“Is This The Real Life? Is This Just Fantasy?”
The opening line from one of the greatest rock songs of all time…from a band who was once hugely under-appreciated and now is known as one of the greatest of all time!
God Save The Queen!
Who’s kidding who? One of music’s most wildly entertaining bands lives forever, thanks to great live performances like this – here’s a riveting performance of “Radio GaGa” from Live Aid in 1985:
Freddie Mercury was one of the most unique – and beloved – singers in all rock history. Those of us who grew up in the US really don’t know the depth of this fanbase in the UK…
I have posted stories about Queen in the past, and wanted to look back at those musical moments that will last forever – beginning with perhaps their most famous work:
“Bohemian Rhapsody!”
Talk about a mini-opera! The brilliant song has been parodied – and honored – in many movies and TV shows. The album it came from was “A Night At The Opera”, a unique masterpiece that showed the amazing range of the band…
“Bohemian Rhapsody” was written by Freddie Mercury, written down “in blocks” (using note names instead of sheets) on a phone book. The other band members recorded their parts, with no idea how their tracks would be used. According to Wikipedia, the operatic section was originally intended to be only a short interlude of “Galileos” that connected the ballad and hard rock portions of the song!
In case you forget just how great the song – and the music video are – well, then feast your eyes on it again:
“A Night At The Opera” is a wildly entertaining album, and you can see my track-by-track breakdown here:
Of course, Queen had a long and successful career full of hits like “We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions”, “Somebody To Love” and “Radio Gaga”, but I love one song in particular:
“Flash!”
The cult film “Flash Gordon” will also be remembered for the terrific theme song that was a pure a “Queen sound” as you can get…and did you know that this guy was behind the creation of “Star Wars”?
Yes, if there hadn’t been a “Flash Gordon” serialized movie from the “good old days”, George Lucas wouldn’t have created this movie!
How is that possible! Well, it is! Read how “Flash Gordon” led to “Star Wars” by reading my story here:
And of course, one of Queen’s greatest songs was co-written with this guy!
“Under Pressure!”
David Bowie’s collaboration with Queen on the classic hit “Under Pressure” was a story of wine-quelled madness, which you can read about here:
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Categories: 70's Cinema, 70's Music, Art, Classic Rock, Cult Movies, London, Movies, Music, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities
johnrieber 
A fabulous post about two very talented people.
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There are so many threads woven here. Wow! This was a terrific post, John. Thank you.
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Big fan of Flash Gordon and their soundtrack.
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Loved Freddy mercury and queen as a whole. They were so talented and unique
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A phenomenal band! I thought the recent movie about Queen was excellent.
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Dynamite song and group….good tribute. chuq
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A great tribute to an iconic band, John. Even though I prefer ELO, there is no denying the huge talent of Queen as a band, and that of the late Freddie Mercury. Even without him, they still sound great today, but never quite the same.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Queen and Led Zep are my two favourite bands. I still see Queen perform now with Adam Lambert. I think my favourite Queen song is ‘These are the Days of our Lives’.
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