I’m out and about every second Thursday leading walking tours in Kensington – and in a few week's I'll be launching my Musical Kensington tour…
Last year I started my Kensington Playlist as an accompaniment to my Kensington tours. Here's track 3… Killer Queen by Queen…
Freddie Mercury lived in Kensington (at Logan Place) 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…
But the floral tributes still appear. This was the scene when I visited with a music tour last week…
• Old Kensington •
Thursdays at 2pm
Meet at High Street Kensington tube
A walking tour of London's royal village…
£10/£8 Pay on the day or book now…
My NEW Musical Kensington tour is on Sunday 3rd May 2020…
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