Rick Springfield, John Waite and Wang Chung are teaming up for a new edition of the I Want My 80s Tour this summer. Paul Young and John Cafferty will also appear at certain shows.
The trip starts May 28 in St. Petersburg, Florida and is currently scheduled to conclude on Aug. 10 in Henderson, Nevada. You can see the tour itinerary below.
“I want my ‘80s tour is back with a bang,” the “Jessie’s Girl” singer said in a press release. “On stage with me will be my good friends John Waite and Paul Young. Wang Chung, who aren’t my good friends yet but I’m hoping they will be by the end of tour will be joining us as well. It’s going to be f**king awesome. Can I say f**king awesome? Maybe not. It’s going to be gosh, darn awesome.”
Springfield will be performing songs from his new Big Hits: Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 collection, which includes his latest single, “Lose Myself.”
Pre-sales start Wednesday, Feb. 12 and go on sale to the general public on Friday, Feb. 14. You can get complete show and ticket information at Springfield’s official web site.
I Want My 80s Tour Dates
May 28: St. Petersburg, FL – Duke Energy Center * May 29: St. Augustine, FL – St. Augustine Amphitheater * May 31: Brandon, MS – Brandon Ampitheatre * June 1: Gautier, MS – The Sound Amphiteatre * June 3: Charlotte, NC – Skyla Credit Union * June 4: Raleigh, NC – Red Hat Ampitheatre * June 6: Portsmouth, VA – Alt. Union Bank Amphitheatre * June 7: Richmond, VA – Allianz Amphitheatre * June 8: Roanoke, VA – Elmwood Park Amphitheatre * June 13: Hammond, IN – Horseshoe Casino # June 14: Tama, IA – Meskwaki Bingo Casino June 17: Fishers, IN – Fishers Event Center # June 19: Welch, MN – Treasure Island Amphitheatre # June 21: Eau Claire, WI – Summer Jam ** (Springfield only) June 23: Huber Heights, OH – Rose Music Center # June 24: Cincinnati, OH – PNC Pavilion at Riverbend # June 25: Interlochen, MI – Center for the Arts June 27: New Lenox, IL – Concert Series # June 28: Youngstown, OH – Foundation Amphiteatre # June 29: Toledo, OH – Toledo Zoo Amphiteatre # July 5: Lewiston, NY – Artpark Outdoor Amphiteatre # July 6: Vienna, VA – Filine Center at Wolftrap # July 8: Bridgeport, CT – Hartford Health Amphitheatre # July 9: Westbury, NY – Westbury Music Fair July 11: Atlantic City, NJ – Hard Rock Casino # July 12: Newark, NJ – NJPAC # July 13: Bethlehem, PA – Wind Creek Casino # July 18: Woodlands, TX – Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion # July 19: Norman, OK – Riverwind Casino # July 20: Dallas, TX – Music Hall at Fair Park # July 24: Quapaw, OK – Downstream Casino July 25: Dodge City, KS – United Wireless Arena July 27: Los Angeles, CA – TBA Aug. 1: Lincoln, CA – Thunder Valley Casino # Aug. 2: Saratoga, CA – Mountain Winery # Aug. 3: Oceanside, CA – Frontwave Arena # Aug. 7: Englewood, CO – Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre # Aug. 9: Scottsdale, AZ – Talking Stick Casino Aug. 10: Henderson, NV – Lee’s Family Forum #
* Rick Springfield, John Waite, Wang Chung, John Cafferty # Rick Springfield, John Waite, Wang Chung, Paul Young
’80s Australian Invasion
A look at the impact Australian musicians, actors, filmmakers and companies had on American pop culture in the ’80s.
Dennis DeYoung was watching the sun hit the waves in the sea off Hawaii when the angels appeared. It was April 1977, and his band, Styx, were on the island to play the Crater festival, aka Hawaii’s Woodstock.
It was a welcome stop-off on a long and grinding journey. Styx were six albums deep into their career, but they’d managed just a single Top 10 hit a few years earlier, with DeYoung’s proto-power ballad Lady.
“We should have been ahead of a plethora of bands – Queen, Kansas, we came before them all,” says the effervescent DeYoung, who was Styx’s keyboard player and co-vocalist from their inception in 1972. “But we were always opening for people – Aerosmith, Kiss, ZZ Top. Always the bridesmaids.”
Yet here they were in Hawaii, soaking up the sun. For a bunch of guys who had grown up on the south side of Chicago, this was a dream. Seeing boats bobbing on the glinting water, an idea began to form in DeYoung’s mind.
“I started thinking about sailing vessels, something that can take you away to the place in which you ultimately want to be,” he says. “Whether it’s a boat on which you’re the captain, or a gathering of angels appearing above your head, sweeping you into the heavens.”
That moment of celestial inspiration would be the spark for the song that revived Styx’s fortunes: Come Sail Away. Almost 50 years after it became a US hit, this grandstanding pomp-rock classic occupies a similar place in American culture to Don’t Stop Believin’, a shot of pure, euphoric emotion that has appeared in shows ranging from ER to South Park. And it remains the greatest power ballad ever written about alien abduction.
DeYoung started working up the idea he’d had in Hawaii as soon as he got back to Chicago. “Everybody thinks songwriting is magic – you pluck it out of the air,” he says. “No, it’s: ‘That’s good, leave it in. That’s bad, let’s not put it there.’”
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As the band worked on it in Chicago’s SIR studio, the song evolved from DeYoung’s original idea into something even grander and more dramatic. It begins with his delicate piano notes, before a storm of guitars and drums erupt.
“That’s Styx pretending to be The Who,” says DeYoung. “I said to [drummer] John Panazzo: ‘Play like Keith Moon.’” The finished track was a six-minute mini-epic that revelled in its own grandeur, from DeYoung’s fantastically theatrical vocals (has any singer ever rolled their ‘l’s quite like that?) to its euphoric crescendo.
But what truly kicked it to another level was the lyrics. ‘We lived happily for ever, so the story goes/But somehow we missed out on the pot of gold,’ DeYoung sings, capturing the yearning he’d felt in Hawaii. But it’s his declaration that ‘a gathering of angels appears above my head’ that gives Come Sail Away its golden glow – a line reportedly inspired by The Book Of Ezekiel in the Bible. DeYoung laughs out loud at the suggestion.
“I wouldn’t know Ezekiel from the pizza delivery guy,” he cackles. “I was raised a Catholic, but devout? No. ‘A gathering of angels appears above my head’? I’ll tell you what that is. That’s the idea of being taken away by a higher power. Anything to get me out of standing behind the stage watching Gene Simmons.”
But there’s one last twist – these angels aren’t angels, but aliens, arriving on a UFO to pick up DeYoung and take him away with them. ‘We climbed aboard their starship and headed for the skies,’ sings DeYoung, welcoming this extra-terrestrial arrival. In the year of Star Wars and Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, it made perfect sense.
“The aliens were JY’s [guitarist/ co-vocalist James ‘JY’ Young] idea,” says DeYoung. “He goes: ‘What if they were aliens?’ He liked all that stuff. Me, I don’t, but I wanted to make JY happy. But they’re not aliens. I said ‘starship’. I was thinking Captain Kirk. To me that was what it was about: getting on a starship and going all the way to the top. I wanted to be a star on a ship.”
Come Sail Away, the first single from Styx’s seventh album The Grand Illusion, was released in August 1977. Audiences latched onto its grandeur immediately, and, after some initial resistance, so did radio. Come Sail Away gave Styx their second US Top 10 hit, four years after the first. They’d reached the pot of gold.
“We stopped being the bridesmaid and became the bride,” says DeYoung. “We broke away and never looked back, until [guitarist] Tommy Shaw quit in 1984.”
Shaw’s departure on the back of the previous year’s contentious Kilroy Was Here album marked the end of the band’s initial run, but Come Sail Away was already a rock radio staple. Then in 1998 DeYoung got a request from the makers of South Park to use the song in the show.
“I said: ‘If these guys are gonna do a Barbra Streisand on Styx, it’s a no,’” says DeYoung, referring to South Park’s notoriously cruel send-up of the musical diva. “But [co-creator Matt Stone] called me up and said: ‘No, no, we’re fans of Styx.’ I said: ‘Okay, do whatever you want, make ’em laugh.’ Best decision I ever made.”
Come Sail Away appeared in two South Park episodes – most famously 1998’s Chef Aid, which featured an affectionately hilarious version of the song with Eric Cartman on vocals and a funky cameo from soul legend Isaac Hayes, who played Chef. Since then it has appeared in loads of TV shows and films, ranging from Freaks And Geeks and ER to The Virgin Suicides and Brooklyn Nine-Nine.
“I’m watching Freaks And Geeks, and this prom scene comes on and Come Sail Away is playing. I started to tear up,” DeYoung says. Then after pausing a beat: “Yeah, I was thinking of the money I was gonna make.”
DeYoung was squeezed out of Styx in 1999, when health issues prevented him from touring (the band continued with replacement singer Lawrence Cooke). But he remains proud of what he achieved with the band, and with Come Sail Away in particular.
“It’s quintessential Styx,” he says. “All we wanted was to stamp out Queen and Aerosmith, but we touched a generation of people in a way that I never truly understood until years later.”
Feature Photo: commons: Lilly Mpl.wiki: Lilly Mreal name: Małgorzata Miłaszewska, CC BY 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
1,320′ – Endgame (2009) 1000 Times Goodbye – The World Needs a Hero (2001) 13 – Thirteen (2010) 44 Minutes – Endgame (2009) 502 – So Far, So Good… So What! (1988) 99 Ways to Die – The Beavis and Butt-head Experience (1993) A House Divided – Super Collider (2013) A Secret Place – Cryptic Writings (1997) A Tout le Monde – Youthanasia (1994) Addicted to Chaos – Youthanasia (1994) All I Want – Super Collider (2013) Almost Honest – Cryptic Writings (1997) Amerikhastan – United Abominations (2007) Anarchy in the U.K. – So Far, So Good… So What! (1988) Angry Again – Last Action Hero: Music from the Original Motion Picture (1993) Architecture of Aggression – Countdown to Extinction (1992) Ashes in Your Mouth – Countdown to Extinction (1992)
Back in the Day – The System Has Failed (2004) Bad Omen – Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying? (1986) Beginning of Sorrow – Super Collider (2013) Bite the Hand – Endgame (2009) Black Curtains – Youthanasia (1994) Black Swan – Thirteen (2010) Blackmail the Universe – The System Has Failed (2004) Blessed Are the Dead – United Abominations (2007) Blood of Heroes – Youthanasia (1994) Bodies – Endgame (2009) Breadline – Risk (1999) Breakpoint – Super Mario Bros. (1993) Built for War – Super Collider (2013) Bullet to the Brain – Dystopia (2016) Burn! – Super Collider (2013) Burning Bridges – The World Needs a Hero (2001) Burnt Ice – United Abominations (2007)
Captive Honour – Countdown to Extinction (1992) Célebutante – The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! (2022) Chosen Ones – Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good! (1985) Cold Sweat – Super Collider (2013) Coming Home – The World Needs a Hero (2001) Conquer or Die! – Dystopia (2016) Countdown to Extinction – Countdown to Extinction (1992) Crown of Worms – Crown of Worms (Single) (1994) Crush ‘Em – Risk (1999)
Dance in the Rain – Super Collider (2013) Dawn Patrol – Rust in Peace (1990) Deadly Nightshade – Thirteen (2010) Death from Within – Dystopia (2016) Delivering the Goods – Delivering the Goods (Single) (2022) Devils Island – Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying? (1986) Diadems – Demon Knight (1995) Dialectic Chaos – Endgame (2009) Die Dead Enough – The System Has Failed (2004) Disconnect – The World Needs a Hero (2001) Dogs of Chernobyl – The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! (2022) Don’t Turn Your Back… – Super Collider (2013) Dread and the Fugitive Mind – The World Needs a Hero (2001) Duke Nukem Theme – Risk (1999) Dystopia – Dystopia (2016)
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Originally penned with Elephant9 keyboardist Ståle Storlokken for the 2010 Molde Jazz festival, and featuring the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, …Unicorn is a towering two-hour concept work on a Norse saga scale.
Based on the true story of the whaleship Essex (see Moby-Dick/Mastodon’s Leviathan), with Hollow Earth theories and Utopian fiction as fuel, a powerful fable is tracked by familiar ’Psycho rock flavours, classical figures and jazz. Introducing itself with a Gershwin-like clarinet glide (Out Of The Woods) gushing into a saxed-out/Mahavishnued The Hollow Lands, cabin boy character Thomas Nickerson recalls his recruitment (‘they nabbed me poaching last spring/Said I’d sail or swing’). From here we follow doomed vessel Through The Veil – MC5 jazz-rock into Sabbath – across Prokofiev-like Doldrums and on Into The Gyre, a Beach Boys/Mars Volta meld that floats away on Flotsam.
Disc two – or side three on vinyl – peters a little, reflecting the elegiac darkness of the crew’s travails until Mutiny! supplies a galloping, Yes-propelled lifeboat that launches the superb finale Into The Mystic. Here Ola Kvernberg’s exquisite violin recalls Jean-Luc Ponty’s joyous Zappa handiwork over muscular ritornellos and an uplifting string and Moog-driven resolution.
A battered, barnacled beauty.
Jo is a journalist, podcaster, event host and music industry lecturer with 23 years in music magazines since joining Kerrang! as office manager in 1999. But before that Jo had 10 years as a London-based gig promoter and DJ, also working in various vintage record shops and for the UK arm of the Sub Pop label as a warehouse and press assistant. Jo’s had tea with Robert Fripp, touched Ian Anderson’s favourite flute (!), asked Suzi Quatro what one wears under a leather catsuit, and invented several ridiculous editorial ideas such as the regular celebrity cooking column for Prog, Supper’s Ready. After being Deputy Editor for Prog for five years and Managing Editor of Classic Rock for three, Jo is now Associate Editor of Prog, where she’s been since its inception in 2009, and a regular contributor to Classic Rock. She continues to spread the experimental and psychedelic music-based word amid unsuspecting students at BIMM Institute London, hoping to inspire the next gen of rock, metal, prog and indie creators and appreciators.
“This is the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my entire life.” New York Dolls frontman David Johansen has stage four cancer and a brain tumour, and would love your help
(Image credit: Matt Winkelmeyer/Deadline via Getty Images)
The Sweet Relief Musicians Fund charity has launched a fundraiser to help David Johansen, the last surviving member of the New York Dolls, as he battles cancer.
Having broken his back in two places as the result of a fall after Thanksgiving, the musician is now bed-ridden and requires around-the-clock care, according to an exclusive report by Rolling Stone. And, via Sweet Relief, the singer is asking for donations to help cover his physical therapy, full-time nursing requirements, and living expenses.
“We’ve been living with my illness for a long time, still having fun, seeing friends and family, carrying on, but this tumble the day after Thanksgiving really brought us to a whole new level of debilitation,” Johansen says in a statement. “This is the worst pain I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. I’ve never been one to ask for help, but this is an emergency. Thank you.”
Johansen’s daughter, Leah Hennessey, says, “As some, but not many of you know, David has been in intensive treatment for stage 4 cancer for most of the past decade. Five years ago at the beginning of the pandemic we discovered that David’s cancer had progressed and he had a brain tumor. There have been complications ever since. He’s never made his diagnosis public, as he and my mother Mara are generally very private people, but we feel compelled to share this now, due to the increasingly severe financial burden our family is facing.”
As part of the fundraising effort, Sweet Relief has created a special David Johansen T-shirt, for purchase with all proceeds from sales of the shirt to go to the singer’s treatment.
“Together we have endured crisis after crisis, but with the support of our community we hope to carry on laughing and loving our way through this most trying of times,” says Leah Hennessey. “Thank you for embracing our family, and for your love and generosity.”
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A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne’s private jet, played Angus Young’s Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.
Alice Cooper has added more U.S. dates to his ongoing Too Close for Comfort Tour, with new shows keeping him on the road throughout May and August.
“You can never be too close … right? That’s why we’ve added more dates to the 2025 Too Close for Comfort Tour this spring and summer,” the shock rocker said in a statement on his website. “Come along for a nightmare you won’t forget!”
Tickets for Cooper’s spring and summer shows go on sale to the general public on Friday, following a presale that begins on Tuesday. You can find more information at his website and see the full itinerary below.
Where Is Alice Cooper Playing in Spring and Summer 2025?
The first leg of Cooper’s new dates commences on May 2 in Huntsville, Alabama, and concludes on May 24 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. After a three-month break, Cooper will hit the road again on Aug. 19 in Salem, Virginia, and complete the trek on Aug. 30 in Memphis, Tennessee.
Cooper is currently nearing the end of a brief U.S. run featuring ex-Guns N’ Roses guitarist Gilby Clarke filling in for Nita Strauss, who’s in the middle of a solo tour. Strauss’ predecessor, Orianthi, was initially going to fill in for her, but she said she’s dealing with “a torn hamstring, hip and lower back issue” and doctors advised her not to tour.
Alice Cooper, ‘Too Close for Comfort’ Spring and Summer 2025 Tour May 2 – Huntsville, AL @ VBC Mark C. Smith Concert Hall May 3 – Macon, GA @ Atrium Health Amphitheater May 5 – Montgomery, AL @ Montgomery Performing Arts Center May 6 – Savannah, GA @ Savannah Civic Center – Johnny Mercer Theater May 7 – North Charleston, SC @ North Charleston Performing Arts Center May 10 – Saginaw, MI @ Dow Event Center May 13 – Moline, IL @ Vibrant Arena at the Mark May 14 – Milwaukee, WI @ Miller High Life Theatre May 15 – Muncie, Indiana @ Ball State University – Emens Auditorium May 17 – Erie, PA @ Erie Insurance Arena May 20 – Wilkes-Barre, PA @ Mohegan Arena May 22 – Utica, NY @ Stanley Performing Arts Center May 23 – Uncasville, CT @ Mohegan Sun Arena May 24 – Atlantic City, NJ @ Ocean Casino Resort Aug. 19 – Salem, VA @ Salem Civic Center Aug. 20 – Knoxville, TN @ The Tennessee Theatre Aug. 21 – Chattanooga, TN @ Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Auditorium Aug. 23 – Chesterfield, MO @ The Factory Aug. 26 – Waukee, IA @ Vibrant Music Hall Aug. 27 – Omaha, NE @ Orpheum Theater Aug. 30 – Memphis, TN @ Graceland Soundstage
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney look back on the decision to fire Full Stop Management, a company chaired by industry veteran Irving Azoff, citing apparent “shared interests” between different arms of the business.
“Dan and I have a pretty good grasp on the music industry,” says Carney, “but to be exposed firsthand to how things have changed, it was pretty shocking to understand what’s actually going on.
“It’s mind-blowing. And there’s just a lot of shared interests across the business side of this.”
Carney goes on to say that the band’s 2024 European tour was poorly orchestrated, with management demands to fulfil a booking at Manchester’s Co-Op Live (co-owned by Oak View Group, another Azoff company), leaving the band with just nine dates in three weeks after the venue’s opening was delayed due to much-publicised technical issues. The band were originally scheduled to play in Manchester on April 27, but weren’t able to perform until May 15.
“The essential thing that we learned here was how many management companies are directly connected to a company that runs every single aspect of promotion in this country,” he says. “This whole industry is so intertwined from ticketing to promotion to the management company.
“But essentially as artists – and this is the thing that we care the most about – it’s almost impossible to talk about this…. You’re dealing with management companies that co-own festivals with this other company. You’re at the [whims] of these people who have other interests.”
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The interview coincides with the release of a new Black Keys single, The Night Before, which was co-written with Silver Seas frontman Daniel Tashian.
“It’s so groove-based, says Dan Auerbach. “The Night Before started with a chord progression that Daniel and I came up with and the rest just fell out. It was really collaborative and all came together in about 30 minutes.”
“We’ve never really worked with songwriters like that in Nashville,” says Carney. “It’s crazy because Daniel was one of the first people I met when I moved to town over a decade ago. But we pushed ourselves to bring in some new co-writers, and we really tapped into something cool with Daniel. We’re finishing up the album now and plan to release more tracks leading into the tour.”
Earlier this month, The Black Keysa announced the No Rain No Flowers tour, which kicks off in Durant, OK on May 23 at the Choctaw Casino & Resort’s Grand Theater. The tour arrives in Europe in late June. Full dates below.
The Black Keys – The Night Before (Official Music Video) – YouTube
May 23: Durant Choctaw Casino & Resort Durant: Grand Theater, OK May 25: Colorado Springs Ford Amphitheater, CO * May 27: Morrison Red Rocks Amphitheatre, CO * May 29: Bonner Kettlehouse Amphitheater, MT * May 30: Boise Outlaw Field at the Idaho Botanical Garden, ID * May 31: Bend Hayden Homes Amphitheater, OR * Jun 01: Berkeley Greek Theatre at UC Berkeley, CA ^ Jun 03: Los Angeles The Greek Theatre, CA ^ Jun 07: Austin Moody Amphitheater at Waterloo Park, TX ^ Jun 08: Rogers Walmart AMP, AR ^ Jun 11: Wilmington Live Oak Bank Pavilion, NC ^ Jun 12: Raleigh Red Hat Amphitheater, NC ^ Jun 14: Asbury Park Stone Pony Summer Stage, NJ ^
Jun 26: Odense Tinderbox, Denmark Jun 29: Esch-Sur-Alzette Rockhal, Luxembourg Jul 01: Berlin Zitadelle Spandau, Germany Jul 02: Zurich The Hall, Switzerland Jul 04: Marmande Garorock, France Jul 05: Beauregard Festival France Jul 06: La Nuit De L’Erdre, France Jul 08: Leeds Millennium Square, UK Jul 09: Manchester Castlefield Bowl, UK Jul 11: London Alexandra Palace Park, UK Jul 12: Cactus Festival, Belgium Jul 13: Bospop Festival, Holland Jul 15: AMA Music Festival, Italy Jul 16: Rock In Roma, Italy Jul 19: Benicàssim, Spain
* = with Hermanos Gutiérrez ^ = with The Heavy Heavy
With the Kansas City Chiefs aiming for an unprecedented three-peat in just a few hours, this seemed like the perfect article to work on this afternoon. Will Patrick Mahomes, who has redefined the word “super” in his own right, lead Kansas City to accomplish something no other team in NFL history has ever done? Or will the Philadelphia Eagles rise to the occasion and bring the Lombardi Trophy back to the City of Brotherly Love? As a long-suffering New York Jets fan, I have no personal stake in the outcome. But as a dedicated music fan, I figured this was the ideal moment to put together a list of ten songs that feature the word “super” in the title. We allowed for super to be used as a singular word or as a prefix for the songs we were picking.
From existential musings to swaggering bravado, the songs in this collection examine desire, conflict, and the search for meaning through some of the most defining moments in rock, pop, and soul history.
George Harrison infused “What Is Life” with exuberance, fusing Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound production with a driving rhythm that reflected the song’s uplifting message of devotion. U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” explored spiritual yearning through gospel-inspired vocals and The Edge’s shimmering guitar work, standing as one of the band’s most profound anthems. Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” transcended its time, addressing war, injustice, and social turmoil with a soulful plea that remains just as relevant today. The Rolling Stones balanced disillusionment and optimism in “You Can’t Always Get What You Want,” turning personal and political frustration into one of their most enduring epics. Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “What’s Your Name” took the band’s signature Southern rock swagger into the excesses of life on the road, painting a vivid picture of hotel-room misadventures.
The Romantics delivered garage-rock energy with “What I Like About You,” a high-voltage celebration of reckless joy built on handclaps and a harmonica-driven hook. AC/DC turned up the heat with “What Do You Do for Money Honey,” a hard-edged track dripping with the band’s trademark no-frills attitude. 4 Non Blondes made a lasting impact with “What’s Up”, Linda Perry’s impassioned delivery transforming an alternative rock ballad into a generational rallying cry. Nick Lowe’s “What’s So Funny ’Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding” took a wry but urgent stance on compassion, later finding new life in Elvis Costello’s more desperate and urgent rendition. Jackie DeShannon’s “What the World Needs Now Is Love” offered a timeless reminder of empathy, setting Burt Bacharach’s sophisticated melodies against lyrics that feel as urgent now as they did in 1965.
Each of these songs captures something essential about human nature—our need for love, truth, and meaning. Whether wrapped in rock-and-roll bravado, soul-searching balladry, or political defiance, they remind us that asking the right questions is just as important as finding the answers.
# 10 – What Is Life – George Harrison
Since so many Legendary Classic songs utilize the word what in the title, we wanted to open up this list with a special one. In fact, we could have actually closed this one because it’s just so good. This is easily one of George Harrison’s greatest solo releases.
“What Is Life” was recorded during the sessions for All Things Must Pass and released as the album’s second single on February 15, 1971. The song, which Harrison originally intended for Billy Preston, featured an expansive production driven by Phil Spector’s signature Wall of Sound technique. Recorded at EMI Studios and Trident Studios in London in 1970, the track included contributions from an ensemble of musicians, including Eric Clapton, members of Badfinger, and Delaney & Bonnie’s touring band.
The song’s lyrics expressed a dual meaning, characteristic of Harrison’s writing at the time. While appearing to be a love song on the surface, “What Is Life” also reflected his deepening spiritual beliefs. Lines such as “Tell me, what is my life without your love” could be interpreted as both a plea to a romantic partner and an appeal to a higher power. This lyrical ambiguity mirrored themes found throughout All Things Must Pass, where Harrison explored the intersection of human connection and divine devotion. Compared to the introspective tone of other songs on the album, “What Is Life” stood out with its celebratory energy, driven by a propulsive guitar riff and uplifting chord progressions.
Upon release, the song achieved significant chart success, reaching the Top 10 in the United States, Canada, and several European countries. In Australia and Switzerland, it topped the singles charts. It later gained renewed attention through its inclusion in films such as Goodfellas, Patch Adams, and This Is 40, solidifying its place as one of Harrison’s most recognizable solo tracks. Over the years, “What Is Life” remained a staple of his legacy, appearing in multiple compilations and live recordings, including Live in Japan in 1992.
Released in March 1993, “What’s Up?” became the defining song for 4 Non Blondes, propelling the band to international fame with a single that captured a sense of generational frustration and longing. Written by lead vocalist Linda Perry, the track was recorded at The Plant in Sausalito, California, and produced by David Tickle. Perry, dissatisfied with the initial studio version, took the initiative to re-record her vocals to restore the song’s raw intensity. The result was an anthem that resonated worldwide, reaching number one in eleven countries and cementing itself as one of the most recognizable alternative rock songs of the decade.
Lyrically, “What’s Up?” embodied both personal introspection and broader societal discontent. Perry’s verses, particularly the opening lines, “Twenty-five years and my life is still / Trying to get up that great big hill of hope,” struck a chord with listeners who identified with its universal themes of struggle and self-discovery. The chorus’s repeated plea, “Hey, hey, hey, what’s going on?” transcended language barriers, making the song a rallying cry for those seeking change. Its open-ended meaning allowed it to be embraced by various social and political movements, from LGBTQ+ advocacy to protest anthems, ensuring its longevity beyond the band’s short tenure.
Musically, the track’s acoustic-driven folk-rock foundation, paired with Perry’s impassioned vocal delivery, distinguished it from the heavier grunge sound that dominated the early ’90s. The song’s emotional build, combined with a melody that was both soaring and intimate, made it an undeniable radio staple. The accompanying music video, directed by Morgan Lawley, emphasized the band’s carefree energy and Perry’s unmistakable stage presence, further embedding the song into the cultural landscape. Despite 4 Non Blondes disbanding shortly after their debut album Bigger, Better, Faster, More!, “What’s Up?” remained a lasting piece of ’90s rock history, frequently covered and featured in films and television.
While “What’s Up?” was 4 Non Blondes’ only major hit, Linda Perry went on to become one of the most influential producers and songwriters of her generation. After leaving the band, she established herself as a behind-the-scenes powerhouse, penning and producing massive hits for artists such as Pink, Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, and Adele. Her contributions to Aguilera’s Stripped album, particularly “Beautiful,” earned her critical acclaim, and her work with artists across genres cemented her reputation as a visionary in modern pop and rock music. Though Perry moved away from the spotlight as a performer, “What’s Up?” remained a cornerstone of her legacy, a song that not only defined an era but also marked the beginning of a career that reshaped the sound of contemporary music.
“What Do You Do for Money Honey” was recorded by AC/DC for their seminal album Back in Black, released on July 25, 1980. The album marked the band’s first full-length release following the death of Bon Scott, introducing Brian Johnson as the new lead vocalist. The track was recorded between April and May 1980 at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas, with production handled by Robert John “Mutt” Lange. The lineup featured Angus Young on lead guitar, Malcolm Young on rhythm guitar, Cliff Williams on bass, Phil Rudd on drums, and Johnson on vocals. This album, including “What Do You Do for Money Honey,” was later mixed at Electric Lady Studios in New York City. Back in Black went on to become one of the best-selling albums of all time, solidifying AC/DC’s status as one of rock’s most enduring bands.
Lyrically, “What Do You Do for Money Honey” takes aim at materialism and the transactional nature of relationships, depicting a woman who leverages her beauty and allure for financial gain. The song’s lyrics, delivered with Johnson’s raspy urgency, critique a lifestyle centered around wealth accumulation and the exploitation of desire. Lines such as “You’re working in bars, riding in cars / Never gonna give it for free” encapsulate the biting cynicism that permeates the track. The repeated refrain, “What do you do for money honey?” is both accusatory and rhetorical, reinforcing the theme of financial motivation overshadowing genuine connection.
The Romantics captured the essence of power pop with “What I Like About You,” a high-energy anthem that became one of the defining tracks of the early 1980s. I mean, how many times did you see this video on MTV in the early ’80s, especially the first 2 years? Released on their self-titled debut album in 1979, the song was recorded at Coconuts Recording Studio in Miami and produced by Pete Solley. Featuring a raw, garage-rock intensity, it combined infectious hooks, a driving rhythm, and an exuberant vocal delivery from drummer Jimmy Marinos.
“What I Like About You” embraced a direct and celebratory tone, with its simple yet effective message of affection underscored by an energetic call-and-response chorus. The lyrics focused on the thrill of romantic attraction, with lines like “Keep on whispering in my ear, tell me all the things that I wanna hear” reinforcing its youthful exuberance. The repeated “hey, uh-huh” refrain gave the track a chant-like quality, making it instantly recognizable and a natural fit for live performances. The party band Phase IV I performed with all throughout the ’80s used to play this song all the time and the crowds always went crazy.
Within the context of this list, “What I Like About You” brings an undeniable dose of adrenaline, with its relentless pace and unfiltered enthusiasm fitting seamlessly alongside other rock anthems featuring the word “What” in the title. Its contrast to the heavier rock sounds of AC/DC’s “What Do You Do for Money Honey” or the introspective nature of George Harrison’s “What Is Life” showcases its unique place in the rock landscape. The song’s ability to remain fresh and exhilarating after all these years is a testament to its infectious simplicity and the raw charm of The Romantics’ performance.
# 4 – What The World Needs Now Is Love- Burt Bacharach
Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s “What the World Needs Now Is Love” became one of the most enduring pop songs of the 1960s, delivering a message of unity and compassion against the backdrop of a turbulent era. Written in 1965, the song was first recorded by Jackie DeShannon and produced by Bacharach himself at Bell Sound Studios in New York City. With its sophisticated orchestration, elegant melody, and direct yet profound lyrics, the song reflected Bacharach and David’s signature approach to songwriting—combining complex musicality with accessible emotional resonance. DeShannon’s warm and expressive vocal delivery carried the song’s plea for universal love, helping it resonate deeply with listeners.
Lyrically, the song framed its call for love within a broader reflection on abundance and scarcity. The verses contrasted the world’s natural resources—mountains, rivers, fields—with the one thing it seemed to lack: love. The refrain’s repetition of “No, not just for some, but for everyone” underscored the song’s inclusive, humanitarian spirit, reinforcing the idea that love should be a universal right rather than a privilege. This direct yet poetic appeal made “What the World Needs Now Is Love” a poignant anthem, particularly as it was released during the early years of the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement, adding to its cultural significance.
Musically, Bacharach crafted an arrangement that balanced sophistication with accessibility. The track featured a swelling orchestration, delicate piano flourishes, and an understated rhythm section, allowing DeShannon’s voice to take center stage. The song’s harmonic progressions and dynamic shifts gave it a sense of movement and uplift, reinforcing its hopeful message. Though initially overlooked upon release, “What the World Needs Now Is Love” gained momentum over time, becoming one of DeShannon’s signature songs and a staple in Bacharach and David’s catalog. It was later revived in several notable renditions, including a version by Dionne Warwick and a 1971 cover by Tom Clay, which interspersed spoken-word clips about war and peace, further cementing its status as a protest-era anthem.
Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “What’s Your Name” captured the excess and chaos of life on the road, blending Southern rock swagger with a narrative drawn directly from the band’s own experiences. Released in 1977 on Street Survivors, the song chronicled the debauchery of a touring musician’s life, from hotel-room escapades to run-ins with the police, all set against a backdrop of bluesy guitar licks and honky-tonk piano. Produced by Tom Dowd, the track was recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami and Studio One in Doraville, Georgia, featuring Ronnie Van Zant on vocals, Allen Collins and Gary Rossington on guitars, Leon Wilkeson on bass, Billy Powell on piano, and Artimus Pyle on drums. The album would become one of Skynyrd’s most famous, not only for its music but for the tragic plane crash that claimed Van Zant, Steve Gaines, and Cassie Gaines just days after its release.
The song’s lyrics painted a vivid scene of the band’s touring lifestyle, opening with a limousine ride to a show in Boise, Idaho, and leading into a raucous night that resulted in a messy hotel situation involving the crew and a guest. The chorus’s repeated question—“What’s your name, little girl?”—reinforced the song’s theme of fleeting, anonymous encounters, capturing the recklessness that often accompanied their rise to fame. Despite the playful tone, the song hinted at the darker side of this lifestyle, where personal connections were brief, and the cycle of excess repeated itself night after night. Unlike other tracks on Street Survivors, which touched on deeper themes of personal reflection and Southern identity, “What’s Your Name” remained firmly in the realm of road-weary storytelling, making it one of the album’s most accessible songs.
Musically, the song combined Skynyrd’s signature twin-guitar attack with a polished, radio-friendly approach, similar in structure to the blues-driven swagger of “What Do You Do for Money Honey”. However, while AC/DC’s track focused on transactional relationships, Skynyrd’s lyrics leaned into the chaotic yet charismatic nature of their life on tour. “What’s Your Name” became one of the band’s most recognizable songs, proving that even in their final days with Van Zant, Lynyrd Skynyrd maintained their ability to craft enduring rock anthems rooted in real-life experiences.
# 2 – You Can’t Always Get What You Want – The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones’ “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” blended rock, gospel, and orchestral elements into one of the band’s most ambitious compositions. Recorded between November 1968 and July 1969 at Olympic Sound Studios in London, the song was produced by Jimmy Miller and featured a choir introduction performed by the London Bach Choir. Mick Jagger’s lead vocals carried a sense of weary observation, while Keith Richards layered acoustic and electric guitar parts. Charlie Watts played drums on the main track, but producer Jimmy Miller contributed to additional percussion. Al Kooper, best known for his work with Bob Dylan and Blood, Sweat & Tears, played piano, organ, and the distinctive French horn intro, adding a stately quality to the song’s grand arrangement. Released as the B-side to “Honky Tonk Women,” the track appeared on Let It Bleed, an album that reflected both the turbulence of the late ’60s and the band’s transition after the departure of Brian Jones.
Lyrically, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” painted a series of vignettes—a woman at a reception, a protest demonstration, and a visit to a drugstore—each illustrating the song’s central message of disillusionment and reluctant acceptance. The chorus, with its choral harmonies and gospel inflection, reinforced the idea that desires often go unfulfilled, but perseverance can still yield unexpected rewards. The verses carried a sense of personal and societal unrest, reflecting the era’s shifting cultural landscape. Unlike “What’s Up”, which channeled frustration into anthemic catharsis, the Stones’ composition took a more resigned, observational tone. The song’s final build-up, culminating in an expansive, celebratory refrain, underscored its paradoxical theme—despite the hardships, life still had something to offer.
Musically, the song’s fusion of rock and gospel drew comparisons to other expansive compositions of the time, yet it remained uniquely Stones-like in its delivery. While “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding” channeled frustration through a driving rock rhythm, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” built tension gradually, allowing the choir, acoustic instrumentation, and Jagger’s evocative vocal performance to shape its emotional arc. The song became one of the Stones’ defining tracks, frequently performed live and widely regarded as one of their most enduring statements on the balance between aspiration and reality.
Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On” was recorded in June 1970 at Hitsville U.S.A., the legendary Motown studio in Detroit, and released as a single on January 20, 1971. Written by Gaye, Al Cleveland, and Renaldo “Obie” Benson of the Four Tops, the song diverged from Motown’s traditional focus on love and romance, addressing social and political unrest with a level of depth and urgency rarely heard in mainstream soul music. The track was produced by Gaye himself, marking his shift toward greater artistic independence. The instrumentation featured members of Motown’s in-house band, the Funk Brothers, with James Jamerson delivering one of his most revered bass performances. Saxophonist Eli Fontaine’s improvisational introduction became one of the song’s defining elements, adding a mournful yet elegant quality to its opening moments.
Lyrically, “What’s Going On” framed its message as a conversation between a returning Vietnam veteran and his community, blending personal sorrow with broader social critique. Gaye’s voice, layered in multi-tracked harmonies, captured both weariness and defiance as he lamented war, police brutality, and the divisiveness of the era. The lines “Picket lines and picket signs / Don’t punish me with brutality” spoke directly to the civil rights struggles of the late ’60s and early ’70s, while “You know we’ve got to find a way / To bring some lovin’ here today” emphasized reconciliation and hope. The song’s call for peace aligned with “What the World Needs Now Is Love”, though Gaye’s delivery carried an urgency and personal anguish absent from Bacharach and David’s more idealistic composition.
Musically, the song’s seamless fusion of jazz, soul, and orchestral elements set it apart from other protest songs of the time. The congas, fluid bassline, and subdued strings provided a hypnotic groove, reinforcing the track’s conversational flow. Unlike the defiant energy of “What’s So Funny ’Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding,” which tackled similar themes with a raw, driving rock approach, “What’s Going On” offered a more introspective, meditative response to social turmoil. The song’s impact extended far beyond its release, becoming an enduring anthem of resistance and empathy, as relevant in contemporary discussions of justice as it was in 1971.
“When Paul pitched into We Are The Champions, it wasn’t anything like Freddie would have done yet it carried the spirit of the song”: How Queen + Paul Rodgers resurrected one of rock’s most iconic bands
(Image credit: Press)
After Queen singer Freddie Mercury’s death in 1991, the legendary rock band looked to be finished. But in 2004, guitarist Brian May and Roger Taylor teamed up with former Free/Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers under the name Queen + Paul Rodgers. In 2008. Classic Rock journalist Harry Doherty – who first interviewed the band in their 70s heyday – met with the band to talk about their new album, The Cosmos Rocks.
Back in November 1975 I was granted an audience with Queen. It was shortly before the release of the band’s magnus opus, the career-defining A Night At The Opera. I witnessed a group fussing and fretting – over what they would probably call the imminent escape of said record – so much so that they went back in the very next day and started remixing the whole blasted thing.
Almost 33 years later, I find myself in a state of déjà vu, but this time in a parallel universe. With Freddie Mercury sadly long departed, John Deacon gone, having taken on the mantle of enigmatic recluse, Brian May and Roger Taylor are now on the eve of releasing the first Queen album in almost 13 years, this time in collaboration with the legendary blues-rock icon, vocalist and founding member of Free and Bad Company, Paul Rodgers, joining them to create The Cosmos Rocks, under the banner of Queen+Paul Rodgers.
And again they seem to be facing the immediate future with the same sort of creative wariness, although this time they don’t have money worries.
“Well, the time around the release of A Night At The Opera was a period of crisis for us,” recalls Taylor. “Our backs were right to the wall financially. We had sold a lot of records and not been paid a lot of money – the old, old story really. So that album was our big shot. Had it failed, we probably wouldn’t have been around much longer.
“Apart from that financial crisis, I suppose it is the same in a way with the release of The Cosmos Rocks. However, I don’t think people really expect anything with this. But as then, we have got all this new material, and we have proved that we are a creative force and entity, and that this is a viable operation.”
For the beginning of this “viable operation”, we have to move back in time to September 2004, to the Fender Stratocaster anniversary concert at Wembley Arena when Brian May found himself on stage with Paul Rodgers – as the worthy substitute on guitar for one of his own heroes, the late Paul Kossoff – on Free’s All Right Now. From these humble, chaotic beginnings, the regeneration of Queen would begin…
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“We came off stage knowing that the chemistry had flowed. It just seemed so natural to do that. It was Paul’s girlfriend, who is now his wife, Cynthia, who looked at us both and said ‘Something happened on there, didn’t it?’ She said ‘All you guys need is a drummer’, and I said ‘Actually, I know a drummer!’. It started off as a very small thing, as in ‘let’s do something with Paul and see what happens’.”
Queen + Paul Rodgers in 2008: (from left) Brian May, Paul Rodgers, Roger Taylor (Image credit: Press)
Faster that you could say ‘we will rock you’, a month later, Rodgers was joining May and Roger Taylor at the induction of Queen into the UK Music Hall Of Fame, with All Right Now joined by We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions in a slightly less chaotic but memorably historic mini-set.
“There wasn’t really that much to it, other than’This is interesting’,” reflects Brian May, bedded down in the car park of a huge industrial park in Tower Hill, London, where Q+PR are about to start the second phase of rehearsals for their forthcoming world tour. “But I have to say there was a moment there that was significant for me: when Paul pitched into We Are The Champions. It was so obvious that he was making it his own. It wasn’t anything like Freddie would have done and yet it carried the spirit of the song which Freddie had written. I suddenly thought, ‘This is a lot more than just playing this song; this is a new world that we can go into’.”
Rodgers was reaching the same conclusion. When it’s suggested to him that he probably thought this would be simply an interesting, but passing, experiment, he’s quick to disagree: “A little bit more than that actually. When we were rehearsing the songs at the UK Music Hall Of Fame, we had the janitors – and all sorts of other people who had seen it all – popping their heads in and saying ‘what the hell is going on in there?’. When we created excitement there, I thought that was pretty indicative of what we could have.”
The word soon leaked out to promoters that Queen and Paul Rodgers might consider touring together and offers poured in. When May called Rodgers to ask how he would feel about doing a tour, doing a set consisting of half Queen and half Rodgers catalogue (Free, Bad Company, The Firm, solo stuff), he was ready to take it to the next stage. But the singer insisted that the set should be “Queen-heavy” as they hadn’t been visible for so long. And he was very aware that it was still an unexpected collaboration.
“I always admired them from afar, but I can’t honestly say that I went out and bought all their records or knew all about them,” admits Rodgers. “If someone had called up out of the blue and said ‘How do you fancy doing this?’, I would have been a little more hesitant, but as we had actually played together, I knew that it worked on a very exciting level. The simple raw power that was coming off that stage was so exciting that I was very willing to do more and see where it took us. And that has really been the motivation behind everything that we’ve done. There was a mutual feeling of ‘This feels good, let’s do more’.”
Paul Rodgers and Brian May onstage (Image credit: Photo by Paul Bergen/Redferns)
And so it came to pass that Queen+Paul Rodgers (more about the much-debated moniker later) set off on a tour that was just to start with a few dates and blossomed into a world tour, taking in Europe, North America and Japan, with the shows soon reaching the grandeur that Queen were famed for. They played a “best-of-both” set.
“Well, it had to be, didn’t it? We didn’t really have any new material then!” laughs Roger Taylor. And now they’ve been together for three years.
“We all went into it with an open mind,” adds May. “The essential base line was that it was organic; it wasn’t something that was shoved together to get us back out there or rejuvenate us. It just happened because we got on with Paul and we were excited about working with the guy.”
But from dipping their toes into the water, then their ankles and knees, Queen and Paul Rodgers were soon up to their necks in it. And apart from that, it was great fun.
“We took it one step at a time,” Taylor explains. “It was really a case of ‘Well, that worked, let’s try this.’ There was no master plan. Nobody really wanted to commit themselves that much. But I have to say that I’m really delighted to find myself at this stage in my life where we are. It’s very exciting.
“Obviously, we hoped it would grow and looking back at one of those first gigs at the Brixton Academy, it was pretty rough and ready. I remember it being over loud and we really hadn’t refined the process of working together. You’ve got to get that chemistry down, and it doesn’t always happen, but there definitely is a great chemistry between us. Paul’s given us a serious blues edge that we didn’t have before, and I like to think that we’ve given him a walloping great wall behind him.”
May points out that Rodgers had informed him the day before that this was the longest he had ever been in a band, and that includes Free and the initial glory period of Bad Company. The big test came as the tour was ending, and the consideration of what would happen next. It was after a gig in Vancouver that all concerned were saying their good-byes.
“Well, on those big tours, you’re away from home for months and months and there does come a time when you long to be home,” Rodgers explains. “So by the time everybody has reached the last show, they’re very much on the flight home in their minds. But on this tour, the very last show was in Vancouver, and it was the best show we did – it was absolutely scorching. We came off and everybody hugged and it was a case of ‘I’ll see ya, for sure! We have to do some more.’ We weren’t sure what that ‘more’ would be, but the natural step was to go into the studio and see what happened. Brian actually said to me ‘Let’s do more, I don’t want this to end’.”
What would that “more” be though? To fans and critics alike, Queen carry a huge weight of heritage with them, and while most Queen fans first endured before enjoying the collaboration with Paul Rodgers, there were few who even in their wildest dreams felt that a Queen without Freddie something that could never, and would never, happen.
Paul Rodgers was certainly aware of their reputation and the sanctity that surrounded it too: “Well, the production on their records was really second to none. The clarity, the great guitar playing, the strength of their songs was always very powerful. They were extremely unique, working differently from everybody else. You have to admire that in a world that can get a little samey. They were never ever samey. They’re full-on unique. And I think that’s also what happened when we went into the studio.”
Generally, May and Taylor have no hang-ups about past, present or future concerning the Queen legacy. “Strangely enough, we probably think about that stuff less than you would imagine,” says May. “Everybody asks that question and they are aware of this legacy. But for us we just do what we do and what feels right. Maybe that sounds over simplistic.”
It does. Nobody wanted to see them become their own tribute band, and there was a bit of concern that that actually might happen.
“Absolutely! The world which we live in is quite small really – Roger and me and Paul and a few people who work around us. Outside this boundary there is this huge interaction with the world which sometimes we’re aware of, but for most of the time we’re just doing what we do because we love it.
“There’s always that pursuit of something wonderful; you know, the thing which you’ve never quite grasped before. That’s the great thing about rock. There’s never a boundary. There’s always some place further. The passion for that never goes away. So we don’t ask questions of ourselves so much as the outside world does. We just allow ourselves to get on with it.”
However, they did face two dangers in taking this from being a fun touring project into a band with a new album and all the seriousness that that step entails. Firstly there’s the danger of it being a vanity project, and secondly can they be the same Queen brand as before?
“I don’t think we thought of it in those terms. I can tell you that,” May counters. “We just thought ‘Let’s make some music and let’s make it good and let’s see how far we can push things’. It’s the same as the old days with Freddie: ‘How far can we go in any direction? Can we find something that has never been found before?’ That kind of thing…”
Paul Rodgers in his free days (Image credit: Fin Costello/Redferns)
And then there was the name. Rodgers initially had doubts: “I’ll be honest, when we started out I thought maybe we’d call ourselves May Taylor Rodgers, or something like that. But I didn’t mind Queen+Paul Rodgers because I think it has a good identity.”
Was there a big discussion about it?
“Not really, when Brian called me up and said how ‘Do you fancy doing it as Queen+Paul Rodgers?’, I took a deep breath and went ‘Whoa!’ But said, ‘Let’s give it a try and see it works.’”
Taylor says he didn’t really know what they would call themselves. “We just thought it was going to be us and Paul and it would turn out to be what it turned out to be,” he shrugs. “It was an organic process. There was no overall master plan really.” And as far as he was concerned, the “us” was Queen.
Ever the pragmatist, May simply answers: “It’s what we are. We had to call it something.” Discussion over.
May, though, was prepared to spend a bit of time considering the talents of Rodgers and Mercury and the contrasts in working with both within the band framework.
“That’s a very difficult question to answer. There are many similarities between Freddie and Paul and there are many interesting differences. But it’s hard to put into words, just feelings really,” he says. “Paul is a very creative guy and if you throw something at him, he will throw it back at you in a way that you didn’t imagine. And that’s exactly what Fred would do, lateral thinking was one of his great assets.
“Having said that, there are differences in the way the relationship worked. One of Freddie’s great talents, strangely enough, was diplomacy. He was very good at getting Roger and I, for instance, to sort out our differences and work as a team. Why would Paul even know that that was part of what went on with us? Gradually, he has become part of that.
“Three is a strange number in a group. If you have two people that want to do something and one doesn’t, then people can get pulled a long way in a certain direction. In the end we had to get to know each other very well to get this thing to work. But Paul brought some very different ways of working to us. He’s very instinctive. You sing something for Paul, a tune you’ve got in your head. He will process it for a while and won’t sing it at all until he feels it and understands it and then interprets it in his own way. So what you get back from Paul is – I’m tempted to say a blues interpretation because blues is very much a part of what he is – but it’s more than that. Working on the album with Paul was a real voyage of discovery.”
Brian May and Roger Taylor with Queen in 1975 (Image credit: TPLP/Getty Images)
It seems that many old-school Queen fans have, or at least had, the misguided impression that Paul Rodgers had “lucked out” in getting the gig with the band, forgetting, of course, that the vocalist superseded Queen in many ways – rock history, chart success and the like.
“I think that was a fairly widely held perception. The fact is that Free were famous long before we were,” Taylor emphasises. “Paul was one of Freddie’s role models in a way. You’ll find a lot of singers citing Paul as being the blues benchmark for rock vocalists.”
“It’s a very interesting territory we’re marking out now,” continues May. “It hasn’t been planned. The links are there, though, very much with us, because Free was a great influence on us in the early days, and particularly an influence with Freddie. He really regarded Paul Rodgers as a hero. Those guys were stars before we were twinkles in each other eyes. Free were, and are, a great inspiration. Fire And Water was one of our reference points along with The Beatles and Hendrix.”
And so, for the past two years, Queen have intermittently been holed up for a month at a time working on original material at Roger Taylor’s fully-equipped home studio in Surrey. The only other attendees were the technicians who would help them record. Once they had made the decision to make an album together, it seems that Taylor became project manager. The drummer was the one that would pull it all together and present the packages to his partners when they re-convened. Brian May was busy finishing his PhD in astrophysics, among other academic pursuits (“He’s only been working on it for a hundred and thirty years,” jokes Taylor). Paul Rodgers lived on the West Coast of Canada and had other musical commitments apart from his part-time Queen gig. They had no bass player, so those parts were divvied up between May and Rodgers, both proficient players of the four-string.
Each of them would bring the early stages of what they had written to each session, although in the end, everyone’s contribution was deemed worthy enough that all tracks would be credited as written by May/Rodgers/Taylor, something that never happened with the “old” Queen.
“You know, all musicians are buzzing round with ideas, all the time,” said Rodgers. “The question is always ‘Will your ideas gel with the other musicians and make a track?’ And we found very excitingly that we could.”
Of course, they were all rich enough to know that if what they were doing was a load of shit, they could just flush it down the toilet.
“One thing I absolutely knew for sure was that it would not be shit,” laughs the singer. “Because of the calibre of the musicians I was working with in Roger and Brian, and as I know what I can do, I knew it would be something special.”
Taylor agrees: “Absolutely! And some of the stuff didn’t work. So those songs didn’t make it.”
They were also aware that it couldn’t be like anything they had done before, either as Queen or Paul Rodgers, who comments: “We had no preconceptions about going into the studio – ‘just bring your ideas’. And the thing that I like about working with Brian and Roger is that they are very original musicians. They don’t approach a song with the attitude of just putting guitar and drums on it. They have an approach of ‘How can I put something on this that has never been done before even by me. And I’m like that too.’”
They’re buzzing about the fact that many of the backing tracks came from one-takes live in the studio, on songs like Voodoo.
“On that track, I was just playing an acoustic guitar, Roger got on the kit and Brian was just playing his guitar, and we just jammed. And that went on the record pretty much as we recorded it. And that’s not really what you expect from Queen, is it? Other songs have been full-on production with massive harmonies, but each song on the album is different.”
It was quite similar in some ways to Queen’s old studio methodology, Taylor reveals. “I was able to do a lot of preparation and then the others could pick and choose and then we would all develop the tracks. It didn’t matter who had the first idea, we all developed the songs between us. It is a really good process, very creative. A proper group process!
”This is different from before but the same, sort of. The thing with Queen was that we were a real group. Everybody worked pretty much on everything. Certain things were little bits of flights of fancy or songs that involved pretty much one person. But a lot of it was absolutely the group, and everybody firing in ideas and everybody working as a unit. Like now.”
Queen + Paul Rodgers onstage in 2009 (Image credit: Pete Still/Redferns)
I remember at that Night At The Opera interview in ’75 in the immediate aftermath of recording the album, May seemed a bit distant, not quite sure if he had delivered the quality of work he could have. Insecure, almost. As we talked about the recording of The Cosmos Rocks, he seemed to be thinking too much again as he recalled the process of making the album. He had been immersed and engrossed in his PhD which he would work on on his trusty laptop while on tour. But once they had set deadlines to actually release the album, matters became much more serious.
“An album is a dreadful thing to do really,” May ponders. “It’s such a big part of your life and it always gets painful at a certain point. And this was no exception. We had a lot of fun, we did a few sessions over the course of a couple of years, but once you’ve got a deadline and you know you have to deliver, it becomes very serious indeed. The same old problems rear their heads. It’s very difficult. In this case, it’s three different artists with paintbrushes trying to paint the same canvas.
“You get to a point eventually where some really difficult decisions have to be made. It’s a democracy. That’s all you can say and that’s the way it was in the old days as well.”
Queen had all this worked out in their former life, I imagined. How did May react to the new third man?
“Paul’s great. He’s very mellow and very well adjusted. He’s a very evolved human being. He’s nice to work with, no doubt about it, but of course, he’s also still a hero to us in some ways so perhaps we’re very polite to him. He’s still ‘Paul Rodgers’. We get the moments where it’s, ‘Oh, that’s Paul Rodgers’.
“Roger and I – for different reasons – are very polite to each other because we know how it can go. We’re like brothers and we can fight badly; so we were all very polite to each other for a very long time and perhaps we didn’t air the things that were worrying us. And, of course, there comes a point where suddenly the worries become crucial and you have to bring them out, and then it’s a difficult time. But that’s part of the creative process, and we all know it. You can’t really make an album without that painful burden, so we buckled down to it and worked our way through it all.”
So it was painful?
“Yes, the last bit was, particularly for me. We all have lives as well and to be sucked in to that extent that you can only eat and sleep and be in the studio is a painful thing in itself. It grinds you down after a while. The final mixes which is where a million decisions are made; the sequencing of the album, deciding who did what. It’s like being in a new group. These things come with every bunch of boys that come together. Eventually you think, ‘How much of this is me?’, ‘Am I represented?’, ‘Am I being marginalised?’ All these childish concerns come up. You have to be very grown up to get through it.”
Queen + Paul Rodgers Performs Bad Company’s “Shooting Star” Live – YouTube
But Brian knows he’s made an album to be proud of. As does Roger. As does Paul. As would John. As would Freddie…
“I think it works well because we’re not trying to recreate anything that any of us have done before. We’re trying to be ourselves together, and that creates an entirely new entity,” says Rodgers.
“I guess if it is successful, we’ll be able to say, ‘Well, there you go, we can still do it. That was part of the driving force really, that we can still be a cogent force,” adds Taylor. “I think of The Cosmos Rocks as a Queen album with a twist. Very much so, because Queen has been my life, my profession. Most of my professional life has been this band. I’ve almost got it stamped through my core, like a piece of Brighton rock. It’s what I do, and we’re lucky enough that people are still interested.”
“We found that we could make a good noise. It comes from simple things like that,” concludes May. “We had the equipment in ourselves to generate a good joyful sound. It’s our love of rock’n’roll, and it’s still there, thank God. Of course, there are strong elements of all of our past, of Queen, Free and Bad Company. But it’s a new band.”
Originally published in Classic Rock issue 125, October 2008
Harry Doherty began his career at the Derry Journal in Ireland before moving to London in the mid-1970s, relaunching his career as a music journalist and writing extensively for the Melody Maker. Later he became editor of Metal Hammer and founded the video magazine, Hard’n’Heavy. He also wrote the official Queen biography 40 Years Of Queen, published in 2011 to celebrate the band’s 40th anniversary. He died in 2014.
