Freddie's Sources of Inspiration

So we all know of Freddie's love of old black n white movies. I'm wondering if some of the music used for those old-time movies inspired his own song-writing. The 1910 [b]Wizard of Oz[/b] movie has a section of "added incidental piano music" adapted from [b]Paul Tietjens's music of the 1902 stage play.[/b] There's one 30-second part (below) that has some similarities to Freddie's [b]Millionaire Waltz[/b]. As this music has only recently been adapted to the 3-disc DVD boxset, I'm wondering if it's possible that: a] Freddie ever heard this piece of music, or b] Freddie ever saw a later production of the stage play (with this musical arrangement)? relevant part: 11:20 - 11:50

[QUOTE] [b]QE2. wrote:[/b]Brenski For someone who is homophobic towards Freddie you are a laugh on this thread and this thread is doomed from the start.
The things people on here will do to get popular tut tut.[/QUOTE]

WTF? on every count.

I'll answer the question:

No it's probably not the inspiration. Freddie was a great lover of Chopin, who was the most famous composer of Waltzes for the piano. True, he wasn't the most famous composer of Waltzes period, that was Johannes Strauss. Freddie was aware of all that music, and he was aware of all sorts of cabaret and theatrical styles, and so to him it was probably very natural to compose a waltz.

By the way, you gotta love that bass line on Millionaire Waltz.

Pretty much all silent movies had a piano soundtrack to which this sounds very typical. If you close your eyes and concentrate hard enough you can hear millionaire waltz in most of it.

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

Pretty much all silent movies had a piano soundtrack to which this sounds very typical. If you close your eyes and concentrate hard enough you can hear millionaire waltz in most of it.[/QUOTE]

thank you

Every release of this would have had different music, it's unlikely Freddie would have heard this particular print of the movie.

Edit: Rereading the op I realise that this isn't actually what you asked.

[QUOTE] [b]emrabt wrote:[/b]

Every release of this would have had different music, it's unlikely Freddie would have heard this particular print of the movie.

Edit: Rereading the op I realise that this isn't actually what you asked.[/QUOTE]

no, of course. but it is likely he could've been aware of the music or a later "WoO" theatre production using that pice of music music?

[QUOTE] [b]QE2. wrote:[/b]

Of course Brenski would know cos his always right - amen.[/QUOTE]

firstly, the thread is a question. so there is no "knowing" anything - and i've never implied as much. even a numbskull should understand what "likely" means. my "likely" was based on Freddie's love of old black and white movies and old-time theatre/music. - ie there maybe a chance he heard this tune.
if you even knew a scrap of info about your idol you'd understand that much. where do you think songs like:
Seaside Rendezvous
Lazing On A Sunday Afternoon
Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy
Bring Back That Leroy Brown
Millionaire Waltz

came from?

your first response to this thread was to to pronounce it "doomed". now a couple of people have actually agreed with me, you ramp it up.
you're just determined to destroy any thread you don't like.

why can't you just contribute, instead of doing this?

These bold songs, reminiscent more of psychedelia than of old days, are some of the most progressive moments in Queen music.
Frederick wasn't a gay phantom of the opera recycling "old black and white movies and old-time theatre/music" themes, he was a genius ahead of his time.
That's why mentioning an obscure (and highly generic) film score from 1910 as the possible source of inspiration is particular dumb and diminishing.

[QUOTE] [b]aristide1 wrote:[/b]

These bold songs, reminiscent more of psychedelia than of old days, are some of the most progressive moments in Queen music.
Frederick wasn't a gay phantom of the opera recycling "old black and white movies and old-time theatre/music" themes, he was a genius ahead of his time.
That's why mentioning an obscure (and highly generic) film score from 1910 as the possible source of inspiration is particular dumb and diminishing.[/QUOTE]

If you're going to be a smartarse it helps to be more smart than arse.

There's very little one might call psychedelic in any of those songs. They're based more firmly in nostalgia for music hall and Noel Coward, filtered no doubt through Fred's public school experiences (and to a lesser extent through Brian's love for jazz and skiffle).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLRwL1hOJqQ

Try harder.

[QUOTE] [b]QE2. wrote:[/b]Brenski I do contribute to all the threads on here until you in all your glory disapprove of my opinions..[/QUOTE]

no. your first reply in this thread was to declare it doomed. that's not contributing.
prove you contribute. listing to the piano track in the top post - it's nicely cued up at the relevant part.

tell me whether you can hear similarities (not identical) just similarities in Millionaire Waltz

Definitely strong similarities and movement around 11.30.

I could see it as plausible Freddie picking up ideas from something like this more than from sitting through an entire classical concert or opera.

[QUOTE] [b]red** wrote:[/b]Yes i can hear hints of Freddie in that clip, and he was the only one in Queen who would have thought of something like that in the band. [/QUOTE]

not really. you're discounting Brian's "Good Company" and "See What A Fool I've Been", Roger's punk influenced "Sheer Heart Attack" and Deacy's Nile Rogers "AOBTD". Everyone is influenced by something else, everything comes from somewhere else. Go dig out those McCartney quotes about how the Beach Boys "Pet Sounds" influenced the Beatles.

while we're on it, Freddie wasn't the first to go all vaudeville/music hall, Brian wasn't the first to go country, and Queen weren't the first heavy rock band to do dance/funk/soul.
listening to Sgt Pepper and The White Album and the Freddie/Brian "musical divergences" boxes are ticked already.

The dance/funk/soul thing, well, you'll be surprised who beat Queen to it: Zep, Beatles, Purple, Eagles, Doobie Bros, ELO, 10cc - even f**king Kiss! I suppose the point i'm making is that almost nothing is pioneering or original, it's just "more of the same" and the key is how you make your "more of the same" stand out from the others.
Diverting a little - been having a discussion about the Killers the other day, and a friend said "yeah, their influences are 80s electronica and new wave", but i countered that i'm sure i'd heard a song from the 70s that was very Killers. going to try dig it out.

back on topic:
thank you for joining in the discussion properly. it's a shame you didn't just listen to it from the off - instead of the negatives. you'd have maybe gained more from including yourself in something positive.
personally, i discovered that arrangement by accident. it was nothing to do with Queen, just someone talking about old movies etc. - and wasn't remotely interested in playing it, and after hearing 3 or 4 minutes i was feeling a bit "huh, so what?" and started fast-forwarding, a few clicks later and the player stopped on 11 mins...then i heard that part and couldn't believe what i was hearing.

it's nice after all these years to "discover" something "new" with even the remotest of Queen "links". i then shared it for those who'd never heard it before...seems like most!