georg
Global Moderator 
wrote several books
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Post by georg on Mar 10, 2023 14:42:13 GMT
In my eternal quest to somehow magically transport back to the simpler, halcyon days of the '90s, I often stumble upon – or actively seek out – Queen sites that were pretty integral in shaping my appreciation and instilling a desire to learn more about the band. One of those sites was Jason's Trainspotter's Guide, which I found especially fascinating as it listed all the song versions that I never knew existed but made me want to find. Of course nowadays we can find those versions on YouTube or wherever, but back then, some of these versions were pretty difficult to obtain – especially for this then-teenager who lived in the suburbs of eastern Pennsylvania and essentially had to pretend that he didn't like Queen. (It was the 90s, and the stigma surrounding Freddie's life and death was still strong; I remember buying a cassette of Innuendo from a store on the Ocean City boardwalk and the guy behind the counter chuckled and said, "Ah, it's that f*g band.") Although Queen Vault would completely blow this site out of the water a few years later, Jason's Trainspotter's Guide had a wealth of information that you couldn't find anywhere else, and I seem to recall it being updated fairly regularly over a few years, but, as you can see from the main page, the site is still undergoing "heavy reconstruction", as of November 1999; I think it's safe to say it won't be updated in the near or distant future. But it's still a relic of the 90s, before social media and before instant gratification (I don't mean to sound like an old man yelling at clouds, because I too prefer to be instantly gratified), and I found something charming about reading through the site and thinking, "If only you knew what was coming..." or "Wow, that info was WAY off..." (I'm not faulting the guy, of course!) Anyone have any other Queen sites from the early days of the internet – or, for younger fans, the early days of your fandom – that you visited regularly that have now been out to pasture? Three others I can think of are Andy's Queen Page, Queen Heaven, and, of course, the first iteration of Queen's website, queen-fip.com. |
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Post by pimderks on Mar 10, 2023 14:44:28 GMT
I actually printed out the entire Trainspotter's Guide. Good times. I think queencollector.com was also a popular destination for me, as as Queen Picture Hall. Hard to believe that time is literally over half a lifetime ago for me now. Such a great time.
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Post by angusscrimm on Mar 10, 2023 20:26:51 GMT
I was just about to say Queencollector.com and Queen Picture Hall lol. Loved all of this stuff, circa '98 for me.
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Post by angusscrimm on Mar 10, 2023 20:27:51 GMT
Queenollector.com had a collecting hall of shame for all the really crap merch and knock-offs you could get. Some of it is gradually turning up for sale on certain markets....cringe!
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merplot
Dragonfly Trumpeter
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Post by merplot on Mar 10, 2023 22:57:38 GMT
Three others I can think of are Andy's Queen Page, Queen Heaven, and, of course, the first iteration of Queen's website, queen-fip.com. OMG-- I'm a new Queen fan and I had never seen that archived page before. Wow that is an excellent example of what passed for an official website in the mid-90s. What a trip. If I had been a fan at the time, 12 year-old me wouldve been all over that thing. I actually kind of miss when the Internet used to be a novelty rather than a necessity. |
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Post by Maxi Dries on Mar 15, 2023 14:01:31 GMT
Queen picture hall was a bible back then. As a teenager, I used to learn the lyrics from the app BIJOU. Also Arnold's site and Serry Funster. Lovely memories.
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billy
Dragonfly Trumpeter
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Post by billy on Mar 17, 2023 5:10:16 GMT
Anyone have any other Queen sites from the early days of the internet – or, for younger fans, the early days of your fandom – that you visited regularly that have now been out to pasture? Three others I can think of are Andy's Queen Page, Queen Heaven, and, of course, the first iteration of Queen's website, queen-fip.com. All great sites. I think it was Queen Heaven I’d check out weekly and hoped there would be a rarity posted I hadn’t heard before. Does anyone here remember the QMS or Queen Mail Service (I think that’s what it stood for)? It was a newsletter/email chain thing you could subscribe to and post to or something like that. I can’t even remember if it was a website or just the email chain. Was it run by the fan club? I didn’t post much (just like here I guess) but enjoyed reading all the reviews and news. |
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Sammy B. Willickers
Ploughman
"Blow it out your asshole!" - Freddie Mercury, 1985
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Post by Sammy B. Willickers on Mar 17, 2023 5:39:03 GMT
as you can see from the main page, the site is still undergoing "heavy reconstruction", as of November 1999; I think it's safe to say it won't be updated in the near or distant future. The man's just putting a lot of work on the website, give him another 24 years and it should be up  |
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Post by florians on Mar 17, 2023 13:43:40 GMT
Before Brian took the Domain brianmay.com this was used by som fans who run a site with tons of Brians Solo stuff to download, especially from the BTTL Tour.
Another Site I frequently visited was mercurysparadise.com which was run by a Dutch guy who was also on Queenzone.
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donovan
Dragonfly Trumpeter
Posts: 190
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Post by donovan on Mar 17, 2023 13:57:44 GMT
Does anyone here remember the QMS or Queen Mail Service (I think that’s what it stood for)? It was a newsletter/email chain thing you could subscribe to and post to or something like that. I can’t even remember if it was a website or just the email chain. Was it run by the fan club? I didn’t post much (just like here I guess) but enjoyed reading all the reviews and news. I was a QMS subscriber as well! Fond memories keeping up on all the discussions there. What a different time. |
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Golden Salmon
Wordles & Heardles 
Politician
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Post by Golden Salmon on Mar 17, 2023 19:14:23 GMT
One of those sites was Jason's Trainspotter's Guide, which I found especially fascinating as it listed all the song versions that I never knew existed but made me want to find. Of course nowadays we can find those versions on YouTube or wherever, but back then, some of these versions were pretty difficult to obtain – especially for this then-teenager who lived in the suburbs of eastern Pennsylvania and essentially had to pretend that he didn't like Queen. (It was the 90s, and the stigma surrounding Freddie's life and death was still strong; I remember buying a cassette of Innuendo from a store on the Ocean City boardwalk and the guy behind the counter chuckled and said, "Ah, it's that f*g band.") Wow, the memories! I read the whole thing and knew about all the versions, haha. It was pretty much my first guide in obtaining almost everything like 20 years ago. Then I did it again with Ultimate Queen and Queenvault. |
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fireplace
Dragonfly Trumpeter
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Post by fireplace on Mar 17, 2023 23:50:19 GMT
Anyone have any other Queen sites from the early days of the internet – or, for younger fans, the early days of your fandom – that you visited regularly that have now been out to pasture? Three others I can think of are Andy's Queen Page, Queen Heaven, and, of course, the first iteration of Queen's website, queen-fip.com. All great sites. I think it was Queen Heaven I’d check out weekly and hoped there would be a rarity posted I hadn’t heard before. Does anyone here remember the QMS or Queen Mail Service (I think that’s what it stood for)? It was a newsletter/email chain thing you could subscribe to and post to or something like that. I can’t even remember if it was a website or just the email chain. Was it run by the fan club? I didn’t post much (just like here I guess) but enjoyed reading all the reviews and news. I didn't have an internet connection back then, but a friend faithfully downloaded a digest every week on floppy for me. The wealth of knowledge about unreleased tracks and collaborations I'd never heard of before was pure treasure. Those were the days! |
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nico
Satyr
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Post by nico on Jul 7, 2023 22:20:57 GMT
Sebastian's 'Bechstein Debauchery' was the absolue best Queen website, ever.
He should actually write a book.
Of course he'd insist on calling Freddie "Frederick", which would be an issue for most readers.
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Post by agkelly on Jul 10, 2023 15:21:43 GMT
'Bijou' was a fantastic programme ('app' as it'd now be called). If I remember correctly, it included 'Rocks' but 'GH3' hadn't been released, which puts this thing at 1998.
I referenced it for YEARS afterwards.
I loved it.
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Post by funinspace81 on Jul 10, 2023 18:23:53 GMT
Anyone have any other Queen sites from the early days of the internet – or, for younger fans, the early days of your fandom – that you visited regularly that have now been out to pasture? Three others I can think of are Andy's Queen Page, Queen Heaven, and, of course, the first iteration of Queen's website, queen-fip.com. All great sites. I think it was Queen Heaven I’d check out weekly and hoped there would be a rarity posted I hadn’t heard before. Does anyone here remember the QMS or Queen Mail Service (I think that’s what it stood for)? It was a newsletter/email chain thing you could subscribe to and post to or something like that. I can’t even remember if it was a website or just the email chain. Was it run by the fan club? I didn’t post much (just like here I guess) but enjoyed reading all the reviews and news. Oh! Those days. Trancer's site never ceased to amaze me with the scans of the 7" japanese solo releases. It was beautiful to browse those pages with the starred background (actually a black screen with white dots). I've been a member of the QMS (ran by Sheri Hurt) since 1996. It had been actually created in 1991! My first trades were from contacts I made there, and the source of information was priceless! Then during the Queen Rocks / Another World / Electric Fire albums and tours, "Queen Heaven" ran by Gaz was *the* source and it included current pictures and it was updated daily, featuring fan reviews and set lists. Getting recordings of those shows was really a challenge compared to these days. You had to locate a taper, and then expect the recording to be shipped and delivered via snail mail. Audio cassettes and VHS's were the name of the game. Opening the mail and listening to those recordings had a charm that now is lost. These days it usually takes two clicks to download the recording and there is no "chasing game". While I prefer today's technology, the "magic" in finding the recording, trading it, expecting the mail and then enjoying it, was something really special that gave a value to the recordings that nowadays cannot be appreciated anymore. Lovely memories. |
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Arnaldo Ogre-
Dragonfly Trumpeter
Keep passing the open windows
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Post by Arnaldo Ogre- on Jul 10, 2023 19:46:01 GMT
Queen Heaven was just that. Queen Heaven. Does anybody know where is Gaz nowadays?
Cheers,
Ogre-
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georg
Global Moderator
wrote several books
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Post by georg on Jul 11, 2023 13:19:47 GMT
Ah, Queen Heaven. I spent HOURS there, absorbing all that info! It's funny, I was actually "on" QH yesterday and I fell into a wormhole of looking at the Fan Club daily website posts archives. It really does recall a simpler time, and I hate to get all "things were better in my day" (because it wasn't necessarily better, it was just a little more naive) but there was something special about the mid- to late 90s, when we were still trying to figure out what the hell to use the internet for. Thankfully social media came along and destroyed all that naivety 🙄 |
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georg
Global Moderator
wrote several books
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Post by georg on Jul 11, 2023 13:23:07 GMT
Oh, and I can't believe I forgot about alt.music.queen, which seems to now be a dumping ground for spam and William K. Mahler – which isn't much different from how it was in 1998, just that there was more discussion then! |
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pg
Queen Mab
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Post by pg on Jul 11, 2023 20:28:57 GMT
Is that where President weenie went? Wow..
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billy
Dragonfly Trumpeter
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Post by billy on Jul 11, 2023 22:15:08 GMT
Oh, and I can't believe I forgot about alt.music.queen, which seems to now be a dumping ground for spam and William K. Mahler – which isn't much different from how it was in 1998, just that there was more discussion then! I can’t believe that is still around - and active (I guess?). I recently read an article by the journalist who first wrote a story about the mashup of Dark Side of the Moon and the Wizard of Oz. I think he was an intern at the time and talked about reading about it on alt.music.pinkfloyd. It brought back memories of alt.music.queen but I never thought to see if it was still around. It definitely was a much simpler time online back then. And slower - so much slower. I’ll never forget the sound of my modem dialing up and logging in, though. |
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toon86
Satyr
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Post by toon86 on Jul 18, 2023 5:03:18 GMT
I met Gaz outside the Shepards Bush Empire just before Rogers 'Cyberbarn' gig. He gave me a single of Brian's picture disk, Why Don't We Try Again, number 7. He had a car painted as the cover of Another World. He also had the worst smokers cough I've ever heard. Hope he is well
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Post by alexlizzy on Aug 6, 2023 13:30:29 GMT
In my eternal quest to somehow magically transport back to the simpler, halcyon days of the '90s, I often stumble upon – or actively seek out – Queen sites that were pretty integral in shaping my appreciation and instilling a desire to learn more about the band. One of those sites was Jason's Trainspotter's Guide, which I found especially fascinating as it listed all the song versions that I never knew existed but made me want to find. Of course nowadays we can find those versions on YouTube or wherever, but back then, some of these versions were pretty difficult to obtain – especially for this then-teenager who lived in the suburbs of eastern Pennsylvania and essentially had to pretend that he didn't like Queen. (It was the 90s, and the stigma surrounding Freddie's life and death was still strong; I remember buying a cassette of Innuendo from a store on the Ocean City boardwalk and the guy behind the counter chuckled and said, "Ah, it's that f*g band.") Although Queen Vault would completely blow this site out of the water a few years later, Jason's Trainspotter's Guide had a wealth of information that you couldn't find anywhere else, and I seem to recall it being updated fairly regularly over a few years, but, as you can see from the main page, the site is still undergoing "heavy reconstruction", as of November 1999; I think it's safe to say it won't be updated in the near or distant future. But it's still a relic of the 90s, before social media and before instant gratification (I don't mean to sound like an old man yelling at clouds, because I too prefer to be instantly gratified), and I found something charming about reading through the site and thinking, "If only you knew what was coming..." or "Wow, that info was WAY off..." (I'm not faulting the guy, of course!) Anyone have any other Queen sites from the early days of the internet – or, for younger fans, the early days of your fandom – that you visited regularly that have now been out to pasture? Three others I can think of are Andy's Queen Page, Queen Heaven, and, of course, the first iteration of Queen's website, queen-fip.com. OMG the memories! For a young Queen fan Jason's guide was such a treasure! |
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