I blogged this morning on Freddie's 65th birthday and chose 'Don't Stop Me Now' in tribute not realising at the time that those crazy, cool guys at Google had made their own wonderful tribute to the same song.
Here is their Google Doodle for September 5th 2011 (September 6th in America)...
This Guardian article asks what would Freddie have been doing today if he was still with us. It gives a link to an interview with Brian May on this anniversary.
He says:
I was first introduced to Freddie Mercury—a paradoxically shy yet flamboyant young man—at the side of the stage at one of our early gigs as the group “SMILE.” He told me he was excited by how we played, he had some ideas—and he could sing! I'm not sure we took him very seriously, but he did have the air of someone who knew he was right. He was a frail but energised dandy, with seemingly impossible dreams and a wicked twinkle in his eye. A while later we had the opportunity to actually see him sing ... and it was scary! He was wild and untutored, but massively charismatic. Soon, he began his evolution into a world-class vocal talent, right in front of our eyes.
Freddie was fully focused, never allowing anything or anyone to get in the way of his vision for the future. He was truly a free spirit. There are not many of these in the world. To achieve this, you have to be, like Freddie, fearless—unafraid of upsetting anyone's apple cart.
Some people imagine Freddie as the fiery, difficult diva who required everyone around him to compromise. No. In our world, as four artists attempting to paint on the same canvas, Freddie was always the one who could find the compromise—the way to pull it through. If he found himself at odds with any one of us, he would quickly dispel the cloud with a generous gesture, a wisecrack or an impromptu present. I remember one morning after a particularly tense discussion he presented me with a cassette. He had been up most of the night compiling a collage of my guitar solos. "I wanted you to hear them as I hear them, dear," he said. "They're all fab, so I made them into a symphony!
To create with Freddie was always stimulating to the max. He was daring, always sensing a way to get outside the box. Sometimes he was too far out ... and he'd usually be the first to realise it. With a conspiratorial smile he would say "Oh ... did I lose it, dears?!" But usually there was sense in his nonsense—art in his madness. It was liberating. I think he encouraged us all in his way, to believe in our own madness, and the collective mad power of the group Queen.
Freddie would have been 65 this year, and even though physically he is not here, his presence seems more potent than ever. Freddie made the last person at the back of the furthest stand in a stadium feel that he was connected. He gave people proof that a man could achieve his dreams—made them feel that through him they were overcoming their own shyness, and becoming the powerful figure of their ambitions. And he lived life to the full. He devoured life. He celebrated every minute. And, like a great comet, he left a luminous trail which will sparkle for many a generation to come.
Happy birthday Freddie!
Posted by Dr. Brian May, CBE. Guitarist.
I can't top that final luminous sentence and I can't top the Google doodle either.
Happy 65th birthday Freddie - the world still loves you!
Today is Freddie Mercury's 65th birthday. If he'd have been alive now to witness it in person, it would've been a riot!
Incredibly, it will be the 20th anniversary of his passing this coming November. Time really does fly. But for die-hard Queen fans like myself, Freddie hasn't left us. He remains, through the wonderful musical legacy that will echo down the ages as I mentioned in this blog post of their lesser known hits back in December.
Wherever you are now Freddie, you'll be having a right old knees-up I'm sure!
So in tribute to Freddie on this day, a song that is still being regularly played in clubs, pubs and discos througout the land and which summed up his way of life. It has brought the music of Queen to a whole new generation of music lovers and will ensure that his and Queen's names will live on forever.
There have been competitions recently to find which is the greatest musical band of all-time. You could easily make the case for the Beatles, Led Zeppelin or Westlife (just kidding there folks) but for me, it'll always be Queen.
Pioneers in their own unique way, they spanned two decades with a music that will echo down the ages.
I'm unfortunately too young to have seen them at their prime but at least had the pleasure of seeing them in their modern incarnatrion with Paul Rodgers a few years ago in Cardiff. They rocked then so I could only imagine how absolutely phenomenal they would've been to see live when the immortal Freddie Mercury was alive at the helm.
Having rocked their way through the 70s, they made their mark on the musical industry indelible and permanent when they stole the show at Live Aid in 1985. Like all the top artistes, they have successfully managed to adapt their image over time to stay in-sync with the musical vogue of the time.
All along this journey throughout the 70s and 80s, they have made hit after hit after hit.
But I want to concentrate on some maybe, lesser known hits. Those that may not be known as widely beyond the scrum of Queen fans.
The song that launched then into the stratosphere came from their second album, aptly named Queen II - The Seven Sea of Rhye.
The A Night at the Opera album from 1975 of course gave us Bohemian Rhapsody. But save this, it's a sweetie bag of joys. To begin, Freddie's fabulous 68 second ditty, Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon.
Continuing from the same album and on the same theatrical Freddie theme, it's the irrepressible Seaside Rendezvous.
Next is a Brian May track from again, the same album (it really is that good an album folks!). I heard him play this in Cardiff when I saw him live with Roger Taylor and Paul Rodgers and it absolutely blew me away. It's the beautiful '39.
Can I pick another from the same album? Please?! Thanks! Love of My Life says it all in the title.
Moving on finally, to the News of The World album from 1977 which have the world We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions, check this out, written by the 'quiet one' John Deacon, it's Spread Your Wings.
Queen enjoyed courting controversy and they enjoyed making visually striking videos to promote their singles. Well they did both in good store on the 1980 Jazz album with Bicycle Race. Beware, the following shows naked women riding bikes. Typical Queen then!
I'm a big fan of The Works album from 1984 which gave us Hammer to Fall, I Want to Break Free, Radio Ga Ga & It's a Hard Life. It also gave us the poigniant 'Is Thus the World we Created'
Moving on to their final years. The Miracle album from 1989 is another big favourite of mine. The corresponding single The Miracle had yet another wonderful video with young fans playing out the roles of the four band members with the main men making a late cameo at the end. But more important are the wonderful and moving lyrics.
Next, from the same album, a real hidden gem. Rain Must Fall.
Freddie's final album before he passed away in 1991 was Innuendo. From it, again with a wonderful video is the eccentic greatness that is 'I'm Going Slightly Mad'.
The final Queen album to include Freddie's voice came 5 years after his death in 1995 - Made in Heaven. Let Me Live is one of the best songs they ever wrote with a gospel choir thrown in. Here it is with the official dramatised video.
I conclude with a final 2 songs from Queen's 14th and final studio album. In appreciation of Queen but with special thanks to Freddie himself, for giving us this music, Heaven For Everyone.
Finally, this song was the last song that Freddie solely composed in its entirety before he died at the prime of his time, at the age of just 45 in November 1991.
Fitting for the season in which we're in, it's A Winter's Tale.
I'm a big Peter Kay fan. I said as such in a recent blog post where I wrote of my love of good natured, down-to-earth comedy.
I'm also a big musical fan and of Queen and of Freddie Mercury in particular. Again, I also mentioned this in another recent blog post.
So imagine my amazement and delight to have these two very different enthusiasms, merged together into a bizzare, surreal but fantastic performance last night!
Peter Kay - A Musical Maestro
As I mentioned in my 'Love of Laughter' blog mentioned above, I was due to attend with my Alyson, a Peter Kay concert in Cardiff having bought the tickets back almost a year ago. I've been a Peter Kay fan since he hit it big. His earthy, everyday sense of humour strikes a chord with everyone and as I mentioned before, he to me is a male version of Victoria Wood who is also beloved for her northern, no-nonsense take on life.
What the two have in common also is a musicality that adds to their comedy. Not only do they love their music but they can bring their day-to-day roots to life not ust through words, but through lyrics as well.
Peter has (for a comedian), a remarkable 6 Top 40 hits. 3 of those are No.1 hits - 'Is this the way to Amarillo' with Tony Christie, I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) and 'The Official BBC Children in Need Medley' featuring his animated all-star band. He also scored No.2 and No.5 hits as reality TV spoof contestant Geraldine McQueen and a No.6 hit with 'Sleep' alongside Texas.
At the start of the concert last night, before his big entrance, they played the videos to I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) and Sleep - a cracking way to get into the Peter Kay mood!
Here are a few samples of his genius. First of all, Geraldine McQueen's 'The Winners Song'.
Secondly, his fantastic animated tribute to our childhood heroes of today and yesterday for Children in Need last year. It was like an animated version of Band Aid!
Peter Kay - Live in Concert on the Tour That Doesn't Tour, Tour
So, we got to see the man himself in the flesh last night in Cardiff. Peter it should go without saying was on great form.
I think the general vibe was that the first half was a slow burner. He was good of course but with so many references to past comedic routines, it felt as if he's almost trapped by his own historic success.
But the second half really was Peter Kay at his cutting edge best. His humour again struck a chord with the 5,000 or so packed-out audience who were continuously in fits of laughter but he brought the main part of his act to a close with some fantastic observational references to modern musical songs that we all know and love. I won't go into the detail as it will spoil it for those who are yet to see him or who may buy the DVD when it will surely be released. All I'll say is buy it!
Freddie Mercury - A Reprise
The encore was outstanding. Peter's ability to play a shovel in time to legendary rock songs as if he was playing a guitar was superb! He then graduated to playing a 'double shovel'! The pyrotechnics must have been costly but brought the evening to a loud and fantastic conclusion as he concluded by paying homage to one of his boyhood favourite bands by dressing in a leotard and leading a closing rendition of 'We are the Champions'.
As the old saying goes, it had to be seen to be believed!
Genius, Genius, Genius
Peter Kay just has that ability to make the normal, extraordinary. He's an everyday Bolton lad who speaks our language and dreams our dreams.
But for me it's his musical ability that sets him apart from his contemporary comedians of today. I couldn't see a Jack Dee, a Michael McIntyre or a Jimmy or Alan Carr concluding a performance with such incredible levels of energy and enthusiasm as I witnessed last night.
The reason that Peter Kay is able to do it, is because he loves it. In all of his comedy and all of his music, he is paying tribute to a loved and wonderful past.
It is for that reason that we, in turn, love Peter Kay. The 5,000 of us there last night certainly did and I am now incredibly excited and proud to say that I saw him live, in the flesh and at his very best.
I was reading the Independent on Sunday (a regular vice I can't quite shake off) last Sunday (obviously) and found myself getting rather annoyed when I read this article by Andrew Martin about Nick Clegg's impending 'turn' on Desert Island Discs.
At the time of going to press, Andrew Martin was only allowed to mention 3 of Nick's 8 choices but he instantly took against the choices that he offered from the 8 - that were the rock songs "Life on Mars" by David Bowie, "The Cross" by Prince, and "Street Spirit" by Radiohead.
In particular, he made this mind-numbingly annoying statement:
"I believe Clegg made a mistake in not choosing eight classical pieces. In a dumbed-down world, we admire people who like complicated things".
Now, I love my classical music, but he clearly feels here that politicians in particular, shouldn't try and 'get down with the kids'. Clearly, it's an error for anyone to try and pretend that they like something that they don't simply to look popular - they'll always get found out for such a sloppy error. But at the same time, I don't want choices made because it's the 'safe choice'.
I'm sorry Mr Martin, but actually, I rather like and indeed 'admire' people who in this 'dumbed-down' world, have an eclectic taste in music and are willing to make the case for their different choices. Why the hell should Nick Clegg be expected to only like classical music, simply because he's a politician? What a load of pompous old tosh!
Nick Clegg's Desert Island Discs Choice of 8 were:
1. Chopin's Waltz in A Minor played by Idil Biret
2. Johnny Cash - Sunday Morning Coming Down
3. Prince - The Cross
4. Cesaria Evora - Petit Pays
5. Radiohead - Street Spirit
6. David Bowie - Life on Mars
7. Shakira and Waka Waka the theme to the 2010 World Cup
8. Schubert's Impromptu No.3 in G Flat Major played by Alfred Brendel
So that there is a pretty eclectic taste in music. I have no reason to doubt that Nick Clegg is telling the truth about this range of interest of his. I'm pleased to see such a diverse taste in music. Very little of it is to my particular taste but that isn't the point. The point is that we get much more from this world by enhancing our listening experiences with a wide range of music.
Mark Cole's Desert Island Discs Choice of 8:
I'm never going to end up on Radio 4 myself to give my own personal choice to the world, so I may as well do so here to show my solidarity with Nick's eclectic taste in music.
Now, I love my music - and I mean love it. Music can well portray a feeling, a sense of time, an emotion. I have, as anyone who knows me will testify, a wide taste in music. No matter what my mood, I'll always have a CD or a particular song in my collection at home that will chime with that feeling.
As it happens, I put together a 'Desert Island Discs compilation' of songs long ago. I've altered it on one occasion but here below is my long since settled choice of 8...
You'll find two instrumentals. I love the piano in particular and I love rag-time and I personally find Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag a much better tune than it's more famous big brother, 'The Entertainer'.
Also, there is no better instrumental in the world in my book than Apache by the Shadows. A close second would be Fleetwood Mac's 'Albatross', but it just misses out here.
I love Queen. They're the best band of all time. Freddie Mercury is one of the most mercurial of singers ever to have graced this Earth. A showman and an absolute musical genius. For me, his Barcelona duet with Montserrat Cabelle blows me away every time. The first time I heard it was after he had died when I was aged 10, when the BBC used it as the opening theme to their 1992 coverage of the Olympics. It's not even a power ballad - it's much, much bigger than that. It's just awesome.
This includes the wonderful opening instrumental.
Elvis Presley is simply, The King. I only became a fan at the ripe old age of 20 when the 'celebrations' for the 25th anniversary of his death sent 'A Little Less Conversation' to No.1 in the charts. Before I knew it I was buying videos about him, CDs, the lot. But if I were to pick one of my 8 here to be played at my funeral, this would be it - 'If I Can Dream'. It is the most hopeful, heartful, soulful, wordly optimistic song that there is and I absolutely adore it!
From his ''68 Comeback Special', ladies and gentlemen. It's Elvis.
A few choices from modern pop. My 'interest' and 'enthusiasm' in modern pop music hit a big buffer in about 1996 after the age of Brit-pop. Anything since has struggled to make my radar. I'm a big fan of Oasis, Blur and Pulp and the latter has really grown on me in recent years. Pulp's 'A Different Class' album is one of the best of modern times and I could easily choose 'Disco 2000', 'Common People' or 'Something Changed' for this list but I've got to go with 'Mis-Shapes'. It just rocks.
Then, there's a good old ballad from that awesome song-writer Billy Joel. Again, I could choose one of the many of his hits and right up there would have to be 'Goodnight Saigon' but for me, the great 'Scenes from an Italian Restaurant' steals in at the end.
I love classical music. It calms me and more often than not, my bed-side radio is tuned in to Classic FM. I could easily pick 8 classical compositions here but if I had to pick one (and it is so difficult to narrow it down to one), then it would have to Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. In its entirety, it is just absolutely superb. The four movements are all wonderful on their own but if I have to choose one of those four, I would go with the 2nd - the Allegretto. Its deep, dark, haunting sense reminds me of the Fall of the Berlin Wall and moves me every time.
Finally, but most movingly for me, there's nothing that combines so haunting, so moving, and so majestic a feeling than the sound of a Welsh Male Voice Choir. I'm Welsh and I'm proud of it and when I hear such a choir sing a traditional Welsh song, it sends shivers down my spine. None more than when the strains of Myfanwy can be heard. The word 'Hiraeth' for me, means the kind of feeling for my homeland that I feel when I hear this song.
Here it is being sang by Pendyrus Male Voice Choir in memory of those killed in Welsh mining disasters but particularly to the 116 children killed at Aberfan on October 21st 1966.
So, a re-cap, my Desert Island Discs 8 are...
Scott Joplin - Maple Leaf Rag
The Shadows - Apache
Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Cabelle - Barcelona
Elvis Presely - If I Can Dream
Pulp - Mis-Shapes
Billy Joel - Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
Beethoven - 7th Symphony (2nd Movement)
Myfanwy
If ever I was stranded on a Desert Island, I'd want to make sure that I'd have with me, a range of music that covers the whole range of this love of my life - my love of music.
For the record, which book would I take with me? Well, it would be one of two. Either Nelson Mandela's autobiography 'A Long Walk to Freedom' or Harper Lee's wondrous 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.
Luxury item? Pah, I don't know. Possibly my largest and cosiest duvet.
So to hell with Andrew Martin. I'm a much better and rounded individual for having a love for all these different musical genres and to that point, so too is Nick Clegg.
