Queen Hit Singles

I think his point was they have all had hit singles. Which they have.

did anything from.the cosmos rocks chart?.i liked it

C-lebrity charts 33 and say it's not true charts 90, both UK david!!

30 years ago the charts were very different to how they are now. The number one single wasn't all pervasive, it wasn't available at the touch of the button, to play on your computer or whichever handheld device you own. You had to hear it on the radio or go and buy it, or perhaps hear it on TV. Getting to number 10 in the charts was an even greater achievement than it is today (not that I've ever done it, or tried, btw, I'm not a failed rocker in disguise here!). The flip side (see what I did there....) is that because there were fewer songs, fewer artists, and recording was far more expensive than it is today, the songs in the top 20 would get more radio play, and so people would know most of the songs in the top 20 by osmosis. Now, I don't think we know much more than the top five, and very few singles hold the top slot for more than a week, and then they're out of the charts. It's much faster moving today than it was in 1980, and there are more acts trying to break through. It's not easy to remember how things actually were in the light of today's fast moving society. I can't even imagine a world without a mobile and a computer, and I'm already in my mid 30s so it's not as if I don't remember the world before.

^^ this

Brian wrote Fat Bottomed Girls, Now I'm Here, Flash, Hammer To Fall All hit singles if not top 10 and well known songs to the general public, (especially FBG).
Tie Your Mother Down wasn't a big hit at the time but gets a lot of play on radio in north America and is probably better known than Now 'Im Here and Hammer.
Who Wants To Live Forever was a minor hit, yet somehow is known by everyone.
(And did he write The Show Must Go On?)

But regardless of the hit singles,
Brian wrote The Prophet Song, 39, White Queen, Keep Yourself Alive, Brighton Rock, Teo Torriate, It's Late and so many more
Great Songs that are really important in the Queen Canon.
I have issues when people define Queen by their singles, they are so much more than that.

GG

In fact the doc always said in interviews all the way through their career, 'don't rely on our singles to find out what we're about, buy the album'.

Didn't he also once say that he'd prefer people to buy Queen II than Greatest Hits II?

Queen were certainly an album type band at the start, and then happened to get in to writing pop nuggets later on, and even then, the album was more important than the singles from it. Although I don't believe them when they say none of their songs was specifically written to be a hit. I'm quite certain that they were aware of Killer Queen, We Will Rock You, Under Pressure, Radio Gaga, A Kind of Magic, I want it all, although I think they probably realised that Innuendo and Bohemian Rhapsody were taking commercial chances, even if they are artistic masterpieces.

>I have issues when people define Queen by their singles, they are so much more than that.

We all know that.

>Great Songs that are really important in the Queen Canon

I personally like a lot most of Brian's songs. That's not the point here

>But regardless of the hit singles,

But, That's the point here. let's talk about their ability of succeed in the charts.


[QUOTE] [b]miraclesteinway wrote:[/b]
Getting to number 10 in the charts was an even greater achievement than it is today[/QUOTE]

Yep.

The chart position of any singles doesn't reflect it's success only it's sales relative to other singles.

Any single released at the same time and, for example Band Aid or Candle in the Wind (after Diana) would do well to reach second place in the chart even with outstanding sales

The length of time on the chart, mean chart position and principally it's overall sales are a more accurate indicator of a song's success

Brian was a great songwriter, especially in the 70's, but not necessarily a great hit-writer. It was only when he really simplified things that it became accessible for the general public, like with WWRY.

Didn't Freddie once say something like "Brian writes more songs, but I have more hits?" :D

Regarding Brian's singles, Tie Your Mother Down still amazes me chart-performance wise.

#31 in the UK and #49 in the US. That's it.

Just... wow. Such a goddamn fantastic song.

[QUOTE] [b]The King Of Rhye wrote:[/b]

Didn't Freddie once say something like "Brian writes more songs, but I have more hits?" :D[/QUOTE]

Well, that's what Peter said Freddie said... but it's mathematically inaccurate. Brian only wrote more songs than Fred on 'News of the World', and as many as Freddie on a few more, but on the first four albums plus 'Jazz', 'Hot Space', 'The Works', 'The Miracle', 'Innuendo' and 'Made in Heaven' (that's two thirds of their catalogue), Freddie was the dominant songwriter.

So Fred wrote more (released) songs, and also more hits.

I suppose the counter argument of 'Freddie wrote more hits' is that that was only because more of his tracks were released as singles; if 'Long Away', 'Sail Away Sweet Sister', 'Tear It Up', 'Dancer'. 'It's Late' (outside US) etc etc had been released instead of some of Freddie's tracks and gone on to be 'hits', that would start to even things up against Freddie's tally.

However, the argument against my argument(!!) is that I assume Freddie's were released in a lot of cases because they were deemed to be accessible, or likely to have a bigger impact on the singles charts.. .and quite a few of Brian and Roger's best tracks didn't feature Freddie on lead vox, and so would almost instantly be discounted from their thoughts as a single.

Do you really think Tear It Up and Dancer would have been hits? Or Sail Away Sweet Sister?