39” was my favorite song) Thank you for helping in my obsessive collecting of Queen deep dives… with your own!!! Fan-Tastic!!❤️💫💥🎉💃🕺
Thanks for watching!!!
39 is a favourite of mine too.
Hope you don't mind if I go a way off topic. I shall try and be brief.
Back in the early or mid 80s a good friend in Victoria BC Canada inherited a chunk of cash. Not set for life cash but certainly get started cash.
So, what ya going to do we all asked.
"I'm going to take this multi media type course at Camoson College and then I plan on photographing rock bands and stars for a living". Was the reply.
I don't think I said it but I certainly thought it, Yeh right. Like that's going to happen.
My friend Kevin was of the very shy quiet type. Super nice guy, good friend and all. I wished the best for him but ya know? Perhaps ya might want more achievable goals.
I moved to Vancouver before he did. I remember when he moved I hooked him up at the Music instrument store where I was the brass woodwind tech and he was hired on to help with the back to school busy time.
Anyway, I'm willing to bet you've heard of the Georgia Straight news paper?
Sir Bob wrote for them using a mom de plume reviewing bands and if memory serves correct that experience eventually led to The BoomTown Rats.
Kevin got on with the Straight doing ad paste up.
Eventually he started doing freelance work for them with his camera and the rest as they say is history. In his portfolio I imagine you could find images of every band you've ever posted on and many more you've never heard of. He also did promo work for a Vancouver management company.
I haven't talked to Kevin in years. I believe my brother in Victoria must see him at least once or twice a year.
Kevin was well I'm sure is Uber cool. He could get me quest listed to pretty much any show I wanted to see. Sometimes for friends of mine he didn't even know just as a favour to me.
I think I'm going to reach out to him and point him to your channel. I have no idea how he handles his intellectual property as it were but I'm certain he could help you with his just huge portfolio of photos.
Who knows, he may call me an idiot for suggesting it but WTF.
Either way it'll give me a reason look him up and say hello. I live in Edmonton Alberta which is at least a few hundred miles and a couple of big mountains distance from Vancouver.
Personally I think it'd be cool if something came out of it that benefitted both of you.
Thanks for your work. Found your channel about a week ago and have been harsh binge watching your content.
I'm 61 now so most of your content fits very nicely into the music I came of age with and still love.
Next time I comment I'll tell you about my close friend and now gone for a while roommate from back in Van. Drummond was an uncredited member of Sweeny Todd till Nick quit and Brian took his place. Apparently Brian took the gig far too serious for Drums liking so he quit and joined Stone Bolt.
Believe he played for KD Lang for a little while. Also backed up Chuck Berry a few times. Eventually he wanted more steady work and did the Vegas thing for a while and then cruise ships. Every time he dropped by the store I happened to be working at, he'd pick up a bass and his noodling would drop the jaws of most people that heard him. He was just awesome. Taught me much and not just about rock, jazz to. Because of him I know of names like Bernard Perdey or Jocko. He knew a lot of people growing up and gigging around Toronto.
When I first met him my bill shit meter went to full scale deflection but I eventually learned he was telling the truth about what he did and who he knew. RIP Drummond. One of the best friends I ever had.
Rock is about energy and imagination. The impetus for this song doesn’t really mean a thing. Spielberg laughed when he heard Williams’ Jaws theme. Does that make any less iconic? DSMN is rock. It’s uplifting. Do you wish us to feel dirty to like, listen and sing this song? It transcends any “dark” connotations. It is ours and always has been. He didn’t write it as a fugue. Like Freddie it’s about living. Maybe hard, but living. I would consider myself as much a Queen expert as one could be as a follower of them. From the start. So for what it’s worth I’m not sure the goal of suggesting this is a dark or compromised song. It’s great.
Jazz has always been my favorite Queen album. A great mix of standout singles with more understated but beautiful tracks such as "In Only Seven Days" and "Leaving Home Aint Easy", as well as massive rocker "Dead On Time". Something about this album continues to resonate with me after 20 years of jamming out to this one.
It is a really good album.
The male version of girls just want to have fun always felt that songs about excess especially after he died but wasn't that really the main rocker theme
Mary was never Freddie's wife, although he always claimed he would have married her if he hadn't found sex with men.
Steel searching for the "dark" lyrics.The only song with "dark-theme" is from the Police "Every breath you take" is the anthem of stalkers.So you are one million miles wrong
Though it’s undertones are sad it’s overall joy is what we love. To have it with us out ways the sadness and if it brings joy a million times over to those who hear it then god bless Queen!
It’s one of the quintessential happy songs.
Wasn't this used in a Toyota commercial???