Becoming A Queen Fan
Updated: Dec 11, 2018
Every fan has their own journey, and usually starts by hearing a song that instantly attracts them to continue listening to an artists music.
This is my journey on how I became a Queen fan.
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My Earliest Memory of Queen
As I was growing up in the 80s, I remember being subjected to a wide range of music, courtesy of my father's collection of vinyl singles and albums.
The range of music being played expanded from rock ānā roll all the way through to the latest craze. One moment we could be listening to an Elvis album, then the next could of been
āWar of the Worldsā; there were no rules to music where my father was concerned, so long as it wasn't opera!
One single that I remember hearing quite a lot during my earlier childhood was Queenās āBicycle Raceā. This became one of my favourite singles in my father's collection and was therefore frequently played.
The official music video for "Bicycle Race", featured on the album "Jazz" released 10 November 1978.
I must stress, it was not until at a later age that I watched the video!!
āBicycle Raceā may have been a favourite play, but I was too young to realise who I was listening to.
Although āFat Bottomed Girlsā was the double A side, I do not have any memory of this being played. Who would've thought that I would go on to meet Lyn, whose favourite Queen song happens to be āFat Bottomed Girlsā
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Being Introduced to Queen
Fast forward to 1992, I had just moved up to high school and introduced to a set of new peers from the various different middle schools in the area. I was allocated into a form class which was far from enjoyable; the only good thing to being allocated into this form was meeting my late friend Scott Brown.
It was Scott who really introduced me to Queen's music, especially as the summer olympics held at Barcelona had just finished. A few of us still had the theme tune in our heads and were regularly singing it, me included.
I think our initial conversation started by Scott asking whether I was familiar with Freddie, at this point, all I knew was that Freddie had passed away the previous year; around 3 weeks earlier than my own mother. As the conversation developed, Scott was surprised that I was so unfamiliar with Queen; I suppose Scott wanted to share his passion. As it turns out, this was the start to a great friendship.
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Scottās First Queen Song and His Favourite
As Scott introduced me to the different albums that he owned, it was immediately obvious that the song I requested my father to play so frequently as an infant was in fact a Queen single.
The song that Scott first heard and instantly attracted him to Queen was āRadio Ga Gaā, but his favourite song was āSail Away Sweet Sisterā
Lyric video of "Sail Away Sweet Sister", featured on the album "The Game" released 30 June 1980.
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My First Queen Albums
Every fan has to start somewhere, and I was no different. I remember walking around the shops on the hunt for Queen albums and eventually purchased the cassette versions of āQueenā and āNews of the Worldā, which I still have today (amongst others)
Share your Queen Journey
So, that's my journey.
How did you get into Queen?