There are several songs Brian says publically he doesn't like, and there are several Roger doesn't like. It could be to do with a million things - music, lyrics, way it was recorded, produced, marketed, being sick on the day it was recorded, etc, etc, etc. If Brian had such an issue with Freddie's homosexuality, why did he let him 'eat' the guitar and rub against him? In one concert Brian looks uncomfortable, but it seems like it was something else was wrong. In the audio commentary about Body Language, i got the impression that it was more like 'ho hum... slight embarrassment... yikes, was it really this camp?!' and that the main problem he had with it was that Freddie was coming under a lot of pressure to make a 'gay' video, rather then that Freddie actually particularly wanted to make it. Also, it was so different from their other videos, and was not necessarily the direction they were going in at the time. But that's just my opinion.
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I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. Are you saying Freddie was being pressured to make a gay video?, by whom?.
Crisstti · Member since
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[b]dragon-fly wrote: [/b]
I don't think Brian particularly had problem with Freddie being gay. The reason for argument was music and all the process connected with it. Otherwise, he wouldn't agree to wear a dress in I Want To Break Free! [/QUOTE]
Well, Body Language was in 1980 (or 81?) and I want to break free was in 1984, so maybe he was more comfortable about it by then...
Crisstti · Member since
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[b]Crisstti wrote: [/b]
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[b]catqueen wrote: [/b]
There are several songs Brian says publically he doesn't like, and there are several Roger doesn't like. It could be to do with a million things - music, lyrics, way it was recorded, produced, marketed, being sick on the day it was recorded, etc, etc, etc. If Brian had such an issue with Freddie's homosexuality, why did he let him 'eat' the guitar and rub against him? In one concert Brian looks uncomfortable, but it seems like it was something else was wrong. In the audio commentary about Body Language, i got the impression that it was more like 'ho hum... slight embarrassment... yikes, was it really this camp?!' and that the main problem he had with it was that Freddie was coming under a lot of pressure to make a 'gay' video, rather then that Freddie actually particularly wanted to make it. Also, it was so different from their other videos, and was not necessarily the direction they were going in at the time. But that's just my opinion.
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I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. Are you saying Freddie was being pressured to make a gay video?, by whom?.
Also, I don't think Brian had "such an issue" with it. But to some degree he did.
Also, in Brian's Howard Stern interview, he seems uneasy when Howard asks him some staff about Freddie being gay.
GW: In today's world, people are more tolerant of the gay lifestyle. But what was it like early on, with Freddie being a gay man in the macho world of Seventies rock?
MAY: Early on, it didn't exist. Or if it did, we never saw it. And I don't think Freddie was aware of it, either. He was very much with us. In the early days, we used to share rooms, so I would have known! Freddie had some gorgeous girls. So I don't think the subject ever came up. It's odd, isn't it, to think of that? And it was only later on...I couldn't really pin down the exact time, but I remember there was a point where we realized that Freddie was leading a bit of a different social life than us. He'd just go off on his own and say, "See you later." So gradually he was venturing off into other areas. He was encouraged by certain people who sort of brought him out, I guess. One of whom was our personal manager at the time. [pauses] How far do I want to get into this? He was a pretty over the top kind of person, and I think Freddie found himself in places where he wouldn't naturally had gotten to if that sort of door hadn't been forcibly opened for him. Do you know what I'm saying? I think he would have drifted into finding himself in a more gradual way if it hadn't suddenly exploded in on him. So there was a period in his life when he was seemingly completely blown away by it all. I can remember the Mott the Hoople tour [April 1974] was the first time I ever experienced sex on a grand scale. And it was almost really not my decision. It kind of happened to me, you know? I felt like I had no control. I think in a corresponding way, in a gay direction, that's what happened to Freddie a bit later on. But it didn't really change our relationship with him very much. Because we were always very close in the studio. And when we spoke of, you know, love stories in the studio, there was no distinction. You could be in love with whoever you wanted to be and the song would still make sense. But from Jazz album onwards, it would always cross my mind. Because I would be writing words for Freddie to sing. And it became a little game for me to write stuff for him which would make sense whichever way he saw it.
GW: So your writing acquired a kind of...
[b]MAY: Yeah, another dimension. In fact, I can remember having a go at Freddie because some of the stuff he was writing was very definitely on the gay side. I remember saying, "it would be nice if this stuff could be universally applicable, because we have friends out there of every persuasion." It's nice to involve people. What it's not nice to do is rope people out. And I felt kind of roped out by something that was very overtly a gay anthem, like "Body Language"[Hot Space, 1982]. I thought it was very hard to take that in the other way. It's hard to talk about this. But there you go.[/b]
GW: In today's world, people are more tolerant of the gay lifestyle. But what was it like early on, with Freddie being a gay man in the macho world of Seventies rock?
MAY: Early on, it didn't exist. Or if it did, we never saw it. And I don't think Freddie was aware of it, either. He was very much with us. In the early days, we used to share rooms, so I would have known! Freddie had some gorgeous girls. So I don't think the subject ever came up. It's odd, isn't it, to think of that? And it was only later on...I couldn't really pin down the exact time, but I remember there was a point where we realized that Freddie was leading a bit of a different social life than us. He'd just go off on his own and say, "See you later." So gradually he was venturing off into other areas. He was encouraged by certain people who sort of brought him out, I guess. One of whom was our personal manager at the time. [pauses] How far do I want to get into this? He was a pretty over the top kind of person, and I think Freddie found himself in places where he wouldn't naturally had gotten to if that sort of door hadn't been forcibly opened for him. Do you know what I'm saying? I think he would have drifted into finding himself in a more gradual way if it hadn't suddenly exploded in on him. So there was a period in his life when he was seemingly completely blown away by it all. I can remember the Mott the Hoople tour [April 1974] was the first time I ever experienced sex on a grand scale. And it was almost really not my decision. It kind of happened to me, you know? I felt like I had no control. I think in a corresponding way, in a gay direction, that's what happened to Freddie a bit later on. But it didn't really change our relationship with him very much. Because we were always very close in the studio. And when we spoke of, you know, love stories in the studio, there was no distinction. You could be in love with whoever you wanted to be and the song would still make sense. But from Jazz album onwards, it would always cross my mind. Because I would be writing words for Freddie to sing. And it became a little game for me to write stuff for him which would make sense whichever way he saw it.
GW: So your writing acquired a kind of...
[b]MAY: Yeah, another dimension. In fact, I can remember having a go at Freddie because some of the stuff he was writing was very definitely on the gay side. I remember saying, "it would be nice if this stuff could be universally applicable, because we have friends out there of every persuasion." It's nice to involve people. What it's not nice to do is rope people out. And I felt kind of roped out by something that was very overtly a gay anthem, like "Body Language"[Hot Space, 1982]. I thought it was very hard to take that in the other way. It's hard to talk about this. But there you go.[/b][/QUOTE]
It's obvious from interviews that brian had a problem with freddie's sexuality. I remember brian commenting on the video "crazy little thing" that he was uncomforable with boys being in the video, I don't think songs like don't stop me now, get down make love and body language are really that gay. A straight man could have sang those songs, and none of us would think nothing about it,....except that he loves writing about sex.
mike hunt · Member since
those black leather Jackets were worn by brian as well. I wear one of those jackets and I'm far from gay. I don't get what the Jacket in the "don't stop me now video" has to do with anything. Same with the mustache thing. People refer to the 80's freddie as the gay look. In the 80's that look was very popular with straight men also. The Burt reynolds look. most straight rockers had that look in the 80's. the stache with the leather Jacket.
john bodega · Member since
If this doesn't expose the subjectivity of the issue, I don't know what does. Brian's interview there is as liberal and respectful of both sides as can be ... how can anyone think he has a gay problem there?? [/QUOTE] [/QUOTE]He might be prudish, but homophobic? No way. I think the Crazy Little Thing video needed less shitty dancers - period. Who cares what sex they were?[/QUOTE] [/QUOTE] [/QUOTE]And if he said he had a problem with the Body Language video, he's lying - look at the way he snaps his fingers. He's loving the 80's right there.[/QUOTE]
catqueen · Member since
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[b]Crisstti wrote: [/b]
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[b]Crisstti wrote: [/b]
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[b]catqueen wrote: [/b]
There are several songs Brian says publically he doesn't like, and there are several Roger doesn't like. It could be to do with a million things - music, lyrics, way it was recorded, produced, marketed, being sick on the day it was recorded, etc, etc, etc. If Brian had such an issue with Freddie's homosexuality, why did he let him 'eat' the guitar and rub against him? In one concert Brian looks uncomfortable, but it seems like it was something else was wrong. In the audio commentary about Body Language, i got the impression that it was more like 'ho hum... slight embarrassment... yikes, was it really this camp?!' and that the main problem he had with it was that Freddie was coming under a lot of pressure to make a 'gay' video, rather then that Freddie actually particularly wanted to make it. Also, it was so different from their other videos, and was not necessarily the direction they were going in at the time. But that's just my opinion.
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I'm not sure I understand what you're saying. Are you saying Freddie was being pressured to make a gay video?, by whom?.
Also, I don't think Brian had "such an issue" with it. But to some degree he did.
Also, in Brian's Howard Stern interview, he seems uneasy when Howard asks him some staff about Freddie being gay.
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Brian didn't explicitly say that, but it sounded like it in the commentary. He said something along the lines taht he thinks a lot of Freddie's friends were expecting him to do a song/video like that and implied that there may have been some pressure to do a 'gay' video. Whether it was pressure or encouragement I don't know! :) Like i said, i havent listened to the commentary in a while, but that is what i remember from it, because to be honest, i didn't really think about it being particularly gay. I mean, obviously a person's identity affects the way they portray or interpret something, but i didn't think it was anything more then that.
And that interview quote is interesting, but Brian is a fairly analytical type of person, who seems to think a lot and try to figure out exactly what and why he thinks and feels what he doew, so imo, the only reason he could be taken as homophobic in that interview is because he has given hte issue some thought, so it sounds a bit stiff or something. I don't think he is at all homophobic. I guess like Zebonka said, he may be more prudish/reserved then homophobic, I think he sounds like this when he talks about parties, drugs, sex, etc, I don't think it had too much to do with just homosexuality. And if he was homophobic, why would he change lyrics to make them more inclusive.
(please dont say "for money!" :) )
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mooghead · Member since
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[b]mike hunt wrote: [/b]
most straight rockers had that look in the 80's. the stache with the leather Jacket. [/QUOTE]
Photos please
goinback · Member since
As a gay guy, I have to say it probably would have been nice for Freddie to have done some songs that were totally for gay people...though Brian was worried about "roping off" straight people. The thing is, gay people are always roped off from obvious straight songs and always have to reinterpret them, so it would be nice to sometimes say, "Sorry, this song ISN'T 'universal' necessarily...it's definitely about a gay relationship."
But in the time Queen were recording their songs, it obviously would have not helped their careers, especially with the flack from just the IWTBF video. So what Brian said at the time about having to make songs "universal" isn't totally "politically correct" to me, yet he was unfortunately totally right at the time that it was a necessary way of having to write songs in the '80s to sell records.
mike hunt · Member since
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[b]mooghead wrote: [/b]
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[b]mike hunt wrote: [/b]
most straight rockers had that look in the 80's. the stache with the leather Jacket.
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Photos please
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why do I need photo's?...lol. I lived it!...I was a 80's child.......I know a lot of rockers and straight men had the stache and leather Jacket, it was a popular look back then. You want photo's?....maybe not rockers, but popular straight men of that era who had staches Just like freddie. "burt reynolds".......tom selleck (spelling?) and baseball player keith hernandez. No one ever say's they had a gay look
mike hunt · Member since
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[b]Zebonka12 wrote: [/b]
If this doesn't expose the subjectivity of the issue, I don't know what does. Brian's interview there is as liberal and respectful of both sides as can be ... how can anyone think he has a gay problem there??
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He might be prudish, but homophobic? No way. I think the Crazy Little Thing video needed less shitty dancers - period. Who cares what sex they were?
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And if he said he had a problem with the Body Language video, he's lying - look at the way he snaps his fingers. He's loving the 80's right there.
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I don't think brian, roger and John were homophobic, but maybe a little uneasy at times....nothing's wrong with that. The crazy video had some gay looking dudes, but don't forget the hot blond freddie was having fun with. It was a good video for it's time.
Saif · Member since
[QUOTE]
[b]mike hunt wrote: [/b]
[QUOTE]
[b]mooghead wrote: [/b]
[QUOTE]
[b]mike hunt wrote: [/b]
most straight rockers had that look in the 80's. the stache with the leather Jacket.
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Photos please
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why do I need photo's?...lol. I lived it!...I was a 80's child.......I know a lot of rockers and straight men had the stache and leather Jacket, it was a popular look back then. You want photo's?....maybe not rockers, but popular straight men of that era who had staches Just like freddie. "burt reynolds".......tom selleck (spelling?) and baseball player keith hernandez. No one ever say's they had a gay look
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Ron Jeremy has a 'stache too!
mike hunt · Member since
and as far as the leather Jacket?...every rock musician and rock fan wore one of those at one time or another. going to a party in the eighties we all wore one of those, everyone of us. always put on someone else's Jacket cos we all had the same Type of jacket. And yes, a lot of us had staches too. My only point is that I don't get this whole "gay look" thing. Like now, a lot of gay men shave their heads, but it's not "the gay" look. Because a lot of straight men shave their heads too. look at any old photo of any rocker from the 80's and chances are they have the leather jacket on, but freddie does it, then all a sudden it's the "gay look.".... Shit makes me laugh. Halford's another story, his look was gay. With that leather hat and spikes. straight me rarely wore that.
Saif · Member since
[QUOTE]
[b]mike hunt wrote: [/b]
and as far as the leather Jacket?...every rock musician and rock fan wore one of those at one time or another. going to a party in the eighties we all wore one of those, everyone of us. always put on someone else's Jacket cos we all had the same Type of jacket. And yes, a lot of us had staches too. My only point is that I don't get this whole "gay look" thing. Like now, a lot of gay men shave their heads, but it's not "the gay" look. Because a lot of straight men shave their heads too. look at any old photo of any rocker from the 80's and chances are they have the leather jacket on, but freddie does it, then all a sudden it's the "gay look.".... Shit makes me laugh. Halford's another story, his look was gay. With that leather hat and spikes. straight me rarely wore that.[/QUOTE]
Funny thing is that the Halford look is now the Heavy Metal look. Every metal concert I go to has some retards dressed up in studded leather jackets and spiked gauntlets. Manowar are also kind of to blame for propagating this. Don't even ask about the Black Metal look! It's worse than KISS times thousand. They wear "corpse-paint"(think KISS gone awry), wear machine gun ammo belts for photo-shoots and take part in LARP(Live-Action Role Playing) in their music videos.
