Voice of Reason 2018 23.01.2004 07:41 |
Can you believe it's 20 years since Radio Gaga was released? It was a pretty important time for Queen. After the lacklustre reception of Hot Space and no releases in 1983, if Radio Gaga flopped it really could have been the end. Imagine my relief and joy when it came into the UK charts at No. 4 - they were back! The rest you know! PS - before the single was released, one of my classmates at college said he'd heard it. I said 'what, Radio Gaga?' and he said 'no, on Radio Nova'. |
Whatinthewhatthe? 23.01.2004 09:26 |
You mean I've been doing the clapclap for TWENTY years now? AGH! I feel so bloody OLD!!!! |
nazila queena 23.01.2004 10:03 |
ohhhh.....Radio ga ga is 20 years old & i'm 20 years old too!!!!!! |
Krizzy 23.01.2004 10:04 |
OMG! ***Feels old*** and my b-day just a week away. Curse you Father Time! ***Krizzy runs off to check for wrinkles*** :o( |
ogre t raylot 23.01.2004 10:13 |
How time flies - I remember tuning into the Peter Powell show on Radio 1 and listening to it's first radio airing on his regular 'five 45's at 5:45' feature. seems like only yesterday.... |
Sonja 23.01.2004 10:23 |
Radio Gaga was the first video I saw by Queen. Actually, I think it was the first Queen song I had heard by then. I was 9. When I saw the video that is, not when it was released. So it must have been in 1990. |
Whatinthewhatthe? 23.01.2004 11:15 |
"Radio ga ga is 20 years old & i'm 20 years old too!!!!!!" *whine* Wish I were 20 again -- wait, that would mean Freddie would be alive and Queen would be off on another tour.. I love the movie Metropolis (the original and Giorgio Moroder versions) and thought the video made good use of some of the footage from the movie...very George Orwell, considering the year was 1984! (Good Bowie song too!) |
Mayboy 23.01.2004 11:58 |
:0 i never relised, my fav video too :) |
MexQueenFM 23.01.2004 12:34 |
cool :) 20 yrs ago huh? how time flies |
Penis - Vagina 23.01.2004 13:02 |
Yep. I posted about this over at QOL last night. Didn't want to post the exact same thing here so I'm glad someone else did. It's making me feel quite old too, as I've mentioned here many times, it was released on my 13th birthday, making me the big 33 today :-/ It's my mom's favorite Queen song... I think a lot of people identify with the love of the radio as a teen. The funny thing I just realized is that the message about radio being made somewhat obsolete by video, is now sort of the fate of video, specifically MTV itself. I mean, the big music video channels hardly show videos anymore! All we see is Video Ga Ga! |
Fenderek 23.01.2004 13:42 |
I honestly...don't like this song :P |
Mr Coolest Cat 23.01.2004 13:43 |
I remember GaGa being at No2 the day i got married. |
Wayne Gretzky 23.01.2004 13:52 |
The only Queen single to reach number 1 here in Sweden... |
PD. 23.01.2004 16:21 |
I remember in 1989 I had been into Queen for three years when I first heard the Works album and finally figured out that these familiar-from-the-radio songs (Gaga, Breakfree, Hammerfall) are also from Queen. It was a nice surprise. |
Sonja 24.01.2004 01:02 |
"Wish I were 20 again -- wait, that would mean Freddie would be alive and Queen would be off on another tour.." Lisa, how I wish I was 20 back then!!! At least you saw them while they were still the full complete Queen! I am jealous. ;-) Barry, I like the video, too but the song bores me to death by now. I used to like it but I've listened to it too often. |
Holly2003 24.01.2004 02:30 |
Apologies for the over-sentimentality of the rest of this message, which I can only blame on the effects of mixing Siera Nevada Pale Ale with Kona Golden... I saw the video on The Tube on Friday night some 20 years ago and I remember being disappointed having been promised some "heavier stuff" or some "traditional Queen" in the wake of Hot Space. The following Tuesday I bought the 7 & 12 inch versions, wondering if "I Go Crazy" was the best they could come up with. When The Game came out, I wasn't terribly impressed (I'm still not) - the band who once made songs like Ogre Battle and It's Late were now churning out mid-Atlantic pop like Keep Passing the Open Windows. Perversely, as the quality of their music declined, their popularity in Europe went through the roof. There's really two versions of Queen - before and after Hot Space. Virtually nothing they did after The Game (or perhaps Flash Gordon) was as good as earlier material. |
Penis - Vagina 24.01.2004 02:45 |
I agree that there seems to be at least two Queens. Sometimes when I listen to one of the early albums I sit there and think "how the hell can this be the same band that did Body Language"? I'm just not so sure of exactly when the splice took place, if there was one. I like to think of it more as an evolution.. but not strictly from one form to another.. but to a more open form, capable of a wider variety of sounds. I still hear echoes of early work in some of the later stuff.. it's just that there is more variety now, as well as natural changes to suit the times. And I do see 'The Works' as a perfect example of that. Even a bit of Hot Space. I think had the sides been swapped, and the album not kicked off with 'Staying Power', it wouldn't have been so hated. Side two would have better gradually prepared folks for side one I think :) |
Holly2003 24.01.2004 02:53 |
I have a theory (or a moment of lucidity) - before Hot space every album was made by the band for the band. They made little effort to "give the fans what they want" (even if ADATR is a clone of ANATO.) But The Works was a "win back the fans" album, and when a band starts second guessing themselves like that then it's all downhill from there. Plus they got old and it's a rare band that produces better work in their middle-aged years than when they have the "fuck you" attitude of youth. |
Spisso 24.01.2004 05:46 |
Ok, but i still like Radio Ga Ga a lot. |
Mr Coolest Cat 24.01.2004 07:04 |
Holly yes you sure have lost it, the songs Queen put on their early albums were for the fans, classics that will stay with us for ever, later in the eighties, then they make albums for themselves, very commercialized to reap in the cash that their early albums pathed the way for, and there is nothing wrong with that, the hard work, endless touring, month after month in the studio, they believed in themselves and so did we. |
Whatinthewhatthe? 24.01.2004 09:09 |
Sonja, it was so fun and carefree back then (argh, I'm sounding old again, reminiscing about "the old days" -- LOL!), piling in a car or van and going to a venue in another city. hundreds of miles away from home, and paying six or eight dollars for a "festival seating" ticket (depending on the size of the venue!), then waiting outside the doors all day, talking to other fans, then the doors opening at 6 PM (if the show was at 8 PM, usually!), then running like hell to secure a place by the front of the stage and talking some more, then buying tour souvenirs, then watching the (boring) opening act, then the main attraction -- QUEEN!! Watching each member of the band but keeping an eagle eye on Freddie and his pouncing about the stage. Singing along with the songs. Watching the cool light show. Screaming for more encores after the show ended (usually two encores). Then the end of the show, piling up in the car or van after hitting an all-night pizza parlour, then the drive home. Talking and talking till we were hoarse the next day. Man, if I could turn back time.... |
Mr Coolest Cat 24.01.2004 09:22 |
I saw one of the funniest things while waiting in line at a concert. Waiting outside Stafford Bingley hall 1977, a guy was walking around selling silk scarves with Queen on, next minute another guy comes along selling the same thing, there was one mighty scuffle between them, their money and scarves went flying up in the air, along came two security guys and took them away, about 20 of us got free scarves and a few quid off the floor, o and the concert, i can still hear the first few bars of 'Tie your mother down', magical memories. |
goinback 24.01.2004 13:37 |
"It was a pretty important time for Queen. After the lacklustre reception of Hot Space and no releases in 1983, if Radio Gaga flopped it really could have been the end." And that's exactly what happened here in the US ;) |
Holly2003 24.01.2004 13:38 |
"Holly yes you sure have lost it" Thanks Harvey, but since you agreed with everything I said then you must've lost it too. Yep they became more commercial, yep they rolled in it, and yes they rarely if ever reached the heights they did in the 1970s. I thought I said all that already. |
Sonja 24.01.2004 14:24 |
Lisa, you're teasing me aren't ya? ;-) |
Penis - Vagina 24.01.2004 14:47 |
"And that's exactly what happened here in the US ;)" Well, not quite. It didn't flop. It made the top 20, #16 as I recall :) The "Break Free" video is what's commonly cited as having the most damaging effect on their popularity here. I guess it was okay for Milton Berle to dress as a woman in the 50s but the Queen guys just looked too fabulous and therefore it couldn't be tolerated. ;) |
siljeoen 24.01.2004 14:54 |
;) |
The Real Wizard 24.01.2004 21:01 |
"I think had the sides been swapped, and the album not kicked off with 'Staying Power', it wouldn't have been so hated. Side two would have better gradually prepared folks for side one I think :)" I've never thought of that, but I think you're right on, Jeffrey. :) |
Whatinthewhatthe? 25.01.2004 11:11 |
"Lisa, you're teasing me aren't ya?" Who -- me??? (LOL) |
Whatinthewhatthe? 25.01.2004 11:19 |
I had to listen to Hot Space last night after reading the posts. Staying Power was very appropriate to start the album (Side One for the vinyl fans!). I liked every one of the songs. Put Out The Fire was a great start for Side Two. On that LP, two very distinct sides of songs. Then I got the CD out and played it straight through. Again, two very distinct sets of songs! I'm a little ashamed to admit I did not like the album when it first came out 24 years ago (ACK! Has it been THAT long now!!) but with repeated listenings I grew to love it. There was a time that I used to cringe when I heard the first song -- horrible, isn't it? -- and I laugh at myself for thinking that!! (I think, like many of you, when that album came out, we expected the Queen we'd always listened to before, but when they wanted to experiment with new sounds, it made people rethink who Queen were as a creative force in rock.) |
Sonja 25.01.2004 13:15 |
I always feel ashamed when I say that I don't like Hot Space or the one or the other song by Queen, but then again, I LOVE Queen in general, to me, they were the best band that has ever existed on this planet. For me, they beat them all, really. And look how many songs Queen recorded, it's almost impossible to like all of them. From Hot Space, there are just 3 songs I like, the rest is crap IMO, but I couldn't do without these 3 songs, cos I really love them. So it was good that they did Hot Space! And it was a new time, a new trend that started. Hot Space is very experimental, I think. I compare it to "Sandinista!" by The Clash (those who know that album will know what I mean). Not quite their style but just a journey and lots of different influences. Just an experiment, really. But I am glad that Queen changed their style again after Hot Space. ;-) |
Pim Derks 25.01.2004 14:46 |
"I did not like the album when it first came out 24 years ago (ACK! Has it been THAT long now!!)" No, just 22 years :-) |
Whatinthewhatthe? 25.01.2004 15:46 |
I kept thinking 1980 for some reason... 1981 is the correct year..so almost 23 years. Still, ACK! It's been *that* long!! |
Pim Derks 25.01.2004 16:59 |
"1981 is the correct year" April 1982 if I'm not mistaken. Could be early May though. |
Whatinthewhatthe? 25.01.2004 18:38 |
Right, right and right. I was thinking of Under Pressure, which was released in advance... *slaps face* I feel better now! :-) |
Megamike The GREAT 25.01.2004 21:01 |
Man, do I feel old.. I was talking to a guy a few weeks ago and I mentioned Another One Bites the Dust and he said that was before he was born... and he had 4 kids... Oh well, the benefit of being this old is WE saw Queen live while they were in their prime.. that is the memory I hold! Freddie will ALWAYS live on as long as we remember him. |
Sonja 26.01.2004 11:29 |
"Oh well, the benefit of being this old is WE saw Queen live while they were in their prime.. that is the memory I hold! Freddie will ALWAYS live on as long as we remember him." Yes you lucky (old) people.. nah just kidding.. but hey, here's someone who's really jealous of you. I always say that I was born too late. My time would've been the 60's and 70's. I would sell my grandma to have seen Queen in concert! |
The Real Wizard 26.01.2004 14:40 |
"I was talking to a guy a few weeks ago and I mentioned Another One Bites the Dust and he said that was before he was born... and he had 4 kids..." 23 years old (at most), and he's got 4 kids? Jeeeeeesus... |
Brandon 26.01.2004 14:44 |
Sonja, don't do it!!! Take it from someone who's been there/ done that!! The buyers simply WILL NOT keep there word! Poor granny... |
Penis - Vagina 26.01.2004 15:02 |
He must be Catholic. |
Megamike The GREAT 26.01.2004 17:04 |
Well, I'm only 38 I was 14 when I saw them born in 66... So I am not THAT old.. Of course I had a chance to see them again in 86, but turned down the ticket, I figured I would catch Queen on the US leg... Hahahahahahah Wahhahaahahahahaaha.... |
The Real Wizard 26.01.2004 22:46 |
"23 years old (at most), and he's got 4 kids? Jeeeeeesus... what's wrong wid that?" I just see this becoming a huge debate (not with you, Barry), so I'll just speak minimally, and I'll stop here (unless the mature folk at QZ decide to personally attack me as usual just for sharing my own opinion). I'll just say that I think someone's sacrificing their youth at such an age to have kids, never mind 4 of them. |
Brian_Mays_Wig 27.01.2004 01:21 |
Never saw Fred but managed the Tribute at the tender age of 14. had the ticket of my folks instead of easter eggs!! Ive been a fan since 87 and even I feel old on here!! |
Voice of Reason 2018 27.01.2004 08:34 |
Hi Guys, Thanks for the interesting debate. On the US popularity point, how much do you think Queen's decision not to tour there after 1982 contributed to their loss of popularity? Oh and BTW - I'm still just about about getting away with 'I don't look bad for 37 you know!' |
Mrs.Taylor 27.01.2004 16:16 |
The 11-year-old me was going ... "what a stupid name for a song"!!! |
The Real Wizard 28.01.2004 23:32 |
"On the US popularity point, how much do you think Queen's decision not to tour there after 1982 contributed to their loss of popularity?" Definitely. If they would have brought their Works show to the US in 84/85, they surely would have regained some popularity there. The setlist was full of old songs that American fans wanted to hear between 78-82, so it would done extremely well. |
Whatinthewhatthe? 29.01.2004 20:55 |
The straw that broke the camel's back for the US tours was because of the IWTBF video. Some Americans (and Queen's record company, Capitol at the time) didn't understand the humour in dressing in drag, nor did many American people see Coronation Street (though they DID see Monty Python's Flying Circus, with draggy men in every episode, and got a kick out of it). I used to watch Monty Python on PBS in the 70s and thought it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. I got the joke when I saw the IWTBF video, but most Americans thought it was offencive (DUH!!). Sad thing, because I could have seen Queen live so many more times than 13!! |