Former Melody Maker journalist Chris Welch remembers the explosive impact Queen made on the seventies rock scene.
When Freddie Mercury and Brian May shared a stage together, sparks flew back in the golden age of rock. There were other electrifying singer/guitarist soul mates, notably Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, not to mention David Bowie and Mick Ronson. But when Queen began their race to the top, Mercury and May were a charismatic combo, as this rare photo of the duo in action vividly recalls.
When Freddie Mercury and Brian May shared a stage together, sparks flew back in the golden age of rock. There were other electrifying singer/guitarist soul mates, notably Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, not to mention David Bowie and Mick Ronson. But when Queen began their race to the top, Mercury and May were a charismatic combo, as this rare photo of the duo in action vividly recalls.
You only have to look at the mass of hair and intense facial expressions to be reminded once more of Brian’s sweet toned harmonising guitar and Freddie’s full blooded vocals as they launched into magical songs like Killer Queen and Bohemian Rhapsody.
But Queen were always a joint effort, with Roger Taylor on drums and John Deacon on bass playing vital roles. Indeed, they were all very clever chaps. Freddie had a degree in graphic art, Roger studied dentistry, John had a degree in electronics and Brian was an expert astronomer.
No wonder some rock critics found themselves baffled and daunted by the overpowering presence and impact of a group so intellectually challenging and vastly superior to the average pub rock blues outfit.
This led to a severe misreading of their intentions in the early days. Queen, now hailed as one of the world’s most legendary bands, were originally derided as a manufactured group. Their efforts at writing original songs were dismissed out of hand. But Queen rapidly won over audiences and proved their critics wrong, as I discovered when I saw them in action during their first headlining UK tour in November 1974.
My baptism of Queen fire came at the Liverpool Empire. It remains one of the most exciting concerts burned into my memory banks. Hundreds of hysterical fans packed into the glitzy old theatre were yelling even before the show began. Finally the spotlights glared as Freddie Mercury bounded on stage clad in white, pouting and posing like a demonic pantomime dame and shouting: ‘Queen is back. What do you think of that?’
The roar of approval showed just what audiences thought. And when May and Mercury began to rock out in perfect harmony, the magic was palpable. Early the next morning after the show, I talked to Freddie in his hotel lounge. Quietly determined, he was peeved at misconceptions about himself and the group. His demeanour was impressive, even when suffering from a champagne hangover.
‘People think I’m an ogre. Some girls hissed at me on the street here and said “You devil”. They think I am really nasty. But that’s only me on stage. Off stage, I’m certainly not an ogre.’ The band’s third album Sheer Heart Attack had been poorly reviewed and he sadly added: ‘There has been some criticism and constructive criticism has been good for us. But to be frank I’m not that keen on the British music press and they’ve been pretty unfair to us. I feel that journalists have been under a misconception about us and we’ve been called a supermarket hype.’
But in 1973 America was already beckoning and Queen were taking the first steps along the road to world domination. Then, after Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975, they became so successful they no longer had to care about reviews, good or bad. Audiences and fans around the world proclaimed their genius and long after Freddie’s sad death aged 45 in 1991, they still do.
We now think of Freddie as the ultimate rock god, bestriding the stage and bellowing ‘We are the champions’. But I like to remember him as the witty, amusing man who sat chatting in that dusty, empty hotel room and patiently answering my questions about Queen. ‘Do we row? Oh my dear, we’re the bitchiest band on earth. You’ll have to spend a couple of days with us. We’re at each other’s throats!'
