Gregsynth wrote: LAP wrote: I knew it, thanks Mike I won my bet with a mate, just knewwwwwwwww 'Mike Hunt' would respond! Mate, saying Freddie had the Vilage People look was only ONE reason why they fell out in America, only one of the many reasons fella...didn't American fans throw razor blades at him? True American fans of Quenn up until 1980 were also into Aerosmith, KISS, Led Zeppelin etc, lead singers with something in common, no clone looks playing disco!
I'm only looking at facts, not what if's. like your idea of Freddie being healthy in 89/91 and announcing a US tour...come on mate, based on what? "A Kind Of Magic" yeah that was huge in America, 'The Miracle' only went to what?? 24 in America and "I want it All" stalled at 50??, did you know that fella, didn't you remember that?? Yeah Queen were relevant in America at that point for sure, right up there with Bon Jovi, Poison, the Gunners etc, man this is fun lol. Queen fell out of favour with their true American fans prior to 'Hot Spce' being released, 'Greatest Hits' in 81 stalled at 14, Under Prsssure sank at 29, the writing was clearly on the wall as disco died and the clone look was not the look in rock music fella! I love Queen more than any other band ever, but there are numerous resaons why Queen fell to pieces in America, but at the end of the day, thank God America isn''t the centre of the universe!
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Chart positions have nothing to do with overall success: Bon Jovi is enjoying a massively successful world tour--yet the singles off their album (The Circle) didn't do well on the charts.
True fans of a band STICK with the band through thick and thin. I'm glad Queen changed their music styles in the the 80s--to weed out the "bandwagon fans" and the "70s" fans. I'd rather have a band who tries out different styles, rather than sound practically the same each album (like AC/DC).
The band was relevant in America by 1992 (remember Wayne's World, and sadly because of Freddie's death). So if Freddie was alive in 1992, Queen playing a US tour would work perfectly fine.
Apparently, you also are forgetting that "Body Language" AND "Radio Ga Ga" were quite big in America (both tracks reached the top 20 on the billboard charts). The reason why Queen lost America was the lack of record support, the poor reaction to Hot Space, refusing to tour America after 1982, and the crybaby bible thumper's reactions to "I Want To Break Free."
The decline had absolutely nothing to do with Freddie's look.
the bandwagon Fans were the AOBTD crowd, not as much the 70's.... Once these Bandwagon fans left, queen's popularity went downhill. the 70's crowd moved on to newer rock/metal bands like Maiden and later on GNR, while Queen continued releasing pop albums......Judas Priest went through the same exact thing. they released The glam rock album "Turbo" in 1986, the album and tour sold well, but once the bandwagon fans of turbo left, priest's die hards moved on to different bands....The result?....1988 album "ram it down" sold poorly, and priest playing to half empty staduims in 1988. They did make a comeback with the hard hitting painkiller, and the old school priest fans came crawiling back. i don't think Brian or roger even know why their popularity died in america., so i take what they say with a grain of salt...... They were rich and Famous, and out of touch with what the fans wanted. They were getting to the age where they couldn't relate to teenager's anymore. they just wanted to create new sounds, and not get stale by doing the same things over and over.....i could understand that now, but not when i was a teenager.
Mike, I totally agree with you, basically there is no write or wrong in this matter, I too am glad of the music that Queen released at the time and I also think that the change in the ban'ds look and image was cool too, they were never boring and they stood out in a cool type of way! They wreren't your typical rock band and that is why we love them for it! Yes, I agree that AC/DC and the likes became very boring and have never dared to stray from their same formula, very basic rock. AC/DC and Queen are not even on the same page. I do find it interesting that the bible belt in America was ONE part of Queen's downfall there, but at the same time when Queen were slipping away Stateside, Heavy Metal acts like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest and Gay pop bands like Culture Club became very popular in the States, I think this shows a contradiction with MTV's statndards, they banned 'Body Language' right? but look at the exposure Boy Geroge got in the mid 80's in the states!! But I suppose my point is, is that Queen in the 70's were seen as a big macho rock band, especially in the States, and when Mercury changed his look, the bands sounds, their true fans gave up on them, I mean Roger Taylor has said that on there 1980 Game Tour they had in particular in NY, Philadalphia, LA etc, African-Americans at their shows, something which never happend before!!
But by 1982, their true fans (hard rock fans) had disappeared, and the NEW fans who had dug their poppier sound in 80, had waned too! And as you put it, fans of hard rock had gone over to other newer and more aggressive rock bands, can you imagine their look when they first saw 'Body Language" or 'I Want to Break Free", Iron Maiden here we come!!! I was very happy when Queen made a big comeback in 1992 in the States, and it was well deserved.
I find it ironic that non-Americans seem to "know" so much about American attitudes toward rock music, particularly how it was 30-35 years ago.
As for us considering Queen a "macho" band in the 70s, nothing could be farther from the truth. At the time we assumed all four members were gay (eye liner and nail polish; flowing, shimmering choir boy outfits on Brian and Freddie; Freddie in ballet tights and slippers, yep that's macho - not to mention the material - KQ, GOFLB, ). At the time, my buddies and I lumped them in with other androgynous art rock / glam rock groups such as T Rex, Bowie, and Roxy Music, all of whom made highly creative, bold, experimental art rock.
I have never given up on Queen (until PR came into the picture, but that's another story) but find quite a bit of their 80s output to be too pop oriented and the albums filled with pedestrian, unimaginative filler.
Would I have gone to see Queen in the 80s if they had toured my city? Absolutely. I was all set to see Day at the Races but it was cancelled due to record snowfall. I saw News of the World and Jazz tours in my hometown in Ohio, but missed the Hot Space tour due to unemployment, and that was the last Queen ever played locally.
Your Fairy King wrote: I find it ironic that non-Americans seem to "know" so much about American attitudes toward rock music, particularly how it was 30-35 years ago.
As for us considering Queen a "macho" band in the 70s, nothing could be farther from the truth. At the time we assumed all four members were gay (eye liner and nail polish; flowing, shimmering choir boy outfits on Brian and Freddie; Freddie in ballet tights and slippers, yep that's macho - not to mention the material - KQ, GOFLB, ). At the time, my buddies and I lumped them in with other androgynous art rock / glam rock groups such as T Rex, Bowie, and Roxy Music, all of whom made highly creative, bold, experimental art rock.
I have never given up on Queen (until PR came into the picture, but that's another story) but find quite a bit of their 80s output to be too pop oriented and the albums filled with pedestrian, unimaginative filler.
Would I have gone to see Queen in the 80s if they had toured my city? Absolutely. I was all set to see Day at the Races but it was cancelled due to record snowfall. I saw News of the World and Jazz tours in my hometown in Ohio, but missed the Hot Space tour due to unemployment, and that was the last Queen ever played locally.
My first Show was Maiden in 85, So I was a few years late for Queen.......looking back at it all, it's surprising Queen were as popular as they were. like you said, Freddie with his ballet outfits wern't excatly macho. i'm glad they changed with the times, and tried new sounds and looks, but the results wern't alway's great. Body Language wasn't a good song, and it still reached the top 20....imagine if Hot space delivered another song and video like ANOBTD?.....Staying Power would have been a better Choice and bigger hit than BL in IMO.
mike hunt wrote:
My first Show was Maiden in 85
was that Powerslave? What an awesome show!
Your Fairy King wrote: mike hunt wrote:
My first Show was Maiden in 85
was that Powerslave? What an awesome show!
Yea, the powerslave tour. A new band called Queensryche opened for them.
