Excellent article. Truly great music journalism.
Sure, today we can just brush this off and say "who cares if he's gay or straight?" But in the 70s it mattered. Society as a whole wasn't nearly so tolerant of homosexuality as it is now, but in the world of music, blurring the lines and appearing androgynous was in fashion. Mercury came in at just the right time.
Sure, Bowie was dismissed by many for appearing to be high art (which he was), but he also tore down barriers of having to label people based on their sexuality or even their gender. Mercury did no such thing. He just said "fuck it, all of it" (I can even picture him saying it precisely like that, if anyone dared to ask). He was overtly sexual in a way that nobody really gave a shit, even in the rampantly homophobic post-McCarthy US. It almost seems unreal in hindsight.
Rob Halford managed to dodge the gaydar too, but it was arguably easier to do so in a metal band.
Freddie Mercury, on the other hand, was dressed in a skin tight onesie white leotard singing "bring out the charge of the love brigade, there is spring in the air once again."
Even the gun toting alpha males walked away from Queen concerts thinking it was the best show they'd ever seen.
Mercury was a genius.
A previous entry stated: "....in a skin tight onesie white leotard singing "bring out the charge of the love brigade,..." Pick any of Freddie's skin tight outfits singing any viscious, hard hitting, ball-braking number in their canon and the sense of astonishment, wonder, fun and disbelief would still be the same.
My first rock concert was seeing Queen in Sydney in 1976. When Freddie came out in a kimono and sang Big Spender, that was disbelief (etc) level 1; but followed by the strip act (OMG moment no 2) and then revealing little candy-striped hot pants and suspenders to Jailhouse Rock just topped it off. All in the space of 2 minutes. The crowd quickly rushed to the stage and with abandon, just danced and rocked out. We all left laughing, smiling and wondering what on earth we had seen. Quite a remarkable achievement from him and the band I feel.
curse you, Wizard! ( ;) )
Now you've got me hearing ADATR playing in my head just as I was about to sleep.
YOU AND I..... what a wonderful song. Actually one of the few Queen songs that showcases John and Roger the right way.
yeah I know you mentioned the millionaire waltz... but when I think of ADATR it's you and I followed by. ........
nice article. the link didn't work for me, but I showed perseverance and Googled it.
The Real Wizard wrote: Excellent article. Truly great music journalism.
Sure, today we can just brush this off and say "who cares if he's gay or straight?" But in the 70s it mattered. Society as a whole wasn't nearly so tolerant of homosexuality as it is now, but in the world of music, blurring the lines and appearing androgynous was in fashion. Mercury came in at just the right time.
Sure, Bowie was dismissed by many for appearing to be high art (which he was), but he also tore down barriers of having to label people based on their sexuality or even their gender. Mercury did no such thing. He just said "fuck it, all of it" (I can even picture him saying it precisely like that, if anyone dared to ask). He was overtly sexual in a way that nobody really gave a shit, even in the rampantly homophobic post-McCarthy US. It almost seems unreal in hindsight.
Rob Halford managed to dodge the gaydar too, but it was arguably easier to do so in a metal band.
Freddie Mercury, on the other hand, was dressed in a skin tight onesie white leotard singing "bring out the charge of the love brigade, there is spring in the air once again."
Even the gun toting alpha males walked away from Queen concerts thinking it was the best show they'd ever seen.
Mercury was a genius.
CruellaDeVille wrote:
My first rock concert was seeing Queen in Sydney in 1976. When Freddie came out in a kimono and sang Big Spender, that was disbelief (etc) level 1; but followed by the strip act (OMG moment no 2) and then revealing little candy-striped hot pants and suspenders to Jailhouse Rock just topped it off. All in the space of 2 minutes. The crowd quickly rushed to the stage and with abandon, just danced and rocked out. We all left laughing, smiling and wondering what on earth we had seen. Quite a remarkable achievement from him and the band I feel.
I don't hero worship celebrities as much these days, I'm an older kid now, But Mercury is one celebrity I miss and wish lived longer. I miss his creativity and was a fun personality. The worlds a bit more boring and not as much fun without him. Genius for sure, Races was one of the band peak albums.