Queen's next album, News Of
The World (1977), was another winner, selling over 7 million copies around the world.
It contained the big hit We
Are The Champions, another personal song for Freddie, offering an insight on
his spiritual progress thus far. The first verse goes:
I've paid my dues
Time after time
I've done my sentence
But committed no crime
And bad mistakes
I've made a few
I've had my share of sand
Kicked in my face
But I've come through
Especially the line
"I've done my sentence, But committed no crime." is eloquent enough.
Gay love is certainly no crime. Unfortunately, so many consider it so. But they
are the losers. We are the Champions.
The video:
Their next album, Jazz (1978),
received mixed reviews but still
managed to sell over 5 million copies. That was their last album for the 70s..
Queen entered the 80s in a spectacular fashion:
"The Game" became their most successful album till then, selling 4m+
copies in the US alone.
The album contained Play The Game, a hit single. The
song was inspired by a guy named Tony, for whom Freddie once flew out to NY,
just to give him a Cartier watch as a love gift.
video:
In 1984 Queen released the single I Want To Break Free,
a big hit everywhere except for the US. The reason for that was the video. In
it, the group were dressed as heroines of a fictional soap opera. Freddie wore
a wig and a mini skirt, which he combined with his thick moustache. There were
also dancers in a sexy choreography. The video was banned on MTV and other
stations. In fact, many believe that it stopped Queen from becoming in the US
the megastars that they were in England, because many people labelled them as
gay or trans after watching this video.
video:
In 1991, Queen recorded the last album with Freddie,
before he died of AIDS-related causes. The song I'm Going Slightly Mad, initially
appears to be a fun song, but we soon discover that it has a darker hue. It's
Freddie's struggle with AIDS. His heavy makeup in the video helped conceal the
fact that at this point he was really ill.
video:
Tomorrow we'll deal with Freddie's solo career.
It may not be politically correct but I love Fat Bottomed Girls from Jazz. I also find it hard to believe Queen didn't get into legal hot water with the blatant Good Times riff they appropriated for Another One Bites The Dust. The band pretty much faded from my radar after The Game with a few songs popping up here and there to remind me they were still around.
ReplyDeleteThe fact is, the went strong around the world all through the 80s, but somehow America lost interest in them. Could it have been the gay angle?
DeleteMost probably. We were in the thick of the AIDS crisis and all things gay were tainted. For me though, I just wasn't loving on the music like I did in the 70s.
DeleteI too prefer their 70s output, RM.
Delete