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I walked home from work today in bright, warm sunshine, with blossom on the trees and birds singing. I don't know what the hell is up with this December, but the roses are clearly as confused as I am. Did we switch places with the southern hemisphere? Are they getting our ice and snow?!
Anyway, backwards in time. There is, obviously, one event that marks 1991 for a Queen fan. But before we get to the sting in the tail of the year, there's a lot of other stuff that happened first. January started with a war, although they insisted at the time that it wasn't one. It was all over soon enough; if you can call running away and leaving something half done, with all kinds of festering wounds ready to deepen and cause a myriad issues later "over". Back in Europe (and nearly Europe) the changes that had been underway since 1989 were all coming to a head. Yugoslavia was coming apart. The USSR wasn't far behind, and Boris Yeltsin jumped from Prime Minister to President in the space of a few months, replacing Gorbachev when his position became untenable. In South Africa the apartheid system was being dismantled, and in the Middle East - remarkably, given the turmoil caused by the First Gulf War - the last few Western hostages were being released. John McCarthy came home in August, Jackie Mann in September, Terry Waite and Tom Sutherland in November, and Terry Anderson in December. Ötzi was dug up in the Alps. And Robert Maxwell fell off his boat. (Or jumped. Or was pushed). It formed a nice little coda for my favourite Bond film six years later, anyway, which is about all that one can say for the man. Oh, and I finally left secondary school. Joy! Although as it turned out, sixth form was just as bad. Still, one hurdle over, and not a moment too soon.
In other avenues, it was the year of Robin Hood, for some reason. Two movies about him were released this year. One was a smash hit, the other vanished without trace. Guess which is the one that I like?! "Prince Of Thieves" probably had its virtues, but I'd be hard put to point to any. (Except for the excellent stunt team, that is). "Robin Hood", on the other hand, is well worth seeking out, although good luck doing it.
Music-wise, eighties pop was starting to give way to the jangly rock that was a big part of the 90s scene. REM hadn't really bothered the British charts before, but Shiny Happy People was a big hit, and they got a lot bigger from then on. James released Sit Down, the Farm had Altogether Now, and the Wonder Stuff brought out Size Of A Cow. The Manics were starting to creep closer to an actual hit, after lurking down in the recesses of the Top 100 for a couple of years. Blur brought out their debut album, and had their first hit. Hale & Pace released The Stonk (sorry, couldn't resist that one - actually it's worth checking out the video, and seeing who you can identify). But there was only one bit of music news in 1991 that mattered, and there's no sense putting it off.
There had been rumours for some time of course, but then there are always rumours about famous people. By the time 1991 rolled around, I guess the truth was obvious to anybody who didn't have their head stuck in the sand - which is where mine definitely was.
And then came November.
The singles from 1991's album Innuendo, beginning with the title track:
I'm Going Slightly Mad:
Headlong:
The Show Must Go On:
These Are The Days Of Our Lives:
Singing to the end. Thanks Freddie.
Anyway, backwards in time. There is, obviously, one event that marks 1991 for a Queen fan. But before we get to the sting in the tail of the year, there's a lot of other stuff that happened first. January started with a war, although they insisted at the time that it wasn't one. It was all over soon enough; if you can call running away and leaving something half done, with all kinds of festering wounds ready to deepen and cause a myriad issues later "over". Back in Europe (and nearly Europe) the changes that had been underway since 1989 were all coming to a head. Yugoslavia was coming apart. The USSR wasn't far behind, and Boris Yeltsin jumped from Prime Minister to President in the space of a few months, replacing Gorbachev when his position became untenable. In South Africa the apartheid system was being dismantled, and in the Middle East - remarkably, given the turmoil caused by the First Gulf War - the last few Western hostages were being released. John McCarthy came home in August, Jackie Mann in September, Terry Waite and Tom Sutherland in November, and Terry Anderson in December. Ötzi was dug up in the Alps. And Robert Maxwell fell off his boat. (Or jumped. Or was pushed). It formed a nice little coda for my favourite Bond film six years later, anyway, which is about all that one can say for the man. Oh, and I finally left secondary school. Joy! Although as it turned out, sixth form was just as bad. Still, one hurdle over, and not a moment too soon.
In other avenues, it was the year of Robin Hood, for some reason. Two movies about him were released this year. One was a smash hit, the other vanished without trace. Guess which is the one that I like?! "Prince Of Thieves" probably had its virtues, but I'd be hard put to point to any. (Except for the excellent stunt team, that is). "Robin Hood", on the other hand, is well worth seeking out, although good luck doing it.
Music-wise, eighties pop was starting to give way to the jangly rock that was a big part of the 90s scene. REM hadn't really bothered the British charts before, but Shiny Happy People was a big hit, and they got a lot bigger from then on. James released Sit Down, the Farm had Altogether Now, and the Wonder Stuff brought out Size Of A Cow. The Manics were starting to creep closer to an actual hit, after lurking down in the recesses of the Top 100 for a couple of years. Blur brought out their debut album, and had their first hit. Hale & Pace released The Stonk (sorry, couldn't resist that one - actually it's worth checking out the video, and seeing who you can identify). But there was only one bit of music news in 1991 that mattered, and there's no sense putting it off.
There had been rumours for some time of course, but then there are always rumours about famous people. By the time 1991 rolled around, I guess the truth was obvious to anybody who didn't have their head stuck in the sand - which is where mine definitely was.
And then came November.
The singles from 1991's album Innuendo, beginning with the title track:
I'm Going Slightly Mad:
Headlong:
The Show Must Go On:
These Are The Days Of Our Lives:
Singing to the end. Thanks Freddie.
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And I'm wishing like Hades I still had my poor VHS recorded off the TV of the tribute concert, because I've never seen it for sale.
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