| phillyfan 04.06.2011 10:29 |
Not touring the USA for the Works album was perhaps an error but i dont know how well that tour would have been received.However off the heels of Live Aid the Magic Tour would have been a smash here in its scaled down form(leiden,frejus).They would have ruled the scene here and the worldwide acclaim of that tour would have carried over.The US is a market that can be won back with a Magazine cover.You fucked that one up,Jim and Jerry. |
| Soundfreak 04.06.2011 11:45 |
Elvis never ever performed or toured outside the US - so what? And he still has many fans in Europe. The Beatles never toured anywhere with their big albums from 1966 onward. And yet they sold enough records and it's the later albums, that stood the test of time. If Queen went on tour it used to be quite expensive. So with expecting to have a financial loss in the U.S: when at the same time they could tour successfully in Europe and other places I don't think it was a mistake then. They could not know, that the Magic tour was the last one ever. Looking back now it may look like a mistake, but in the 80s the perspective was different. |
| dowens 04.06.2011 11:50 |
How did the North American tour of Queen + Paul Rodgers do, money-wise and attendance? |
| Thistle 04.06.2011 11:58 |
Soundfreak wrote: They could not know, that the Magic tour was the last one ever. ============================================================================================= I think they may have had a fair idea. Did Freddie not tell them he didn't want to tour anymore? And they did say in the doc that they knew he was knackered even then. |
| queenUSA 04.06.2011 15:48 |
phillyfan wrote: "The US is a market that can be won back with a Magazine cover." ________________________________________________________ ^^ I love this! This is so true and so frustrating at the same time that it's almost painful & negligent that more isn't done. For instance, I just bought a Jimi Hendrix t-shirt at Target (and he's been gone for how long? IT DOES NOT MATTER) ... I mean it's SOOOOO easy to get on the U.S. gravy train. There's so much money to make. Has no one noticed that the 70's are back in style in everything? It's a great time for a big push!! |
| Isle0fRed 04.06.2011 20:11 |
dowens wrote: How did the North American tour of Queen + Paul Rodgers do, money-wise and attendance? Q+PR tour of america was quite disapointing considering the shows were shorter. Tha Japanise shows are ones to listen to as they are the best of the Q+PR tour. To follow up on certian bands not touring certian Locals, Led Zepplin stop tour UK for a brief period (Song remains the Same) due to tax reasons. |
| alaynasusan 04.06.2011 23:27 |
It was probably more of an economical decision than Queen just giving up on America. If they felt their fan base was fading here, why go through all the trouble and financial burden of a tour when they could stay in their comfort zone and do great? It's a shame that America strictly abides by radio and television to tell them what they like, but oh well. The die hard fans, like me, are still a vocal minority here. |
| The Real Wizard 05.06.2011 15:18 |
alaynasusan wrote: It's a shame that America strictly abides by radio and television to tell them what they like =================== A truer statement has never been spoken. Glad to hear you're part of a (hopefully growing) minority, as the internet does present people with a lot of alternatives. For instance, do a lot of people in the US listen to NPR? Here in Canada, I guess the equivalent is the CBC, which is completely free of corporate influence and thus plays a tremendous mix of music. About 10% of the country listens to the CBC. What's it like on your end? |
| phillyfan 05.06.2011 17:20 |
Much less i would guess Bob. |
| LAP 05.06.2011 19:52 |
Queen saw the bigger picture at the time-touring Europe guaranteed them to make a big profit where they were also selling millions of albums, so the cash was coming in bigtime. As previously stated, touring the USA in the mid 80's for Queen would have been at a loss, they weren't selling albums there, 'A Kind Of Magic' didn't even go gold there, no radio attention and no MTV coverage, so there is the incentive for them to do a U.S tour around 85/86. However, John Deacon is on record as saying after the Magic Tour that after their break, they hope to try and tour the U.S later in 1987, so there must have been some energy or hope with some of the band members to try America again, obviously it didn't happen! |
| LAP 05.06.2011 20:02 |
Also, the climate in the USA in the mid 80 to late 80's was so different than that of the earlier 80's, successful concerts and tours in the USA was for big hair bands i.e Bon Jovi, Motley Crue, Guns n Roses and Van Halen, then you also had the MTV bands like Duran Duran and the like, their respective fans are at at an age where they would turn up at concerts in droves...unlike Queens fans in the U.S who would have been well into their mid 20's, and early 30's, so going to concerts ain't such a big priority anymore. Furthermore, teenagers in the USA in the mid 80's would have thought of Queen as being so uncool, like it or not, that was the case, and they were basically unknown to most teenagers by the mid 80's in America...In Europe and Australia, that was the complete opposite, with Queen still attracting a huge teenage following with fans who were buying their albums in the millions and singing to their songs whilst pissed at parties! Sounds funny, but it makes a huge difference! |
| queenUSA 05.06.2011 21:09 |
The Beatles won over 10 Grammys, yet Queen never won any. Why? I've sometimes thought the US music industry was sent reeling by the first British invasion and may have played subsequent bands less somehow or been more harsh in criticism? This censorship is completely unfair of course. Witness how they banned I want to break free (video) from MTV. Still Queen music was coming through strong in films such as Iron Eagle and Highlander, plus the HIghlander TV series. Also AOBTD and CLTCL were big hits for Queen. I completely disagree with LAP that Americans would have thought Queen uncool. People love to rock to all sorts of music by all sorts of people and good music and performances always rise to the top. |
| LAP 06.06.2011 00:53 |
That's fair QueenUSA, however there have been so many posts on this forum from American Queen fans who were teenagers in the 80's who have made comments that they were laughed at because they had purchased Queen's latest album in the 80's! And they weren't just referencing Hot Space either! The facts speak for themselves, teenagers did not dig Queen in the mid 80's, as Brian May stated "We couldn't get arrested in America" when he said that in 1986! It is a sad reality as Queen died very quickly in the States after 82, icompared to the rest of the globe. It is also strange how The Game went to number one in 1980 which spawned two number one hits, and a massive successive tour as well, yet a year later, their Greatest Hits album only charted at 14 on the Billboard charts! |
| queenUSA 06.06.2011 06:53 |
Who can say why that happened? However be aware of bullying among teens in the USA. Teens are teens and in my book are not the enduring cradle of music worthiness. Fast forward 40 years for instance and I'm telling you right now there is a market here for the music. Queen has been turning up a lot on American Idol and Glee - 2 major TV avenues for teens in primetime - these carry large audiences. People go current and people go retro - but they will always go Queen given the chance and a proper marketing effort to alert people that something has been released. 2 weekends ago I listened to a free concert by kids enrolled in the School of Rock program and they were singing all sorts of classic rock music, including Cream. They were loving it and did not seem to be in any danger of being uncool in front of a mixed audience. |