I’m out and about today leading two private group walking tours in Kensington.
Two weeks ago I started my Kensington Playlist as an accompaniment to my Kensington tours. You can catch up with that post - and the playlist – HERE: www.thedailyconstitutional.co.uk/2018/09/arthurbliss
Today I'm adding track 3 – Killer Queen by Queen…
Freddie Mercury lived in Kensington (see map below) and worked with Queen drummer Roger Taylor on a stall at the old hippie hangout Kensington Market.
Of all the Queen songs that I could have chosen – surely Bohemian Rhapsody is the most obvious choice – I have gone for Killer Queen. Why? Well it has all the elements of a great Queen song. The words are histrionic and witty. Freddie Mercury's star-studded lyric paints a vivid and outlandish picture of glamorous excess. Syllabically, it is so tightly packed that it almost functions as an additional rhythm instrument.
Musically it's highly contagious, real earworm stuff. It's a great pop song length - i.e. not too long (which is not always the case with Queen). Finally it has great rock elements among all the theatricality - Brian May's solos here are, I think, among his best, so clipped yet passionate – along with those lush vocal harmonies.
Here's the playlist so far – with Queen joining Hubert Parry and Arthur Bliss…
Freddie Mercury's former home in Kensington remains a place of pilgrimage for fans from all across the globe…
… although the shrine pictured here was removed in 2017…
Freddie lived in Logan Place, Kensington…
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