US Boost From Live Aid?

I’ve thought about this previously but still am wondering why Queen didn’t get a bigger boost in the US from Live Aid.

From what I can gather, A Kind of Magic sold even less in the US than The Miracle. The US comeback started slowly with Innuendo than exploded when Bohemian Rhapsody was featured in Wayne’s World. This, Freddie’s death and the tribute concert made me a fan for life.

So why didn’t they get more of a pick up in the States in 1985? I’m guessing it was maybe because they went one of the “cool” bands at the time. They weren’t U2 in the public consciousness. Heck, they weren’t even Dire Straits at that time.

I still feel like the Internet was the great equalizer with Queen. When one looks at the video, their talent is blindingly obvious. In the ‘80s, maybe too-cool radio DJs could look away from that. Now we all know how great they were.

Curious at to your theories. I was only 9 at the time so maybe people have a better memory of what the show’s effect was Stateside.

The I Want to Break Free video killed Queen.

[QUOTE] [b]mooghead wrote:[/b]

The I Want to Break Free video killed Queen.[/QUOTE]

this ^ - in a nutshell
it wasn't about being one of the "cool bands of the time"
while, an extremely uncool Dire Straits marketed their LP with an MTV-ready "Money For Nothing" video, the usually very visually-savvy Queen misfired horribly. Break free and Hard Life just were not suitable visually for the US rock video market.
Coronation St was unheard of in the States and the sequence from "The Faun" was more camp than Christmas.

This at a time, when artists like Prince (Purple Rain), and others had seen what MTV could do as a promotional tool. Queen burned their US bridges in 84, so by Live Aid, the chance was long-gone.

There is an answering letter to a fan from Brian in mid 90s for the reasons why they lost US in mid 80s.
If I remember correctly he stated than there was a payola Scandal in US record industry with independent retailers. When this happened record sales and airplay were dropped. First Queen "victim" was Radio Ga Ga which was climbing steady to from top 30 to top 20 and was going for top 10.
Then it was the PR problems Paul had alienated Freddie and the band from radio - TV producers, without the ba d knowing.
Also it was the I want to break free. But most of all it was as Brian mentioned that they didn't eat a humble pie and tour US in smaller venues, he mentioned than Elton John did this and slowly he regained US.
During AKOM the movie Highlander flopped in US so this did help. Also they were asked to do few big gigs after the European tour in 1986, but they didn't agree.
The Miracle could have them come back, it had good sales, but the for obvious reasons they couldn't tour.
It is interestingtthat despite the lack of tour and big sales the had way bigger success than the Iron Maiden, Judas Priest who were at their peak in US.

All the above factors lead them to be unpopular and some kind of uncool, Live Aid didn't improved the situation.

- and 'coz their live aid slot was barely shown on the US broadcast. It was nothing more than a few minutes before switching back to the studio for ads, promotion, inane interviews and crap, with their set half audible over the cacophony.

Then that’s it. Most of America didn’t see the full set in all its majesty. And back then, it was on once and into the ether.

Too bad they hadn’t played the exact same show in Philadelphia. That would have brought on the US comeback.

But why mess with the perfection in London that day...

Fuck that overrated US... If I was an artist, i would never go to that country brrr..

[QUOTE] [b]MiracleTour1989 wrote:[/b]

Then that’s it. Most of America didn’t see the full set in all its majesty. And back then, it was on once and into the ether.

Too bad they hadn’t played the exact same show in Philadelphia. That would have brought on the US comeback.

But why mess with the perfection in London that day...[/QUOTE]

the only way to have a real impact in America would've been to play BOTH venues...and where would you fit them into the Philly "bill"?

Queen - to have the same impact would've needed the same "early Saturday Evening" TV slot in the US. time difference makes it impossible for any band to do BOTH teatime slots.

so, thinking it through:
18:40 - wembley
19:00 - depart wembley
20:00 - arrive Heathrow
20:30 - depart Heathrow
21:30 - arrive Phiily (local time)
22:00 - arrive JFK
earliest (onstage) would be approx 22:30

this would've (more or less) had Queen (at that time not exactly popular in the US) as US headliners. not possible.

the other alternative was to do a "Phill Collins" and depart much earlier, to appear @ Philly "lower down the bill" - maybe getting that teatime slot. Problem with this is, Queen would've missed that huge "Saturday Teatime" slot in their home country - and effectively not had the opportunity for maximum exposure and, by consequence - wouldn't have stolen the show.

I refer to my previous response.

When responding to a topic like this that requires first hand knowledge: it'd be HELPFUL for people to post their age before each response.

Hell. I wasn't around to throw an opinion around

I like MASTER MARATHON RUNNERS answer because it reinforces a suspicion I'd had.

Nobody of that era that I'd asked (over 17 years ago when my fandom was stronger) could ever tell me about seeing QUEEN STEAL THE SHOW from everybody else.

Didn't seem to happen that way in the states

/\ That's right Matt , I was 27 and watched for most of the day. I remember during Ga Ga, at a point when they momentarily switched back over to the stage, a fair portion of the Philly crowd did the regulation clap, but it lasted merely a minute before cutting back to the studio.
Now I am in the U.K. so they showed the Philly footage here, minutes AFTER their set had finished, but you got the idea of what was happening.

Queen also had a lot of bad press over playing Sun City, their live aid performance was seen as somewhat hypocritical at the time.

[QUOTE] [b]master marathon runner wrote:[/b]/\ That's right Matt , I was 27 and watched for most of the day. I remember during Ga Ga, at a point when they momentarily switched back over to the stage, a fair portion of the Philly crowd did the regulation clap, but it lasted merely a minute before cutting back to the studio.
Now I am in the U.K. so they showed the Philly footage here, minutes AFTER their set had finished, but you got the idea of what was happening.[/QUOTE]

I agree. I was 22, and in the UK. It was a hot sunny day here in Worcestershire, and we spent time going from our garden back to the TV as acts changed. Much of the early stuff just didn't work for me - so the suntan was topped up quite nicely that Saturday. By the time Queen arrived on stage, our garden was in shade, and we watched the evening stuff without interruption.

I personally, think there were TWO huge contributing factors to the "stole the show" idiom being coined.
¦ U2 and Dire Straits (good as they were - and onstage immediately before Queen) performed only two songs each - filling their 18 minute slots with long meandering tracks you'd usually hear during the (going to fetch a drink) mid-section of a two-hour gig
¦ Queen, on the other hand, were the first band that day to take the "Global Jukebox" tag literally: 6 hits in 18 minutes.

The idea that Queen stole the show, wasn't really heard until later that night, and it wasn't until Sunday's newspapers that Queen's performance was being discussed about in that way.
I think that Bob Geldof - as the organiser, and face of Live Aid actually contributed most to the "stole the show" tag when he said:

“They played the best, had the best sound, used their time to the full. They understood the idea exactly, that it was a global jukebox. They just went and smashed one hit after another. It was the perfect stage for Freddie.”