Early '74 they started appearing in pop magazines like Music Star, so I became aware of them then. I used to enjoy some of the early interviews especially with Fred being interviewed by Julie Webb in the NME. These were often very funny.
After punk the NME's stance on the band became savage... Rosie Horide of course was a big champion of the band in Disc from very early on. She did some great features on the band, including their first tour of Japan. When SSOR was released I remembered seeing an article in Melody Maker which ran, 'Queen: Britain's Biggest Unknowns', so I went thru all my stack of music papers then and found it: I started collecting reviews and stuff from then on.
Melody Maker however, did run that huge double-page spread where they were trying to expose Queen and Merlin as 'hype' bands - that story featured at a crucial time early on in 1974. I remember reading interviews a week after this story ran where the band were fuming but I never saw the article until this last year when I bought that particular edition of MM. Even I raised an eyebrow when reading it... no wonder they were pissed off. MM was basically suspicious of them because they'd had huge backing and not risen from years of touring pubs.
After punk happened they got more general negative press of course but they never really had a good time with the British music press... A lot of reviews I read of live shows that I went to, well, you wonder if we both attended the same gig.
Hi Planetgurl,
Could you please help me with the article you were referring to in the MM as the band Merlin had my father as the drummer and i would love to get my hands on a copy.
Thanks
Lee
Hi Planetgurl,
Could you please help me with the article you were referring to in the MM as the band Merlin had my father as the drummer and i would love to get my hands on a copy.
Thanks
Hey Planetgurl,
I'm currently writing my undergraduate dissertation on the relationship between Queen and the British rock music press.
I have been searching for the 'hype' article for ages, and I'd be so grateful if you could point me in the right direction to obtain a copy?
Thanks in advance.