"Spotlight on Queen" - from Belgian magazine, May-June 1978
Apr 7, 2023 7:03:32 GMT
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Post by fabiogminero on Apr 7, 2023 7:03:32 GMT
Hi everyone.
This article, titled Pleins Feux Sur Queen (translated as Spotlight on Queen), was published in a Belgian newspaper around May-June 1978; in fact the Brussels concerts of the "last month" are mentioned. It is essentially a brief artistic biography of the band and tells of how Freddie Mercury joined Queen in 1970 (most likely with the words of Brian May).
This article, titled Pleins Feux Sur Queen (translated as Spotlight on Queen), was published in a Belgian newspaper around May-June 1978; in fact the Brussels concerts of the "last month" are mentioned. It is essentially a brief artistic biography of the band and tells of how Freddie Mercury joined Queen in 1970 (most likely with the words of Brian May).
Enjoy the reading!
SPOTLIGHT ON
Queen
They are four English musicians, and if they have enjoyed worldwide renown for several years, only the French-speaking countries have so far remained insensitive to the baroque charm of their songs. We must use the imperfect, because since a few weeks, Queen, that's the name of the group, is in all the charts with a song entitled "We Are The Champions". And to perfect the conquest of our country, they came to play in Brussels last month.
- We've been wanting to play at your place and in France for a long time, but as our records didn't work at all, we didn't dare come, for fear of performing in front of an empty hall.
Anyway Queen was very busy touring the world.
In fact, for the past four years, we have been very famous in the United States and in Japan. We spend a lot of our time there. We became famous in the USA before we were in our own country. It must be said that we have a rather extravagant stage outfit and that Americans are more inclined to accept and appreciate a certain madness and a certain excess. Europe is a very conservative continent that distrusts novelty. Our career, like that of Elton John, really started in the USA and then spilled over to the rest of the world.
Queen is a fairly recent group, since its first album was released in 1973.
- We had been playing together since 1970. We met in a rather bizarre way. We used to form a hard-rock trio of which there were dozens at the time. We scoured the small London clubs without much success. But every night after the show, some weirdly dressed, weird guy would come up to us and tell us how bad we were. According to him, we would never succeed in this profession, unless we hire someone really brilliant, that is to say him, Freddie Mercury. We couldn't see him anymore, but when the group had to break up due to lack of success, we said to ourselves why not, we had nothing more to lose: so we gave him a try.
The essay exceeded all their expectations, since Freddie Mercury turned out to be a remarkable singer, an inspired composer and a brilliant pianist.
- Freddie had started studying classical piano at the age of four. As a child, he dreamed of being Mozart. One of the reasons for the success of Queen is precisely this very special encounter between the rock of our time and a certain form of classical music.
Queen, which is today one of the richest bands of the time, very nearly broke up three years ago, for financial reasons.
- We had borrowed so much money to buy gigantic stage equipment that we could no longer afford the bills. We were about to file for bankruptcy when we were saved...by the English tax authorities. Indeed we have, at that time, made the acquaintance of the manager of Elton John. This one had earned so much money that he had to spend it very quickly before the tax authorities took it from him. This is how he paid all our debts and we were able to continue.
The Queen members all live in England and have no desire to go America, as do the most English bands become famous.
- We are of resolutely European, even Mediterranean culture, and we only feel good on the old continent. This is why we are particularly happy to finally be accepted in France, because it is a country whose musical and literary culture is one of the most important in the world, and no one can escape its influence.
Queen even less than the others.
So welcome to this talented group.
Queen
They are four English musicians, and if they have enjoyed worldwide renown for several years, only the French-speaking countries have so far remained insensitive to the baroque charm of their songs. We must use the imperfect, because since a few weeks, Queen, that's the name of the group, is in all the charts with a song entitled "We Are The Champions". And to perfect the conquest of our country, they came to play in Brussels last month.
- We've been wanting to play at your place and in France for a long time, but as our records didn't work at all, we didn't dare come, for fear of performing in front of an empty hall.
Anyway Queen was very busy touring the world.
In fact, for the past four years, we have been very famous in the United States and in Japan. We spend a lot of our time there. We became famous in the USA before we were in our own country. It must be said that we have a rather extravagant stage outfit and that Americans are more inclined to accept and appreciate a certain madness and a certain excess. Europe is a very conservative continent that distrusts novelty. Our career, like that of Elton John, really started in the USA and then spilled over to the rest of the world.
Queen is a fairly recent group, since its first album was released in 1973.
- We had been playing together since 1970. We met in a rather bizarre way. We used to form a hard-rock trio of which there were dozens at the time. We scoured the small London clubs without much success. But every night after the show, some weirdly dressed, weird guy would come up to us and tell us how bad we were. According to him, we would never succeed in this profession, unless we hire someone really brilliant, that is to say him, Freddie Mercury. We couldn't see him anymore, but when the group had to break up due to lack of success, we said to ourselves why not, we had nothing more to lose: so we gave him a try.
The essay exceeded all their expectations, since Freddie Mercury turned out to be a remarkable singer, an inspired composer and a brilliant pianist.
- Freddie had started studying classical piano at the age of four. As a child, he dreamed of being Mozart. One of the reasons for the success of Queen is precisely this very special encounter between the rock of our time and a certain form of classical music.
Queen, which is today one of the richest bands of the time, very nearly broke up three years ago, for financial reasons.
- We had borrowed so much money to buy gigantic stage equipment that we could no longer afford the bills. We were about to file for bankruptcy when we were saved...by the English tax authorities. Indeed we have, at that time, made the acquaintance of the manager of Elton John. This one had earned so much money that he had to spend it very quickly before the tax authorities took it from him. This is how he paid all our debts and we were able to continue.
The Queen members all live in England and have no desire to go America, as do the most English bands become famous.
- We are of resolutely European, even Mediterranean culture, and we only feel good on the old continent. This is why we are particularly happy to finally be accepted in France, because it is a country whose musical and literary culture is one of the most important in the world, and no one can escape its influence.
Queen even less than the others.
So welcome to this talented group.