sparks influence queen?

There is also Morgan, the band from Morgan Fisher and Tim Staffel. There are some simmilar sounds with Queen. I did an interview with Morgan Fisher talked about this...and Mott The Hople-Queen.

"I feel a little like the blues musicians who Eric Clapton said inspired his music. He made sure they got credit and royalty payments. If Brian could say, just once, that the Morgan band inspired Queen, that would be nice. Brian came to watch many, many shows of the Morgan band at the Marquee Club in London. You can see our schedule here: I am sure Brian did not come just for fun! He came to study my music. And if you listen to our album ("Sleeper Wakes" also called "Brown Out") you can hear some things that Queen used later: quiet piano followed by wild rock guitar, and operatic harmonies".

"I have heard rumours that “Marionette” influenced Queen to write “Bohemian Rhapsody.” I don’t see many clear similarities between the two songs, except that both songs had a kind of “rock mini-opera” approach, with some sections for piano and voice, and the full band suddenly joining in for some loud sections. Also a quiet beginning and a quiet end. Queen were fans of Mott - so maybe the rumours are true".

Yes, Roger talked in an interview about they studied all the bands in that time

[QUOTE] [b]crazy duck wrote:[/b]

I know roger mentioned stealing lots from led zep as he inducted them into the RnR hall of fame. Its on youtube im sure![/QUOTE]

Thanks for that Crazy Duck! It isn't all that surprising I guess. I remember reading years ago in this large Rock Encyclopedia I had that Queen were described as an ersatz Led Zeppelin. Personally I think any comparison pretty much ended with Queen I. Queen II is much more Queenish than I.

[QUOTE] [b]Apocalipsis_Darko wrote:[/b]

There is also Morgan, the band from Morgan Fisher and Tim Staffel. There are some simmilar sounds with Queen. I did an interview with Morgan Fisher talked about this...and Mott The Hople-Queen.

"I feel a little like the blues musicians who Eric Clapton said inspired his music. He made sure they got credit and royalty payments. If Brian could say, just once, that the Morgan band inspired Queen, that would be nice. Brian came to watch many, many shows of the Morgan band at the Marquee Club in London. You can see our schedule here: I am sure Brian did not come just for fun! He came to study my music. And if you listen to our album ("Sleeper Wakes" also called "Brown Out") you can hear some things that Queen used later: quiet piano followed by wild rock guitar, and operatic harmonies".

"I have heard rumours that “Marionette” influenced Queen to write “Bohemian Rhapsody.” I don’t see many clear similarities between the two songs, except that both songs had a kind of “rock mini-opera” approach, with some sections for piano and voice, and the full band suddenly joining in for some loud sections. Also a quiet beginning and a quiet end. Queen were fans of Mott - so maybe the rumours are true".

[/QUOTE]

Given that Tim Staffel was in Morgan, I am wondering if that was the reason that Brian went to see Morgan. Although the description of their music in the quote does sound Queenish. Have you listened to any of their stuff AD? If so, what did you think? And did you think it was particularly Queenish?

Oh, and where did you see that Roger article regarding their influences. I would definitely be interesting in reading that.

It sounds a little of Queen, yes...You have the albums in youtube.
Roger spoke about influences in the Mojo interview, november issue. He said Led Zep, The Who (he always said those bands), Bowie, and also they were attentive to other bands of the label, like Sparks and Cockney Rebels.

[QUOTE] [b]Heavenite wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]crazy duck wrote:[/b]

I know roger mentioned stealing lots from led zep as he inducted them into the RnR hall of fame. Its on youtube im sure![/QUOTE]

Thanks for that Crazy Duck! It isn't all that surprising I guess. I remember reading years ago in this large Rock Encyclopedia I had that Queen were described as an ersatz Led Zeppelin. Personally I think any comparison pretty much ended with Queen I. Queen II is much more Queenish than I. [/QUOTE]

Agreed 100%.

The Zeppelin and Sabbath influences are all over the debut album (Son and Daughter could've been on Paranoid), but from Queen II through Jazz they were completely their own making. It wasn't until The Game that they started sounding like other artists again.

I'd argue there were still some Zeppelin- (Some Day One Day, Loser In The End) and Who- (Father To Son) inspired elements on Queen II, and even the Stones (Now I'm Here) on Sheer Heart Attack, but not enough to dismiss it as a knock-off of those bands.

Fair play.

In fact, Now I'm Here is extremely All The Way From Memphis. It *is* about their tour with Mott, after all..

[QUOTE] [b]dysan wrote:[/b]

In fact, I'm sure they played the Marquee the same night? Might be wrong.[/QUOTE]

Indeed, Queen were the opener.

[QUOTE] [b]Apocalipsis_Darko wrote:[/b]

It sounds a little of Queen, yes...You have the albums in youtube.
Roger spoke about influences in the Mojo interview, november issue. He said Led Zep, The Who (he always said those bands), Bowie, and also they were attentive to other bands of the label, like Sparks and Cockney Rebels.[/QUOTE]

Thanks AD. Will check both the magazine and those clips on YouTube out.

This is from an interview with Joe Elliott in Guitar International magazine earlier this year.
http://guitarinternational.com/2014/05/06/joe-elliott-n-outz-colorizing-mott-hoople-songs-adventures-cd/


[QUOTE]Robert Cavuto: I loved your version of“Marionette”; can you share some insight about it?

Joe Elliott: There’s a very strong rumor, even from the Queen camp, that it’s the song that inspired Freddie Mercury to write “Bohemian Rhapsody.” It doesn’t sound anything like Bo Rhap, but it is a mini-opera.

In 1974, Queen opened for Mott The Hoople when they were playing “Marionette”. Every night, Freddie would stand at the side of the stage watching it. These little stories are hovering around in my brain. They just kind of keep coming up now and again; I find them fascinating.

The song is actually about the music industry. These guys were ahead of their time. “Just shut up and sing and we’ll do all the work. We’ll keep all the money and you’ll not get paid.” It’s like they put you back in your box when the show’s over. No, not on my watch.[/QUOTE]


This is the first time I've heard anybody with a connection to the "Queen camp" mention "Marionette" possibly being the inspiration for Bo Rhap.

I think it's also intriguing that "Marionette" is about the music industry as Queen also wrote a few songs on the same topic. But, then, so did Pink Floyd and many other artists.

Also Beach Boys chorus....as first Uriah Heep records.

I remember reading through this thread four years ago and finding it quite interesting,listen to a couple of Sparks albums this week, so I thought a quick revisit would be interesting.

Something that got me thinking is the FFS album. Franz Ferdinand and Sparks. It has a brilliant balance in production, song writing and playing allowing both acts to shine through under that collection umbrella.

Now I'm sure this will never happen but in 2018 would a Queen+Sparks album work in a similar way.

Curious this got bumped as I was pondering my response on another thread about the production of Jazz. One parallel I thought about (muted raw guitars and drums very much mixed 'up') was the Sparks album Big Beat from 1976. It's quite an ugly record, but perhaps the ridiculous mix was considered visionary at the time.

Most artists listen to other stuff and absorb influences ft on various sources unconsciously. The best dont obviously plagiarise but develop what they've heard ( the form) further in a different style . The Queen debut is a bit guilty of the latter ( Zeppelin Yes and Sabbath traits) but post Sheer Heart Attack they were truly original. As for Sparks, they were an underrated group and one of the most inventive in the 70's. Sparks and Queen have one thing in common: in the mid 70's both were not afraid of the avant Garde and music hall and some comic arrangements in their work