Queen [Past]

-:Queen (The Band):-   

Queen was a famous rock band that first began in the seventies. The members of the band included Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon. They wrote all their own music and performed it too. They were an instant hit and their first single to go number one was “Bohemian Rhapsody”

Queen II album cover (Rock, M. 1991)

The photo for this album was taken by Mick Rock, who was a famous photographer in the 1970's and was well known for taking pictures of rock stars. This album cover became an iconic picture and was later on re-created for the bands song "Bohieum Rhapsody"

The Queen Crest designed by Freddie Mercury (Mercury, F. 1973)



 

The lead band member, Freddie Mercury, designed the logo of the band which was used on some of their album covers. The logo was used on their greatest hits album as is used in later publications of the band, such as their 40th anniversary book. Again, like the album cover, the logo is a well-known icon of the band. 

The band has 3 number 1 hits; Bohemian Rhapsody, Bohemian Rhapsody (2nd entry) and Innuendo. Not to mention the bands “Greatest Hits” album was named “Best selling record of all time” in the UK. It has sold over 5,407,587 copies according to the Official UK Charts Company. "…but in a way Queen makes sense, they're one of the most exciting bands ever" (Kearns, 2011). The band toured worldwide, having sold out concerts in arenas like Madison Square Garden and Wembley Stadium.

A ticket stub from their sold out show at Madison Square Garden, 1978. (Scully, 1978)

The sales of the music, as well as the sold out shows and popular culture imagery shows that the band was very popular when they were around. They toured world wise, showing that they were in high demand. Their pictures and imagery have been parodied and used in merchandise, plus not to mention they made great music. I think I’ll have to talk about what the band did after the death of the lead singer , Freddie Mercury, as it greatly affect the whole world.

"…And it was Freddie who remained the driving force behind a band which amassed a £100million fortune.” (Unknown, 1991)

THE SUN NEWSPAPER 25/11/91 (The Sun, 1991)

-:Freddie Mercury Statue:-
Freddie Mercury

Freddie Mercury Statue (Brace, J. 2011)

The three remaining members of the band Queen, along with other family member and friends, commissioned this statue to be made by sculptor Irena Sedlecka. It was set in Montreux, Switzerland in 1996 and has been there ever since.



As you can see, people still leave flowers and cards in remembrance of the singer. The pose is an iconic one of Freddie's and he's wearing his famous yellow jacket from the Wembley Stadium performance. I think the statue is a lovely tribute to the singer.





-:Freddie Mercury Tribute:-

Rating on the "Freddie Mercury Tribute" video on IMDB on 29/11/2011 (IMDB, 2011) 

A year after the singers death on the 20^th April, 1992, some of the greatest musicians in the world got together to perform in one concert. It was held at Wembley Stadium and 72,000 people attended. The show was also broadcasted live to 76 different countries around the world.

Photograph of the "Freddie Mercury tribute" concert (Putland, M. 1992)

All the money raised from the sale of the event, the video tapes and other merchandise was all put towards the Mercury Phoenix Trust.

The logo of the charity created in memory of Freddie Mercury (Mercury Phoenix Trust Ltd. 2009)

The trust was set up soon after Mercury’s death. They help raise money and give it to help fund charities. The aim of the trust is to “fighting aids worldwide” (stated on the website). The phoenix imagery was actually lifted from the Queen logo with Freddie designed himself, linking to both the band of Queen and Freddie Mercury. 

I think this is a fantastic was to remember the singer Freddie Mercury and a brilliant way to help with a well-known cause. The website shows that they are doing some wonderful work and the original concert from 1992 raised thousands of pounds. I never thought I’d find a charity in my research.

-:Queen Elizabeth I:-  

Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I: The Middle Years (Hilliard, N. 1573-1587)
Queen Elizabeth I was born on 7 September 1533. She became Queen of England in 1558. She was captured in many portraits during her life.

Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I: The Final Years (1588-1603) (Gower, G. 1588)

Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I: The Final Years (1588-1603) (Hilliard, 1595-1600)

The main reason Elizabeth I is so popular is that she was Queen of England for 40 years; another reason is for her accomplishments. She was a very good Queen and achieved a lot during her time on the throne. “Elizabeth was a different kind of Queen: quick-witted, clever and able to use feminine wiles to get her own way. Elizabeth could be as ruthless and calculating as any king before her but at the same time she was vain, sentimental and easily swayed by flattery.” (Briscoe, A. 2011) She set up the “English Protestant Church”, she was famous for being a virgin, she was in reign during the Spanish Armada in 1588 which is seen as England’s greatest victory to date and she was Queen during a time of the growth of art and literacy. Also se was the first female Queen we had on the throne at a time were men were seen as being inferior to woman. “It is more than a monster in nature that a woman should reign and bear empire over man.” (Knox, J. 2011)

After reading her summary of what she had gained during her time as Queen I believe that Knox is wrong. Of course he wrote this before she was officially crowned but she was a well-loved Queen and did England proud. Why else would her time on the throne be referenced to as the Golden Age.

Collection of coins through-out the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, 1558-1603 (Clayton, T. 2010)

The signature the Queen Elizabeth used to sign her letters (unknown)

-:Elizabeth book:-

The front cover of a book all about Elizabeth I (Starkey, D. 2001)

"On one level it is the history of a nation but on a more immediate level it is the story of a an extraordinary woman trying to make her way through desperately hard times and for the most part emerging victorious" (Braniff, J. 2001)


"This habit of knowing what company to keep served her well through her long life as one of the greatest queens England has ever known." (Thomas, K. 2002)


"This book is superb. It is written as a catalogue and as such would not expect it to be very exciting." (Farquharson, B. 2003)


"Quite frankly, I don't see how this book can possibly be sold as 'The best account in English of the early years of Elizabeth.'" (Crisp, L. 2010)

A screen-shot of the reviews collected on the book Elizabeth taken 30/11/2011 (Amazon, 2011)

The book is a history of Queen Elizabeth I, from her early days to her death. A historian called Dr.David Starkey who has written lots of other history books wrote it.

I think the reviews and the ratings speak for themselves on this item. Even though the book did get a few bad reviews overall it was very well received and popular. This proves that people want to read more about Queen Elizabeth, she is interesting and people want to learn more about this past Queen.

-:"Elizabeth", 1998 film:-

DVD cover of the film "Elizabeth" (Unknown, 1998)

"A film of the early years of the reign of Elizabeth I of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch." (IMDB, unknown)

The rating on the film "Elizabeth" on the 30/11/2011 (IMDB, 2011)

"This is a history film made at its very finest and the equal of A Man For All Seasons. Elizabeth could have unfolded in front of me all day and I would have remained enraptured." (Walsh, B. 1998)

"It is one of the finest historical dramas to have appeared in decades." (Thompson, E. 2001)

A photograph of the film "Elizabeth" being filmed (Polygram Film Entertainment, 1998)

The film was directed by Shekhar Kapur and was written by Michael. It is classed as a Biography/Drama/History film. “A film of the early years of the reign of Elizabeth I of England and her difficult task of learning what is necessary to be a monarch.” (IMDB, no date) On IMDB.com the film has a rating of 7.6 (n the date 30/11/2011) and has a good mixture of reviews. The movie won an Oscar for best make-up and was nominated for 6 others. It won another 30 awards including 4 BAFTA’s, a Critics Choice Award and a Golden Globe.It has estimate to have cost $25,000,000 to make but grossed an amazing $34,000,000.

All the awards it won, the reviews it has gained and the gross income it made I think proves that the film was popular and well received. With the making of it it showed that producers though that the film would do well and make money and it did. This all proves that a film about Queen Elizabeth I was popular.

-:HMS Queen Elizabeth, 1913:-

Photograph of the HMS Queen Elizabeth Battleship (Maritime Quest, 1943)

-:RMS Queen Elizabeth, 1940:-

Photograph of the RMS Queen Elizabeth (Ljungström, H. No date)


-:RMS Queen Elizabeth 2, 1967:-

Photograph of the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 (Mancini, L. No date)


All three ships have been named after Royalty and where all battleships used during Wars. Each were giant ships and where used by the English in Wars through-out the years. The RMS stands for Her Royal Majesties Service.


It's very interesting to see that so many ships where named after different Queens through out time. It might be due to the ships wanting to keep British. Naming it after a Royal Queen will keep it's English heritage. Also the names have a very regal sound to them, due to them being Queens names.  I think that it also has to do with the fact that they are British ships. To show their English pride they named it after a successful and well known Queen that improved England. it seems to be a common thing to name ships after Queen and these are just a few examples that I found. 

-:Pub Signs:-

A collection of images collected using Google Images (Google, 2011)


Pubs have always been a stable of England, there isn't a town you can go to without there being a pub. Pubs have been around for many centuries now and have become in some way a symbol of England and our culture. it would only seem fitting to have a pub named after the Queen or King that was resigning over England at the time or a different Queen from history.


Many pubs seems to have many different names and images but they all relate to Queens from Royalty. The Queens head seems to be a popular name for the pub. It needs to be something catchy so you can't really have just "Queen". Pubs don't really link to Queens at all, they're both very well known things about England though. Plus giving the pub a Queens name would make it feel more British. Also the imagery would catch your eye straight away at portraits of Queens are very recognisable. I found this out when doing both this past research and present research on this. This is due to the fact that Queens have been printed on coins, notes and stamps which are used by everyone in the country so everyone is seeing them. Everyone has seen these portraits of Queens so you instantly know who it is. 


I've discovered quite a bit about my past research. For one I didn't realise how well known imagery of older Queens was. Due to the circulation of money and famous portraits the imagery of any Queen is powerful, striking and stunning. Just using the image of a Queen alone would probably increase the popularity of something. Plus if you marketed it, it would probably add a sudden sense of regal and royalty to it. It would make it seem high market. For my horizon research I'm going to use both my past and present research and look into how these will develop into the future and if it actually has a future.