John Hurt on Freddie Mercury

In The Times on May 15 2010, John Hurt recently made some comments about Freddie Mercury:

Freddie Mercury

All rock stars want to be actors and all actors want to be rock stars. And we’re best if we stick to our own thing. Did I have visions of myself in leather trousers? I wore ’em! [Laughs]. Freddie had a caustic look at everything that was going on around him. He was terrifically competitive, too, particularly with Duran Duran. That was their competition, like the Beatles and the Stones. I remember going to watch the tape of Live Aid back at his place and when Duran Duran came on he said, “Just look at them waddling across the stage!” He was quite irreverent.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/dvd/article7122940.ece

Duran Duran were Queens competition?.....since when?

mike hunt wrote: "Duran Duran were Queens competition?.....since when?"


That's what I want to know. :D

Still, it's an interesting quote from one hell of an actor.

Because Roger Taylor is part of Duran Duran

John Hurt's phenomenal, but that comment's feeble to say the least.

There was 'a' Roger Taylor in Duran Duran, but not Queens' Taylor...

Duran Duran. Jesus, John Hurt, please do stick to your own thing.  He was right about Freddie being irreverant though. Irreverance rocks.

Well, it was 1985 after all. Duran Duran was a big name at that time and I can see Freddie feeling competitive about them. Not in a "You're my nemesis" kind of way (maybe Kiss?) but perhaps he thought they were getting more attention than Queen, Duran Duran being a "new" band and Queen being an "old band" by then.

I think he would have felt the same about every other successful band that came after them and had big success ("un-deserved" under Freddie's eyes, perhaps?).

Freddie was an attention whore, after all! :P
He had to be number one all the time, even (specially) when he wasn't.

sethzor wrote: There was 'a' Roger Taylor in Duran Duran, but not Queens' Taylor...

Thank you for clarifying that.  

(slaps forehead smiley)

Poor John, he's a lovely fella but perhaps not too clued up on matters.
     It reminded me of the clip  from the recent t.v. documentary on wormwood scrubs. An inmate was recalling one of his crimes; ' I was walking through Kensington and went past Freddie Mercury's house, i nicked  a bike that was standing against the wall- it belonged to the drummer from Duran Duran !'
     I wondered if someone had scurrilously suggested said bike had belonged to Roger Taylor and he only knew of the Duran Duran Roger T.
    Imagine Roger to Debbie; 'I'm just poppin' 'round Freddies on me bike ' !!
    Heh heh heh!.

     Master Marathon Runner.

Sebastian wrote: John Hurt's phenomenal, but that comment's feeble to say the least.

Crazy Little Thing wrote:  John Hurt hasn't been the same since that thing exploded out of his abdomen.

why do people dismiss stuff as impossible or rubbish - just because in their own "stepford world" queen are always no1?

fact: queen had monumentally fucked upt heir own worldwide reputation in several ways:-

1. sun city
2. the "gay/drag" IWTBF thing and America
3. not doing "band aid" due to "other commitments"
4. a couple of band "splits"

from 1980's "the game" thru to 1984's "works" queen's reputation was in freefall. they had lost america (for good) and by Live Aid (1985) they were not Britain's no1 band.  In reality they would have struggled to make a top 10 British acts of that time. Just off the top of my head - i would say these "active at that time" aritist would've been bigger than queen in britain in 1985

Wham!, Eurythmics, Bowie, Spandau,, Elton john, McCartney, Smiths, New Order, Culture Club and of course - the biggest at that time - Duran Duran

don't belive me? check the NME/BBC and Billboard (USA) sales for the time - queen were in the doldrums.

yes liveaid change things, but the comment was accurate at the time -Hurt was right

The Beatles:Stones != Queen:Duran Duran.  Come on now.  Beatles vs. Stones was a massive and 'official' rivalry that entire marketing campaigns were written around for years, with one band being the antithesis of the other.  Queen and Duran Duran were incidental and transitory rivals in the same way that all the other bands operating in the same space and time were rivals, all hoping to outdo every other.  As if you call people 'Stepfords' on such a weak point. Lame.

Crazy LittleThing wrote: Sebastian wrote: John Hurt's phenomenal, but that comment's feeble to say the least.

Crazy Little Thing wrote:  John Hurt hasn't been the same since that thing exploded out of his abdomen.

............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................At lest Queen dusted themselves down, regrouped and reinvented themselves, unlike the Duranies. Despite their  U.S. faux paus, they have retained a fair degree of respect over there, which i feel, has steadily grew, Rock and Roll hall of fame induction, Waynes World, De Niros lauding of them, utmost respect among their American peers, Guns n Roses, Extreme, among others.I even read a couple of years ago that 'You're My Best Friend' was the most played track on U.S. radio for that particular year.
       It's a funny thing, America. The chart records for The Beach Boys is absolutely dreadful , reading the album booklets which list chart performance in detail, some of their releases barely scraped the top 75, but they are regarded as one of the biggest American legends, but Britain was a more successful market for them, as it was for Roy Orbison and did you know
Eddie Cochran was virtually unknown in his home country, his death barely reported.
     But it just goes to show, quality seems to always rise to the top.

   Master Marathon Runner

brENsKi wrote: why do people dismiss stuff as impossible or rubbish - just because in their own "stepford world" queen are always no1?

fact: queen had monumentally fucked upt heir own worldwide reputation in several ways:-

1. sun city
2. the "gay/drag" IWTBF thing and America
3. not doing "band aid" due to "other commitments"
4. a couple of band "splits"

from 1980's "the game" thru to 1984's "works" queen's reputation was in freefall. they had lost america (for good) and by Live Aid (1985) they were not Britain's no1 band.  In reality they would have struggled to make a top 10 British acts of that time. Just off the top of my head - i would say these "active at that time" aritist would've been bigger than queen in britain in 1985

Wham!, Eurythmics, Bowie, Spandau,, Elton john, McCartney, Smiths, New Order, Culture Club and of course - the biggest at that time - Duran Duran

don't belive me? check the NME/BBC and Billboard (USA) sales for the time - queen were in the doldrums.

yes liveaid change things, but the comment was accurate at the time -Hurt was right
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. Sun City -- agree it hurt Queen in the music press but I doubt the general public gave it much thought
2. IWTBF: Perhaps it hurt Queen in the US, perhaps not. The rest of the world didn't seem to care. The Works sold strongly all over the world, and was even moderately successful in the US.
3. Band Aid: not doing it didn't hurt Queen at all.
4. Splits rumours: probably helped their career. The press often mentioned that The Works tour could be their 'farewell' -- a guaranteed crowd-puller. Radio One in the UK were hugely supportive of The Works singles, and this was (in part) due to interviews band members did saying if The Works wasn;t successful they would probably quit. 

The Game was successful. Under Pressure was successful. Hot Space was not. The Works was hugely successful, and their reputation /fame/sales grew off the back of huge hit singles like Ga Ga and IWTBF. By the time Live Aid came around, Queen were already very successful and prominent again, and had put Hot Space behind them.

I agree Bowie, Eurythmics etc (The Police too) were all huge in the UK in the 1980s, but aside from a short time from 1982 to early 1984, so were Queen.