The Band was formed in London by Freddie Mercury , Brian May and Roger Taylor in ( 1970 ) . At the time Brian May and Roger Taylor were already in a band called ( Smile ). After watching them a few times Freddie convinced them to join him and Queen was born. John Deacon wouldn't join until a year later in ( 1971 ) . Freddie's real name was actually ( Farrokh Bulsara ) he was born Stone Town in the Sultanate of Zanzibar.
The whole band played a part in the groups success. Every single member can boast of a hit song they've written for the group. It's unusual to have so many talented writers but I suppose this is down to them being such great musicians. Unfortunately it would take Freddie Mercury's death before the bands work was truly appreciated. They did have a large following when it came to their concerts. It seems even back then they were known for their fantastic live performances.
When it came to the charts though their only real international number one came in the form of Bohemian Rhapsody. It seems so wrong that a group like Queen would have such limited chart success. I suppose you can say this was down to the fact they werec never really a band that focussed on trends. The band played what they wanted to play and made what they wanted to make , for them the fun was in performing to the crowds and for me that's something they did better than anyone else 😊.
I've added a couple of live tracks that I think should show what made this group so special 😁.
You Take My Breath Away live at Hyde Park ( 1976 ) followed by Someone To Love Canada. I've also added Don't Stop Me Now and the video for The Show Must Go On.
Rock on 😁😎
I've also added a documentary at the end , it's well worth a watch.
Below is the ( 2011 ) documentary - Days Of Our Lives.
I’ve been thinking over this album and era more than usual lately, and decided that I’d write this up. Perhaps as a way to extricate all the Queen knowledge from my head, and the era in question takes up quite a lot of RAM.
The Hot Space album, and era, is very controversial and to this day garners a polarising set of opinions amongst fans and critics alike. So I just thought what the hell, let’s let everyone know what the hell was going on with Queen in the early 80s.
The Hot Space album was the 10th studio album by Queen and was released on the 21st May 1982. It had elements of disco, funk, R&B, dance, and pop, which was very different to what Queen had been doing throughout previous albums. The dance elements of this album was supposedly inspired by the success of Another One Bites The Dust, released in 1980.
Another One Bites The Dust was extremely successful in the US and the UK, the two largest marketing countries in the Western world, at least at the time—and Queen aimed to prolong that success.
The band started recording for Hot Space in June of 1981, and spent a gruelling 10 months on the project before wrapping up the production element in March of 1982. Upon its release, fans and critics found it disappointing. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said “the band that once proudly proclaimed not to use synthesisers on their albums now dramatically reversed course, dedicating the entire first side of the album to robotic, new wave dance pop, all driven by drum machines and coloured by keyboards with Brian May’s guitar coming in as flavour only on occasion.”
The fourth track on Hot Space, Body Language, has been dubbed the worst song in Queen’s discography by fans, and the whole album received no more than a 3-star rating overall.
Rolling Stone gave them a 3-star, whilst the Encyclopedia of Popular Music gave a 1-star… Yikes.
Hot Space is one of the more obscure Queen albums to those who are not currently, or have ever been, active within the fandom. So we’re going to break it down a little bit, and let’s just talk about the background and context of what the hell was going on with them.
So in 1981, Queen recorded Under Pressure with David Bowie, and it’s still considered one of Queen’s staple and most popular songs. It was recorded in Montreux, and was a completely separate project to Hot Space. The band had met up with Bowie and jammed together for a while, just to see if they could come up with something to lay down and master. Of course, as most people know, bassist John Deacon came up with the iconic Under Pressure bass riff, just before they all went out to get some pizza. And by the time they’d returned to the studio, he’d forgotten it! But luckily drummer Roger Taylor remembered it.
Now, this was the first time Queen weren’t working alone; they were used to working only with their producers, never having had anyone else’s input. The two artists merged as one for the song and it pointed in the direction of a potential new road for Queen—it was looking like an exciting one.
But what went wrong during the recording of Hot Space?
Brian May recalls that there was a total change of life for all of them. They travelled to Munich and according to Brian, that’s when things started to go downhill.
Let’s talk a little bit about the studio in which they recorded the album in Munich. It was situated in the basement of a hotel, and it was called Musicland Studios. It closed in the 90s due to some road issues, so it’s no longer open. But Brian remembers this place being grim and depressing.
The band’s mental health started to deteriorate after learning some unsettling details about the place. In Brian’s words:
“A lot of people used to jump off the top of the building and kill themselves off that particular building. We didn’t know that until we got there.”
The urge to finish recording grew, and they spent months at the hotel.
The aim was to create an album that focused more on the dance elements of music due to the success of Another One Bites The Dust, as I mentioned before. They seemed to be in luck, as Freddie Mercury’s entourage at the time was concentrated with dance influences in the form of Paul Prenter.
Now, who was Paul Prenter, you ask? If you’ve seen the film, you’ll kind of already know, but here’s a bit more of an in-depth look at him.
Paul Prenter was Freddie Mercury’s personal manager from 1977 to 1986. Despite their professional relationship, the two also engaged in intimate relations, and Prenter had a huge influence over Freddie’s life during the time he worked for him. He held partial responsibility for Freddie’s excessive involvement in drugs, alcohol, and his growing promiscuity.
Freddie was known to have fired Prenter in 1986, and shortly after it was plastered all over the news. It turns out Paul Prenter had sold personal stories to the press about Freddie… What a dick.
After receiving money from multiple press outlets, he moved back to his hometown of Belfast and spent it all—smart. He then asked Freddie for more money! After all that, he went back and asked him for money! But it’s okay, he did succumb to complications from AIDS a few months before Freddie. So… Freddie got the last laugh, it seemed.
You’re probably wondering what Paul Prenter had to do with Hot Space. After all, he wasn’t part of the band, right?
Well, Freddie’s life was ruled by the New York-inspired gay lifestyle of the 80s, particularly engaging in extreme partying and extreme promiscuity. And at the time, Freddie had suggested to the band that the music on their new album should sound like that of which they’d play in a gay bar, but those words had initially come from Paul Prenter.
It’s said that Prenter despised guitars and relentlessly referred to Brian May as old-fashioned. Roger Taylor recalled that Prenter was a “very bad influence” on the band:
“He was a very, very bad influence upon Freddie, and hence on the band. He very much wanted our music to sound like you just walked in a gay club, and I didn’t.”
The strain and tension became inevitable with the four personalities—and we all know that John, Freddie, Brian, and Roger have massive personalities. Whilst they had always experienced bickering, as most bands do, they now with the added tension, the production of the album isn’t going to go as smoothly.
“Arguments would start off as creative, but slowly became personal.”
Brian recalls that less and less time was spent in the studio and more time was spent arguing.
To put it into perspective about what life was like for the 10 months they spent recording Hot Space in Munich…A regular day recording this album went a little bit like the following:
The entourage recall waking up at 3am, working for hours, having dinner, and then roadies would mix up cocktails and other things would pursue. The band got mixed up in cocaine and various other drugs. Random women, and relentless drinking, and as any sane person will tell you, that is not a good thing.
Roger described it as an exhausting cycle day after day. Imagine doing that for 9 whole months.
Brian remembers them getting into “deep trouble emotionally” in Munich, which possibly explains why their mental states deteriorated.
Now, the Hot Space era didn’t just end when the album came out. Obviously, when an album comes out, you have to do interviews to promote your album and after months and months of bad influences and arguments, the band’s relationship had kind of broken down. Things continued in quite a tense fashion.
In fact, Freddie was left very unhappy and depressed after Hot Space wrapped up—it lasted a while, and he was completely immersed in places and habits that remained detrimental to his fate. Freddie became passive during interviews and defensive on certain questions concerning anything but current projects.
His attitude during the 1982 press conference in Europe was already standoffish and it was extremely obvious that he didn’t want to be there. The body language of the others, especially Brian, speaks volumes. The mood is low and they all seem exhausted.
Another nationwide interview the band gave in promotion for the album presented the group separated; Freddie was notably disinterested as the others spoke. There was even a moment where Freddie responds to the interviewer’s question with “let’s break up tomorrow” as a joke. But, watching it, you can’t help but feel there’s some truth to his words. Nobody laughed, even Roger looked uncomfortable by it!
One of the more well-known interviews from this era was with Brian and Roger, which displayed multiple moments of awkwardness with them both trying to make jokes and seem like they’re happy with what they’d produced, making up amateur excuses as to why they created something with a different sound. In my opinion, they just didn’t seem very happy. Do we even need to mention the “shut up” from Roger, and then the succeeding comment from Brian about Mack having the best drum sound?
Then, we have the iconic 1984 Freddie interview, where he left viewers stunned with his answers:
“I love my job, but I hate talking to people like you,” “I’m not an artist, I’m just a musical prostitute, my dear.”
The long-term effects of what happened behind the scenes of Hot Space were everlasting and turned the group into four completely different people than they were prior to 1982.
As I’ve already mentioned, Hot Space wasn’t received well upon its release, and there are still very strong opinions about it today. Brian stated in 2014 that it isn’t the band’s worst album, but the timing of its release was just wrong. As time goes on, more people begin to accept the Hot Space album as just another reason why Queen is one of the most versatile groups of all time, with them branching out into very different styles to what they’d done earlier in their career, like Sheer Heart Attack, News Of The World, etc…
80s culture looked down upon disco and funk, so reception for Hot Space was bound to be less than amazing. However, today, all styles of music are simultaneously celebrated, and people enjoy the album more now than they did 40 years ago.
So in conclusion, recording Hot Space was a difficult period for Queen. It’s horrible to think about your idols going through the kind of thing they did in the early-mid 80s, influenced by not very nice people. But focusing on the album itself, it’s truly not a bad album at all. Granted, the timing of the release wasn’t the best for Queen, but it holds up as a fan favourite today.
If you haven’t heard any of the songs from Hot Space, besides Under Pressure, I highly recommend you check it out. It’s very different to what Queen usually did and I think it’s worth a listen.
Anyway, I’ll leave it at that. Let me know if you liked this little… post, whatever the hell it is, and if I should do more posts like this. I enjoy throwing all my useless knowledge onto a page lol.
Can anyone tell at what exact point Bnxn became a household name in Nigerian music? Formerly known as Buju To Your Ears, or Buju, the silk-tongued serenader has made such a natural progression in the industry in the last four years that we haven't had time to track his progression. It seems now so long ago since he was the young twitter artist repeatedly begging for a verse from rapper Zlatan for an upcoming song. When that feature eventually came through, on 2019's "Spiritual", it became the catapult that pushed a niche artist into local popularity.
But it wasn't until he partnered with Burna Boy, the self-styled African Giant, that he could be described as a mainstream Nigerian artiste. The two teamed up on the remix of BNXN's 2019 single, "L'enu", where Bnxn was assured and daring, swimming in the confidence of his own ability, even though he was still in the lower rungs of Nigerian music ladder—"Tell me what I cannot do" he boasts on the chorus over Steph's spunky beat. The African Giant's verse came later, and by the end, the song's message was passed across, its theme unmissable: these men are gutsy in their own abilities and they intend to approach the next stages of their careers with an unwavering confidence. It was therefore no surprise that Burna Boy immediately signed Bnxn to his own label, spaceship records.
After a single song released under the label, "So Lovely" in late 2020, Buju parted with spaceship records after a year, choosing not to renew his contract. But his upward trajectory remained unhalted. In mid 2021 he was called up by Ladipoe for "Feeling", where Buju was charged with providing a sunny, falsetto-infused backdrop to the rapper's faster-paced hip-hop verses. It is a tried and true formula, and Bnxn's execution is near-flawless. His chorus, a depiction of a guy unbothered by stress and basking in a worry-free reality, rang from the lips of Nigerian youth as the unofficial song of the summer of 2021.
On "Outside", released in mid-2021, the crooner chose this time to delve into his work ethic and commitment to his craft as he sang about how he prioritises the work of creating new music over fun-seeking outings. He also took a moment to dwell briefly on his journey here, on the first verse, "Omo in the first stage, I made mistakes I swear". The slower pace and gentler tone of the song were evidently well appreciated, as "Outside" was a fixture on the top 10 of the different Nigerian streaming charts for weeks to come.
In late 2021, it was time for a debut EP, which Bnxn named Sorry I'm Late, with its title acknowledging his delay in releasing a debut project, which was indeed strange for a time when rising acts capitalise on their growing popularity by releasing an EP. What came as no shock, however, was the high level of confidence and talent on display. By naming the opener after himself, BNXN made a statement of self-assuredness and revealed an intent to make his mark on the music world. Lines like "You know my sound is on fire/ You know my melody on fire" may read as unnecessary braggadocio to a new listener, but day 1 fans are well acquainted with the dexterity of his songwriting and quality of his delivery—his melody really is on fire. The EP was altogether a resounding success and represented another milestone passed in the young singer's career.
While Sorry I'm Late cemented his place in Nigeria's mainstream, it was two features that arrived on both sides of it that brought the most momentum to his international career. First was "Mood", on Wizkid’s Grammy-nominated Made In Lagos, where the two produced a flawless collaboration, taking turns to glide on P2J's mellow percussion. Its mellow groove and slinky vocal duet drew parallels with "Essence", the Tems-featuring smash from the standard version of Made In Lagos, and while it didn't quit achieve those chart-topping heights, it became Bnxn's biggest international effort. That was until "Finesse", where Bnxn starred beside music producer turned music star, Pheelz, for the track that proved transcendental to their individual careers, establishing Pheelz's new status as an artist and providing thrust to Bnxn's international flight.
The song initially made waves as a viral tiktok snippet was eventually released in mid-March following a massive clamour from fans, and it wasted no time climbing up the charts, peaking at no 1 on the UK's official Afrobeats charts, with appearances on UK official charts proper and the novel Billboard Afrobeats chart. It was released barely two weeks after Buju officially became Bnxn, so it was an exquisite way of stamping his new identity. Another collaboration later in the year, this time with UK based producer JAE5 and rapper Dave for "Propeller", helped strengthen inroads to the UK scene.
As these songs pushed Bnxn's international profile, his position at home was similarly growing. In May 2022, the Headies, Nigeria's premier music award, announced its nominees for the year's honours and Bnxn got a nomination for the Next Rated category, awarded to the emerging artist who shows the biggest potential to place amongst Nigeria's biggest acts in the near future. Bnxn received a nod after the amazing year he had, but he was placed alongside Ayra Starr, Ruger, Lojay and Zinoleesky, all of whom had made excellent use of the year under review. With the Headies announcing that the winner would emerge with a brand new Bentley Bentayga, it added fuel to what was already a heated competition.
Bnxn would eventually emerge the winner of this tight contest, and a week before the ceremony, he provided even more proof of why no one was more deserving. This came in his second studio EP, Bad Since '97. Here Bnxn built on the themes of his debut—his unwavering belief in himself and his music talent—with his writing and exquisite vocal delivery once more providing both the vehicle and for this substantiation of his self-confidence.
On his latest album, Sincerely, Benson, released earlier this month, Bnxn reiterated all of this self-belief, fulfilling the promise he has displayed all of his career. On the 15-track LP, Bnxn chronicles love and heartbreak, but approaches this subject from a mature, not often seen perspective: as the man making a sincere apology to the woman he loved and hurt. Songs like "Pidgin And English", "Regret", "Sweet Tea" and "Realize" tie into this narrative, yet Bnxn finds room for his characteristic cockiness: his very first words on the album are "Leave am for me/ Emi lokan", warding off the competition and propping himself up as a maestro in the music space.
As Bnxn continues to soar, old promises of potential become fulfilled even as he forebodes more to come. His next goal would be to establish his name indelibly in international markets, but If his four years in the industry thus far have shown us anything, it is that the next step always comes just as surely as the last for Bnxn.
This article was written by Afrobeats City Contributor Ezema Patrick - @ezemapatrick (Twitter)
Afrobeats City doesn’t own the right to the images
Well here we are. A little more than one month out from the nominations are announced for the 2023 Grammy Awards. Awards season is always my favorite time of year so I'm always thinking about the next award shows, the nominations and the winners. Going into next years Grammy's, we have a lot of competition like always but this year there seems to be a lot more prominent artists in the running than the past few years.
Today, I will be sharing my predictions for the Big Four Categories (Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist) as we gear up for the nominations announcement on November 15th.
I feel pretty good about my predictions for Album of the Year. All of these have good reasoning behind them. Adele, Brandi Carlile, Kendrick Lamar & Beyonce are all well known Grammy favorites. Silk Sonic proved last year that the Grammys also love them. Lizzo's sophomore effort is very solid and I do not think the Grammys will miss out on nominating her again. Harry and Bad Bunny are two of the biggest artists of the year and it would be huge snubs if either missed out. The one surprise on my list might be Jack Harlow's album but I feel confident the Grammys will nominate it because they always choice a mediocre nominee.
Alternates: Motomami by Rosalia & Encanto Soundtrack
Record of the Year is pretty self explanatory. All mainstream hits but I would not be surprised if the Recording Academy swap some of these out (maybe First Class, Shivers, Titi Me Pregunto) for some more indie choices.
Song of the Year is similar to Record but has a few more songwriter heavy choices. I think TV is a special inclusion because its a poignant song and I would be surprised if Billie missed for this category especially. All Too Well (10 Minute Version) should definitely get in here as well.
I just have to start off firstly by saying if you told me a year ago I would be predicting Dove Cameron to be nominated for a Best New Artist Grammy I would say you are out of your damn mind. I mean I've been a fan since I saw the first episode of Liv & Maddie in 2013 but I honestly never thought her music career would ever pop off. It's crazy to think that artists like Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato never got Best New Artist Grammy nominations in their Disney days but Olivia Rodrigo did and Dove Cameron has a good chance to as well. Anywho, this year there is no clear front runner for this category and that makes it very tricky to predict but I feel I have a good feel for the category this year. Lainey & Zach are rising Country artists that I expect to be around for awhile, Latto has risen to be a star this year, as Tate McRae and Dove Cameron have. Muni Long deserves a nomination after a few breakout hits and having been in the game as a songwriter for so long. Omar and Joji are the indie/alternative lovable boys that I can see getting in. Rina is on the rise and I would be thrilled to have her get a nomination and, I think it would be cool in Wet Leg got a nomination here also.
Well, there it is. My predictions for the Big Four categories for the upcoming 2023 Grammy Awards. See you again on November 15th to see how many of these I got write and discuss the craziness that is the Recording Academy's decisions...
Chris Simmonds interviews Jon Lord for Beat International Magazine, December 1975
(article transcription continues below the cut)
Lord of The Deep
“I don’t think rock could exist and roll exist without solos — it’s a vital form of musical expression.”
Jon Lord of Deep Purple is undoubtedly a rarity. He combines the most pleasing qualities, rarely found among others enjoying a similar position on the Rock and Roll roundabout. We have man who has been making successful records for over seven years, and who remains both verbally and musically articulate with out ever resorting to the more flamboyant pretensions exhibited by so many of his contemporaries. He is a star, to be sure, but never to the point of camouflaging the musician.
With the reformed Purple off to the States until Christmas, we were delighted when Jon agreed to meet us at the airport before take-off to talk about Purple, new and old, and in general his particular role as keyboard player. The time was apt as we had just heard enough of the tapes of the band’s new album (Come Taste The Band) to suggest that it would totally eclipse the rather disappointing Stormbringer.
Jon, notorious for his late plane catching, arrived early this time, and cast his mind back to the days of Deep Purple Mark 1. The In Rock album was certainly the first major step towards worldwide acceptance, and we asked how this style change had been linked with the departure of original members Rod Evans and Nicky Simper, vocals and bass.
Concise
“Christ, that far back. My memory isn’t all that good. Basically, it was that three people in the band wanted two to leave, and In Rock shows exactly what we wanted to get into. In fact, we had already been playing the In Rock style on stage, but we had never done it on an album. With lan Gillan and Roger Glover in the band, we had two rock and rollers, much more so than the others.
“It might just have been the climate of the times, but we did feel that the previous albums had rambled a bit. This attitude almost went against us, because we were so concise with In Rock that it became very hard to follow. This move was in fact largely motivated by Ritchie, and the general agreement by the majority of the band was that this was what we should do.
“I went down at the time as saying that I totally agreed with the policy but thought it should have been little more relaxed, and as a result of that Ritchie and I had a few arguments. These resolved themselves and resulted in Machine Head which, apart from the new one, was to my mind our best album.
If there were the odd moments of apathy from Ritchie, I certainly never shared them, apart from Who Do We Think Are which I disliked intensely. It was done in a mood of total fed-upness. lan left shortly afterwards, because by then he and Ritchie were having head-on collisions, so that probably caused the bad moods of that time.
Freedom
“However, most of the albums were a great joy to make. Although Fireball got slagged a bit, you must remember that it followed a smash success album, and that’s always difficult. It still gave me great satisfaction.” During this period a very prominent feature of the Purple music was a never ending rash of frantic solos. How far did Jon feel that they were an integral part of the songs?
“So long as it fits the song, I’m delighted to have them. We have reached the point now that even when I am playing the part of a backing musician I have much greater freedom. The song structure with Glenn (Hughes) and Tommy (Bolin) isn’t set any more. We are trying to loosen the whole thing up, and cut out the ‘this happens in that bar and that happens there’ attitude.
“The days of the really long solos have gone, and I am talking about the twenty five minute jobs. Everyone will still have their solo slot, because basically that is what Deep Purple is all about. We have always prided ourselves on our individual abilities, and we like to show it. Quite frankly, we sometimes went much too far in the past, and some of the others’ solos bored me.”
Given Jon’s feelings about solos, did he have any special preference about playing the more direct songs like Speed King and Highway Star or the more protracted tracks like The Mule?
“I’m quite happy with either role, so long as I am happy with the song in the first place. I don’t mind sitting back behind the guitar because that is just as creative as leading the song. Actually, that’s a tricky question, because the Hammond doesn’t really sit all that well in rock and roll as a backing instrument. It took me a long time and a lot of hard work to find an acceptable way of incorporating the instrument… Where was I? Oh yes, at the same time I have to solo — every musician does.
I don’t think rock and roll could exist without solos — it’s a vital form of musical expression. It’s a way of stretching out, but of course how much you do so is up to you, or the band. A musician should solo as long as he feels he is feeding off the audience, but I feel that it is unforgivable to bore an audience.”
Possibilities
With the new members, what possibilities did Jon see as far as his own instrument was concerned? “I really see many. Ritchie was a very demanding player in that he really enjoyed the limelight. I mean, we all did obviously, but I suppose he was so extrovert on stage to balance the introvert he was offstage. It’s hard to speak objectively as he was my friend for seven years. One of the nice things about having an American in the band is the more quote laid back unquote atmosphere. I enjoyed Tommy’s solo album.” And Ritchie’s album?
“There was certainly a Purple sound, but thought it was second rate Purple, and you can print that. I was surprised to say the least, because he said he wanted to go right back to the raw roots he felt we were abandoning. At the same time I suspect that his next album will be a bitch.”
Apathy
On the subject of these recent albums, Jon went on to compare Stormbringer and Come Taste The Band. “I liked the Stormbringer album. It was certainly a little different. There was a certain apathy on Ritchie’s part — he was already thinking of leaving — and perhaps it shows. We should have attacked it more as Deep Purple rather than approaching it in that dispirited way. I’m really not trying to make Ritchie a whipping boy — I really don’t want to — but you mentioned the word apathy and I think I would have to go along with that. But if the album didn’t quite come off, it didn’t sell as well as the others had, so there’s justice there.”
Jon is well known for his classical inclinations, and we wondered if they might reemerge more strongly within the new band framework?
“I’m really two musicians, and they meet somewhere in the middle. The outer edges can never get together, and that’s why I make solo albums, just to get things out of my head and out of my system. Look — I’m not carrying a cross for classical music — I’m a rock and roller and I have been for ten years. There just happens to be more, that’s all.”
What did he feel that the future held for the keyboard? “I think now that it has arrived with a vengeance, it will stay. Keyboard players are having to get more versatile in respect of the number of instruments they are having to play. The organ sound as just an organ sound is already overused, and I personally use synthesizers, a clavinet and a Fender Rhodes besides the Hammond.
Technique
“I have countered this dilemma of 'old hat’ sound by having my set up built specially for me. I have four Leslies which have been totally ripped out and replaced with better components, Crown amps, and all the keyboards, about six, go through the Leslies. The organ has also been messed around with, so it’s not a straight Hammond sound — it’s a particular sound that I feel fits our kind of music.”
Jon was also glad to offer tips to the embryonic keyboard wizard. “Well, even though it’s 'just’ rock and roll, I think it’s invaluable to acquire a technique of some sort. By all means absorb from other people, and try find out how they do it, but then you mus try to branch off and perfect your own style. Things like scales and arpeggios, although very boring, are bloody well worth while. If you are soloing, and your fingers won’t do what is in your head, it’s the most frustrating thing in the world. I have never regretted the hours and hours of practising that I have put in. I try to listen as much as I can to what else is going on in the rock world — I think it is important to be aware of what your peers are doing.
Relaxation
“I was talking to lan Gillan the other night on just this subject, and he said he never used to listen to anyone but Deep Purple and Elvis Presley. He admitted that he was totally wrong. He said that since he had been off the road he had been listening to everything that he could, and he realised how much he had missed. You don’t listen to others to copy — just to judge the feel of the business. Anyway, it’s a relaxation to me.”
The hidden speakers in the roof of the lounge was announcing the departure of the Purple flight. “I feel as if I could go on for another twenty years,” said Jon jumping up. “Thanks a lot for talking to me.”
I don’t have any info on this article, but decided to transcribe and post it anyway. If anyone has any additional information, please reblog or reply and add it!
A performance in Oklahoma City is mentioned at the end, which would have been July 13th, 1971, at the Oklahoma State Fair Arena. The setlist for that date was Sun Arise / Caught In a Dream / I’m Eighteen / Is It My Body / Second Coming / Black Juju / Return of The Spiders
Alice Cooper breaks normal limits on musicians, using several media to convey images.
Kind of Strange, But it’s True
Alice Cooper is Five Guys
A question is always asked, “Why the name ‘Alice Cooper’ for a group of five male musicians?”
“People are both male and female, biologically,” explains Alice (who is a male), “The typical male American thinks he is all male — 100 per cent, but what he has to realize is that he has got a feminine side.”
Alice reached this view while studying with a hypnotist in Phoenix who taught him to become three equal parts. He said Alice should become male, for strength; female, for wisdom; and child, for faith.
In their stage act, they strive for a total integration of these qualities and have come up with one of the wildest acts in show business.
Being in existence for six years, it is surprising to many why Alice Cooper had only reached national significance in the last year.
Cooper explained that it took that long for people to get ready to accept their set. Besides Cooper, the group consists of Neal Smith, percussion; Michael Bruce, guitar, piano, organ; Dennis Dunaway, bass; and Glen Buxton, lead guitar.
Alice Cooper will appear in Oklahoma City July 13.
