![[hand]](/hs-pics/portraits/hands/glover3.jpg)
![[face]](/hs-pics/portraits/faces/mcbride6.jpg)
He had all the moves
This is in borderline trainspotting category, but Guitar World shares an anecdote about Robert Fripp making a guest appearance on David Bowie’s 1980 album Scary Monsters:
Fripp’s newfound role as a “focused rock player” very much came in handy at the sessions.
“I remember I asked David, ‘Any suggestions?’, because there’s any number of ways you can go,” he told GW. “He said, ‘Think Ritchie Blackmore.’ I didn’t expect that, but I understood what he meant.
“Did I sound like Ritchie Blackmore? No. But I’d seen Ritchie in the Outlaws in Poole when I was 17, and his playing was phenomenal. He had all the moves. So I’d seen Ritchie, I’d heard Ritchie, and I wasn’t going to play like Ritchie would, but I knew what David meant.”
Thanks to Gary for the heads-up.
Unauthorized copying, while sometimes necessary, is never as good as the real thing
Bowie was also someone who realized early on that it was time to sing deeper rather than higher – and his voice never gave up on him in gratitude.
He cannot really have disliked Purple all that much or he wouldn‘t have sat through the Cal Jam ABC TV broadcast where he first heard and saw Glenn Hughes and was gobsmacked by someone with a voice like that singing with DP.
There is also a story of a young pre-fame DB and Mk I DP comforting each other after both had gone down badly at a festival in the late 60s, I remember reading that in Classic Rock years ago, but my research has only found one festival where they could have met and that was at a Cambridge University open air in 1970 when Mk II was already on the road (and likely not going down badly at all anymore, especially that gig was supposed to have been electric – Bowie played after them in the early morning hours in somewhat shambolic fashion with his then fresh backing band The Hype including Mick Ronson and Tony Visconti on bass).
So this jam likely did not ever happen! 😂
https://youtu.be/O5HhxdoKq_s?is=PklXusT-StYM0T7T
July 21st, 2026 at 23:07I do remember this story from years ago from that Fripp man. About his admiration for Ritchie and he also admired a few other guitarists from that era, Robin Trower for one. Cheers.
July 21st, 2026 at 23:11Yo,
Its difficult to say anything about Mr.Fripp’s comment really, but this Bowie album is imo the best effort (among many) he ever delivered. A really, really good album from start to finish…( And the introduction commentry is so funny ).
Ciao !
July 21st, 2026 at 23:21Bowie and Jagger did the remake song, Dancing under the sheets! 😬
July 22nd, 2026 at 11:57For some reason I remember it regarding the song HEROES.
Then and now I m not able to hear how this is inspired by Blackmore.
For decades I had an ambiguous view on the phenomenon.
End 70 s , early 80 s the people who liked it were not my kinda people.
That only shifted after his death.
He made versatile stuff and there s a lot I enjoyed after all.
Can anyone tell me why so many women loved androgynous musicians like him, Prince,Michael Jackson?
I m not a bigot but feel annoyed seeing men acting like women.
The funny thing is I met many naysayers that my long manes were a feminine thing.
Me,a historybuff. always reply in most era s men had long hair and that they were glued to a Zeitgeist brainwashing.
July 22nd, 2026 at 19:22Yo,
@5…Good to hear from you Rock !
Freddie Mercury qt.”Doesn’t everybody want to dress-up in drag”?…
I think back in the pre-internet days of the 1970’s, any press was good press, as it got you talked about by the masses, which ultimately got you some TV & radio-play, & so helped your career…In other words, grab the ball & run with it…
Bowie’s image like his music, was ever-changing year-for-year that’s for sure. There are some good recordings that he made, but I must admit to appreciating his greatest-hits release(s) to his discography, though the Berlin years are generally highly regarded by most folks that bother to write about his career. Heroes, Low & Lodger are the representative works from Berlin, with Brian Eno making his presence felt. I also quite like the soundtrack Christiane F, which plays like the greatest-hits of those 3 x recordings.
Ciao !
July 23rd, 2026 at 06:22What if artists don’t so much lean towards androgyny as androgynous people lean to art, RV? Check out any theater workshop or seminar.
“I m not a bigot but feel annoyed seeing men acting like women.” That reads a bit like: “I’m not a racist, but I just feel uncomfortable around black people and don’t like the way they act.” 😑 Get over it.
There is both: “male” behavior we (as men) tend to be born with and “male” behavior which we have socially and culturally acquired. Sometimes it is hard to tell one from the other.
The late 60s and early 70s were times of social and cultural revolt and upheaval in the West. The Beatles began to wear their hair in a – for the time – feminine fashion, Bowie was a “Grenzgänger” and flaunted androgyny to express himself because he wanted to take on and explore new roles. So did Marc Bolan, Mick Jagger and Prince (with Michael Jackson it was more an issue of not wishing to grow up into a binary adult world, his androgyny was basically an attempt to preserve pre-adulthood childhood and adolescence, hence also his attraction to children as company which wasn’t just sexual). People like Suzi Quatro and Joan Jett did the same in reverse. Some women even like Steve Morse and we all know how that isn’t normal either. 😂 (Sorry Beate, the devil made me do it!)
Yes, there are only two genders, one at each end of the spectrum, but there are a whole lot of nuances and shades in between. There have always been men with effeminate traits that were not gay just as there were women who were a little butch without being gay. I don’t even see the issue in that. It doesn’t question my “manhood” (whatever that is) and I myself have both masculine and feminine traits in me (I prefer cooking and being a good host to any type of sports, be it active or passive).
People say that opposites attract and how that lies at the core of all male/female attraction to each other in the hetero world. But it’s not always that black and white, women don’t just dress well and wear make-up for the male gaze, they also do it for themselves and for their own gender brethren. It is a form of identity reassuring language to them. That should answer your question why they feel attracted to “androgynous musicians”, there is a kinship and that sometimes is attractive too.
And for the record: I prefer the way Tommy Bolin looked, dressed, moved and spoke to how Gary Moore did too. Tommy’s androgyny was a large part of his appeal – also for females if legend is to be believed. I also found his more female and playful approach to playing lead guitar a lot less self-centered and gorilla-chest-beating than Moore’s, that tiresome He-Man of lead guitar playing. Let’s not even talk about the singing.
July 23rd, 2026 at 11:38@ Gregster
Being awful at talking German I still chose it as one of my highschool exams.
Improvised a bit here and there,sometimes reading the books in Dutch or saw the movie,not aware of adaptations.
So I stupidly emberassed myself the moment I used the term Christiane F,which, it s ages ago now, was the title for the book or film in Dutch.
Am Bahnhof Zoo was the German title,I think.
Nope, it was Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo,pfffff
I pursued German on an even higher level.
Reading texts skills improved so that saved me.
Not from the, again, emberassment when I needed to do a dialoque.
After HAVO usually one takes 2 years to do VWO but I did it in 1 year, bightschool.
Was supposed to travel a lot if I wanted to attend both German and Biology.
I chose a highly criticised move. One week I attended Biology, the next German.
I dont remember the movie a lot but didnt they use Rainbow s ON STAGE a lot ?
July 23rd, 2026 at 16:08@ 7… Yes Uwe, the Sixties was the Generation of Hippies, Gypsies, etc. The times for experiaminting, sexually, drugs, fashion and music.
July 23rd, 2026 at 16:25Uwe
Thx for the elaborate reply.
Indeed, things are not black and white.
I never took offence of Mercury with long hair and make up, but I always cringed when he went ott gay parallel to QUEEN selling out.
KISS did something similair but it destroyed them.
I possibly wrote it before.
My cousin is gay and I m not having trouble with that.
I think because he s not overtly expressing it in a stereotypical way and also said that GAYPRIDES did pay him a disservice.
Call it whatever you wish but I dont feel at ease seeing heteros going intimate all the way before my eyes as well.
I mostly feel comfortable among coloured folks and even mislims, often more than among my own kind.
Sometimes I slip but in general I prefer subtlety and feel appalled by blunt talking about sex.
Although I love it I more a Romantic.
It can be confusing.
The Zeitgeist to which one maybe oughtta adapt to seems to require anal sex.
The moment I became aware of the meaning behind Knocking on your backdoor really took away the enjoyment.
To each its own, as said by someone here years ago.
What does it mean I m attracted to Orc women?
July 23rd, 2026 at 16:29Uwe, i second your feelings toward Tommy B, i love the way he plays and sings Savannah Woman, so smooth, so human and gentle…
July 23rd, 2026 at 20:17@ 12…. With all the free love and orgies going around at the time men were sleeping with men and women were sleeping with wimmin !
July 24th, 2026 at 11:51I dont remember Blackmorista s being displeased regarding Bolin about other things than his on stage performance.
Couldnt care less he dyed his hair and it was 1977 I encountered all these purplefamilycolours and flavours.
Though I idealised having long hair,the more my surroundings resisted it the more I internalised it,never doubted when Bonnet arrived.
Except for his Hawaian shirts he sounded great.
Its weird though, when Blackmore took the BN drummer into his so called Rainbowreunions I DID bother.
Saying to compair him with Powell and the new Ronnie with Dio and Mercury…. Was adding insult to injury.
And no, I dont like Mc Brides apperance.
But hey, for my part they all wheelchair themselves onto the stage, if thats what they want.
Steve might ve looked the part but smiled too much and gave me 30 years of extra depression.
Sorry, Steve, I wish you all the luck.
I dont care what others think of it but I just dont want it, digging into shitholes.
Other forum?
Getting too old for this shit.
July 24th, 2026 at 21:33Yo,
@10…
Indeed, they were eye-opening & confusing times through the mid-1980’s…That’s why it was so good to have DP Mk-II reconstitute itself !
Freddie’s solo career was always going to fall-short-of-the-mark imo, & I must admit to losing interest in Queen by this time…To me it seemed that their guiding compass that delivered great songs & albums was lost, though in truth their music really changed when they started recording outside of England. Yes they had massive hits for a few albums, but the decline in quality enduring material became more & more evident, with the exception imo of The Works…
All that said, Queen’s first 2 x albums have always been my favourites, & the recent re-releases from 2024 & this year of Queen & Queen II need to be heard to be believed at how good they sound. Powerful drums, new guitar & bass parts & complete remixing from the original releases. They sound like brand-new re-recorded releases…Amazing…
That said, if you’ve listened to these albums for over 40-years like myself, there’s nothing wrong with the original releases either, but the upgrade is worthy imo, no regrets here at yet another re-purchase ha-ha !
Ciao !
July 24th, 2026 at 22:40“With all the free love and orgies going around at the time men were sleeping with men and women were sleeping with wimmin !”
For someone monikered “Bottoms”, that is a very sheltered perception, Timi, and I fear historically also severely inaccurate! 😂
RV, I have no issues with how Simon looks, it’s a look that could have also worked with Dr Feelgood or The Stranglers in the late 70s and I always liked the Dr Feelgood/Stranglers look. To me, a guitarist with nipple-long hair would look plain cosplay-cringeworthy with Purple today.
I even wished that DC and RB would have dumped their manes come the millennium, why Blackmore could never accept short hair (there are short hair wigs too if hiding his baldness was key to him) like, say, David Gilmour, Francis Rossi, Robert Fripp or Peter Frampton, is beyond me and only explicable as a variation of the notorious Peter Pan syndrome of refusing to look your age and never grow up.
I like how Big Ian’s hair has changed over the times (and still continues to change basically from tour to tour). I’d find it frankly hilarious if he still wore his GILLAN/Black Sabbath/90s Mk VII caveman dyed-black mane, it would look totally out of place. Thinking about it, I’ve always liked IG better with shorter hair (like around the time of the Butterfly Ball or with early IGB), you see more of his handsome face that way.
I had (very) long hair up to my early 20s, but at one point I realized that you can go to Judas Priest, Rainbow and DP gigs with short hair too. And even in a suit if you are coming directly off work.
Long hair for men has long lost all political or counterculture relevance (since the mid to late 70s, nowadays you even see MAGA people with long hair)), these days it is either a fashion or anti-fashion statement or desperately “looking the part” if you’re either in a motorcycle gang or a heavy metal outfit and insist that everyone must see that first thing they meet you. A uniform of sorts.
July 25th, 2026 at 14:27@15
Unfortunately the era I loved QUEEN I wasnt ready.
Age, money, health d prove to be staying factors blocking going to loads of bands/shows.
In 1980,I was not yet 15, I managed to see my first ever show,RAINBOW in Rotterdam.
Since then more and more I tried to see concerts, though still poor, but at the same time missing out on crucial stuff.
I think I feel worse about the years aware of topshows and deciding not not going than missing out on pre 1980.
One of the reasons probably I didnt see QUEEN before Rodgers joined wasnt me being appalled by Mercury s metamorphosis but my wrong idea that liveshows were a representation of current material.
I love all the albums before JAZZ.
July 25th, 2026 at 16:55Their music has been re released over and over again and as yet dont know of improving results
Yo,
@17…
Queen’s live shows are pretty impressive, where they generally play selections from every-album, typically in clusters where you get 2-minutes of this song attached to 2-minutes of another etc etc.
Yes, the re-releases are a pain-in-the-ass, but I suggest its simply addendum for marketing reasons, simply because they remain so popular & everything sells where no-more stock exists. So they re-label with “newly remastered” on each successive re-release.
There exists a superb CD boxed-set that I have acquired & was a US-of-A only release in mini-LP design circa 1998, titled “The Crown Jewels”…And every album was re-mastered by the same engineer, so they all sound as equals, & typically have the same warmth & clarity as the later 1980’s-90’s original digitally recorded & released albums. I’m lucky to have all their albums on CD that actually sound similar to one-another, as they’re all the 1990’s releases, (apart from the “Rainbow” & “Odeon” live boxed-sets that I acquired circa 2014 or so)…
Having repurchased the debut album & Queen II a number of times, I can say this about these 2 x albums after back-to-back playing of the different releases.
1. The original 1980’s CD releases sound great, & are true representatives of anything released on cassette or LP from that era, but without the tape-hiss or snap-crackle-&-pop of records.
2. The 1998 boxed-set improves the sound across all albums with more clarity & bottom end present, & you even hear flaws that were lost-in-the-mix on the original releases,-no-bull…These sound like they are being played on your favourite FM radio station, which I quite like indeed…
3. The respective 50th anniversary releases are completely different, & sound like they were recorded in recent times…They sound brand-new & fresh, with every instrument & voice having its own space & individual organic sound quality. Acoustic guitars sound like they should, not thin-sounding pick-brushes over the strings. The bass sounds like a Fender Precision, not just a bass part. The drums are full & dynamic…Nothing is lost-in-the-mix… These are radically different sounding CD’s. The engineers have done a superb job on these albums that I never, ever, thought possible to achieve…They don’t sound like the classic albums of the era that they came from at all, they sound NOW ! And that takes some adjusting to lol ! Good stuff indeed imo, & it’s nice to have choices.
Ciao !
July 26th, 2026 at 00:38#15 Gregster:
Freddy’s solo career, except for the duet with Montserrat Caballe which was innovative but also a commercially swindling operation, was an absolute flop. Unfortunately, he was in a highly unstable period of his life, and if it hadn’t been Mercurio but an “ordinary” singer, the story would have been much worse.
Luckily for him, and luckily for Queen, they got together and made great music again.
#16 Uwe:
Jolene had the strength to give up the wigs, and the result was great, but maybe not being able to tolerate a bald The Man in Black at 80, I’m fine with him keeping his wig if that’s what he likes!
yes, BigIan’s dyed hair in the 90s was truly awful, although he looks good with short hair, he could have also kept it white and long like Lord did, it would have been a remarkable grey look!
In the PS photo sessions I loved her very long, unforgettable and iconic hair.
July 26th, 2026 at 12:51Btw, I never wore long hair out of the need to act provocational.
I almost didnt care about anything end 1977
The moment MADE IN JAPAN hit me my life change.
And yes THEY are to blame for aquiring a taste for long hair and a universe of music 🙂
Watching Conan the Barbarian just before I kickstarted my passion for fitness also helped.
Today and earlier I mostly wear a ponytail which in Gillans words made no sense.
I would love to change the hairdo constantly but the way its planted gives too much issues.
I cant complain about it being 61 but considering my medical history is possibly a big reason it got thinner…..
Not to mention the other side effects.
DONT DO DRUGS.
That was my objective but I got lured into bad pharmacy anyway=drugs.
I m afraid I got too weak and old to get rid of them now.
I stopped drinking but I do endure a lot of “pain”so today, again,I succumbed, 7th time since early 24.
Partly I was prompted by someone saying booze wont kill them, Gillan and RB anymore but I m not so sure about myself.
July 26th, 2026 at 21:56Yo,
@19…
Yes indeed, Freddie’s solo album I didn’t listen to too-many-times when I got it as a birthday gift. It wasn’t all bad, but not what I expected. For a person so gifted with such piano skill, song-writing abilities & huge singing voice, I couldn’t understand the sell-out to what I’d call 1980’s dance music. The door was open to deliver all-sorts-of-material / styles, but it’s not what was delivered…On the positive side, it got him focussed back with the band.
After watching a few DP videos on You-Tube featuring Joe from 1994, IG not only sang really well, but looked healthy & better-than-ever with the long-hair back for sure.
Ciao !
July 27th, 2026 at 00:25#20 Gregster:
Considering that the Naked Thunder and Toolbox tours were really wild and high-alcohol, yes, I’d say that in 1994 BigIan was fit, a little heavy and with horribly dyed hair, but he was doing okay.
July 27th, 2026 at 12:27Thank goodness he’s had thick skin and good health so far!
I admire Queen for their audacity of releasing Hot Space. That took real guts and open minds. Mercury was their secret weapon for going against the grain of rock audience expectations.
July 27th, 2026 at 14:36Yo,
@22…
“Hot Space” was the result of Queen having massive success in the US-of-A with the singles from “The Game” album, where the market & people finally opened-up big time. It seems they fell under too much self-pressure to impress with “Hot Space” & took a side-step in their evolution, & actually lost the US-of-A market…And that was cemented via the video to “I want to break free” from the follow-up “The Works” album, where it was banned lol !
I can listen through “Hot Space” these days without too much issue or complaint, though it has taken decades to do so lol ! You can’t win them all I suppose.
Ciao !
July 28th, 2026 at 00:27Dance music – electronic one at that – was a cultural phenomenon and driver at the time (and has basically stayed with us to this day). Mercury had a natural cultural curiosity for all things.
If I listen to Brian May’s solo albums, it’s all hunky-dory and the music is nice, but is it daring and does it stray from the Queen recipe? Roger Taylor’s and Freddie Mercury’s solo albums were in contrast testing (and sometimes overstepping) boundaries. And I actually like John Deacon’s songs best.
Queen II was a notable album in 1974, but I find it admirable that they did not stick to repeating it over and over. The only time Queen really tried to repeat themselves was with A Day At The Races as a sequel to A Night At The Opera and I consider ADATR their weakest offering of all even though it has Tie Your Mother Down on it. It was more of ANATO, only less.
But who am I to ask, I’m one of those weirdos who thinks this is one of Queen’s best songs (and superior to a novelty item like Bohemian Rhapsody):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9enOd3Z7vcY&t=2s
Hypnotic, even if it owes a small debt to this here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U56Ns66Qrb8
Yeah, you can call me Uwe, the Clubber now! ☝️😎
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLGJXbl6g8o&list=RDFLGJXbl6g8o&start_radio=1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aatK_l9Yuyk&list=RDFLGJXbl6g8o&index=2
July 28th, 2026 at 19:31Yo,
@24…
I listened to “Hot Space” yesterday interestingly enough, & I have come to the conclusion that if the opening track is omitted, the album becomes much more listenable, since the “dance”-stuff is then more gently introduced, rather than shoved-down-your-throat in disbelief that this is Queen when “Staying Power” is the opener…
Music at the time was generally going through the “new wave” soundscape, & it seems that Queen decided to go for the dance-stuff instead, rather than follow trends. All I have to say about the dance-stuff on this album is that ironically it has no staying-power lol, & doesn’t endure the test-of-time. What is interesting however is the bass sound, where you ask yourself if that’s a synthesiser or bass guitar playing those jazz-grooves ?…
“A Day at the Races” is an excellent album. It has great songs on it, & who cares if it’s part-two of A Night at the Opera ???…I suggest that plenty of people hoped for even more of these types of offerings, though it’s always been the first 3 x albums that do-it-for-me,- it always has been. That said, “News of the World” & “Jazz” are fine albums too, though like “Staying Power”, one has every right to question the place of “Mustopha” on Jazz, especially as the opening track.
The “Made in Heaven” album is a good strong album, where like “Innuendo”, its consistent from start to finish…In fact, “Innuendo” is probably the best effort from them since “The Works” except for the (once again) miss-placed “Delilah”…WTF is this track doing here ???…
“A Kind of Magic” I don’t mind, it’s quite a good album even though it’s part sound-track to the film Highlander…A different song sequence is all that’s needed to turn it into a great album. The error imo is that they placed 2 x ballads after each other, so like “Hot Space”, once you’ve lost interest / attention in listening to the music, you don’t go back & re-listen to what remains, which can often be quite good.Hmmm…
Ciao !
July 30th, 2026 at 00:17Fans always want repetition, that is the crux of many bands.
I think Mercury had his nose in the air when he decided that Queen’s mid 70s Über-drama had peaked. He preferred failing with something new and different to diminishing returns from the tried and trusted. That is what artists do.
I’m not a Queen fan really, but I hugely respect how they did their own thing.
July 30th, 2026 at 16:17Yo,
@26…
I don’t want to go on-&-on about Queen to be honest, & no-doubt there’s plenty of reasons of why we got-what-we-got as regards to the music that was presented by them through the 1980’s. There is however one fact that they suffered from akin to Mk-II DP, & that was that they were grossly over-worked.
To record an album & then tour in support of that record year-after-year without a break takes its toll. Add in high expectations where each album has to do better than the last also effects your personal health & outlook. Eventually this routine takes-its-toll ( which it did ), & arguably the music suffers because of it. And then when you throw-in the filthy-press & their commentary, it doesn’t do anyone any-good, & that’s why the results on the albums through the 1980’s were so unstable / inconsistent imo.
Ciao !
August 1st, 2026 at 01:40I never came around doing it but like with many other acts imho QUEEN needed a sampler of what was worthy enough.
Over the years I had my favourites that more or less showed me they d not forgotten to make majestic music. Like Princes of the universe, Who wants to live forever, etc.
My favourite is NEWS OF THE WORLD
That has to do with the fact that was the one I had before the rest and I experienced the fuzz around it the year it was released.
Damn, should ve seen them live then.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_6AC2u0E4E
August 2nd, 2026 at 20:39Yo,
@28…
NotW is a fine album, & has always been the one Queen album that I’d grab as a gift to give to someone. It’s really well balanced regarding light & shade, & not over-the-top, with every-song a winner. It’s also aged really well too. *The follow-up “Jazz” is similar too, though you have to omit “Mustapha” lol. They were on a roll of producing some pretty good music, where mostly every tune on an album was worthy of radio-play imo.
I was lucky enough to see them live when they visited Melbourne on Tuesday 16th April 1985 on the Works tour. Very impressive, though there were some technical glitches.
Ciao !
August 3rd, 2026 at 00:00