Songbird Salutes the 70's --- Queen

The 1970's.  My teen years.  My musical tastes were developing.  I liked a lot of different types of music, anything I heard on WABC, NYC's top 40 station, was good...pop, rock, country, movie ballads, all good.

For awhile I was really into the singer-songwriter style.  Harry Chapin.  Don McLean.  Jim Croce.  John Denver. 

And then along came Bohemian Rhapsody, and swung me right back towards rock...

I mean, listen to that song.  It starts and ends with Freddie Mercury's incredible, powerful, wonderful voice.  Add beautiful vocal harmonies, mysterious and intriguing lyrics ... it's a ballad, it's hard rock/heavy metal, it's opera. It's a capella singing at its finest, it's beautiful piano, it's a fast paced guitar solo. 

And the technology -- the dubbing and overdubbing --

The song captures and holds you...


It's an incredible song  by an amazing artist.

I had to buy the 45.  I was so disappointed when I played it on my old phonograph, I didn't have stereo speakers, I lost the full effect.

Later I would discover Queen's albums, and all the quirky, weird and wonderful music. "Killer Queen", "You're My Best Friend", "Don't Stop Me Now", "Bicycle Race".  And, of course, what would become the stadium anthem --  "We Will Rock You" and "We Are the Champions".

Sigh.  Another one gone too soon, Mercury died at age 45 in 1991.