Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Agency Culture, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Creativity, Culture, Empathy, Entertainment, Freddie, Imagination, Innovation, Insight, Nike, Queen, Resonance
So a few weeks ago I went to the premiere of the Queen movie, Bohemian Rhapsody.
But it was more than that … I went with my best mate Paul and was surrounded by 6000 Queen fans, the band and the actors from the film.
It turned a movie into a wonderful celebration of an amazing band.
To be honest, while Rami Malek is amazing as Freddie – as is Gwilym Lee as Brian May – the atmosphere from the audience was better than the movie.
To be honest, it was always going to be that way, but as a piece of my personal history – including the re-enactment of so many concerts where I was actually there – it was an amazing thing to be a part of.
Of course this movie is not going to change the opinion of anyone who wasn’t a Queen fan already. And even for them, it’s not going to tell them anything you didn’t already know … but what the movie has done is get the media to conversations with people who were part of the Queen history that previously, had rarely said much about it.
One of them is fashion designer Zandra Rhodes.
She was the person behind the look that – in many ways – defined Freddie and the story she tells in the interview is wonderful, especially the bit where she describes him as a ‘hidden revolutionary’.
Of course she is referring to him in this way because back then, Queen was just starting out, because the idea of Freddie Mercury ever being hidden is quite amusing.
But that is the thing we often forget … that new is always going to be uncomfortable and yet we judge those with new ideas by the standards of the established. Literally trying to kill new thinking before it has a chance to even catch light.
And that’s why we all need to be more open to the unknown and the unexpected.
See where it could take us before we tell it where we want to take them.
Because when we hear people or companies say they want to be like NIKE, APPLE, Freddie Mercury or countless others we forget that to get there took time, patience and letting go … of the old rules, the old expectations and the old answers.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Attitude & Aptitude, Audio Visual, Brilliant Marketing Ideas In History, Creativity, Culture, Entertainment, Music, Queen
Yes, this is about my favourite band, Queen.
Yes, I know they aren’t really a band anymore and – to be honest – some of the stuff they’ve done in the last 15 years has made me cringe a little bit, but that aside, their music from Queen to Hot Space [I don’t have as much of an issue with it as most Queen fans do] are still albums I hold dear to my heart.
Anyway, as many of you may know, they’re producing a film about the life of Freddie up until the Live Aid concert.
I get why they decided that was the cut off date, because apart from it being arguably their pinnacle moment, he apparently had not yet discovered he was HIV positive so it allows the film to focus on his glory, not his pain.
Anyway, recently they released the teaser trailer for the movie and I have to say, it’s epic.
Not just because of how good Rami Malik looks in the role of Freddie.
Nor because of the bizarrely accurate voice of Brian May.
And not even because of the spectacular stage sets and fashions.
No … it’s because of the fantastic sound design.
Just like when they performed at Live Aid, the band know the best way to get people interested in the movie beyond sad fucks like me, is to remind them how many songs of Queen they know and like.
By mixing some of their biggest hits seamlessly together, they have increased the odds of making a movie about a man who died 27 years ago interesting to people who were born 27 years ago.
That’s pretty impressive, especially for a band that is almost 50 years old.
A band where the guitarist will be 71 years old in a week and the drummer 69 years old in about a fortnight.
[Not forgetting Mr John Deacon, who will be a young 67 in August. And looks it]
Now I know the trailer doesn’t really say anything and – I am still petrified it’s going to end up feeling more like a ‘Lifetime Movie’ than a Hollywood blockbuster [especially with all the issues the production has faced] – but I have to admit I have watched it so many times and been in awe every time … especially the bit between 11 and 16 seconds, where you see the different ‘looks’ of Freddie in concert, because I remember some of them from when I saw the band live.
Oh god, I’m even more pathetic than I thought.
… to know that 26 years after his death and – in some cases – 42 years after he wrote one of his songs, a bunch of very young kids both know his music and love his music.
Especially given today would have been his 71st birthday.
Happy birthday Mr Mercury.
Today is the 68th birthday of this lovely fellow.
If you don’t know who he is, it’s Roger Taylor – the drummer from Queen.
I don’t know how I’ll be at 68, but having seen him perform in concert at the amazing Hollywood Bowl only a month ago, I can tell you I doubt I’ll have as much energy as he has.
Hell, I don’t have as much energy as he has now.
I would love to sit down with him and talk to him.
Find our how he looks at his life.
How he feels playing songs he wrote in his 20’s and 30’s.
Anyway, as it’s his special day [and let’s not forget Mr Poodle Perm, Brian May turned 70 only a week ago, SEVENTY!!!] I will honour this man of rock by giving him his own 1970esque drum solo on this blog.
Not just any solo, but one he did with his son Rufus, the drummer in The Darkness.
While doing that must have been utterly amazing for both of them, even I can’t deal with 10 minutes of skin-bashing so I’ve edited it down to a more manageable chunk.
[You can thank me later]
And with that, I wish Mr Taylor a very happy birthday.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Agency Culture, America, Anniversary, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Creativity, Culture, Daddyhood, Din Tai Fung, Friendship, Happiness, Home, Jill, London, My Fatherhood, Otis, Paul, Queen, R/GA, Relationships, Shelly
So here we are, the last month of 2018, and what a year it has been for me.
Started out in the sunny life that is Los Angeles and end it in the rainy life that is London.
From Deutsch to R/GA.
From Audi’s to the Tube.
From LA Din Tai Fung to the new London Din Tai Fung.
[Let’s be honest, I’d never of come if they weren’t here]
But I’m happy – very happy.
Sure, there’s a bunch of things I miss, but apart from the fact many of them will remain in my life for ever, the rest I can look back on as experiences I am fortunate to have had so I’m grateful I got to have them rather than sad I’ve lost them.
I know, who am I?
But all that is for a an even more boring post sometime in the next few weeks, so I’ll end this far-too-positive post with one of my new favorite songs, ‘Love Can Only Heal’, by Altered Bridge and the Slash band, Myles Kennedy.
I know you will think it’s bollocks – but apart from the fact that means you’re all a bunch of musical heathens who can’t appreciate the brilliance of a melancholy melody that’s orchestrated with a slowly building pulse of drama – you’re forgetting the alternative would be suggesting you listen to Queen.
Suddenly not so bad it is?
And it gets better … because for reasons that make no sense whatsoever, I’m going to be on my way to the US again by the time you read this. Which means you’re free from my blog rubbish till Thursday and given the following week is the final week of blog posts from me for 2018, you are exactly 7 posts away from ending the year on a positive.
If that doesn’t make you enjoy today, then nothing will.
Happy Monday.