The death of Freddie Mercury - Press coverage in 1991

Hello dear Queenzonzers!

I will be doing a small lecture about the life and music composed by "our" Freddie. When discussing AIDS, I want to remind people how Freddie was treated by the press back in the day and how disgraceful some of the reports were. I seem to remember one newspaper that had on the frontpage Freddie singing to a microphone, sitting on a piano but instead of his head there was a skull, partly rotten.

I would like to ask you for help. Could you help me find the newspaper in question and all other disgraceful ones so I can show properly how Freddie and those close to him were hunted by the media ?

Greetings,
Martin

Fuck off. How is that for a contribution to your lecture?

I will be organising a closed event connected with lecture and listening to LP's for audiophiles and elite circle of music critics in Poland. Basically, in Poland, music critics are slamming Freddie off, forgetting about his voice, his unique personality, song-writing skills and (mainly even) composition skills. I wanted to give them a full picture and even a harsh one, an ugly one and THAT"S THE REASON I NEED THESE NEWSPAPERS!

Moog, why did you respond that way ? I have never on this forum used this word when responding to your (usually silly) comments and rude behaviour.

I'm sorry, but that's utter bullshit. What kind of elite do you mean? Which music critics slam Freddie? Either we live in two different countries or your talking bollocks. Start looking for a more convincing excuse than your bogus story.

I strongly disagree. Yes, the music critics are saying things like: "Yeah he was great" "Yeah, a great voice" but that's it! That's like they're forgetting about all the other things that made him a great musician. Composition, classical training (I'm not speaking about his voice technique), excellent taste in arts and so on and so forth.

Kevin, we really must be living in two different countries. In Poland, the *greater value* for music critics have PRODUCTS like Lady GaGa, Lana Del Rey etc. Only some of the best music critics have still a great respect for Freddie. People tend to forgot that the first time that FM paid a songwriter because he and Mack were stuck was during the Barcelona project. Queen did many things themselves when writing, composing, even producing....

I know it sounds suspicious, mysterious but I cannot provide names here or places as NDA is always a must with projects like this one. I can give you a hint though.. In the Warsaw's downtown there is a studio (yes, proper music studio) where are held lectures and premieres of forthcoming albums. Not so utter shit now, huh ?

So, good people on Queenzone, please help me find these damn disgraceful newspapers as I want to depict the timeline 1987-1991 in a depressing, gruesome BUT sympathetic way.

I don't recall a skullface newspaper cover, but I wouldn't put it past the daily tabloids. particularly in the UK.

I believe it was a modified picture of Freddie sitting at a piano and signing with his black cap on (1980/ 1981 Tour?) and yes it was one of the tabloids. It was one of the ugliest, gruesome and disgraceful thing made by the press in 91'.

The gutter press here in the UK always slagged Freddie off, and in one of the music papers i think it was "The Musical Express" they had a picture of Freddie with the caption "is this man a prat"
Every single Queen single that got released was slammed here in the Uk by the press, so i find it hypocritical that the press now praise Queen & Lambert after years of giving Freddie grief.

OK. First of all, sorry for the harsh words - I might have overreacted (fatigue). Now I see your point. But I still disagree and - don't take it the wrong way - I don't feel there is need for such projects as yours. Here are my reasons.

Regular critics (i.e. not elite) in Poland (and elsewhere) rarely write about Freddie nowadays and usually as a footnote, so they don't really get into the specifics that you mention. And this is for a reason. The "products" as you call them still release records, so they get written about (and some of them do have musical training, even if not classical), just like the Rolling Stones, but unlike Freddie. On an anniversary he might get a proper treatment every once in a while in the proper media (and who cares about the rest), but that's it. I don't think this is because critics have forgotten about him, but rather that there is no need to write about him for the general public. From their point of view he's there with his moustache and a couple of songs, an icon and a part of the history of pop culture, just like Einstein with his unkempt hairstyle. And those who feel the need to know more, do not stop at popular articles. I don't think your project is going to change that. And I don't know how the discussion of the press coverage of Freddie's illness and death could possibly contribute to the achievement of your goal.

In any case, good luck to you on your crusade. I won't bother you going off topic anymore.

It's not really a crusade. This project will be a reward for me for helping the company out with the exhibition they are producing and I'm greatly helping them with that. The CEO of that particular company knows that I'm a huge Queen fan, so I have one shot at organising a tribute to Freddie connected with listening to his songs and a lecture. I don't want to change the world. I just want to remind them that Freddie Mercury doesn't begin with Bohemian Rhapsody and ends with The Show Must Go On. I don't see anything wrong with that.

I watched a section of The Great Pretender documentary about the end of his life and there it was, just like I want to do it. Show people in anti-hazardous uniforms, tell about doctors disagreeing to check the AIDS patients, mortitcians refusing to embalm bodies of those who died from this terrible illness. I want to show a stigma and how those people were treated afterwards. I will probably even use a snippet from the doco with Brian and Roger defending Freddie on the Breakfast show.

Apology accepted. I know that there are a bunch of people who are constantly asking about Freddie's last photos or some things like that and they seem to have a fetish about it but I'm not one of those.

Could anyone help me out ?

@Kevin, If you live in Warsaw, then PM me, I'll try the company to have proper invitation send to you. (The event/lecture/listening will be organised either at the anniversary of Freddie's Birthday or at the anniversary of his passing)

I think mooghead is just some alcoholic who has nothing better to do. Boring.

"but I'm not one of those"

this is a virtual guarantee that you are 'one of those', in just about any scenario where someone uses these words. hahahha.

[QUOTE] [b]MisterCosmicc wrote:[/b]

I think mooghead is just some alcoholic who has nothing better to do. Boring.[/QUOTE]

AGAIN ?

Anyway, there is an issue of the MAD Magazine wich was released after his death but they make it look like they predicted his passing. They were using a wrong date - if I remember correctly.

Can`t find it right now but it`s somewhere out there.

If I had nothing better to do than come here I definitely would be an alcoholic.