Never mind the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, I can still remember the Queen’s Silver Jubilee as if it were yesterday……..the Village Gala with the trestle tables, the bunting and one big party held on that sunny day in a field behind the village hall, in the sleepy Nottinghamshire hamlet of Rempstone. I even remember as a 14 year old wearing my new “trendy” Gauloises french cigarette T shirt and checked jeans, in a forlorn attempt to impress the girls!!
When Her Majesty The Queen celebrated 25 years on the throne in 1977, folklore has it that the Sex Pistols were robbed of a No1 with their controversial anti establishment song “God Save the Queen”. Officially it reached No 2 behind Rod Stewart in the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Summer of 1977, and therefore in recent months Sex Pistols fans have been running an online campaign to finally get “God Save the Queen” to No1 to coincide with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
Sex Pistols fans set up an online campaign on Facebook to get the song back to the top of the charts again during the celebrations for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, but as we approach the big day there is no sight or sound of it!! When the Sex Pistols released “God
Save The Queen” in May 1977, which featured a defaced image of the Queen on the cover, most radio and TV stations ( including Radio 1 and Top of the Pops ) refused to play it. Several major record chains also refused to stock the vinyl single.
No amount of bans and lack of airplay were going to stop the Punk underground movement and the Sex Pistols’ “God Save The Queen” sold more than 150,000 copies, outselling Rod Stewart’s “The First Cut Is The Deepest” and reached Number One on the NME chart. However it has been suggested that figures were massaged by the Government in collusion with the British Market Research Bureau ( who collated the charts ) to make sure “God Save the Queen” only reached No 2 in the official UK Singles Chart, which is used by the BBC, in order not to offend the Queen and the Royal Family!!
Whilst the Sex Pistols were riding high at the top of the charts in June 1977, the rock group Queen were making steady progress up the charts with their EP featuring “Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy”. Looking back at the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Year of 1977, the UK / Great Britain was very much “a country fit for heroes”, occupied by old fashioned “lover boy” pin ups such as pop stars David Essex and David Cassidy, actors David Soul ( Starsky and Hutch” ), and Patrick Mower, and of course Barry Sheen and James Hunt, both Champions in the world of motor racing in 1977.
So as we celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, let’s all remember and celebrate the old fashioned world of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee back in 1977 and the intervening 35 years. Therefore here’s the flimsiest and most tenuous reason to post a Top 10 Best Queen Songs!!
Top 10 Best Queen Songs
1) Killer Queen ( 1974 )
2) Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy ( 1977 )
3) Bohemian Rhapsody ( 1975 )
4) The Show Must Go On ( 1991 )
5) We Are The Champions ( 1977 )
6) Don’t Stop Me Now ( 1979 )
7) Under Pressure ( 1981 )
8) Radio Ga Ga ( 1984 )
9) Who Wants To Live Forever? ( 1986 )
10) We Will Rock You ( 1977 )
You can immortalise Queen, the Sex Pistols or any 1970s music icons in your own home or office, by ordering your favourite vinyl record or CD; single, album or album cover; framed and mounted as a picture disc souvenir. You can also personalise it with an inscribed / engraved plaque…… ORDER NOW…….. http://www.myfirstrecord.co.uk/
Framed vinyl records with a personalised plaque, make a unique present or original gift for a special celebration ie a Wedding ( Wedding First Dance Song ), an Engagement Party ( Our Song ), a House Warming Party ( New Home ), a 21st, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th or 70th Birthday, a Silver, Ruby or Golden Wedding Anniversary, Father’s or Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day!! THE PERFECT PERSONALISED PRESENT!!
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