Queen
One of the bands left out of the previous week's discussions was Queen. I regard Queen about as highly as the Beatles. My personal introduction to Queen, was from the Bohemian Rhapsody scene Links to an external site. in the 1992 movie Wayne's World, and from their 1985 and 1986 live aid concerts. Specifically when Freddy Mercury (originally named: Farrokh Bulsara, born in Zanzibar) had complete control of the crowd for clapping in Radio Ga Ga, and then lead the crowd in an a capella vocal call and response: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bToG3hKX5nM&t=422s
Links to an external site. and basically stole the show, showing why they were one of the biggest stadium rock bands of all time.
But of course, they did not start in the 1980s. They formed in London in 1970. Freddy joined an already existing band called "Smile", with guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor. Long story short, the band had lost their lead singer and bassist, and they were replaced by Freddy and John Deacon, respectively.
The band was looking for a new name, and Freddy was the one who insisted on Queen. Their first album, Queen (1973) had songs that already felt stale to the band, and didn't do terrifically well. Queen II (1974) had a more lavish sound, and the follow up album Sheer Heart Attack (also 1974) produced what was the first real hit that still is recognizable today:
Killer Queen
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But it was the next album, A Night At the Opera (1975) that was the vehicle for the real Queen experience, where they really explored their musical versatility:
Lazing on a Sunday Afternoon
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And then, of course, their biggest hit, with theatre, rock, opera, and all sorts of other influences, all tied together with some brilliant musical transitions:
Bohemian Rhapsody
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Links to an external site.An Austrian brass group Mnozil Brass gained fame from their interpretation of this song (replete with a polka section!): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlHLMGaJ6tg
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Side-note - I ended up making a brass quintet arrangement based off of the Mnozil Brass version, we played it quite a few times, including at the opening of SBCC's commencement around 2015 or 2016. It was fun, but challenging. We had to play it early before chops got too tired, as there were a lot of high notes in the trumpets.
Follow on albums produced the following hits:
We Will Rock You
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(which became a bit of a sports anthem, and made an appearance in the 1980s sitcom Cheers): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvns30-6Lz0
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We Are the Champions
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The ridiculously peppy and upbeat Don't Stop Me Now
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The minimalist Another One Bites The Dust
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And finally (for this post), Under Pressure
Links to an external site., which also featured David Bowie.
This was later illegally copied for a hit called "Ice Ice Baby", by "rapper" Vanilla Ice. You can see his ridiculous justification that even he doesn't believe here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAA__AW3I1M
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Basically, Vanilla Ice's excuse was that they added an extra 8th note to the bass line.
Even with all that, I've edited the queen list down to a total of 8 songs. If I could, I would put about 15 in this list. As a music theory geek and a performing musician, when I listen to most songs, I usually have one or two things that I think "it's missing this" or "I'd change that" or "this could have been better", or "I just don't have the patience to listen to this otherwise good song all the way through". But for Queen, in my mind, all of their big hits were just perfect gems of songs, with a whole style or era encapsulated inside. This is a band that became the biggest in the world for a while, and influenced everybody who came up after.
Other songs to look at: You're My Best Friend, Somebody to Love, Fat Bottomed Girls, Bicycle Race, Sheer Heart Attack (early punk), Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Radio Ga Ga, I Want to Break Free (80's style), Hammer to Fall.