Hot Space was the down fall of Queen everywhere, it sucks!
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the real question is who gives a fuck?
I mean as Roger put it "we were too busy to notice" touring south africa, new zealand, south america, japan & europe more than made up for it.
I mean as Roger put it "we were too busy to notice" touring south africa, new zealand, south america, japan & europe more than made up for it.
Well, i'd have to say that the album and the sudden change in the Bands' look certainly made a impact, but there were many other things that culmiated to the sad end of Queen's original reign here in the States.
Hot Space was ahead of it's time in a way ( Brian comments on this himself many times)...i mean, look at what MJ's 'Thriller" did a mere year later. Unfortunatley, i think the Band were very dissconnected to each other and they lost a bit of their focus on what they were supposed to be doing. Munich was not a very good place to seriously work and not become caught up in distractions. There was some serious partying going on back in that era, and there was also a lot a stress and tension within the band..almost to a breaking point. You can see it in the images from that time and you can hear it plain as day in the music. They were not entirely happy, and after living in each others pockets for 10 years they needed some time away from each other. This was very obviouis to those who saw the 82' Hot Space Tour here in the US.
When Hot Space was a bust, they took it hard and decided to try out some new territory where they were enjoying phenominal success in areas that had recently opened up to them in popularity ( South America, etc.). It was decided to go where they seemed to be 'wanted". When the time came to decided where to tour, the Band often looked at the sales results of the previous album as a guide. Since Hot Space was a utter flop on US shores, they did'nt bother coming back for The Works Tour. It also has been said that Freddie's ego had to be appeased, and did not want to go back and Tour anyplace where they would be "smaller" then before ( smaller venues instead of huge top bill arenas here). So they waited.
The Works came out and the Band hoped that the harder rock edge would help boost there sagging popularity here. Radio stations were starting to play the new hot single 'Radio Ga Ga" but then the big Capitol Records "payola" scandal hit the news. For those who do not know, this story broke just as 'Ga Ga" was starting to chart. The scandal was that Captiol Records was involved in the old practice of paying off DJ's and Video stations to constantly plug there songs/records to the hopes of hyping something into a hit. It's been going on for ages in the music industry..nothing new really...but it made national headlines and radio staions here starting dropped all Captiol issued singles from their playlists. Guess which record was also dumped? Yep..you guessed it..."Ga Ga" and the album it was off from.
Here in MA i heard "Ga Ga" a lot of times on the radio...but then again this is Boston and we have always has huge Queen airplay here. Even when the payola scandal broke, local stations kept cranking it out. MTV played the video a lot too as previously noted.
If this was'nt enough, in later years the problems regarding a PR fellow being too bossy and mean to radio people and other press folk came to light.
So all of these unfortunate things happened all at once and Queen were caught in the crossfire. They honestly felt the US had no further interest in them, so turned thier sights to other horizons.
Hot Space is a lousy album, and i used to hate it with a deep passion simply because of what it came to represent from a US Fans' perspective ( the total destruction of Queen's mighty reign here). Now however i listen to the album with wiser ears and it's not as bad as many make it out to be. I enjoy quite a few songs a lot actually....but i draw the line with "Staying Power"
Argh! The very sound of those dreadful horns makes me cringe!
Hot Space was ahead of it's time in a way ( Brian comments on this himself many times)...i mean, look at what MJ's 'Thriller" did a mere year later. Unfortunatley, i think the Band were very dissconnected to each other and they lost a bit of their focus on what they were supposed to be doing. Munich was not a very good place to seriously work and not become caught up in distractions. There was some serious partying going on back in that era, and there was also a lot a stress and tension within the band..almost to a breaking point. You can see it in the images from that time and you can hear it plain as day in the music. They were not entirely happy, and after living in each others pockets for 10 years they needed some time away from each other. This was very obviouis to those who saw the 82' Hot Space Tour here in the US.
When Hot Space was a bust, they took it hard and decided to try out some new territory where they were enjoying phenominal success in areas that had recently opened up to them in popularity ( South America, etc.). It was decided to go where they seemed to be 'wanted". When the time came to decided where to tour, the Band often looked at the sales results of the previous album as a guide. Since Hot Space was a utter flop on US shores, they did'nt bother coming back for The Works Tour. It also has been said that Freddie's ego had to be appeased, and did not want to go back and Tour anyplace where they would be "smaller" then before ( smaller venues instead of huge top bill arenas here). So they waited.
The Works came out and the Band hoped that the harder rock edge would help boost there sagging popularity here. Radio stations were starting to play the new hot single 'Radio Ga Ga" but then the big Capitol Records "payola" scandal hit the news. For those who do not know, this story broke just as 'Ga Ga" was starting to chart. The scandal was that Captiol Records was involved in the old practice of paying off DJ's and Video stations to constantly plug there songs/records to the hopes of hyping something into a hit. It's been going on for ages in the music industry..nothing new really...but it made national headlines and radio staions here starting dropped all Captiol issued singles from their playlists. Guess which record was also dumped? Yep..you guessed it..."Ga Ga" and the album it was off from.
Here in MA i heard "Ga Ga" a lot of times on the radio...but then again this is Boston and we have always has huge Queen airplay here. Even when the payola scandal broke, local stations kept cranking it out. MTV played the video a lot too as previously noted.
If this was'nt enough, in later years the problems regarding a PR fellow being too bossy and mean to radio people and other press folk came to light.
So all of these unfortunate things happened all at once and Queen were caught in the crossfire. They honestly felt the US had no further interest in them, so turned thier sights to other horizons.
Hot Space is a lousy album, and i used to hate it with a deep passion simply because of what it came to represent from a US Fans' perspective ( the total destruction of Queen's mighty reign here). Now however i listen to the album with wiser ears and it's not as bad as many make it out to be. I enjoy quite a few songs a lot actually....but i draw the line with "Staying Power"
Argh! The very sound of those dreadful horns makes me cringe!
I totally forgot about the payola thing thanks for the reminder .Your right Freddie didn't want to come back to the states and work, why play small venues when you could do Europe and South America and pull in 70 to 80 thousand a night. He did say he hated the American tours because they were so long. Besides Under Pressure the band has said they would never play anything off Hot Space live again .This really was a turning point in their carrier .This album really did a number on the band.
well it couldnt of been the mustache...because i recall alot of men in the 80's having mustaches gay or straight
Face it, Freddie's moustache was pure evil.
anybody who thinks a silly mustache has anything to do with queens downfall in the states is an ass. Anyone who was around in the early eighties knows that you were either a rock or disco fan, no in betweens. When queen put out hot space their rock fans felt betrayed, and felt queen sold out. Their not the only band in history to release a hated album, judas priests "turbo" album had the same effect on that band. anytime a bit time band changes their direction they run that risk. so people stop with this stupid mustache thing!....Since when do only gay men have mustaches? I remember straight men from that era who had thicker mustaches then freddie, "burt reynolds" is an example of this.
Well, thank you for calling me an ass. It really made my day. But wait... I couldn't care less!
Also, remember that Hot Space was recorded during the time Freddie and Michael Jackson had a brief friendship. MJ has often commented that Hot Space was an enormous influence on his Thriller. Odd that Queen's bomb would influence the best selling album in the world.........
that's another thing that bugs me, when people say how queens HS was a huge influence on MJ. I never heard michael say anything about hot space, just because brian says something doesn't make it true. Once and for all, stop with this stupid moustache thing!... the only thing that hurt queen was their musical direction. yes, I'm old enough to remember 1982 quit well, and i also remember queen fans telling each other not buy this disco crap. It's a shame because when I listen to hot space with adult ears, it's actually a pretty good album.
I still believe that all moustaches are evil. Pure evil.
[QUOTE][QUOTENAME]mike hunt wrote: [/QUOTENAME]that's another thing that bugs me, when people say how queens HS was a huge influence on MJ. I never heard michael say anything about hot space, just because brian says something doesn't make it true.[/QUOTE]
Sorry that you had never read about MJ giving Hot Space it's rightful props, but 'tis true. I've read interviews with the wackophile, where he discusses how it influenced Thriller. That makes it true! :) Also, remember MJ was recording with Freddie at the time, and was in the audience for Queen's last US gig of the 20th century, in LA.
Sorry that you had never read about MJ giving Hot Space it's rightful props, but 'tis true. I've read interviews with the wackophile, where he discusses how it influenced Thriller. That makes it true! :) Also, remember MJ was recording with Freddie at the time, and was in the audience for Queen's last US gig of the 20th century, in LA.
Michael Jackson was also the one who told Queen to put Another One Bites The Dust out as a single .
My recollections of 1982 (I think the album came out in May, shortly before school let out) Rock magazines were making reference to the new album "having a different sound". Most critcs and magazines slammed the album hard. Most of the previous posts are correct-is is probably a combination of everything already said that caused the album to bomb (bad timing for a dance oriented sounding album, Freddie's change of appearance while America was more homophobic than we are now) and probably the one thing that I don't think anyone has mentioned-backlash against a band enjoying a popular run. It happens to EVERY band that is doing well for a while. I am not saying any of it was right or fair, but being the old fart that I am, I saw it happen. Consequently, the tour was not doing as well as the band hoped (Billy Squier was opening I think). Like many fans though, I like album more now than I did at the time. (My guilty little pleasure? Calling are Girls-I make no apologies!)
Poor moustache...
I love that moustache.
It was a REAL moustace. Not some sissy one like whatever that twerp Orlando Bloom had... Ew... I wrote Orlando Bloom... Twice... I must go wash my hands.
I love that moustache.
It was a REAL moustace. Not some sissy one like whatever that twerp Orlando Bloom had... Ew... I wrote Orlando Bloom... Twice... I must go wash my hands.