Ep.44: Queen – Band Members
Intro
Hello and Welcome to this episode of the podcast, "The Mnemonic Tree", where we add a single mnemonic leaf to our Tree of Knowledge.
Today's episode will be on the British Rock Band Queen and its main four band members.
Led by the consummate performer Freddie Mercury their coming together was quite serendipitous when the lead singer left the band “Smile” that May and Taylor had formed, leaving the door open for Mercury who was a fan of the band, who then renamed “Smile” to Queen and the rest is history.
With that being said, we will begin with a summary from Wikipedia.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Queen_sheratonhotel_bsas.jpg
Wikipedia Summary
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1970 by Freddie Mercury (lead vocals, piano), Brian May (guitar, vocals), and Roger Taylor (drums, vocals), later joined by John Deacon (bass). Their earliest works were influenced by progressive rock, hard rock, and heavy metal, but the band gradually ventured into more conventional and radio-friendly works by incorporating further styles, such as arena rock and pop rock.
Before forming Queen, May and Taylor had played together in the band Smile. Mercury was a fan of Smile and encouraged them to experiment with more elaborate stage and recording techniques. He joined in 1970 and suggested the name "Queen". Deacon was recruited in February 1971, before the band released their self-titled debut album in 1973. Queen first charted in the UK with their second album, Queen II, in 1974. Sheer Heart Attack later that year and A Night at the Opera in 1975 brought them international success. The latter featured "Bohemian Rhapsody", which stayed at number one in the UK for nine weeks and helped popularise the music video format. The band's 1977 album News of the World contained "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions", which have become anthems at sporting events. By the early 1980s, Queen were one of the biggest stadium rock bands in the world. "Another One Bites the Dust" from The Game (1980) became their best-selling single, while their 1981 compilation album Greatest Hits is the best-selling album in the UK and is certified nine times platinum in the US. Their performance at the 1985 Live Aid concert is ranked among the greatest in rock history by various publications. In August 1986, Mercury gave his last performance with Queen at Knebworth, England.
Though he kept his condition private, Mercury was diagnosed with AIDS in 1987. The band released two more albums, The Miracle in 1989 and Innuendo in 1991. On 23 November 1991, Mercury publicly revealed that he had AIDS, and the next day died of bronchopneumonia, a complication of AIDS. One more album was released featuring Mercury's vocal, 1995's Made in Heaven. John Deacon retired in 1997, while May and Taylor continued to make sporadic appearances together. Since 2004, they have toured as "Queen +", with vocalists Paul Rodgers and Adam Lambert.
Queen have been a global presence in popular culture for more than half a century. Estimates of their record sales range from 250 million to 300 million, making them one of the world's best-selling music artists. In 1990, Queen received the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2001, and with each member having composed hit singles all four were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003. In 2005 they received the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors, and in 2018 they were presented the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Extracted from: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_(band)]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Queen_members_montage.png
Mnemonic
Queen - Band Members Mnemonic – FiB JaR
(Picture Freddy Mercury after a big night out, making excuses for being late for band practice and all the other band members are pointing to the fib jar, which is like a swear jar, but for lies)
1. Freddie Mercury
2. Brian May
3. John Deacon
4. Roger Taylor
NB: Special mention to Mike Gross, Doug Bogie and Barry Mitchell
Five Fun Facts
1. Brian May who actually looks like a scientist is actually the real deal with a PhD in astrophysics, which he obtained at the Imperial College London.
Well, for myself I’m not too impressed with his degree in astrophysics, as I heard that he once referred to Mercury as a star!
2. John Deacon the band’s bassist is also very switched on being a trained electronics engineer. He used his skills to build much of the band’s equipment including his impressive “Deacy Amp”.
3. The drummer Roger Taylor was in high demand for his talents and was offered a position in Genesis. He declined before he got “In Too Deep” and ended up following his “One Vision”!
4. The band’s logo or crest was designed by Freddie Mercury himself. The logo consisted of their four-star signs. Taylor and Deacon are Leo hence two lions, May is a Cancerian hence the crab and Mercury is Virgo therefore consisting of two virgin maidens.
5. Freddie Mercury’s real name was Farrokh Bulsara and he was given the honour by the British government of being the only person along with the real queen at the time (Queen Elizabeth), to be put on a stamp.
Three Question Quiz
Q.1. Where was Freddie Mercury born?
Q.2. Queen filmed music videos from home to make it more cost effective? True or False?
Q.3. Name one of Queen’s albums that was named after Marx Brothers silent films?
Bonus Q. Which music video was banned from MTV for being too risqué for television? Options are Bohemian Rhapsody, I Want to Break Free or Another One Bites the Dust?
Mnemonic Recap
Queen - Band Members Mnemonic – FiB JaR
(Picture Freddy Mercury after a big night out, making excuses for being late for band practice and all the other band members are pointing to the fib jar, which is like a swear jar, but for lies)
1. Freddie Mercury
2. Brian May
3. John Deacon
4. Roger Taylor
NB: Special mention to Mike Gross, Doug Bogie and Barry Mitchell
Three Question Quiz Answers
Q.1. Where was Freddie Mercury born?
A. The Island of Zanzibar in East Africa
Now an interesting story, apparently many years ago in Zanzibar, Freddie Mercury, Bruno Mars and Venus Williams all walked into the same bar ………
Now according to all sources, they didn't planet!
Q.2. Queen filmed music videos from home to make it more cost effective? True or False?
A. True. “We Will Rock You” and “Spread Your Wings” were filmed in Roger Taylor’s backyard
Q.3. Name one of Queen’s albums that was named after Marx Brothers silent films?
A. A Day at the Races & A Night at the Opera
Bonus Q. Which music video was banned from MTV for being too risqué for television? Options are Bohemian Rhapsody, I Want to Break Free or Another One Bites the Dust?
A. I Want to Break Free. Apparently, the dressing in drag was a little too much for some
Word of the Week
hokum
[ hoh-kuhm ]
noun
out-and-out nonsense; bunkum.
Example
The fact that Brian May’s guitar, was made from a 200-year-old mantle is not hokum; his dad made it for him by hand and it is affectionately referred to as the “Red Special”.
Extracted from: [https://www.dictionary.com/]
Website: https://www.themnemonictreepodcast.com/
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-mnemonic-tree-podcast/id1591795132
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3T0LdIJ9PBQMXM3cdKd42Q?si=WQ1SnHo5QgOawX-mxS6yUA
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_(band)
https://www.musicinminnesota.com/20-facts-queen-freddy-mercury/