Here’s to the lead singer of my favorite Seventies bands when I was a kid. As my tastes evolved, changed and shifted through the years, Queen remained one act that never saw my loyalty waver on. I stuck with them during Hot Space (I remember all the flak I took for “Body Language,” never mind how these same jerks missed out on “Calling All Girls”), the resurgence of “Bohemian Rhapsody” by the fair-weathered and my personal purge of Classic Rock in my life.
Despite Freddie being the front man, Queen was more equitable with the four members, unlike The Eagles (they tried but control quickly coalesced around Henley and Frey). The band’s catalog and hits are a mix amongst them. Brian and Roger probably knew from their past experiences how songwriting could be a source of friction, hence they always encouraged bassist John to pen some tunes. It’s good thing it worked, John is responsible for three major major hits: “Another One Bites The Dust,” “You’re My Best Friend,” (played at our wedding) and “I Want To Break Free.”
Back to Freddie, it is his birthday. The man was an awesome singer and had a unique sound. I can’t recall ever getting his voice confused with anyone else’s. He wasn’t limited to Rock/Pop neither. During a pause in Queen’s Eighties’ comeback (in America, they never went away in Europe), Freddie fulfilled one personal dream…singing opera. Nowadays this doesn’t seem so odd, you often hear Queensrÿche fans bring up Geoffrey Tate’s training within 30 seconds of an argument against critics and I think this is on Mike Rowe’s resume. As I’m writing this, I need to see if Barcelona is in print. Get an honest critique from the opera expert I trust, my friend José.
I did see on YouTube, there’s a collection of birthday wishes to him. The usual flavors-of-the-month are there (Katy Perry namely). Miss Piggy was an odd selection. Billy Corgan, love him or hate him, he has lasted longer than many. To me, the more fitting tribute to the man’s memory is a double-album containing good covers his work. Take the Peter Gabriel route. Record (or download collection) one, Freddie/Queen’s contemporaries: Bowie (duh!), Robert Plant, Kate Bush, Stevie Nicks (seriously)…mainly singers around his age. Number two would consist of “descendants,” aka, the bands Freddie/Queen have clearly influenced: Muse, Jellyfish, OK Go (you can hear it in the guitars on their debut), so on. Believe me, it can be done. Back in 2005, there was a Queen tribute CD to coincide with a horrendous musical. There were gems: Joss Stone, Rooney, Los Lobos, Flaming Lips and Josh Kelley (he had help from Elliott Easton and Greg Hawkes of The Cars); the rest were forgettable. I “remade” it for a friend by adding better covers by Dwight Yoakam, Weird Al Yankovic (not his parody), Louis XIV, My Chemical Romance (they did a good job) and Keane. Today, I could add Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs and Metallica.
I’ll close with a little trivia courtesy of Mental Floss. Makes me wish I kept the Rock n’ Rock comic about about the band. The art was terrible yet the publisher did a good bio.