rounding off a month of mostly vibes posts, then, is one of the (or the) most celebrated records, albums or what have you. which would be Greatest Hits by Queen. called that because, look you see, no one titled such things as "Volume 1" or similar at the time.
essentially, the "greatest hits" or "best of" release by a band or solo artist was, perhaps is, one of the ways in which the noble record industry worked out they could effectively sell the same music to people again and again. but not brutally so. there were instances where some fans might not have had all the albums from a group (or singer) and certainly there are many examples of some singles never featuring on an album. best examples of such are found across the careers of The Beatles and, more prominently, The Rolling Stones.
an unusual, or interesting, thing seemed to happen with this first Queen Greatest Hits record. it appeared to take an already big band and make them even bigger, for this set outsold the impressive sales of their albums, and pretty much outsold every other record ever released. i mean, this was huge. rightly so, too, since this set encompasses some of the greatest music in like, totes forever.
moving away from statements or a presentation of "facts" that i cannot substantiate, let me rather get to where we are now. this year, being 2021, apparently marks the 40th anniversary of this particular set. so, as is custom or standard, a grand re-issue has taken place. actually, yes, this got mentioned in passing on a bit i did recently about the non-Primal Scream release off of Bobby Gillespie.
what this means, mostly, to me is that it is now 40 years since i got my first ever walkman, then. such is dated by the fact that the tape i would like to think was the first ever played on it was indeed Greatest Hits by Queen, recorded off the lp for me by Dad. in reality, i would imagine or suspect it was an Adam & The Ants tape first, but still. certainly i can recall the Queen tape getting played again and again, right up until the point where it fell from a balcony in a hotel and got smashed on connecting with the ground.
there was, in truth, little or no interest in me purchasing (oddly, kind of for the first time) this album, or getting it again, when i saw it. mostly this was due to HMV having the CD at a north of £10 price, the novelty factor of the tape at north of £15 (but south of £20) and the vinyl at £whatever because tucked away i do have the vinyl what Dad taped it off, beautified by our kitten from the time nibbling off part of the corner of the cover.
not too great, that pic above, but then again which of my pictures are excellent. anyhow, just here to show off the ridiculous high quality of vibes (music) which makes up this set. brilliant.
so, no, the HMV pricing did not inspire a random purchase. however, an email came off of the label what Queen are on (i am presuming i ticked or didn't tick something when buying something by someone else on the same label), advising me that they had "specials" on the Queen Greatest Hits celebratory 40th anniversary thing.
i am quite easy to lure in with the perception of a bargain or good value, or just part with cash if the right name is on something (anything). the link on the mail offered me the 2011 remaster of the CD for somewhere south of £6, a similar price (as in identical) for the tape with the classic, original cover, or a flat, straight £5 for a special tape with any member of the band i cared to select on the cover. done deal, that was, then. hence these pictures.
yes, sure, Queen is, are or were one of those bands where you could argue each member was reasonably iconic and treasured, but let us be honest, Freddie was, is and forever shall be always out there on his own. so, for aspects and elements of nostalgia, i purchased the Freddie cover version (two pics joined together by moi above) for William, both for his growing tape collection and my own memories. indeed he does like Queen, and i recall (fondly forever shall) him being a bit worried when i played him the song Fat Bottomed Girls for the first time, as he believed we may be getting in trouble for playing such a clearly naughty song.
this is, effectively, the forth instance of me owning a copy of this recording, but yet the first time i have directly handed coins to Queen for it. first was the frequently mentioned tape, second was a lovely set of all three (3) Queen Greatest Hits things from my brother one Christmas, third was a "disc only" copy i found in a shop for 49p. how fitting and apt that, for the 40th anniversary of this release, i was able to procure and secure a 10th anniversary release of the 30th anniversary release of it. or something like that, sorry i rang out of fingers as i tried to count.
doubtful that this needs saying, but yes, i would think every single household in the UK, if not the world, should either have a copy of Greatest Hits by Queen or reasonable access to it. as staggering as the quality of all this is, what is all the more impressive is how the second volume of such, with some imagination called Greatest Hits II, gets bigger and better. but yet these are the anthem being, the well and truly iconic songs what made the band so treasured.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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