Freddie's lack of Queen hits in the Eighties

Hi there. New to this forum so I wish you all hello.
I am curious as to your opinions on Freddie's run of hits for Queen drying up virtually completely for the whole decade. In the UK the only Top 10 song he solely wrote was 'It's A Hard Life'. Even at the end of the decade when songwriting was shared, all the hits were written by other members.
Despite modern rewrites of Freddie's solo career he managed three Top 10 hits (Four if you count the reissue of Barcelona) as a solo artist in the same decade. Obviously he had other major things going on in his life as that decade moved on but would love your thoughts.
Did he tire of the Queen machine as a muically creative output for his songwriting?
Did the poor sales of 'Hot Space', an album he pushed for make him lose interest?
Neither my personal opinion but be good to know what you think.

The other members (especially Roger) got better in writing hit singles. Freddie always encouraged every band member to write songs. Besides his solo-project and illness, i think he proved himself during the 70's and let the other members write the hits during the 80's. Although he was always supportive and also contributed to popular 80's hits like 'A Kind of Magic and also Radio GaGa. His input and musical genius is noticeable as you compare the demo to the final versions of these songs in particular.

Don't forget The Great Pre....oh....
Barcelona?
Not Queen, i know.

But seriously...
He had a knack for producing/arranging for the other guys, mainly Roger (Magic/Ga Ga) and John (Break Free). The Miracle was a minor hit.

...maybe in your village was a minor hit

I don't care if some song I like was hit or not. Anyway, this world is big, musical affinities are different.

[QUOTE] [b]DQ1 wrote:[/b]

The other members (especially Roger) got better in writing hit singles. Freddie always encouraged every band member to write songs. Besides his solo-project and illness, i think he proved himself during the 70's and let the other members write the hits during the 80's. Although he was always supportive and also contributed to popular 80's hits like 'A Kind of Magic and also Radio GaGa. His input and musical genius is noticeable as you compare the demo to the final versions of these songs in particular.[/QUOTE]

Exactly. Radio Ga Ga and AKOM would NOT have been hits without Freddie's input.

[QUOTE] [b]bucsateflon wrote:[/b]

...maybe in your village was a minor hit[/QUOTE]

The single peaked at 16 in The Netherlands.
In the UK it didn't go past 21.

A hit nonetheless.

I think when you look at Roger's and Brian's solo work you'd have to think Freddie's input into their Queen songs was very important. I don't think Freddie tired of the Queen vehicle at all it's just that I feel he wrote his best music in the 70's.

EDIT: Oh, and of course Cosmos Rocks is another classic example of Queen music written without Freddie's involvement.

I seem to recall that Jim Jenkins ?? said to Freddie in '87 or so:

Now that you've shaved off your mustache maybe you will write a decent song.

He also arranged Under pressure, life is real and staying power are also great songs. Also his solo songs could have been big hits, songs like Love kills went top ten, I was born to love you and Made in heaven were good songs but the conditions were bad.
I never understand why Princes of the universe lack of chart success.

[QUOTE] [b]Saint Jiub wrote:[/b]

I seem to recall that Jim Jenkins ?? said to Freddie in '87 or so:

Now that you've shaved off your mustache maybe you will write a decent song.[/QUOTE]

Actually it was 1984 when he shaved of his moustache for I want to break free video.

It's not to dissimilar from other artists writing arcs and certainly nothing too worrying. Look at Syd Barratt. He had basically written all the material on the 3 and a half albums he made with Floyd and solo before the band had even released anything. Just a big spurt of creativity. Bowie was the same - even by '73 / '74 he was filling albums with covers / songs demoed way before and generally relying on his constantly changing musicians to create for him by proxy. Constantly shifting the goal posts so he wouldn't stagnate.

I think the same can be said of Queen. Freddie had a fantastic 70s - but even then the whole band was relying on left overs from earlier sessions or writing spells. It's interesting that their biggest post ANATO creative times were effected heavily by external influences. Jazz due to the move to Europe, Flash / AKOM due to commissions to write for films, HS due to embracing tech and new recording processes and of course their last great seam of creativity when they new their days were numbered.

Perhaps the overarching truth is that RT and JD's Queen material was more in keeping with the tastes of the 80s and allowed the other two to indulge their focuses. Sufficed to say that's why Queen are so versatile and long lived.

As I said before Freddie wrote some really good songs like Life is real, Staying power and some of his solo songs could have been major hits if the things were little different.
It is worth to mention that his input on Flash Gordon is Superb. Football fight In the death cell, the kiss are great themes. Especially the demo of the kiss sounds like comes from Queen II. A very interesting is that has the same total time with Lilly of the valley.
I never understand why Princes of the universe never became hit.

Queen was greater than the sum of its members.
Taking them individually may be interesting, but in the end is disappointing.

Aye.