Sep 06 2011
You’ve all checked out today’s Google doodle, right? It would be Freddie Mercury’s 65th birthday today, and they pay him a fabulous homage.
Man, that guy had a voice.
He’s also the only rock star from Zanzibar, as far as I know. He was so unique he could have been from a different planet.
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61 comments
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AussieMike
6 September 2011 at 8:46 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
A friend of mine had a theory….sorry, hypothesis that any cassette (yes it goes back a bit) that was left in your car for more than two years turns in a copy of Queens Greatest Hits. And Damn……he was right!
PZ Myers
6 September 2011 at 8:55 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Isn’t that from Wayne’s World?
campbell
6 September 2011 at 8:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Douglas Adams, I think
chigau ()
6 September 2011 at 8:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I saw the Freddie Doodle yesterday but I don’t see it today.
What does this mean?
Chrisj
6 September 2011 at 8:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Actually, it’s older than WW; it’s from “Good Omens”, by pTerry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
Jett Perrobone
6 September 2011 at 8:57 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I wonder if that means Bruno Mars was from a different planet too? ;)
jaranath
6 September 2011 at 9:00 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
“He was so unique he could have been from a different planet.”
He probably would have been, but Bowie already had dibs on that schtick.
PZ Myers
6 September 2011 at 9:02 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
It was on Google UK yesterday, but not in the US because it was Labor Day. It was thought inappropriate to the sentiment of our holiday — which is strange. Mercury could really work it.
Beatrice, anormalement indécente
6 September 2011 at 9:02 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
AussieMike,
Isn’t that particular hypothesis from Good Omens?
Beatrice, anormalement indécente
6 September 2011 at 9:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I could have been quicker with that.
Marta
6 September 2011 at 9:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
What a great doodle.
I miss Freddie Mercury.
AussieMike
6 September 2011 at 9:12 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Probably from Good Omens. My friend was an avid Terry Pratchett fan but the bugger never gave credit it seems. So well done to all of you who picked that up. Now I have to go and talk to my friend who has made me look like a complete amateur!
Undularbore
6 September 2011 at 9:14 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
My sentiments exactly, PZ.
And it was because of Freddie that I found out what Zoroastrianism is, way back, years ago.
Freddie, you are missed!
The Lorax
6 September 2011 at 9:14 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Amazing doodle. I smiled the whole way through.
AussieMike
6 September 2011 at 9:19 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@The Lorax says
Amazing doodle. I smiled the whole way through
That was his moustache tickling you!
DerelictHat
6 September 2011 at 9:27 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Okay, that improved today a lot.
A3Kr0n
6 September 2011 at 9:28 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I can’t save the doodles anymore. At least I have my free kindle book until they decide to take it away. I have a bad computer attitude today, and if Sony Vegas crashes ONE MORE TIME I’m going on the warpath.
marcoli
6 September 2011 at 9:28 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Oh, man, this was soo great. I am going to iTunes right now and downloading this song. How could I have forgotten it? Freddie was so hot and talented, and this is coming from a straight man who has been happily in a heterosexual marriage for 18 years. A guy like that can turn another guys head.
DLC
6 September 2011 at 9:48 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
A great talent who went too soon. Wonderful singer and showman.
Circe
6 September 2011 at 9:49 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Although he was born in Zanzibar, his parents were from India*, and he grew up there. Does that make him a rock star from Zanzibar, or a rock star from India?
*As indeed most Zoroastrians are: In India, they are called Parsis (which I think derives from the fact that they came from Persia, referred to in several Indian languages as “Pharas”).
ChasCPeterson
6 September 2011 at 9:59 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
meh
Always always hated that band. Slick superficiality, imo.
But carry on without me.
theophontes, feu d'artifice du cosmopolitisme
6 September 2011 at 10:20 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
The Indian population along with the Arabs of Zanzibar, where violently and murderously ejected from the island shortly after independence.
The capital, Stone Town is a most incredible little city and well worth the visit. Sadly the amazing old buildings of Zanzibar are very high maintenance and are slowly succumbing to a combination of the elements, gravity and dishonesty. I made a plan to restore two of the buildings on the waterfront into a boutique hotel. Unfortunately the clients finances turned turtle. Apparently the son of the building’s owner ended up selling the beautiful old doors.
/sad
PS: Link to pic of waterfront. The beige building in the middle was to be the hotel
It is actually two buildings joined together. One French in local style, the other an original Omani trader’s home. On the left of them is a lovingly restored of classical Zanzibari building. The tree on the left is an ancient Ficus, where the local boatbuilders build traditional wooden boats. (“No metal…the magnets under the sea will suck them out.”)
Steve
6 September 2011 at 10:52 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
All (i think) the google doodles can be seen here:
http://www.google.com/logos/
They haven’t put the Freddie Mercury one up yet though
The Countess
6 September 2011 at 11:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I won a Halloween costume contest when I was in college, and my prize (the grand prize) was Queen’s “The Game”. I was a bit of a sheltered kid and never heard of them. After one listen I was hooked. And of course “Bohemian Rhapsody” is sheer genius and my favorite Queen song.
Who could forget Weird Al’s “Another Gets On The Bus”? Speaking of tributes… ;)
Brownian
6 September 2011 at 11:05 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
That is curious. Labour Day is celebrated where chigau and I live.
I recall staying in a hotel in Zanzibar City which, though quaint, comfortable, and otherwise beautiful, wasn’t fully grounded, electrically. The only thing more refreshing than a cold morning shower is a cold morning shower with alternating current leaking through your skin. Being an ungrateful guest however, I followed the stairs to the lobby to complain (the building was constructed piecemeal, with new rooms and floors added where space and resources permitted, so the whole affair was a mite haphazard—our room was number 4, sandwiched between and below numbers 6, 7, and a door to John Malkovich’s brain) and found the manager deeply immersed in a game of bao. I explained the issue, and he nodded me away. As I am nothing if not half-assedly persistent, I confirmed that he’d look into it. He called someone’s name, listened for a response, heard none, and went back to his game. Satisfied that I’d won the battle but probably lost the war, I learned to loofah with a laptop battery.
This is all somewise related to Queen and Freddie Mercury, I just know it.
Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort
6 September 2011 at 11:10 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I dare anyone to say there’s been a greater singer in the history of rock than Freddie Mercury.
Avicenna
6 September 2011 at 11:24 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Katherine – One could say “Mick Jagger” to that…
Incidentally, I wonder if he had a traditional Zoroastrian funeral.
See the zoroastrians believe the earth and fire are sacred so they will not cremate their dead nor bury them.
Instead they feed them to vultures…
This sounds pretty decent except for one small problem. The zoroastrians are not allowed to marry anyone else but zoroastrians, which has resulted in crazy inbreeding particularly since you cannot convert into the faith. Effectively their genetic diversity is at “first cousin” status and they are prone to accumulation of mercury to toxic levels. So toxic that the birds that eat them die… And those birds are officially endangered…
They have started captive breeding programs for the vultures but the local priests won’t admit cross religious marriages despite the fact that hinduism is extremely tolerant of cross religious marriages (my neighbour is a hindu brahmin married to a muslim) which could save their culture…
Tadaa… Parsis! (Zoroastrians!)
Oh they are also the source of the name Mazda.
Brownian
6 September 2011 at 11:26 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Rolling Stone takes your dare and names seventeen, though not all are rock singers.
But I can’t agree with them. For all of Dylan’s (#7) genius as a songwriter, how can anyone say his modulated buzzing, like tissue over a comb, is better than Mercury’s four goddamn octave range?
Butch Kitties
6 September 2011 at 11:35 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I’m gonna have to go home and throw A Night At The Opera on the turntable tonight.
Brownian
6 September 2011 at 11:35 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
What? This doesn’t make sense. Is your claim that mercury (the unFreddie kind) is accumulated through genetic relatedness?
Jaime
6 September 2011 at 11:35 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Queen guitarist Brian May’s PhD thesis:
http://www.amazon.com/Survey-Radial-Velocities-Zodiacal-Cloud/dp/0387777059/ref=sr_tc_2_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1315326701&sr=1-2-ent
You also have to love a band that references a Richard Dadd painting.
Katherine Lorraine, Chaton de la Mort
6 September 2011 at 11:38 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@Avicenna:
Jagger? Psh… he’s terrible.
@Brownian:
Nah, I still think Freddie Mercury was the best. Not only did he have an amazing (scratch that – what’s better than amazing? Phenomenal?) vocal range, but he also had an incredible talent for music. He went from straight ole rock and roll to opera. It was incredible!
Pierce R. Butler
6 September 2011 at 11:40 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Avicenna @ # 27 – How does inbreeding lead to mercury accumulation, and/or to ol’ Freddy’s family/stage name?
Gregory C. Mayer
6 September 2011 at 11:45 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@avicenna: The vulture deaths have nothing to do with Zoroastrian inbreeding. They are caused by diclofenac, a drug given to cattle which are the vultures primary food source. The near disappearnce of vultures in India has affected Zoroastrian funearl practices, but they are not the cause of it.
kristinc
6 September 2011 at 11:51 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
That was an awesome Doodle and Freddie was a fucking genius. Anyone who hasn’t watched the Live At Wembley concert should. It was phenomenal and I wish I could have been there.
Monsterplow
6 September 2011 at 11:52 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
There’s a version of the doodle available as a 1080p video on YouTube – Yay!!
ChasCPeterson
6 September 2011 at 11:52 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Well, Brownian, let’s let Bono try to explain, from your link:
See? As opposed to slick superficiality.
If counting octaves is your thing, then enjoy your Mariah Carey records.
Brownian
6 September 2011 at 12:03 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Yes, and there’s nothing superficial about a believable voice, the trial lawyers will tell you.
But really, isn’t believability in the ear of the gullible?
How poetically pomo. Is quoting Sokal an argument now?
Antiochus Epiphanes
6 September 2011 at 12:23 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
While we are debating the merits of the Mercury and Dylan as vocalists, let me ask a question that my daughter asked me a few days ago:
What is more important: cold or love?
Steve
6 September 2011 at 12:26 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Why has no one mentioned the Bieb?!?
Rev. BigDumbChimp
6 September 2011 at 12:27 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
beer
Steve
6 September 2011 at 12:34 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
All discussions about who the greatest singers ever were, became obsolete when the Bieb tansubtatiated
Antiochus Epiphanes
6 September 2011 at 12:37 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
RBDC #41: You have identified the pillar of my ideology. I must now serve you in this life and the next. I have the life after that off.
Steve: tansubtatiated?
Steve
6 September 2011 at 12:38 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Damn I thought #40 didn’t go through so I posted #42. Think I need to go for a walk.
Steve
6 September 2011 at 12:41 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
My bad,I’m distracted
Transubstantiated
Therrin
6 September 2011 at 1:04 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
8bit at 1080p seems a bit excessive.
Definitely cold. Love makes me sweat.
sosw
6 September 2011 at 1:27 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
The Countess:
Perhaps you don’t remember it all that well, considering that it’s actually called “Another One Rides the Bus” (which is also grammatically more sound). :)
Can’t relate to the lyrics all that much, having mostly positive experiences with public transportation…
Agree with most posters about Queen; I’ve always quite liked them, especially for such a popular band (most of what I listen to is far less well-known).
Giliell, connaiseuse des choses bonnes
6 September 2011 at 1:30 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I miss him. He was truely extraordinary. I cried when I heard he died
sosw
6 September 2011 at 1:49 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Brownian:
Interesting list (mostly good singers, but I would probably arrange them differently), but I can’t figure out what the smaller names under some entries (all of the top 10, scattered elsewhere) are…
Invisible Dragon
6 September 2011 at 1:57 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I officially LOVE that doodle. It brings back so many memories that I just sat and cried. I really miss Freddy.
Ant Allan
6 September 2011 at 1:57 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Was his stage name a tortuous pun? Cinnabar, an ore of mercury, from Zanzibar?
In any case he was one of the finest, if not the finest, rock vocalists and showmen. And I think he might agree that he and Queen were slick but superficial; he quietly deprecated their songs as being as disposable as, um, disposable razors. But… oh, so slick!
I did see them at Wembley Arena on the Works tour. Stunning.
/@
Ant Allan
6 September 2011 at 1:59 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
@ sosw, those who nominated them?
/@
Brownian
6 September 2011 at 2:05 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Q: How many scenesters does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: It’s a really obscure number; you probably wouldn’t have heard of it.
Yeah, I wasn’t sure what those were meant to signify either, sosw. I wish RS would let one navigate through the list a little more efficiently than by clicking on groups of ten and click-wait-while-it-loads-then-click-’next’-again. When I’m pissing around on the internet at work I want to do it at high speed, for crying out loud.
Antiochus Epiphanes
6 September 2011 at 4:06 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Q: How many rudeboys does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
Hipster: No one listens to ska anymore.
Patrick Smythe
6 September 2011 at 4:18 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
#28
I couldn’t believe Bon Scott wasn’t on that list (althoughI could have missed him, scanning through).
A3Kr0n
6 September 2011 at 5:29 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Steve #23 – Thanks for the link. Those Google Doodles you can save.
otrame
6 September 2011 at 6:40 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Freddie was one of the most devastating victims of AIDS for me* (and it is important to note that EVERY SINGLE VICTIM was devastating–not downplaying that but I’ve been very lucky and have not lost a personal acquaintance that way). I keep wondering what he would have come up with as he matured. His voice, his songs, all of it. At least we have what we have, but I still wonder.
*Another, whom I didn’t even know was a victim of AIDS until many years after his death, was Isaac Asimov.
drewl, Mental Toss Flycoon
7 September 2011 at 12:02 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Thanks for the link, Steve @23 (is your brim pulled way down low? Are you walking warily down the street?).
‘Under Pressure’ has always been one of my favorite songs ever since it came out (what, 1982? I think I was 13 or 14). The lyrics are just as relevant today as they ever were, and it’s a fun song to play. I was never a huge Queen fan when they were a their peak (more of a Jerry Garcia/FZ fan in those days), but over the last 15 yrs or so I’ve really come to appreciate the incredible writing and arranging (and to be able to pull it off live!) without overwhelming the song.
Freddy has always been in a class by himself, but I’ve come to realize that Brian May is one of the most underrated guitar players ever. He does more with fewer notes in (essentially) a three piece combo than anyone since Hendrix (IM notso HO. I feel the same about Bela Fleck and the Flecktones). I was pleased to learn a few years ago that that I should be addressing him as Brian May PhD. In one of my favorite subjects. I don’t understand the math very well, but it was astrophysics and cosmology that tipped me over to atheism, moreso than evolution. Once I made my way to ‘molecular clocks’ and such, that was the icing on the cake.
otreme @57 … I did not know that about Asimov. I wish he would’ve gone public. I was a bigger fan of his science writing than his fiction (i did like the Foundation series). He had an amazing knack for explaining the inexplicable, and I think he could’ve done an amazing job of describing what was happening to him, and why. Ugh. Silenced by shame.
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“One way or another, this darkness has got to give…”
-Robert Hunter
tim Rowledge
7 September 2011 at 2:22 am (UTC -5) Link to this comment
“tansubstantiation”? Isn’t that the mystical change that happens when some sleazy dork is elevated to the exalted state of appearing on “Jersey Shores”?
Freddie was one of the best. Queen exemplifies the fact that ‘mere style’ can have a substance all of it’s own. Besides, they are almost certainly the only band to get a Filk song into the charts.
Birger Johansson
7 September 2011 at 1:48 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
Alexander Bard, the Swedish rock artist from “Army of Lovers” and “Bodies Without Organs” has converted to Zoroastrism (yes, apparently there are congregations that accept it).
He describes himself as a bi-sexual libertine. And he apparently belongs to the (relatively) sane wing of libertarianism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Bard
Judy L.
8 September 2011 at 7:56 pm (UTC -5) Link to this comment
I missed the google doodle! Blargh.
Oh, and Freddie Mercury is God. That pretty much sums up my religious views.