Comments on: Freddie Mercury Google Doodle

By: Doctor Pat

Doctor Pat — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 23:41:48 +0000

I see your problem, Bruce. You think a “real rock band” has to be talented at playing music.

That’s not what rock and roll is about.

Look at the charts and tell me I’m wrong.

By: Bruce Charlton

Bruce Charlton — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 09:54:14 +0000

Kent is right — Queen were different.

My comment was careless. It would be more accurate to say that I regarded Queen as a novelty band, gimmicky rather than proper musicians playing proper music.

I remember being surprised to find that some people (especially in the USA) apparently regarded them as a real rock band.

My idea of a real rock band, at that time, was Led Zeppelin or Jethro Tull — and I bracketed Queen with T. Rex, Alice Cooper, the Sweet, Mud, Slade, etc. as merely clever, catchy, ersatz, commercialized pap.

By: Kent

Kent — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 23:26:51 +0000

As a 1970s American teenager, I definitely remember the first time I heard Bohemian Rhapsody. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before. Perhaps we in the States were not aware of the British bands that influenced Queen.

With respect to George Michael and U2, I totally agree with Bruce; nothing special musically.

By: Bruce Charlton

Bruce Charlton — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 21:27:32 +0000

Well, I was speaking as a 1970s English teenager. These performers just didn’t stand out at the time, at least not musically.

They are primarily cultural phenomena, not musical phenomena. Another example is George Michael, and I would add Stevie Wonder, U2…

High productivity over a long period, good and solid quality but not great — plus some culturally symbolic factor which the media could approve and push.

By: Isegoria

Isegoria — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 15:05:48 +0000

While there are plenty of reasons for an arch-conservative to dislike Queen and Elton John — and especially their lionization by the media — I wouldn’t put musical mediocrity on that list.

By: Bruce Charlton

Bruce Charlton — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 10:11:25 +0000

Queen was a fairly mainstream, non-outstanding seventies Glam Rock band which (like Elton John) became ‘classic’ only through longevity.

The extravagant celebration of FM is, well, a sign of the times…