Well.....
The whole "I Want to Break Free" video kinda lost a lot of veiwers on MTV or VH1 or whatever and people just weren't interested anymore. People thought they were really weird and didn't want anything to do with them.
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First, I don't think VH1 even existed in 1984. Second, MTV was only 3 years old, and had nowhere near the viewership it has today. Cable TV was still a relatively new thing. Third, if people thought Queen was weird at that point, what the hell did think about Culture Club?
That video is an excuse made by QP that we all like to believe. But the fact is that Queen's popularity was changing in the 80s, especially as American musical interests changed, and the band chose not tour here. Maybe it would have been too much work for them, but that was their decision.
That video is an excuse made by QP that we all like to believe. But the fact is that Queen's popularity was changing in the 80s, especially as American musical interests changed, and the band chose not tour here. Maybe it would have been too much work for them, but that was their decision.
Hey JohnC, you keep refering to us as "the Americans." Well, before you judge all of us "Americans" you need to know that THIS "American" has been following the band since '77 and THIS "American" understood the humor of Queen and what they were all about. Even as a 13 year old kid I understood what they were all about. When Hot Space came out, yeah, this "American" was a little disappointed, but I knew that what they were doing at the time was a total experiment with their music. I never dismissed them. The bible belt here in this country could be a factor in their loss of sales but their shows still sold out. They could have continued to hit it big again after Hot Space but Jim Beach was quoted as saying that they didn't want to have to work at having to build up their image again. Especially without a hit single. The hit ingle never came, therefore neither did the tours.
also this is to Zino and all the other posts too:
I agree Queen's attitude whether based on their hurt at USA treatment was a copout and throwing in the towel.
Also, where did you read Jim Beach stating Queen didn't want to build up their image again in the USA?
Did you all read my forum I did about a wek back about Queen promoting/boosting their image, releasing box sets, reissuesm etc?
And yes I agree Culture Club was way.....off kilter in the "Different" image department for MTV than Queen, yet the Bible Belt didn't raise any eyebrows about Boy George emerging from the water in a man's Bath House in "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me", yet MTV and the Bible Belt popped a cork at "Body Language' and "I Want To Break Free".
Also if Queen had ridden out the backlash scapegoating of the minority idiots here in the USA, they would have quickly come off as tame, once Rap with Tupac and Ice-T started singing about beating up on women and killing cops.
How's that for hypocrasy. MTV banned Queen for a little risque humor, but plays that Rap crap that promotes mysogeny against women, violence, killing police and so many cuss words eberything has to be bleeped.
An idea, Queen could have toured other markets for...a few years...waited for the times to change a little and the smoke to clear in the USA...then...comeback to tour in the USA aroung the time their prominence hit WAY BIG with Live Aid whcih when broadcast here in the USA....
....the iron was hot and the USA market was aware of them once again, their talent, their hits,--Live Aid was a Fantastic International Promotional Boost to established fans,.....and New fans that were made aware of Queen and were turned on to their music.
That was the time to establish a BIG TIME strategy to re-capture the USA market and tour here, promote "A Kind Of Magic" their hits, and make their mark/comeback in the USA.
Hey JohnC, you keep refering to us as "the Americans." Well, before you judge all of us "Americans" you need to know that THIS "American" has been following the band since '77 and THIS "American" understood the humor of Queen and what they were all about. Even as a 13 year old kid I understood what they were all about. When Hot Space came out, yeah, this "American" was a little disappointed, but I knew that what they were doing at the time was a total experiment with their music. I never dismissed them. The bible belt here in this country could be a factor in their loss of sales but their shows still sold out. They could have continued to hit it big again after Hot Space but Jim Beach was quoted as saying that they didn't want to have to work at having to build up their image again. Especially without a hit single. The hit ingle never came, therefore neither did the tours.
--also this is to Zino and all the other posts too:--
I agree Queen's attitude whether based on their hurt at USA treatment was a copout and throwing in the towel.
Also, where did you read Jim Beach stating Queen didn't want to build up their image again in the USA?
Did you all read my forum I did about a wek back about Queen promoting/boosting their image, releasing box sets, reissuesm etc?
And yes I agree Culture Club was way.....off kilter in the "Different" image department for MTV than Queen, yet the Bible Belt didn't raise any eyebrows about Boy George emerging from the water in a man's Bath House in "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me", yet MTV and the Bible Belt popped a cork at "Body Language' and "I Want To Break Free".
Also if Queen had ridden out the backlash scapegoating of the minority idiots here in the USA, they would have quickly come off as tame, once Rap with Tupac and Ice-T started singing about beating up on women and killing cops.
How's that for hypocrasy. MTV banned Queen for a little risque humor, but plays that Rap crap that promotes mysogeny against women, violence, killing police and so many cuss words eberything has to be bleeped.
An idea, Queen could have toured other markets for...a few years...waited for the times to change a little and the smoke to clear in the USA...then...comeback to tour in the USA around the time their prominence hit WAY BIG with Live Aid which when broadcast here in the USA....
....they should have stiked the iron when it was hot and the USA market was aware of them once again, their talent, their hits,--Live Aid was a Fantastic International Promotional Boost to established fans,.....and New fans that were made aware of Queen and were turned on to their music.
That was the time to establish a BIG TIME strategy to re-capture the USA market and tour here, promote "A Kind Of Magic" their hits, and make their mark/comeback in the USA.
sorry Zeni that i misspelled your name--I am a LOUSY typist, really, I may be a journalist but my typos made the Whiteout company millionaires when typewriters were big, before computers were around!!
Also sorry I must have accidentally hit the send button twice on that last post of mine.....
Anyways....As I was saying, Right after Live Aid was the Pinnacle/Perfect Timing for Queen to say...
....this is our moment...we just got enough free promotion and publicity in the USA from Live Aid to jumpstart things again...Maybe the public consciousnes, tastes have changed and their feelings about us from the "I Want To Break Free"/"Body Language"/ "Hot Space" era have cooled off and the USA public has better things to think about now.
Let's get a NEW strategy, hit USA radio with everything we've got with a Killer single that's still great, has integrity, but rocks..like say..."One Vision",....especially since it's
IN the Current film release of "Iron Eagle".
Let's have Jim Beach talk to USA radio programmers like KROQ in L.A., etc. and get this ball rolling.
Then maybe we can tour the BIG stadiums in the USA and do the magic tour with lots of hits for NEW and edstablished fans.
Let's do selected...but HIGH PROFILE Major TV appearances (which often do more than radio airplay & tours together) on shows like Saturday Night Live (again), Friday Night Videos (on NBC),
The Today Show, etc. etc. etc.
And conquer America...that's what Queen should have thought and said and done.
(Think about it, that's what has kept U2 top DOG in the USA for 3 decades. They do High Profile TV appearances, hell they just did the free concert in Brooklyn, NY (which was also GREAT PR because it was a nice thing of them to be a band...for and about the fans and of the people so to speak, to play a free, intimate show in a blue collar area of the USA)--
------which Queen should have done to do some much needed damage control/good PR of that nature too to repair their image here.-------
The USA public LOVE that sort of thing from a BIG name artist. Like U2 they should have....shmoozed and charmed the USA public which would have been great damage control/PR.
Also sorry I must have accidentally hit the send button twice on that last post of mine.....
Anyways....As I was saying, Right after Live Aid was the Pinnacle/Perfect Timing for Queen to say...
....this is our moment...we just got enough free promotion and publicity in the USA from Live Aid to jumpstart things again...Maybe the public consciousnes, tastes have changed and their feelings about us from the "I Want To Break Free"/"Body Language"/ "Hot Space" era have cooled off and the USA public has better things to think about now.
Let's get a NEW strategy, hit USA radio with everything we've got with a Killer single that's still great, has integrity, but rocks..like say..."One Vision",....especially since it's
IN the Current film release of "Iron Eagle".
Let's have Jim Beach talk to USA radio programmers like KROQ in L.A., etc. and get this ball rolling.
Then maybe we can tour the BIG stadiums in the USA and do the magic tour with lots of hits for NEW and edstablished fans.
Let's do selected...but HIGH PROFILE Major TV appearances (which often do more than radio airplay & tours together) on shows like Saturday Night Live (again), Friday Night Videos (on NBC),
The Today Show, etc. etc. etc.
And conquer America...that's what Queen should have thought and said and done.
(Think about it, that's what has kept U2 top DOG in the USA for 3 decades. They do High Profile TV appearances, hell they just did the free concert in Brooklyn, NY (which was also GREAT PR because it was a nice thing of them to be a band...for and about the fans and of the people so to speak, to play a free, intimate show in a blue collar area of the USA)--
------which Queen should have done to do some much needed damage control/good PR of that nature too to repair their image here.-------
The USA public LOVE that sort of thing from a BIG name artist. Like U2 they should have....shmoozed and charmed the USA public which would have been great damage control/PR.
Hey JohnC, you keep refering to us as "the Americans.
Hey Nino, I don't judge the Americans, but you have to aknowledge that the American people are sometime hypocrite. They pledge for the family, no violence, and on the other some of them cheat their wife and are for George Bush Imperalism all over the world. I'm also an American, I'm from Quebec, Canada and like you I'm from Italian descent. And you have to say that the Americans of the US are sometime hard to follow.
How's that for hypocrasy. MTV banned Queen for a little risque humor, but plays that Rap crap that promotes mysogeny against women, violence, killing police and so many cuss words eberything has to be bleeped.
I totally agree on that one Arlene. That proves the hypocrasy of the US.
How's that for hypocrasy. MTV banned Queen for a little risque humor, but plays that Rap crap that promotes mysogeny against women, violence, killing police and so many cuss words everything has to be bleeped.
I totally agree on that one Arlene. That proves the hypocrasy of the US.
Nino did not write that. That's my quote....I guess I got so worked up about this topic and I've posted so much I'm confusing you guys...Chuckle.
You ever see the movie called "Network" that's all about Hypocrasy in the media. Remember what actor Peter Finch says "Go to your windows and yell at the top of your lungs! I'm Mad As Hell And I'm Not Gonna Take It Anymore!"
Well that's me with this topic. It's just so bleeping frustrating. I'm infuriated at the small mindedness and hypocrasy of my own USA brethern and media, but I'm equally frustrated with Queen for not taking the USA to task and as Judas Priest would say, coming back here and "Screaming With A Vengence" and as I said not getting mad, not getting even, but Getting Everything.
Best way to beat idiots at their own game is to come back and show em' all. Queen should have tried to restrategize and rock this town, beat the idiots nack into their own place....
like the words to "We Will Rock You"....ya know! Queen needed to follow the message of their own song, which is about fighting back, having faith....or what about the words to....."Hero". Listen to all of the words to "Hero", if Queen had followed their hearts to those very words, they would have ruled America.
I think it would be great if Queen would come back to the states. They have so many loyal fans here, me included. I understand that they feel hurt by what MTV and the uneduacated so called press said, but guys: We Aren't All Bad!! MTV didn't promote anything during the 80's except CRAP, oopps, I meant RAP and the violence towards women and society! I'm looking forward to seeing Queen when and if they decide to come to the states!
JohnC is absolutely correct!!! We are hard to follow, we are hypocrites. But I try not to subscribe to that way of thinking. I grew up listening to Britsh rock and Monty Python, Benny Hill etc. So I totally get the humor and understand to a certain extent what the rest of this country doesn't get. When they came out with the "Break Free" video, I thought it was hilarious. Everyone else thought it was distasteful. The same with the Body Language video. People said it was too racy for MTV. If that video came out today it would be welcomed with open arms. But where would they slate it? MTV is too busy putting stupid reality tv shows on the air and I never see any videos anymore. I think Queen were too far ahead of their time for the USA. We never caught up to them in the 80's. Not until Freddie's passing did the States re-discover Queen then all of a sudden their records are selling again and their considered brilliant. But those of us that are the loyal fans over here knew it all along. Talk about fickle huh?
on this topic of popularity : keep in mind
it's all relative. for example the top group of 1975 was The Captain and Tennile.
do you think they would do giganticly well
if they were to tour today?
in 1984 the big deals were Michael Jackson,
Springsteen , Madonna etc.
The number 1 album in the U.S.A. right now
is by some fellow called 50 cent.
Trends is what it's all about .[anybody
heard from The New Kids On The Block lately
?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?........
it's all relative. for example the top group of 1975 was The Captain and Tennile.
do you think they would do giganticly well
if they were to tour today?
in 1984 the big deals were Michael Jackson,
Springsteen , Madonna etc.
The number 1 album in the U.S.A. right now
is by some fellow called 50 cent.
Trends is what it's all about .[anybody
heard from The New Kids On The Block lately
?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?........
I read in a Brian May interview they are considering doing a north america tour in 06...
I really don't know.The 70's concerts I saw were awesome.And both were in the South.Most of my friends that went just saw it as a great show.I guess for 2 or 3 hours we forgot how bigoted backward,puritanical, homophobic etc etc we were supposed to be and just enjoyed a great rock show.
Queen came to Maryland USA where I live at least 3 times, once even to Baltimore City at our Civic Center in 1980 (and no offense to Baltimore especially, I've lived here all of my life), but we have a reputation as banjo pickin' Deliverance Natty Bo Beer drinkin' white trash blue collar, steel town....get the idea....kings of narrowmindedness, bigotry....
but Queen were a HIT here and kept coming back in the 70's up to 1980. Then again Baltimore and Maryland....like the rest of the USA, does have ...open minded arts loving citizens like I've also said about the whole USA who adore great music and spawn great music.
Queen played in Maryland at Baltimore's Civic Center, the now demolished Capital Center in Landover (where I saw Clapton, Genesis, & Prince),
and at get this, our big College here, College Park's Cole Field House.
The Beatles, B.B. King, Yo Yo Ma, everybody plays or has played Baltimore and or somewhere in Maryland, and some of the great jazz artists like Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway, Eubie Blake even new pop stars like Toni Braxton, are from here.
Queen & Paul Rodgers should play either my beloved Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland where everybody from Tina Turner to Phil Collins, to Sting to --(Paul Rodgers & His Tribute To Muddy Waters who I personally saw July 1993 and he TORE THE ROOF OFF THE HOUSE!!)--have played,--
and or play at our NEW nearby humongous MCI Center in nearby Washington DC where U2 will be touring and playing this Fall 2005.
but Queen were a HIT here and kept coming back in the 70's up to 1980. Then again Baltimore and Maryland....like the rest of the USA, does have ...open minded arts loving citizens like I've also said about the whole USA who adore great music and spawn great music.
Queen played in Maryland at Baltimore's Civic Center, the now demolished Capital Center in Landover (where I saw Clapton, Genesis, & Prince),
and at get this, our big College here, College Park's Cole Field House.
The Beatles, B.B. King, Yo Yo Ma, everybody plays or has played Baltimore and or somewhere in Maryland, and some of the great jazz artists like Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway, Eubie Blake even new pop stars like Toni Braxton, are from here.
Queen & Paul Rodgers should play either my beloved Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland where everybody from Tina Turner to Phil Collins, to Sting to --(Paul Rodgers & His Tribute To Muddy Waters who I personally saw July 1993 and he TORE THE ROOF OFF THE HOUSE!!)--have played,--
and or play at our NEW nearby humongous MCI Center in nearby Washington DC where U2 will be touring and playing this Fall 2005.
What the hell you talkin about the MCI center being "humongous" and "new"?? The MCI center is 10 years old now and only seats like 20,000.......So wrong on both accounts, and before you comeback with anything I live in Northern Virginia right outside DC and have been to many events there so I think I know......You seem to be obsessed with Queen coming here to tour.....Yeah I would have loved if the band came here after 82 but only to see the "ORIGINAL" lineup not this latest incarnation of Queen....I don't hold nothing against them for not touring here anymore after 82 because honestly to be blunt with you they changed there musical direction so much that they weren't expecting the backlash to happen to them like it did here and instead of fighting back and doing something about it they just went on playing on there side of the world where people would come see them no matter how much they changed or what they did. It don't work that way here, you actually have to "work" to make it and constantly prove yourself not just go by your past hits and live off your good name just to put ass's in the seats......There have been plenty of bands who changed there musical direction here and then suffered the same fate Queen did.....the only exception I can think to this is Metallica....face it the US likes its bands to stay the same and to maintain the same image.....I'm not saying this is right or wrong but Queen changed way too much to maintain there popularity here and instead of doing something about it they just gave up.........Later