Mercury honoured with London memorial

The Queen singer, who died in 1991, fled Zanzibar, Tanzania as a child with his family at a time of political unrest in the African region, and they set up home in Feltham, West London.

Local authorities in the British capital have decided to remember the superstar by laying a memorial plaque in the town on 24 November (09).

Councillor Paul Jabbal hopes the tribute will make local residents realise that anyone can achieve their goals.

He says, “I am delighted that at last we are honouring Freddie Mercury’s memory and his achievements with a permanent memorial.

“As well as celebrating his life and success, it can serve as a reminder to local people that it doesn’t matter where you come from, if you work hard you can succeed in whatever you do.”

BOYZONE PLAY QUEEN MEDLEY ON TOUR

Boyzone are doing a Queen medley as part of their show on their current tour – complete with “Freddie” stagewear… yellow jackets…. white vests and white  trousers with red/gold stripe…crowns and robes – and more. Looks like a lot of fun.

Their set includes “I Want To Break Free“, “Under Pressure“, “We Will Rock You” Radio Ga Ga“, “A Kind of Magic” and “Bohemian Rhapsody“.

Watch on youtube here:
(These videos are a little unsteady. Hopefully some better quality video’s will show up – but enjoyable.)

Boyzone Queen Medley Part 1
- live at Belfast’s Odyssey Arena, 24th May 2009
Boyzone Queen Medley Part 2

GUITARIST REVIEWS LIVE IN UKRAINE

Guitarist August Issue 2009
DVD’s

Queen + Paul Rodgers
Live In Ukraine

* * * *
EMI

This is a concert played in front of Queen‘s biggest ever crowd: 350,000 squeezed into Freedom Square in the city of Kharkov and a further 10 million watched the live TV feed.  This makes Rock in Rio 1985, let alone Live Aid, resemble a pub gig in comparison The set comprises a mix of Queen numbers both classic and new, intespersed with Free and Bad Company tunes and, as you’d expect, the paying is exempary throughout: Brian May especailly looks to be having an absolute ball.

As the intro to Bohemian Rhapsody heaves into view, sung by Mercury from beyond via a huge video screen and deafened by the silence issuing from a dark space where bassist John Deacon once stood, the camera cuts to the obligatory young woman in the crowd wiping away a tear and the drama is complete.  Rodgers has been making public noises suggesting that his tenure with the band is over.  If that proves to be the case, this is a great high to go out on. [SB]

Extras: Song selection, audio option.

BRONZE MONUMENT TO FREDDIE, BUENOS AIRES

‘Monumento a Freddie’ are aiming to create a bronze statue of Freddie Mercury in Buenos Aires, to be inaugurated in 2011.

In order to do so that are recruiting volunteers to put together a national collection of bronze – Queen fans can donate anything they have in bronze from keys to doorknobs. If they don’t have any bronze at home they can donate 9 dollars which buys 1kg of bronze. The next stages will be find a sculptor and contact the government of Buenos Aires to decide where the statue can go.

Apparently the site below will be translated into various languages soon, which should make things easier for international fans to collaborate.

www.monumentoafreddie.com.ar/

Because Freddie deserves a monument!

Julio A. Roca, Bernardino Rivadavia, Bartolomé Miter among many other “heroes” of Argentina’s history have something in common, and do not speak the start of the external debt of our country, not the cowardly genocide of our indigenous peoples, or the extermination of our Paraguay brothers, talking about hundreds of monuments, names of streets and avenues, and even the banknotes and coins we use every day … All were unfairly honored (not by the people) despite their crimes and aberrations, while many other heroes and freedom fighters as Er nesto “Che” Guevara recently in June 2008 took his deserved monument.

And if we talk of freedom, to mor, peace, and music … talk about Freddie Mercury, who [ll eno] our lives with plenty of memorable melodies, who once did not sing his song, who is not imitated in the mirror in her room when no one was watching, who shook his head no with Wayne and his friends when they put “Bohemian Rhapsody” on the stereo the car? … YO SI!, And I’m sure many of you also.

Queen was the first foreign rock band to be remembered in South America, in these times we visit the most prestigious bands of the moment, but it was Freddie and his friends who gave us the honor to play for us first in a series of impressive concerts that even today those who were fortunate enough to witness them, remember them with emotion because at that time to attend a massive event of such magnitude was banned by the military dictatorship. They were, are and will be tireless fighters for human rights, much more than what we say about those “heroes” naming the streets where we walk.

Freddie deserves a monument, and even more!, Join this project and is part of an act of love to those who gave us so much happiness with his musical legacy, the November 24, 2011 marks the 20th anniversary of his departure, us show that even We remember, and yet we love it. Bronze with a donation from every corner of Argentina can do it! Take a minute to visit this page and find out how you can help make this tribute reality!.

QUEEN + LOGITECH PARTNER FOR ABSOLUTE GREATEST

PRESS RELEASE:
QUEEN MAKES MUSIC HISTORY WITH LAUNCH OF ABSOLUTE GREATEST ALBUM

Logitech and Queen To Distribute New Album and Exclusive Content on New Logitech Squeezebox Radio Wi-Fi Music Player

FREMONT, Calif. — Sept. 29, 2009 — The legendary rock band, Queen, announced today that they are making music history with the release of their new album, Absolute Greatest – the ultimate compilation of the band’s most popular, enduring and iconic songs on EMI Music’s Parlophone Records. In an industry first, Queen are joining up with Logitech to offer Absolute Greatest exclusively on the company’s new Logitech Squeezebox™ Radio Wi-Fi music player. As of today, owners of the Logitech Squeezebox Radio can listen to the new Queen album before it hits the shops on November 16 and experience a series of unique Queen photos and track-by-track audio commentaries recorded by the band.

The release of Absolute Greatest on the Logitech Squeezebox Radio is the latest in a long-established record of firsts Queen has brought to the music industry. “Bohemian Rhapsody” (1975) was at first considered too long for successful radio play, but is now recognized as one of the greatest singles of all time. Its video was also the first genuine promotional video. In 1981, Queen became the first band to make a stadium tour of South America. There, in March that year, they played a single concert to 131,000 people in Sao Paolo, the largest paying audience for any band anywhere in the world. A second concert the following night drew an additional 120,000 people.

Ten years later, Queen made the first-ever commercial release of a collection of videos (Greatest Flix, 1991). And more recently still, the band brought their music to new generations through different art forms, like choreographer Maurice Béjart’s “Ballet For Life,” and their stage musical with Ben Elton, “We Will Rock You,” now in its eighth sell-out year in London and seen worldwide by over 10 million people.

Queen’s first Greatest Hits album is now officially the United Kingdom’s biggest-selling album ever. According to the BPI, the album has sold in excess of 5.6 million copies, outselling The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album by almost a million copies.

The Logitech Squeezebox Radio Wi-Fi music player is a kind of magic jukebox for music lovers. Launched earlier this month, it provides instant access to a limitless choice of music – whether it’s from your personal music library, Internet radio from around the world or from the growing number of online subscription services such as Last.fm™, Napster® and Pandora®. This means owners of the Logitech Squeezebox Radio can bring the pleasure of many thousands of songs from all around the world into their home, in high-quality audio, at the touch of a button. The Squeezebox Radio also features a vibrant color screen, access to Facebook® and Flickr®, and delivers big sound thanks to the built-in speakers.

For seven weeks, leading up to the album’s availability on November 16, Queen fans who own a Logitech Squeezebox Radio will have exclusive access to the complete Absolute Greatest album, track lyrics and a series of Queen photographs that have been made available for the first time. They can also enjoy exclusive track-by-track audio commentaries in which Brian May and Roger Taylor talk through the composition and history of each famous song. All they need to do is select the Queen application found under the Squeezebox Radio’s new Apps menu.

Queen’s Roger Taylor said: “What a thrill to be first past the post on this new and mind- boggling technological innovation; another exciting step on our long journey.”

Antoine Preisig, Logitech’s vice president for sales and marketing in Europe said: “Logitech has been bringing consumers limitless choices of high-quality music for years and Queen have always been pioneers in bringing huge hits, like “We Will Rock You,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “A Kind Of Magic” to millions of fans. In coming together to provide exclusive music and other content on the Logitech Squeezebox Radio, Logitech and Queen are setting an exciting example, bringing these timeless songs in a unique way to new generations of music lovers.”

For more information and a sneak preview of the Queen’s exclusive track-by-track audio commentaries and unique photos, visit www.logitech.com/queen or www.queenonline.com/logitech.

EMI ITALY LIMITED EDITION WWRY CD DIGIPACK

EMI Italy will be printing a special limited edition “We Will Rock You“ CD digipack to mark the XXth anniversary of the We Will Rock You Fan Club. The profit from the sales of this CD will benefit the Mercury Phoenix Trust.

This will go on sale on 15th November at the Absolute Queen Event which will be held in Milan at the Mediolanum Forum (sala Gallery). The gig, proceeds of which will go the Mercury Phoenix Trust, will have as special guests Spike Edney’s Redsox featuring Neil Murray on bass.

CD Digipack with 5 “We Will Rock” You tracks :

1) We Will Rock You
original version from “News Of The World”,1977

2) We Will Rock You
Live Killers fast version, 1979

3) We Will Rock You
Live Magic version,
recorded at Knebworth Park, 9 Aug 1986

4) We Will Rock You
Tom Yonke Radio Remix

5) We Will Rock You
Live Killers slow version, 1979

Further details about the release and ticket sales with follow shortly.

Interview with Obama

Heard an interview with Obama this morning, on 106.9FM KCBS, and a followup with a Republican representative whose name I didn’t catch. Kinda kicked my head into gear on a few things and I just wanted to rattle them out here.

* The comparisons, in regards to the whole health care thing, between Barack Obama & Adolf Hitler are ludicrous. Of the many things that come to mind when Hitler comes up, not one of them have anything to do with his health care program.

* The ‘death panel’ thing is beyond idiotic. It’s not anywhere in Obama’s health care program and it seems unlikely that it will ever be added to it. Interestingly enough, current health care programs already have something that be attributed to be death panels, insofar as HMO’s refusing continued care for the elderly, but you don’t really hear people getting up in arms about that. Well, they do but nowhere as much as what they’re lobbing at Obama. It almost seems as though they’ve forgotten about the actual thing to direct their attention at the one that doesn’t exist.

* Obama is our president. We voted for him. If you didn’t vote for anybody then you still voted for him, technically. Also kinda kills any complaining you might be doing in his direction because by not voting you stifled your own voice. Then again, if you did vote for Cheney you are a braver soul then I can credit given the horrorshow he had a for a vice·presidential candidate.

* It may seem unrealistic that the changes that Obama would like to accomplish can be done without raising taxes. I don’t know, most things financial confound me. However, whether or not he gets what he wants done…done, taxes will increase regardless. They always do. I’d much rather they go up for positive reasons instead of just going up for any number of other random things.

* I really do like Obama. There’s a host of reasons but the biggie is that I genuinely trust the man, as much as I can for someone I’ve got actually met. He just radiates confidence to me. It has nothing to do with his race but it may be a larger part of his family and the love they all have. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a president who was such a major family man. Given the lunkhead we had for the last 8 years, when he got into his office Dubya’s daughters were major party girls who got continually busted for drinking under the influence, using the drugs, and there were more than a few rumors of sexual shennagians as well. The previous vice·president, a major homophobe, practically disowned his own daughter for being a lesbian; still remember when they won the first election how Cheney made a significant move to step around her when she tried to hug him in congratulations. Prior to them, Clinton was a little better…at least he had a good parent/child relationship with his kid…and she was good people.

* Yes, I liked Bill Clinton. Still do. When he was in office I was on Cloud 9. This came up with a friend of mine recently, who I remember also liked him when he was in office at the time but doesn’t now…and probably doesn’t remember. Clinton was in my eyes a good president, a good father, and a lousy husband. Frankly, I’m more surprised when a president doesn’t cheat on their significant other then when they do. Traditionally, %·wise, most of them have. It doesn’t excuse it but it’s kinda like how when it rains I expect the ground to get wet.

* As this seems to be the up in arms thing right now, I don’t believe that the “You lie!” thing was about race. The man himself may be a racist, I have no idea, but I don’t think that one particular stupid blurting had anything to do with race. I don’t think that the Hitler comparisons and the town hall meetings stuff are about race. I don’t think everything is about race, or even just the perception of it. People can be completely idiotic in mass numbers for things that have nothing to do with racism and still be completely about ignorance.

* I do think that Rush Limbaugh’s “Obama the Magic Negro” bit was racial and just further evidence of Rush’s brain turning into swiss cheese. His claiming after the fact that he’s like John Stewart on The Daily Show was a badly timed and totally pointless act of saving grace. You can’t say something in seriousness and still hope to be excused for it, by saying it was anything but, after the fact when you realize the people listening were horrified by you.

* Skimming one of the member’s posts, off the friendslist of Cwazy AmericansUSA·de·Quirky I saw a bit about Blackwater; you should know who you are. That Obama has approved their continued funding so that the government can still utilize their services. Not sure how I feel about that. Reading the article gave more the impression that it was more the Obama Administration, which is still him but kinda gives the impression of more than just him, that was behind this. Also seemed more pushed by someone working for Obama than the man himself but still…I dunno. Very the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing. I’m on the fence about that.

* Just because there are things that Obama does I don’t like doesn’t mean I suddenly hate him. If I were to do that sort of thing with the people I know I wouldn’t have any friends.

* Can’t help but think, given his efforts to make himself much more in the public eye than previous folks that held the office, that most of the people that dislike Obama more for all the insanity going on in blogs all over the place than stuff actually having to do with the actual man himself. From the socialism thing to people that actually thought he was going to order the deaths of their grandparents, I hear more stuff negative directed at the president like that than anything actually grounded in reality. Even a friend of mine that seems obsessed with sending me stuff to chip away my image of the man, it’s usually less his stuff than the rhetoric of others.

Eight truths i hold

Eight truths i hold

- most things in life are more bearable with the liberal application of silver jewelry – in the midst of the most pressing bullshit, one is likely to look at one’s hands; it’s nice to spy something pretty there.
- i am a very good sharer with most non-monetary things. there just isn’t much cash flowing, but sofa space, coffee, dinner, & liquor are yours as well as mine on most occasions.
- i resent people who drive by without a muffler on their vehicle, who shout in the street, and who have a fuck-em-before-they-fuck-me attitude. also on the list: Chronic Complainers and the Intentionally Jobless.
- urban wildlife makes me happiest of all.
- hot tea is a fabulous remedy for melancholy; coffee can make my day.
- it’s best to be at peace with funny-looking – that shit is way too hard to change.
- the world at large is better when the cat box is clean.
- puzzles are good to clear a heavy head.

Read me a story

Robert Owens returns with new album AFETR a 17-year hiatus, famed house hero Robert Owens has returned to the fray with a brand spanking new solo album – ‘Night-Time Stories’. Out 25th February on Compost, it sees Owens stepping into the spotlight himself for once, after lending his amazing vocals to tons of other artists’ tracks. “I’m constantly putting out music with other artists, various collaborations,” Owens explained. “So the other artists are getting the profi le and I’m just the featured singer on their work. This time I decided to get a series of different producers to guest on my album, so I can be the main artist for a while. Before I just felt like I was going through a revolving door.”
The singer, a legend of the Chicago house scene with his pioneering work for Fingers Inc, and solo tracks ‘Bring Down the Walls’ and ‘I’ll Be Your Friend’, has more recently been associated with his guest vocals on tracks by Photek, London Elektricity and Coldcut. Owens now resides in London, and hand-picked
a who’s who of modern European house producers to create tracks for ‘Night-Time Stories’, including Charles Webster, Wahoo, Kirk Degiorgio, Ian Pooley, Jimpster and more.
“I’m really fortunate to have got these guys. From beginning to end, it was a 100% Robert Owens concept, the way the tracks are laid out, the cover, everything. I got a list of different producers together, and I approached a few, they all fell into sync with the vibe and karma of the tracks,” enthused Owens.
First single ‘Merging’, out now, has a typically spiritual theme, concerning being true to one’s self. “It’s about pulling yourself together, isolating a lot of negative energies and emotions out of yourself and just becoming whole and one, in tune with yourself.”
The vocalist is already thinking beyond the album, writing the next one, and has several new collaborations in the works. “Different people have approached me for more feature work, and again that’s happening. D. Ramirez is one guy, but I can’t talk about too many others,” Owens grinned. Looks like this star’s gonna continue to shine for some time to come.

Queen

“Queen” was a British rock band originally consisting of 4 members: Freddie Mercury, Brian May, John Deacon, and Roger Taylor.

The band formed in London in the early 1970s after May and Taylor’s former band “Smile” split after having released an album and single. Freddie replaced Tim Staffell as vocalist, and John Deacon joined in February of 1971, playing bass for the band that Freddie renamed “Queen”.

Queen’s first self titled album was released in 1973 and received little attention from the general public. They quickly followed it with a second album, “Queen II” which also failed to generate much interest from music fans in Britain. Despite this, the band began developing a huge following in Japan and witnessed their popularity for themselves when they visited the country, mainly in 1975, to promote their fourth and most famous album “A Night at the Opera”, featuring the epic “PlayBohemian Rhapsody”.

Queen’s popularity grew steadily through the latter half of the 70s as they released hit album after hit album, reaching its peak in the mid-80s after their “Live Aid” appearence, and continuing into the early 90’s before Mercury’s untimely death on 24th November 1991. The official cause of death was bronchial pneumonia resulting from AIDS.

Over the course of their 30 year career, the band did sound tracks for two films (”Flash Gordon” and Highlander), released a string of live and studio albums, and had many many fans across the world.

In 1995, 4 years after Mercury’s death, the band released the album “Made in Heaven”. This album saw the surviving band members in the studio completing or reworking unused vocals, unreleased variations of Freddie solo material (a “Queen” version of “PlayI Was Born to Love You” for example), and tracks where Brian and Roger added lyrics to flesh out a song (”PlayMother Love”).

Queen have been on indefinite hiatus since 1997, when John Deacon decided to retire.

Several “Queen + …” projects have been developed in the following years, a few of them mere remixes with no artistic involvement from the band. In 1999, a “Greatest Hits III” album was released. This featured, among others, “Queen + Wyclef Jean” on a rap version of “Another One Bites The Dust”, a live version of “Somebody To Love” performed by George Michael, and a live version of “The Show Must Go On” performed live in 1997 with Elton John.

Brian May and Roger Taylor have performed together as Queen on several occasions (award ceremonies, charity concerts, and the like), sharing vocals with various guest singers. They have also recorded several covers of Queen’s hits with guest vocalists, including “We Will Rock You” (first with Five and later Britney Spears, Beyonce, John Farnham and P!nk) and “We Are The Champions” (with Robbie Williams).

At the end of 2004, May and Taylor announced that they would reunite and return to touring in 2005, with Paul Rodgers (founder and former lead singer of “Free” and “Bad Company”). Brian May’s website also stated that Rodgers would be ‘featured with’ Queen as “Queen + Paul Rodgers”, and not replacing the late Freddie Mercury. The retired John Deacon would not be participating.

Official website: www.queenonline.com