NATIONAL COLLEGE “ION MAIORESCU” GIURGIU

THESIS FOR CERTIFICATE

OF ENGLISH COMPETENCY

CANDITATE: DAMIAN CATALINA IOANA

COORDINATING TEACHER: MANAILA MARIA
PHILOLOGY
GRADE XII E
MAY 2017
 “THE SHOW MUST GO ON”

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 CONTENTS

1. FOREWORD………………………………………………………3

2. CHAPTER I: HOW IT BEGAN…………………………………...4-5

3. CHAPTER 2:THE STORY OF THE LOGO………………………6

4. CHAPTER 3: MEMBERS………………………………………...7-13

5. CHAPTER 4 : WHEN THE BAND COMES TO AN END……..13-14

6. CHAPTER 5 : PICTURES FROM THE CONCERTS …………..15-18

7. CONCLUSION...............................................................................19

8. BIBLIOGRAPHY………………………………………………..20

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 1.FOREWORD

“QUEEN” is my all time favourite band. I started listening to them since I was little because
my grandfather was a huge fan of them and somehow he tried to attract me with their music. I
grew up dancing and singing their songs. I still remember those hot summer days at the
countryside where my grandparents lived, in which the main attraction was the vynil playing
“Don’t stop me now”. Grandpa was pretending to play the guitar and I was holding a ladle
saying it was my super-microphone. Together we were jumping in the kitchen and destroying
things in our craziness.Those were our endless happy moments. At night, me and my grandpa
would dream about having our own band and going to concerts and becoming friends with great
musicians like the ones in Queen.

As I grew up, I started to listen to them by myself because I had learned English and started to
understand the lyrics. Their songs helped me when I was depressed because they gave me
strength and made me understand that no matter what happens, “the show must go on”. They
also made me realize what good music consists in: artists that put their body and soul in order to
spread an emotion, an idea that they really believe in, despite others whose only meaning in life
is making money even though they have to promote something they may hate or have no idea
about.

The music created by Queen is defined as being one rich in ideas, in impeccable melodic lines
and in strong emotions. Most of the times, it induces feelings of joy to the one who is listening to
it, giving, also, shivers down the spine, a sign that it is music of quality. However, there are times
when it makes the audience sad, because people know that they will not have the chance to
enjoy other masterpieces, since Freddie Mercury is no longer alive.

This piece of work contains information about the history of the band Queen and some details
about its members and the repertory that delighted the whole world. By these things that have
been write here, we offer a tribute to the one that it has been a really rock legend.

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 2.HOW IT ALL BEGAN

This rock legend started in the early 70s and, unfortunately, it met its end only after
almost 20 years, when the vocalist Freddie Mercury died from a ruthless disease. Even if the
other members have tried to continue what they started 2 decades ago, they never had the same
success.

It all started in 1968, when Astronomy student and guitarist Brian May and bass player
Tim Staffell, both students at Imperial College, decided they wanted to form a group. Brian
placed an advertisement on the college notice board for a “Ginger Baker type” drummer, and a
young dental student called Roger Taylor auditioned and got the job. They called the group
“Smile”.

Smile were signed to Mercury Records in 1969, and had their first experience recording
at Trident Studios that year. Tim Staffell was at Ealing College of Art with Freddie Mercury and
introduced him to the band. Freddie soon became a keen fan. Sadly, in 1970, “Smile” decided to
call it a day, as nothing seemed to be happening for them. Tim went off and joined a band called
Humpty Bong (featuring former Bee Gees drummer Colin Petersen).

Freddie left his band “Wreckage” and joined up with Brian and Roger and it had all
begun. Freddie changed his name by deed poll to Mercury, changed the band's name to “Queen”,
and John Deacon was asked to audition as their bass player (they had had three temporary ones
so far in their short history). In February 1971, John Deacon was taken on as the fourth member
of Queen.

The band rehearsed tirelessly and played several small gigs at Imperial College. Then
they were offered the chance to 'test' a new recording studio called De Lane Lea. In return for
trying out the new equipment, they could also make free demo tapes. They did. No one was
interested!

They signed a recording contract and publishing and management agreements with
Trident in 1972, and during that year were paid just £60 per week. Queen were given the “down
time” (out of hours studio time) at Trident Studios, where they began work on their first album.

In 1973 they signed their first recording contract for EMI. That year they released their
first album, QUEEN. The same year saw their first major UK tour, and in 1974 they released

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QUEEN II as well as making their first UK headlining tour. They made their first US tour, and in
November released SHEER HEART ATTACK which was a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.

1975 saw their new release, A NIGHT AT THE OPERA, and – significantly – the single
Bohemian Rhapsody. At 5’ 55” it should have been too long for successful radio play but it
became one of the greatest singles of all time, staying at No. 1 in the UK chart for nine weeks.
The video, directed by Bruce Gowers, is credited with being the first genuine promotional video.
The song has regularly featured in all major pop polls and was recently named again as the best
single of all time. The success of A NIGHT AT THE OPERA was equally stunning, giving the
band their first platinum album.

In 1976 they toured the US and Japan and by spring all four albums resided in the UK Top
Twenty. Later that year they released A DAY AT THE RACES, and gave a free concert in Hyde
Park to an estimated crowd of 200,000 fans. The album was a huge success, advance orders
alone amounting to over 500,000. The following year saw two major US tours, the band’s sixth
album, NEWS OF THE WORLD and the legendary double A side single, WE WILL ROCK
YOU and WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS.

1978’s JAZZ, included another huge hit single in Bicycle Race and Queen toured the US
and Canada. They spent much of 1979 touring in Europe and Japan, as well as releasing their
first live album, LIVE KILLERS. They were also approached to write the score for a
forthcoming feature film, FLASH GORDON. Before that they released THE GAME in 1980
which went five times platinum in Canada alone! Another One Bites The Dust became the
band’s biggest selling American single. Later that year the soundtrack for FLASH GORDON
was released and by the end of the year Queen had sold over 45,000,000 albums worldwide.

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\\\\\\\\\\0

3. THE STORY OF THE LOGO

The Queen logo was designed by Freddie Mercury, the lead vocalist of the band, keeping
in view the zodiac signs of the band members. The Queen logo is as classical as the rock band
itself. Despite the lapse of decades, the band has not shown any sign of ageing and still
demonstrates its legendary prowess in the world of rock music.

The Queen logo’s shape gives it a groundbreaking appeal while highlighting every aspect of
the band’s identity. The symbols used in the band logo are a pair of the lions and fairies. On
either side are the zodiac signs of the band members i.e. Leo and Virgo.

The Cancer sign of crab sits on top of the letter Q, which of course stands for rock band
Queen. The fairies are provided shelter by the lions in the Queen logo where they can be seen
standing elevated. A ring of flames hovers above the crab giving an impression of a crown.
Finally an eagle is perched on top of everyone with its wings wide open.

The presence of many unique motifs gives the Queen logo a fascinating and colorful look.
Yellow and Orange are the principal colors featured in the Queen logo with a blend of red on the
‘Q’ ribbons. The lions are mustard colored whereas the color of the fairies is white. The crab is
painted a metallic bronze color.

The impressive use of fonts truly compliment the fanciful layout and design of the Queen
logo. The Roman-style font are slightly bold with defined curvatures and appear at the bottom.

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 3.MEMBERS

A.FREDDIE MERCURY

Mercury was born in Parsi descent in the Sultanate of Zanzibar and grew up there and in
India until his mid-teens, before moving with his family to Middlesex, England.

In 1992 Mercury was posthumously awarded the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to
British Music, and had a tribute concert held at Wembley Stadium, London. As a member of
Queen, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Famein 2001, the Songwriters Hall of
Fame in 2003, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2004, and the band received a star on
the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2002.

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 Mercury spent most of his childhood in India and began taking piano lessons at the age of
seven. In 1954, at the age of eight, Mercury was sent to study at St. Peter's School, a British-style
boarding school for boys, in Panchgani near Bombay (now Mumbai).

At the age of 12, he formed a school band, The Hectics, and covered rock and rollartists such
as Cliff Richard and Little Richard. It has been said that one of his formative musical influences
at the time was Bollywood singer Lata Mangeshkar, but one of Mercury's former bandmates
from the Hectics has said that "that is a lot of rubbish.

The only music he listened to, and played, was Western pop music." A friend from the time
recalls that he had "an uncanny ability to listen to the radio and replay what he heard on piano".
It was also at St. Peter's where he began to call himself "Freddie", and in February 1963 he
moved back to Zanzibar where he joined his parents at their flat.

Following graduation, Mercury joined a series of bands and sold second-hand clothes in
the Kensington Market in London with girlfriend Mary Austin. He also held a job at Heathrow
Airport. Friends from the time remember him as a quiet and shy young man who showed a great
deal of interest in music.

In 1969 he joined the Liverpool-based band Ibex, later renamed Wreckage. He lived briefly
in a flat above the Liverpool pub, The Dovedale Towers. When this band failed to take off, he
joined a second band called Sour Milk Sea. However, by early 1970 this group had broken up as
well.

In April 1970 Mercury joined guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor who had
previously been in a band called Smile. In 1971 they found their bass player John Deacon who
was to stay with the band until 1997. Despite reservations of the other members and Trident
Studios, the band's initial management, Mercury chose the name "Queen" for the new band.

He later said, "It's very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid. It's a strong name, very
universal and immediate. I was certainly aware of the gay connotations, but that was just one
facet of it." At about the same time, he changed his surname, Bulsara, to Mercury.

Although Mercury's speaking voice naturally fell in the baritone range, he delivered most
songs in the tenor range. His known vocal range extended from bass low to soprano high. He
could belt up to tenor high. Biographer David Bretdescribed his voice as "escalating within a few
bars from a deep, throaty rock-growl to tender, vibrant tenor, then on to a high-pitched,
perfect coloratura, pure and crystalline in the upper reaches." Spanish soprano Montserrat
Caballé , with whom Mercury recorded an album, expressed her opinion that "the difference
between Freddie and almost all the other rock stars was that he was selling the voice".

His technique was astonishing. No problem of tempo, he sang with an incisive sense of
rhythm, his vocal placement was very good and he was able to glide effortlessly from a register

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to another. He also had a great musicality. His phrasing was subtle, delicate and sweet or
energetic and slamming. He was able to find the right colouring or expressive nuance for each
word.

Mercury died in 1991 at age 45 due to complications from AIDS, having confirmed the day
before his death that he had contracted the disease.

B.BRIAN MAY

Brian Harold May, CBE (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, singer, songwriter
and astrophysicist, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Queen. He uses a home-built
electric guitar, called the Red Special. His compositions for the band include "We Will Rock
You ", "Tie Your Mother Down ", "I Want It All", "Fat Bottomed Girls", "Flash", "Hammer to
Fall ", "Save Me ", "Who Wants to Live Forever" and "The Show Must Go On".

From the mid-1970s until the early 1990s, Queen were an almost constant presence in the
UK charts and played some of the biggest venues in the world, most notably giving an acclaimed

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performance at Live Aid in 1985. As a member of Queen, May became regarded as a virtuoso
musician, and he was identified with a distinctive sound created through his layered guitar work.

Following the death of Mercury in 1991, Queen were put on hiatus for several years but
were eventually reconvened by May and Taylor for further performances featuring other
vocalists. In 2005, a Planet Rock poll saw May voted the 7th greatest guitarist of all time. He
was ranked at No. 26 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All
Time". In 2012, May was ranked the 2nd greatest guitarist of all time by a Guitar
World magazine readers poll.

He was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire(CBE)
in 2005 for "services to the music industry and for charity work". May attained a PhD
in astrophysics from Imperial College London in 2007 and was Chancellor of Liverpool John
Moores University from 2008 to 2013.

He was a "science team collaborator" with NASA's New Horizons Pluto mission. He is
also a co-founder of the awareness campaign, Asteroid Day. Asteroid 52665 Brianmay was
named after him. May is also an animal rights activist, campaigning against the hunting of foxes
and the culling of badgers in the UK.

C.ROGER TAYLOR

Roger Meddows Taylor (born 26 July 1949) is an English musician, singer-songwriterand

multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the drummer for the rock band Queen . As a drummer,
Taylor was recognised early in his career for his unique sound. He has since been acclaimed by
the Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins as one of the most influential rock drummers of the
1970s and 1980s, as well as being voted by radio listeners as the eighth-greatest drummer in
classic rock music history in a poll conducted by Planet Rock in 2005.

In addition to his drum work, Taylor sometimes played keyboards, guitars and bass on his
own songs. During the 1980s, in addition to his work with Queen, he formed a parallel band

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known as The Cross , in which he was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist. During the early
1980s, Taylor was also a panelist on the popular UK quiz show Pop Quiz, hosted by Mike Read.

According to The Sunday Times Rich List, Taylor was worth £80 million or around $127
million as of 2011.In 2014, he appeared in The Life of Rock with Brian Pern as himself.Taylor is
also well known for his falsetto vocal range.

Taylor had originally learned guitar, but became a drummer when he realised he had a more
natural aptitude for it. Taylor taught himself to tune his drums, inspired by Keith Moon of The
Who because of the "great drums sounds" on the early Who records. Another key influence on
Taylor was drummer Mitch Mitchell of The Jimi Hendrix Experience, who Taylor stated was his
early role model.

In 1967, Taylor went to London to study dentistry at the London Hospital Medical College ,
but he soon became bored with dentistry and soon changed to Biology and obtained a BSc
at East London Polytechnic.

Taylor has stated that his early role model as a drummer was Mitch Mitchell of The Jimi Hendrix
Experience. He said: "I still think listening to Mitch Mitchell, especially the early stuff with
Hendrix, is just fantastic. This fusion of jazz technique and wonderful riffs but with this rolling
ferocious attack on the whole kit, it had lots of jazz influences I think. In fact for me he played
the kit like a song, it was just wonderful. Total integration into the song. Not just marking time".

D.JOHN DEACON

Deacon joined his first band, The Opposition, in 1965 at the age of 14. The band played
covers of chart hits; Deacon played rhythm guitar using an instrument he had bought with money
borrowed from the group's founder, Richard Young. He switched to bass the following year after
the original bassist was fired for not improving his playing as much as the other members.

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 As well as a dedicated musician, Deacon also was the band's archivist, taking clippings
from newspapers of even the advertisements featuring The Opposition. After being in the band
for four years, not long after the group cut an acetate of three songs, Deacon played his final
concert with the band (then called The Art) in August 1969.

He left as he had been accepted to study at Chelsea College in London (now part of King's
College London), where he eventually obtained a 1st class honours degree in Electronics in
1971. Having become a fan of Deep Purple, he saw the group perform the Concerto for Group
and Orchestra with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall that September.

Although he left his bass and amplifier at home in Oadby, after less than a year of studying
in London, he decided he wanted to join a band. By 1970, Freddie Mercury , Brian May,
and Roger Taylor had already formed Queen; Deacon saw them in October that year but was not
immediately impressed. Later in the year, he briefly formed a band called Deacon that made one
live appearance at Chelsea College.

In early 1971, Deacon was introduced to Taylor and May by a friend at a disco who told
him that they were in a band that had just lost its bassist. A couple of days later he auditioned in
a lecture room at Imperial College London and became the last member of Queen to join.

Since the band's last bassist drew attention away from Mercury, Deacon was selected for
his musical talent, his quiet demeanour and his electrical skills. A persistent legend claims
Deacon was the seventh bassist auditioned, but more recent sources show Queen's bassists were,
in order: Mike Grose, Barry Mitchell, Doug Bogie and Deacon. Deacon played his first show
with Queen at the College of Estate Management in Kensington in June.

On Queen's first album (1973) he was credited as "Deacon John", in order to make him
"sound more interesting".He asked to be credited under his real name, which was done on all
other albums from Queen II (1974) onwards.

Deacon's first writing credit came on Queen's third album, Sheer Heart Attack (1974). He
wrote "Misfire", a Caribbean-themed song where he played almost all guitar parts, and co-wrote
"Stone Cold Crazy" with the rest of the band. He also played some guide guitar parts on the
album as May was hospitalised due to hepatitis when recording started.

His second song, "You're My Best Friend" (1975) was featured on the group's fourth
album, A Night at the Opera, and went on to be an international hit (it was written for his wife-
to-be Veronica). Subsequently, Deacon tended to write one or two songs for every Queen album,
until The Miracle (1989) and Innuendo (1991), which credited the band as a whole.

He wrote the hit "Another One Bites The Dust" (1980) as a dance song based on his early
love of soul. The song saw radio play on black and white US stations. He began to collaborate
more with Mercury during the 1980s, as they both wanted to change the band's musical direction.

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 Deacon played a larger role on the band's 1982 album Hot Space. He played rhythm guitar
on the opening "Staying Power" because of his soul and Motown-influenced style, and insisted
on playing guitar on his own composition "Back Chat" and not allowing May to play any guitar
solos because the style did not fit what Deacon wanted.

This led to an acrimonious argument between the two. By the mid-1980s, Deacon had
started to play with other bands as well. He performed on the single "Picking Up Sound" by Man
Friday & Jive Junior, a supergroup also featuring Thin Lizzy's Scott Gorham, Bad
Company 's Simon Kirke and Mick Ralphs, and The Pretenders' Martin Chambers and played
with The Immortals, which released the track "No Turning Back" as part of the soundtrack to the
film Biggles: Adventures in Time. Deacon played bass on Mercury's single with Montserrat
Caballe "How Can I Go On" and also worked with Elton John and Hot Chocolate's Errol Brown.

Deacon considered his songwriting to be of equal importance to his musical skills in

Queen.He later said "If I'd just been a bass player all my life with the band, I wouldn't be as
satisfied ...I only consider that as part of what I do".

4.WHEN THE BAND COMES TO AN END

On November 23rd, Freddie announced to the world that he had AIDS. Just the next
day, his fight was over, and he died peacefully at his home surrounded by friends and family.
The world was in shock. Freddie had kept his illness very private, and only those closest to him
had been aware of just how close to the end he really was. Fans from all over the world sent
flowers and cards, and many even traveled to London to be at Freddie's house. A cremation
service was held three days after his death, with family and close friends in attendance. The
service was conducted in the Zoroastrian faith that Freddie's parents followed.As a tribute
Bohemian Rhapsody /These Are The Days Of Our Lives was released as a double A-sided single
to raise funds for the Terence Higgins Trust. It entered the UK chart at No. 1, where it stayed for
five weeks, raising over £1,000,000 for the charity and Queen became the first band to have the
same single top the UK charts twice.

In December of that year Queen had 10 albums in the UK Top 100. In 1992 Freddie was
awarded posthumously the BRIT’s “Outstanding Contribution to British Music” and Days Of
Our Lives won Best Single. On 20th April many of the world’s top stars joined Brian, Roger and
John on stage at Wembley for an emotional tribute to Freddie.

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 In 1995 the tracks that Queen had begun in 1991 were completed by Brian, Roger and
John and the long-awaited MADE IN HEAVEN was released worldwide. It was the end of an
era. Since then the phenomenon of Queen has remained, however, with continuing sales for their
recorded output on CD and video. A ballet of their music by famous French choreographer
Maurice Bejart was premiered at the National Theatre in Paris in 1997 and in May 2002 the hit
musical We Will Rock You opened to sell-out audiences in London’s West End and continues to
play to packed houses and standing ovations every night. Queen’s first DVD Greatest Video Hits
Vol.1 was released at the end of October 2002, and yet another piece of Queen product entered
the UK charts at number 1. October 2002 also saw Queen receive their own star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame, Los Angeles, joining The Beatles as only one of a handful of non-US
bands to receive the much coveted honour. In 2004 they were inducted into the Rock and Roll
Walk of Fame.

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 5.PICTURES FROM CONCERTS

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 6.CONCLUSION

After we have perused a little part of Queen’s history, we can conclude with the fact that
this band, consisting in 4 extraordinary men, is hard to compete with. It has changed the
mentality of millions of people and it has offered songs for the soul for the ones who probably
couldn’t find consolation in anything else.

It is clear that this band created successful melodies, this fact being proved by the huge
crowds of people who took part in their concerts, willing to listen to some of the greatest
masterpieces of the rock industry.

It is important not to forget about these men who made a change, who found their sense
of living and who left the world a little bit better than the way they had found it.

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 7.BIBLIOGRAPHY

 http://www.queenonline.com/
 http://wiki.eanswers.com/en/Queen_(band)?ext=t&cid=5036
 https://genius.com/artists/Queen
 http://www.allmusic.com/artist/queen-mn0000858827

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