#Best Albums of 1974

[radiofauxshow]

Song of the Day: May 19, 2024

Eddie Palmieri and Friends featuring Lalo Rodriguez: Nada De Ti Nada De Ti on Amazon Prime Music Continuing my list of the Top 20 albums of 1974, coming in at #9 is The Sun of Latin Music by Eddie Palmieri. Sunday is jazz day, so this is the perfect song to select. This is my favorite salsa album of not only 1974, but all time. Palmieri is a living legend of salsa music. He is a master pianist,…

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#1974 #Best Albums of 1974 #Eddie Palmieri #Lalo Rodriguez #music #Nada De Ti #Salsa Music #The Sun Of Latin Music

[prolibytherium]

Have I inspired any of my meager following to listen to The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway yet or do I need to post harder and more annoyingly

#It's my favorite concept album for sure and possibly my all time favorite album in general #Not every song is great (there's a couple outright flops imo) but it's an incredible piece of work altogether #The music kicking in on 'Fly On A Windshield/The Broadway Melody of 1974' is SOOO good the last two songs are SOOO good #'The Carpet Crawlers' is probably the best single song out of it like beautiful shit #There's a song where the guy has sex with three snake women and they bite him and die and then he eats their corpses. Etcetera! #I;ve wanted to use song lyrics from this album as a blog title. Probably 'We gotta get in to get out' which just sounds kind of stupid #out of context but it's so tru. We gotta get in to get out </3

[gameraboy2]

The Best Is Yet To Come - The Chet Long Singers (1974)

#the best is yet to come #the chet long singers #1974 #1970s #vintage #album cover #record cover #music

[pennielane]

anyway anyone who hates on walls and bridges can taste my sword

#@tony thompson and anyone else who dareth cross my sweet beloved 1974 John #also is has the BEST album cover of all bestles solo albums ever!!!!! #*it #*beatles #can i type? am i ok? #caro thoughts

[skinnyscottishbloke]

🎶✨when you get this you have to put 5 songs u actually listen to. then send this ask or tag 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)✨🎶

tagged by the faaaabbbbbbulous @queeranomaly thanks frand

So Apple Music makes a new "Favorites" playlist for me every week based on what it thinks I like/what I've been listening to a lot, so the 5 songs are gonna come from there =)

Skewing older this week but I do love all of these songs so it's accurate ahaha.

Tagging (no pressure) @bisexualwvtson @exlibrisfangirl @mamajosrefuge @malgudinights @lordoftherazzles @galwithalibrarycard @nickmybeloved @panlyra @hellahappytea and anyone else who wants to do this! =)

#about me #tag games #music #if you listen to one of these make it oleta adams #her VOICE #I'm not religious but goddamn it's heaven sent #so so gorgeous #also that bee gees song is off their 1974 Mr. Natural album #it's sooo goooooddd #especially if you're partial to the mid 70s sound #and I mean....enya always wins #I have carribbean blue on my sailing playlist #perfection #our uk huns are campy and fun and I love them so much #best uk season BY FAR #and hall and oates are smooth af #she's gone is sooo gooooodd #what a build goddamn #.....can you tell I feel a normal about of things about the music I listen to hahahaha #Spotify

[mediapen]

#z #can we have a music club too i have things to say. #like. baby’s first foray into the world this could be a fic if i could talk about it if i could tell you what it means #im so serious. can someone tell me what i think i cannot. i cant verbalise it. other than oh gay baby carlos i want to hold your hand #[girls who are totally normal] if i had been in detroit in 1974 i would’ve died instantly #anyway. if you know diamond dogs no you don’t. not until this. these are the best songs on diamond dogs don’t text #and this is the best. way. to listen to these songs. second best actually the best is on my og pressing of this live album 👸 #but like this is totally fine. gay people be honest how did you feel when you heard this for the first time did you feel insane like me #Spotify

[geocube15]

reminder that everyone should listen to this album

#supertramp #crime of the century #prog rock #1974 #music recommendation #music #rock #art rock #pop rock #pop #objectively one of the best albums ever made sorry

[kemetic-dreams]

Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph (November 8, 1947 – July 12, 1979) was an American singer-songwriter best known for her 1975 single "Lovin' You" and her four octave D3 to F♯7 coloratura soprano range. She is also widely known for her use of the whistle register and has been referred to by the media as the "Queen of the Whistle Register."

Minnie Riperton grew up in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side. As a child, she studied music, drama and dance at Chicago's Lincoln Center. The youngest of eight children in a musical family, she embraced the arts early. Although she began with ballet and modern dance, her parents recognized her vocal and musical abilities and encouraged her to pursue music and voice. At Chicago's Abraham Lincoln Center, she received operatic vocal training from Marion Jeffery. She practiced breathing and phrasing, with particular emphasis on diction. Jeffery also trained Riperton to use her full range. While studying under Jeffery, she sang operettas and show tunes, in preparation for a career in opera. Jeffery was so convinced of her pupil's abilities that she strongly pushed her to further study the classics at Chicago's Junior Lyric Opera.

The young Riperton was, however, becoming interested in soul, rhythm and blues, and rock. In her teen years, she sang lead vocals for the Chicago-based girl group the Gems. Eventually the group became a session group known as Studio Three and it was during this period that they provided the backing vocals on the classic 1965 Fontella Bass hit "Rescue Me".

After graduating from Hyde Park High School (now Hyde Park Academy High School), she enrolled at Loop College and became a member of Zeta Phi Beta sorority. She dropped out of college to pursue her music career.

Her early affiliation with the legendary Chicago-based Chess Records afforded her the opportunity to sing backup for various established artists such as Etta James, Fontella Bass, Ramsey Lewis, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters. While at Chess, Riperton also sang lead for the experimental rock/soul group Rotary Connection, from 1967 to 1971.

On April 5, 1975, Riperton reached the apex of her career with her No. 1 single "Lovin' You". The single was the last release from her 1974 gold album titled Perfect Angel. Riperton's third album, Adventures in Paradise was released in 1975. Despite the R&B hit "Inside My Love", some radio stations refused to play "Inside My Love" due to the lyrics.

Her fourth album for Epic Records, titled Stay in Love (1977), featured another collaboration with Stevie Wonder in the funky disco tune "Stick Together".

In 1978, Richard Rudolph and Riperton's attorney Mike Rosenfeld orchestrated a move to Capitol Records for Riperton and her CBS Records catalog. In April 1979, Riperton released her fifth and final album, Minnie. "Memory Lane" was a hit from the album.

Riperton provided backing vocals on Stevie Wonder's songs "Creepin'" from 1974's Fulfillingness' First Finale and "Ordinary Pain" from 1976's Songs in the Key of Life. In 1977, she lent her vocal abilities to a track named "Yesterday and Karma", on Osamu Kitajima's album, Osamu.

In January 1976, Riperton was diagnosed with breast cancer and, in April, she underwent a radical mastectomy. By the time of diagnosis, the cancer had metastasized and she was given about six months to live. Despite the grim prognosis, she continued recording and touring. She was one of the first celebrities to go public with her breast cancer diagnosis but did not disclose she was terminally ill.

In 1977, she became a spokesperson for the American Cancer Society. In 1978, she received the American Cancer Society's Courage Award, which was presented to her at the White House by President Jimmy Carter.

Riperton died of cancer on July 12, 1979 at the age 31.

During the 1990s, Riperton's music was sampled by many rap and hip-hop artists, including Tupac Shakur, Dr. Dre, A Tribe Called Quest, Blumentopf, The Orb

#african #afrakan #kemetic dreams #africans #afrakans #brown skin #brownskin #african culture #afrakan spirituality #riperton #tupac shakur #dr dre #a tribe called quest #the orb #minnie julia riperton #Minnie Julia Riperton Rudolph

[demolition-lesbians]

Rolling Stone #1119 December 9, 2010 - The Playlist Issue

(click for better quality) Here's the playlist if you want to take a listen! Transcript:

Gerard Way: Glam Rock

My Chemical Romance's frontman grew up a metalhead, but when he heard Iron Maiden's lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, cover Mott the Hoople's "All the Young Dudes," he discovered a whole other world, "I knew I had to find out more," Way says, "To some people, glam is just about makeup. To me, it's a very magical thing almost like witchcraft."

1: "Ziggy Stardust" David Bowie, 1972

This song defines glam. It was also the first thing in rock that really challenged people's notions of sexual orientation. Bowie actually sings about a man's ass! 2: "Children of the Revolution" T. Rex, 1972

You always knew Bowie would make it out alive and turn into another character; with Marc Bolan you didn't know that. He came across as very vulnerable. 3: "All the Young Dudes" Mott the Hoople, 1972

This is kind of a cheat because David Bowie wrote it for them, but I always preferred the Mott the Hoople version. By this point, Bowie was talking about the actual glam movement, which is why it's about kids stealing makeup and breaking into unlocked cars. Glam became about the kid in the room, the poster on the wall, putting on a women's short fur coat and eyeliner, with no shirt on, just listening to this music. 4: "Ballroom Blitz" Sweet, 1973

They completely break the fourth wall when the song opens up and they're calling each other by name. We emulated that on our song "Vampire Money." It literally starts out just like "Ballroom Blitz" does. 5: "Cum On Feel the Noize" Slade, 1973

Obviously, everybody knows this for the Quiet Riot version, but when you hear the original you realize just how bold it is. The soundscape they created is probably one of the best out of all the glam-rock bands. 6: "Love Is the Drug" Roxy Music, 1975

Roxy Music took the glam thing and then modified it. Bryan Ferry looks nothing like a glam artist, and that's what I love about him. He's wearing this great suit and he's got short hair and he's so romantic. Maybe some people wouldn't consider Roxy Music a glam band, but I do, for a lot of reasons. A major one is that they used to have Brian Eno behind the keyboard wearing feathers on his shoulders and eye shadow.

7: "Needles in the Camel's Eye" Brian Eno, 1974

Speaking of Eno, this is the first track on his first solo album. It's the glammiest track on the record. As soon as he finishes that song, he's almost over it, and he's moved on to something else. Besides Bowie, Eno is still the most important artist to me of the glam scene. When you heard his first album, you knew it was gonna be his last glam record. He just needed to do it once and he was done. 8: "Clones (We're All)" Alice Cooper, 1980

With "Clones," Alice Cooper was moving into the glam of the future, like this kind of Blade Runner replicant version of glam. Alice Cooper doesn't get enough credit for being a glam artist. A lot of people just say, "Oh, he's shock rock," but I think he's way more Rocky Horror than he is shock rock. 9: "48 Crash" Suzi Quatro, 1973

She's the most unsung glam rocker. She's also the prototype for the Runaways. "48 Crash" is one of her more aggressive songs. She looks amazing on the cover, wearing this black cat suit. Everything about the song is magic. 10: "Personality Crisis" New York Dolls, 1973

They were a lot more punk, but I will always consider the New York Dolls glam by the nature of how they looked and their attitude. They took glam to America and really challenged the sexuality of it. They also had Johnny Thunders, who's basically like the American Mick Ronson.

#can not describe the feeling of finding what issue this belonged to but man was it good #gerard way #glam rock #rolling stone magazine

[harrisonarchive]

Photo 1 by Tom Wargacki; photo 2 by Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images. Happy birthday and very best wishes to Olivia Harrison! Q: “Were you going down fast [in 1974]?” George Harrison: “Well, I wasn’t ready to join Alcoholics Anonymous or anything — I don’t think I was that far gone — but I could put back a bottle of brandy occasionally, plus all the other naughty things that fly around. I just went on a binge, went on the road… all that sort of thing, until it got to the point where I had no voice and almost no body at times. Then I met Olivia and it all worked out fine. There’s a song on the new album, ‘Dark Sweet Lady’: ‘You came and helped me through/When I’d let go/You came from out the blue/Never have known what I’d done without you.’ That sums it up.” - Rolling Stone, April 19, 1979 “[Olivia] is a beautiful person. His son, Dhani, is a beautiful kid, man. [...] Olivia had the hardest job in the world, because she loved George more than all of us, and she really took care of him and cleared the path in front of him, behind him, and inherited that crazy life, you know.” - Tom Petty, Rolling Stone, January 17, 2002 “George and I were together for 27 years… and everything we did was sort of a family project.” - Olivia Harrison, Cultura Pop, October 2017 “The Romanian Angel Appeal’s still going. It had been adopted as a program by the government there, so they’re still helping children.” - Olivia Harrison, Dark Horse Radio, October 2018 “I’ve never considered myself a poet. I’m not. I can’t say I am. I found this form, or it found me, and through it I was able to really tell the most personal feelings and my personal observations of myself as well as George. I found myself on these pages too. As much as I found George, I really found myself on these pages.” - Olivia Harrison (on Came The Lightening), The Bookseller, May 20, 2022 Did you know…? “The Material World Foundation, headed by Olivia Harrison, has collaborated with The Film Foundation, an organization created by Martin Scorsese, in the restoration of invaluable classic Mexican films.” - Film Foundation, October 2022 (x)

#Olivia Harrison #George Harrison #Dhani Harrison #Tom Petty #Romanian Angel Appeal #Material World Foundation #etc. #quote #quotes about George #quotes by George #George and Olivia #happy birthday Olivia Harrison #fits queue like a glove

[blackhistoryalbum]

Princess Diahann | Vintage Black Glamour & Grace

Diahann Carroll (born Carol Diann Johnson; July 17, 1935 – October 4, 2019) was an American actress, singer, model, and activist. She rose to prominence in some of the earliest major studio films to feature black casts, including Carmen Jones (1954) and Porgy and Bess (1959). In 1962, Carroll won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, a first for an African-American woman, for her role in the Broadway musical No Strings. In 1974 she starred in Claudine alongside James Earl Jones for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

Her title role in Julia, for which she received the 1968 Golden Globe Award for Best TV Star – Female, was the first series on American television to star a black woman in a non-stereotypical role, and was a milestone both in her career and the medium. In the 1980s, she played the role of Dominique Deveraux, a mixed-race diva, in the prime time soap opera Dynasty. Carroll was the recipient of numerous stage and screen nominations and awards, including her Tony Award in 1962, Golden Globe Award in 1968, and five Emmy Award nominations. She died on October 4, 2019, from breast cancer.

Black History Album “The Way We Were”  Find us on Tumblr | Pinterest | Facebook  | Twitter  

#Diahann Carroll #black glamour #Porgy and Bess #claudine #carmen jones #julia #dominique deveraux #Dynasty #african american #vintage black glamour #tony awards #golden globes #emmy awards

[radiofauxshow]

Song of the Day: May 18, 2024

Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco: Quimbara Quimbara on Amazon Prime Music Continuing my list of the Top 20 albums of 1974, coming in at #10 is Celia and Johnny by Celia Cruz and Johnny Pacheco. 1974 was a banner year for salsa music, especially that coming out of New York, with several of the style’s most important recordings released that year. At the forefront of it all was Fania Records. It had…

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#1974 #Best Albums of 1974 #Celia and Johnny #Celia Cruz #Fania Records #Johnny Pacheco #music #Salsa Music

[got-ticket-to-ride]

The relevance of "I saw her standing there" between John and Paul

Paul considers "I saw her standing there" one of the best song he has ever written in his book "the lyrics" from 2021.

I think John thought the same? Because he sung this with Elton in 1974 telling the world it is a song from "his estranged fiance Paul". John thought it would be funny to sing it and wondered how Paul would react about it in 1974.

Maybe the song has significance to the both of them? It's the first song on their first official album "Please, Please, Please" from 1963.

The first draft from Paul was genderneutral? IT COULD BE ABOUT JOHN. "You're just seventeen." Which is when Paul met him in 1957.

You're just seventeen

You act like a queen

You.....are beyond compare

So how could I dance with another (feels like a love declaration that's meant to last forever)

When I see you standing there.

"You are beyond compare", remember Paul saying everyone else just faded into background at the Fete when The Quarrymen was performing? You act like a queen would fit John too.

Update: Added Toot and Snore Session from March 1974 his only known jamming session with Paul post The Beatles break up where John said "When I saw me standing there, and I said gee is that me?"

#mclennon #paul mccartney #john and paul #john lennon #the beatles #lyrics #i saw her standing there #Spotify

[coneyislandbabey]

masterlist -> coneyislandbabey

EVERYTHING UNDER THE CUT ! I'll do my best to keep this up to date lol

EDDIE ROUNDTREE !

going to california. : you move to Los Angeles, and are surprised to run into an old childhood friend. [3.3k] well, my boyfriend's in a band.: nobody thinks the thing between you and Eddie can be as pure and real as you say it is. [1.3k] butterflies and zebras (and moonbeams and fairy tales).: You and Eddie have a daughter. The first weeks of her life growing up in the house with you both and the band. [3.1k] Beast of Burden series: the push and pull between you and Eddie Roundtree was never-ending. No matter how hard you tried to push him away, you always came back together. -> (i'll never be) your beast of burden.: part one. Pittsburgh, 1967. [2.6k] -> my back is broad, but it's a-hurtin'.: part two. Pittsburgh, 1969. [2.1k] -> you keep on tellin' me i ain't your kinda man. : part three. Baltimore, 1970. [2.8k] -> i don't need no beast of burden. : part four. On the road, 1971. [3.8k] -> (put me out, put me out) put me out of misery.: part five. Los Angeles, 1973. [1.7k] -> all your sickness, i can suck it up.: part six. Los Angeles, 1974. [1.5k]

GRAHAM DUNNE !

testing his patience. : Graham finds his voice defending you after Billy takes his anger out on you during a recording session. [2.2k] the boys are back in town.: The Six are back in Pittsburgh during the Numbers tour, and Graham runs into his high school crush. [6.8k] i only have eyes for you.: You bit Graham at preschool when you were three years old. The rest, they say, is history. [3.5k]

WARREN ROJAS !

crossed wires.: a night of complicated feelings and jealousy lead to a revelation between you and Warren. [1.5k] she's got a strange magic.: Warren is usually cool and confident, but there's something about you that makes him completely nervous. He's desperate to ask you out, and he's desperate to get it right. [1.3k] i'd have you anytime.: You don't expect something to bloom between you and the drummer of your brothers' band, and when it does, the two of you try (and fail) to keep it a secret. [5.1k] she's a rainbow.: Warren's got it bad for Camila's childhood best friend. [2k] still raining, still dreaming.: It's a rare day off, and you and Warren spend it being lazy together in bed. [1.3k] so hot you're hurting my feelings.: your seemingly innocuous wardrobe choice makes Warren lose his mind. [1.7k] time to play b-sides.: you and warren pick up the pieces after the band falls apart. [1.1k] Mariposaverse fics: (these are not listed or written in any particular chronological order and can be read in any way after the first one) i'm with you.: You and Warren are friends with benefits. And then you find out you're pregnant. [3k] my mariposa. : a little domestic snapshot of you and Warren as new parents. [1.3k] butterfly wings.: It's your and Warren's daughter, Mariposa's first halloween. [1.1k] light of the love that i found.: Yours and Warren's wedding. [2.3k] the pick-me-up.: Life has been wearing you and Warren down lately, but Mariposa saying her first word really brings up your spirits. [1.1k] don't cry my sweet, don't break my heart.: Warren being a good dad and having a little crisis about his little girl growing up. [1.5k] Camp Wawayanda Lake: summer camp au. prank war and men super short shorts. What else do you need? -> prologue; bug spray and bonfires and booze.: You arrive at camp and reunite with old friends. There’s a drunken bonfire, and Warren is suddenly, distractingly beautiful. [2k] -> one; a study in lake water and forest princesses.:  It’s the first day of camp and Billy does something stupid that sets Daisy on a summer-long path toward revenge. [3.6k]

KAREN SIRKO !

high by the beach. : The feelings that grow between you and Karen Sirko seem to be the easiest thing in the world. [2k] with a girl like you.: You first cross paths with Karen Sirko when your band is recording your first album. After the fact, you can't get her out of your head; turns out, Karen's been feeling the same way. [1.5k]

#daisy jones and the six #djats #eddie roundtree #eddie roundtree x reader #eddie loving #eddie loving x reader #warren rojas #warren rojas x reader #warren rhodes #warren rhodes x reader #graham dunne #graham dunne x reader #karen sirko #karen sirko x reader #daisy jones #daisy jones x reader #camila dunne #camila dunne x reader #billy dunne

[bitter69uk]

The Beyhive was abuzz when Beyoncé dropped a teaser for her two new country-adjacent song (“Texas Hold 'Em” and “16 Carriages”) during the Superbowl. But when it comes to African American soul divas dabbling in country music, as so often the case in pop culture history, Queen Tina got there first! I’d always mistakenly assumed Acid Queen (1975) was Tina Turner’s debut solo effort, but no – the record Tina Turns the Country On was released in September 1974 (so it turns fifty this year. Note that Tina started releasing solo material when she was still married to Ike). On it, the R&B tigress wraps her gravelly rasp around material by the likes of Kris Kristofferson, Dolly Parton, Hank Snow, Bob Dylan and James Taylor. While Turns the Country On garnered Turner a Grammy nomination that year for "Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female" it belly-flopped commercially (no singles from it were released) and the reviews were decidedly mixed (“She sounds so woeful doing country on Turns the Country On, you would think she grew up overseas” Ron Wynn concludes in his 1985 book Tina: The Tina Turner Story). You can judge for yourself – the album is streaming on Spotify. Ultimately, as the Saving Country Music website notes “perhaps Tina Turner’s biggest country music contribution came from being a muse, not a performer. In 1969, Waylon Jennings was hanging out at the Fort Worther Motel in Fort Worth, TX when he breezed by an advertisement for Tina Turner describing her as a “good hearted woman loving two-timing men.” Waylon immediately recognized the phrase as the perfect premise for a country song” – and it resulted in his 1972 hit “Good Hearted Woman.”

#tina turns the country on #tina turner #beyonce #lobotomy room #country music #waylon jennings #good hearted woman #rhythm and blues #soul music #soul diva #ike and tina turner #bold soul sister

[freddiemercurylegendabovelegends]

Today - March 12th, 1974 - Queen Story!

Interview with Freddie Mercury – NME

by Julie Webb

It was clear for all to see that Queen’s Freddie Mercury wasn’t in the best of health. His hair lacked the recent attention of heated curling tongs; a cold sore was erupting above his upper lip; and horror – seems he’d not been able to summon enough strength to apply Biba black nail polish to more than one hand.

Mercury was worried as the camera lens zoomed in on him. He beseeched us to “touch up the picture to remove the cold sore if you can.”

I know it sounds like we’re setting the guy up, but he takes it all in good heart. Why, last time we met he stated he was “gay as a daffodil” – and here he was, willingly holding a daffodil in hand, outside Buckingham Palace. He posed regally, shirt temporarily coming unhitched from his trousers, revealing a hairy chest.

The British tour sapped most of the Mercury energy. Bedridden with laryngitis when it finished, he had just a few free days to repair any mental or physical damage before Queen joined Mott The Hoople on their two-month tour of America.

He is, in short pretty knackered – and if the American tour seems to be happening too soon after Britain, there’s no way he can change things.

I’d like a couple of weeks off, but you’ve got to push yourself. But we’re at a stage in our careers, my dear, where it’s just got to be done. I shall be resting on my laurels soon…”

He stops, considers the last remark and realises he may have said the wrong thing. Hurriedly he comes in with, “To put it another way, I shall try and reap my profits. I’ve worked my ass off these past few months. I’ve worked till I’ve dropped and after a while you physically can’t do it.”

Didn’t he think the British tour was a bit too busy, what with so many gigs included. “Yes it was a heavy tour, but it put us in a different bracket overnight. It’s a tour we had to do and I think now we’ve done it we can do the next British tour on our own terms, exactly how we like.

“With this tour we were booked in well beforehand at semi-big venues and, by the time we came to doing them, we had the album out, we’d got a bit of TV exposure and everything escalated. I think if we’d waited we could have done all the big venues – it’s just a matter of timing. But I’m glad we did the tour when we did. Even though there was a lot of physical and mental strain – so many things to worry about other than the music.”

A situation not improved by the fact that all members of Queen are, according to Mercury, “very highly strung”. Add to that his admitted bad temper. “I’m very emotional. Whereas before, I was given time to make my decisions, now nearly all of us are so highly strung we just snap. We always argue but I think it’s a healthy sign because we get to the root of the matter and squeeze the best out. But lately so much is happening, it’s escalating so fast that everybody wants to know almost instantly, and I certainly get very temperamental.”

“You’ve got to know where to draw the line. But the public always come first – it’s a corny thing to say but I mean it. Lately I’ve been throwing things around which is very unlike me. I threw a glass at someone the other day. I think I’m going to go mad in a few years time; I’m going to be one of those insane musicians.”

It’s at this point that I begin to wonder about Mercury. On stage he lords it around like some old slag. Offstage, he’s vain, camp – yet a nice enough dude.

He just has an unfortunate way with him during interviews, coming out with quotes and stories that are bound to be misconstrued or lay him wide open to mickey-taking. This could well account for some of the unkind press the band have received.

“I think, to an extent, we are a sitting target because we gained popularity quicker than most bands and we’ve been talked about more than any other band in the last month, so it’s inevitable. Briefly, I’d be the first one to accept fair criticism. I think it would be wrong if all we got were good reviews – but it’s when you get unfair, dishonest reviews where people haven’t done their homework that I get annoyed.” Unlike many British bands, they’ve waited until the time was right and are appearing on the same bill as Mott, who will assuredly pull in large crowds.

So the present and the future seem well assured I enquire about the past – like, what kind of family background does a guy like Mercury have?

“Middle-class. Musicians aren’t social rejects any more. If you mean; Have I got upper class parents who put a lot of money into me? Was I spoilt? – no. My parents were very strict. I wasn’t the only one, I’ve got a sister, I was at boarding school for nine years so I didn’t see my parents that often. That background helped me a lot because it taught me to fend for myself.”

Boarding school… if we are to believe stories that circulate about boarding schools – brutish behaviour, homosexual goings-on – well, the mind positively boggles in Freddie Mercury’s case.

I broach the subject…

“it’s stupid to say there is no such thing in boarding schools. All the things they say about them are more or less true. All the bullying and everything else. I’ve had the odd schoolmaster chasing me. It didn’t shock me because somehow boarding schools… you’re not confronted by it, you are just slowly aware of it. It’s going through life.”

So was he the pretty boy who everyone wanted to lay?

“Funnily enough, yes. Anybody goes through that. I was considered the arch poof.”

So how about being bent?

“You’re a crafty cow. Let’s put it this way, there were times when I was young and green. It’s a thing schoolboys go through. I’ve had my share of schoolboy pranks. I’m not going to elaborate further.”

Oh dear. And just when we were doing so well.

📸 Pic: 1974 - Freddie Mercury posing

#nme magazine #freddie mercury interview 1974 #1974 #interview #julie webb #freddie mercury #queen band #london #zanzibar #legend #queen #brian may #john deacon #freddiebulsara #roger taylor