Did 'I want to break free' kill Queen in America?

Because of the music video, you mean?

I do suppose it wouldn't have gone down at all well, though my memory of the time period is very fuzzy at best. I do believe the US by and large was more socially liberal in those days, but men in stockings and suspenders with wigs and moustaches would still have had many men lying in a cold sweat awake at night.
 
Well, I personally thought it was funny and I still like that song. I don't understand why Americans are so prudish. And it was a hit everywhere else so...

I guessed that's why the 84/85 tour didn't extend to North America.
 
Wasn't there the story at the same time that Queen were the only band to demand cash (and get paid for) playing at the Live Aid concert?
 
I remember their popularity dropping off because of their turning to disco with Another Bites the Dust, away from their hard rock roots. And everyone laughed when Al Yankovic did his very first parody, Another One Rides the Bus.

Mercury being gay was one of the worst kept secrets in rock. I don't remember the video making any difference. Just like with Rob Halford of Judas Priest, many may've made crude comments about a gay singer, but they kept listening as long as they liked the music.
 
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I wasn't aware Queen's rep was ever "killed" in America.

One Vision got quite a bit of play on the radio and MTV when it was released as I recall.

Queen's one of the most played acts on American classic rock stations, (Literally not A day goes by that I don't hear at least one Queen song...on each of the two local classic rock stations) and the they get heavy play on the mix stations (same frequency of play as the classic rock stations) so, I'd have to say: Queen's got a pretty heavy following in America.

I dunno, maybe they hit a lull in sales in the late 80's in the US had more to do with the changing popular music tastes here (hair bands, euro-dance, rap, etc...) than anything else.

Maybe you should try looking at the bigger picture rather than defaulting to stereotype...:rolleyes:
 
Maybe you should try looking at the bigger picture rather than defaulting to stereotype...:rolleyes:


Sigma7,

You've forgotten that stereotypes are frowned upon here...

... unless they are applied to Americans. ;)

Onkel Willie, the station on the radio in the cubicle next to mine plays at least 4 Queen songs per work day and I can't count the number of professional and collegiate sports organizations that blare We Are The Champions over their public address systems during games.


Bill
 
They were basically a seventies glam rock outfit who parlayed their career into the eighties, so I'd say 'no', as they were doing pretty good.

Where was Kiss at the time of the offending video? Why didn't they succeed without makeup, or as contemporaries of Van Halen?
 
I don't see why it would've killed them, I have a grandmother who's more prudish then any American might've been in that decade and she likes Queen because of the video. People can laugh at things that they don't approve of on closer inspection.
 
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Then why did the '84/'85 tour not extend to the US I wonder? I always thought it had to do with them losing popularity. Maybe that's just me.
 
Then why did the '84/'85 tour not extend to the US I wonder?


Onkel Willie,

I can think of several things.

Economics? There were several other bands scheduled to tour North America at the same time and the ticket sales would suffer in the resulting concert glut?

Scheduling conflicts? As above, other bands on tour and the best/better dates and venues already booked by them leaving Queen with subpar dates and venues?

Ennui? A world tour is exhausting and the band decided the projected revenue wasn't worth the hassle? (I know someone who did two Stones world tours as part of the merchandise crew and he compared it to combat in Vietnam.)

Not enough new material and no desire to play the "old stuff" like some nostalgia band?

I always thought it had to do with them losing popularity.

As Sigma and AIHA explained, musical tastes had changed, and Queen zigged when they should have zagged by adopting a disco sound.

Maybe that's just me.

Just you and your knee jerking 'cause everyone knows us homophobic, cheeseburger swilling 'Merikkkans dropped Queen like a hot potato when that sissy video came out, hyuck, hycuk, hyuck. :rolleyes:


Bill
 
Just you and your knee jerking 'cause everyone knows us homophobic, cheeseburger swilling 'Merikkkans dropped Queen like a hot potato when that sissy video came out, hyuck, hycuk, hyuck. :rolleyes:
Bill

Yeah, alright :rolleyes:. Touchy subject for you? I wasn't aware of Queen suddenly dropping in popularity in the 'states, and was merely exploring possibilities - The fact remains the US is generally more rightwing than Europe, despite our faults. If you want to take that as a direct attack on you, that's your preorgative, but it's not helping the image much.
 
Yeah, alright :rolleyes:. Touchy subject for you?


Wanderlust,

Sort of. It's essentially a matter of fairness.

Let's examine just one of Onkel Willie's statements and you'll see what I mean: I don't understand why Americans are so prudish.

If I wrote that about any other nationality, this board would have savaged me and rightfully so. But the same statement about Americans can be made and read without a murmur. Everyone is so used to the double standard that it doesn't even register anymore.

If it's wrong for one, it's wrong for all, no matter who they are.


Bill
 
Do you not think the statement is grounded in truth? Of course not all Americans are prudish. But we get dozens of stories about America's struggle with gay rights and gay marriage, and the power of the religious right.

Of course, the fact that many of these stories are posted may be part of the double-standard you mention, but even those are mostly posted by Americans, fed up with the situation.
 
I don't see why it would've killed them, I have a grandmother who's more prudish then any American might've been in that decade and she likes Queen because of the video. People can laugh at things that they don't approve of on closer inspection.

Personally I think they are just continuing the tradition of dressing up as women that goes back to pantomime and continues with Brenda and Audrey in the kitchen towel adverts.

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Not enough new material

Except for a completely new album known as The Works :rolleyes:.

Just you and your knee jerking 'cause everyone knows us homophobic, cheeseburger swilling 'Merikkkans dropped Queen like a hot potato when that sissy video came out, hyuck, hycuk, hyuck. :rolleyes:

Let's examine just one of Onkel Willie's statements and you'll see what I mean: I don't understand why Americans are so prudish.

If I wrote that about any other nationality, this board would have savaged me and rightfully so. But the same statement about Americans can be made and read without a murmur. Everyone is so used to the double standard that it doesn't even register anymore.

Alright. Sheesh, don't take everything I say personal. I didn't mean to insult you. But it's still a fact that America is much more rightwing than Europe, something which I personally believe is a bad thing. We in the Netherlands have achieved some positive things by yielding ground.

For instance, we have gay marriage (why deny those people happiness?), prostitution is legalized (albeit restricted, you can't go about strolling through some shopping mall as a prostitute of course. btw I can't yet tell if this is a good or a bad thing), cannabis is available in coffee shops so it won't end up in illegality where one might get lower quality products and where our government can't regulate it (face it, that war on drugs thing you have going isn't going to kill drugs). Cannabis is about as harmful as cafein anyway and we save money :p.

Perhaps prudish wasn't the right word. Rightwing is much better.
 
For instance, we have gay marriage (why deny those people happiness?),...


Onkel Willie,

Something which my home state, Rhode Island, and my current state, Hew Hampshire both have.

... prostitution is legalized...

Something that is also legal in Rhode Island.

... cannabis is available...

Something that has been decriminalized for personal use in several states and other locations.

The problem here is the unexamined belief that you and too many others hold that the US is a unitary polity like nearly all the polities in Europe. You automatically think a law, an attitude, or an opinion from East Jesus, Alabama or Dumbfuck, Arkansas somehow magically apply across the continent and to all 300 million Americans. They don't, of course, because the US is a federal polity constructed to allow a wide latitude in local affairs. Local bodies regulate everything from marriage to gun ownership to alcohol sales rather than a central body mandating the same for all.

Perhaps prudish wasn't the right word.

Perhaps ignorance isn't the right word either. Incomprehension is much better.

If I routinely displayed the same level of ignorance about the internal political and sociological workings of another nation as you and many others do about the internal political and sociological workings of the US, this board would savage me and rightfully so.

Do a little research and try to control those knee jerks in the future. You'd expect someone discussing Denmark to do that and all I'm suggesting is that the same courtesy by applied to the US.


Bill

P.S. The Works only reached 23 on the US charts and spent 20 weeks on the charts in total. It did eventually go gold however. In Europe and Japan, it reached the top 10 however and guess where Queen's post-The Works world tour dates were?
 
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OK. You have educated me and I apologize. Although I still pray for the day that all states are as progressive as Rhode Island and New Hampshire seem to be ;). Btw, although you are right, you could be nicer. I didn't mean to attack the US or the people living there. I've met Americans in the past and think they are mostly nice people (and every country has its share of assholes, they don't limit themselves to one country. You have the KKK and we have that horrible islamophobe Geert Wilders sadly:()

P.S. The Works only reached 23 on the US charts and spent 20 weeks on the charts in total. It did eventually go gold however. In Europe and Japan, it reached the top 10 however and guess where Queen's post-The Works world tour dates were
Well, there was only one tour after The Works so that doesn't say everything. And that was the Magic Tour which even skipped Japan (and South America) even though they were doing well there. I imagine that had something to do with Mercury's deteriorating health. He probably already had AIDS and figured something was wrong, he just didn't know what yet :(. You can tell from his voice which differed when you look at concerts from 1986 and 1985 (although that was partly caused by him being a smoker).
 
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