Sunday, April 18, 2021

Queen, The #51 Artist of the Rock Era, Part Two

(Continued from Part One)

In 1976, Queen released the album A Day at the Races, which went to #1 in the U.K. and Japan and #5 in the United States. The album was similar to its predecessor, as evident on the single "Somebody To Love". Mercury, May and Taylor recorded their voices on multiple tracks to serve as a 100-voice gospel choir. It climbed to #2 in Canada, #3 in Ireland, #6 in the Netherlands, #7 in the U.K. and #16 in the United States.

We think "Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)" is an example of their best work. Written by May, it includes two choruses written in Japanese. May played both plastic piano and harmonium, and Queen brought in a local choir to add to the vocals at the end.

This was one of the group's best early rockers. May wrote the song in Tenerife while he was studying for his Ph.D. in astronomy. He wrote the riff on a Spanish guitar and then woke up early one morning and played it while singing "tie your mother down". May considered it a joke, but in the world of Freddie Mercury, it is a Queen song--"Tie Your Mother Down".

Queen shows off their layered harmony and May's unique sound achieved from using a six pence as a guitar pick on "Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy".

Inspired by Queen's first tour of Japan, this song uses the Japanese Pentatonic scale for its melody and is written by Mercury about his partner David Minns. With more of those amazing Queen harmonies, "You Take My Breath Away".

"It did literally take my breath away when I first heard it," said The Struts' Luke Spiller. "The opening sequence, the vocal stacking, the notes Freddie hit. I remember specifically learning how to go into my falsetto range from that song – it showed me things I could do with my voice that I didn’t know I could do."

Queen toured the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan and played before 150,000 at a free concert in Hyde Park of London. They returned the following year with the album News of the World. The first single "We Are The Champions" was often preceded on the radio by "We Will Rock You", and both became sports anthems played throughout the world in the 40 years since. It hit the Top 5 in the U.K., Canada, the Netherlands and the U.S.

News of the World has now sold over four million copies in the U.S. alone. In 1978, Queen returned with the album Jazz. However, the double single "Fat Bottomed Girls" and "Bicycle Race" paled compared to previous efforts from the group. It raced to #5 in the Netherlands and #10 in Ireland, but stalled at #24 in the United States.

"Spread Your Wings" is a fan favorite written by Deacon.

"Don't Stop Me Now" was a Top 10 hit in the U.K. and ended up selling over one million copies in the United States. While May loved the song, there was the undercurrent of danger and the other members of the group were very concerned about Freddie at this time who was using lots of drugs and having sex with any man who would have him. As we all know now, those concerns were validated.

After a tour, Queen released the album Live Killers in 1979, which has sold over two million copies. Later in the year, they released the eclectic single "Crazy Little Thing Called Love". It rose to #1 in Australia for seven weeks and #1 in the United States for four weeks and also topped charts in Canada and the Netherlands.