British Rock - The Hip Quotient

My Queen-Size Crush on Freddie Mercury

Post author:Dana Spiardi
Post category:Art, Fashion, Design Brits Beyond The Beatles & Stones
Post comments:7 Comments
Post published:September 5, 2014

When I was 16 years old, Queen vocalist Freddie Mercury was the man I most wanted to meet. I didn't want to sleep with him, mind you. I wanted to BE him. Or at least go shopping with him. Seriously, he was one of the people who inspired me to get out of my tiny Pennsyltucky hometown. I figured that if I studied hard enough, I could go to college, get a good job, and afford to move to London and hobnob with him and my other Brit rock idols. As it turned out, I went to college, got a job, moved to Monroeville, and got to hobnob with Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Harold Denton in the backroom of Tivoli's Restaurant in Penn Hills. But that's another story.

Brian May – The Asteroidal Axeman

Post author:Dana Spiardi
Post category:Brits Beyond The Beatles & Stones Guitarists: The Axemen Cometh
Post comments:5 Comments
Post published:July 19, 2014

Lots of rockers and actors have had asteroids named in their honor, but Brian May is no doubt the only true scientist of the bunch. The brainy guitarist/astrophysicist best known for his work with Queen turns 67 today. I could always recognize his distinctive style. He used his custom-built "Red Special" guitar to produce sounds that mimicked all kinds of instruments, such as trombones and piccolos. In 2012, readers of Guitar World magazine voted him the 2nd greatest guitarist of all time, and Rolling Stone pegged him at #26 in their list of Top 100 guitarists.

The Yardbirds’ Keith Relf: From Electric Blues to Electric Demise

Post author:Dana Spiardi
Post category:Brits Beyond The Beatles & Stones
Post comments:2 Comments
Post published:March 22, 2014

The 1960s electric blues band The Yardbirds was the premier rock-n-roll incubator, cultivating three of the world's most talented guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and Jimmy Page. But does anybody recall the name of the man who co-founded the British group and provided lead vocals and harmonica on its killer tracks, among them, "Heart Full of Soul," "For Your Love," and "Shapes of Things"? His name was Keith Relf, born 71 years ago today. He suffered one of the strangest deaths in rock history.

Many Shades of Pale

Post author:Dana Spiardi
Post category:Brits Beyond The Beatles & Stones Psychedelia
Post comments:0 Comments
Post published:February 16, 2014

There have been more than 1,000 cover versions of "A Whiter Shade of Pale," the debut single by British progressive-rock band Procol Harum. The hauntingly beautiful song with its Bach-like melody and trippy lyrics was a perfect soundtrack for the Summer of Love. It hit the #1 one spot on the U.K. charts on June 8, 1967, and remained there for six weeks. In fact, it's one of fewer than 30 singles to have sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

Is There a Drummer in the House?

Post author:Dana Spiardi
Post category:Brits Beyond The Beatles & Stones
Post comments:0 Comments
Post published:August 23, 2013

Keith Moon would have turned 68 today if he hadn't died in 1978 from swallowing 32 tablets of Heminevrin, a sedative he was taking to help him with alcohol withdrawal symptoms. The Who's chemically induced clown/drummer mixed one too many horse tranquilizers with brandy on the evening of November 20, 1973, causing him to pass out twice during the band's performance at the Cow Palace in San Francisco. But the show went on! Who guitarist Pete Townsend shouted out to the crowd: "Can anybody play the drums?", and a young man stepped forward.