June 17, 2014
Freddie, Queen and Adam and a US World Cup Win
I love Freddie Mercury. He was one of the greatest on stage performers with one of the greatest voices of my time. In addition, he was one of the great musical artists of all the time. He fronted Queen, the British rock group in the 1980’s. In their prime, Queen were not only one of the greatest and most dramatic rock acts, but also one of the most cumulatively intelligent and creative. Guitarist Brian May studied astrophysics at Ealing College in London; bassist John Deacon was an electrical engineer who built some of the band’s equipment, including the Deacy Amp; and drummer Roger Taylor was preparing for a career in dentistry. Queen would be the first group to make a rock video.Queen somewhat lost its popularity in the United States in the late 1980s, but would gone on to play to massive crowds at Wembley and other outdoor venues in Europe. Mercury died in 1991 due to complications from AIDs; May would earn his PhD in astrophysics and become a university administrator and Queen would be lost to the Oldies Channels. Until now. Adam Lambert will front Queen on a new tour.
The music from Queen, with much written by Mercury and May, is the most played in TV commercials and movie themes of any rock group. “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions” are two of the most recognizable songs of sporting events throughout the world. “We Will Rock You” didn’t originally start with interactive stomp-stomp-clap electronic percussion. Brian May used his knowledge of astrophysics to create the sound after Queen played an explosive show at Bingley Hall near Birmingham, England. He wanted to approximate the sound of thousands clapping at once, so he employed what he learned in school about how sound waves travel over finite distances, basing it all on prime numbers, and came up with one of the most instantly familiar song openings in rock ‘n’ roll. How’s that for interdisciplinary learning?
So today – Here’s to Freddie, Queen, Adam Lambert and the US World Cup soccer team for beating Ghana. We will rock you!
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