Queen -- Radio Ga Ga

 

I'm providing a special Reminiscings of Youth here today. No, not because today is a national holiday or anything to do with the Christmas season. It's just that I finally got to see a movie that I had always wondered about: Fritz Lang's 1927 "Metropolis". Former writer and good friend JTM was kind enough to send me a copy of the nearly century-old film some weeks ago so this was an opportunity for an old-movie aficionado like myself.

Probably there are a lot of people who aren't silent film fans or simply can't really understand the appeal of old Hollywood black-and-white movies in general (one friend told me that he really couldn't stomach "Casablanca"...I bit my tongue there). Yeah, I get that...but after seeing "Metropolis", I can still feel that this was probably one very heady and ambitious experience for the original viewers at the theatres with the overall design of the sets and costumes, the special effects and the original gorgeous soundtrack by Gottfried Huppertz. Since I was a kid, I have had an affinity with the whole Art Deco movement (some of those Bing AI images that I've made have had some Art Deco thrown in by me) and "Metropolis" includes this with other artistic influences.

My observations can start with my surprise that this was indeed a feature-length movie of two hours that sped by surprisingly quickly. I hadn't been aware that there were silent films that went on that long back then and even without using the fast forward function, Lang kept the pace going at a fairly zippy pace like some blockbuster. Even having repeatedly seen and known about some of the iconic scenes such as the transformation to the evil Maria from the Machine-Man, it was still thrilling to encounter them again within the near-entirety of the film (apparently, according to the trailer above, my version was still several scenes shorter than this new one that has been plugged). Another observation is that the main actress Brigitte Helm had only been 17 when she began work and this was her first motion picture role, and even with the hamminess that had been part and parcel of being in silent movies, she was very impressive.

I also realized that "Metropolis" showed off a lot of movie tropes that we've gotten accustomed to over the decades and may now find as rather cliché such as two old enemies reluctantly working together for a common goal, one young man fighting against institutional evil by raising his own resistance through kindness and decency, and even the good and evil doppelgangers. But back in 1927, these may have been very fresh ingredients. It was apparently the first time as well for a movie to include a robot, albeit briefly. 

I've read that although perhaps regular viewers were enthralled with "Metropolis", the critics weren't nearly as kind with H.G. Wells himself calling it silly. But since then, it's gained a lot of cachet, popularity and respect and it's certainly provided a lot of influences for the sci-fi movies to come such as "Blade Runner", "Star Wars" and "Logan's Run". 

But the people that I have to thank for introducing that "Metropolis" even existed was the band Queen via the music video for their January 1984 hit "Radio Ga Ga". Getting lots of love on radio and music video programming back in the day, the song itself was Freddie Mercury and band kindly telling folks that radio should still be loved but the video was a lavish tribute to the movie (and Queen itself), even recreating certain backgrounds and sets from "Metropolis". When I first heard it, I thought it was the band getting with the 1980s program and bringing in all those synthesizers while still retaining that anthemic rock stance that they've had since the 1970s. Even watching the movie finally, I could still hear echoes of "Radio Ga Ga" in my head during certain key scenes.

In Canada, "Radio Ga Ga" hit No. 11 on RPM while in the States, it reached No. 16. Meanwhile, several countries in Europe had it go all the way to No. 1. So, what else was being released in January 1984?

Alfee -- Hoshizora no Distance （星空のディスタンス）

Kiyotaka Sugiyama & Omega Tribe -- Kimi no Heart wa Marine Blue （君のハートはマリンブルー）

Teresa Teng -- Tsugunai (つぐない）

Queen -- Don't Stop Me Now

 

My own personal listening history with Queen began with "Another One Bites the Dust" which was one of their disco outings in 1980. But then the following year, when all of us kids were heading out to Japan after graduating from Japanese language school, I got to hear my classmate's copy of their classic "Bohemian Rhapsody" (1975) on the plane ride. Then in short order, I got to hear "We Will Rock You" and "We are the Champions" especially since the NHL's New York Islanders were using that last song as their victory anthem during their dynasty of Stanley Cup wins in the early 1980s. Having finally gotten into music by that point, I got to hear their New Wave "Radio Ga Ga".

"Don't Stop Me Now" from 1979, however, was a song that I wouldn't get to know about for many years and yet it's probably the most preferred hit among many Japanese. Sure enough, I've seen a few commercials there featuring "Don't Stop Me Now" including one where a jet plane is just pulling off all these loops in the sky; can't remember what it was selling...knowing Japanese ads, it was probably life insurance. I can possibly understand its great popularity in Japan, though. With Freddie Mercury espousing pure joyous fun for the sake of it, all those hard-working cogs wouldn't mind throwing their blazers to the wind and going all Wang Chung!

Now of course, any of you who read "Kayo Kyoku Plus" regularly and have their eyes and ears to the music scene in Japan know that I'm posting this special holiday Reminiscings of Youth because Queen and Adam Lambert showed up on last night's Kohaku Utagassen to perform "Don't Stop Me Now". It was great and nostalgic to watch them in San Francisco, but wouldn't it have been something if the band had actually shown up on the Shibuya stage in Tokyo? But the logistics would have most likely overwhelmed the production staff. Still, good to see the guys bring out the goods.

Apparently, it isn't just Japanese pop culture that picked up on the joyousness of "Don't Stop Me Now". When it was originally released in 1979, it didn't do all that well on the charts with the United States for example only having it reach as high as No. 86 on its Billboard. Since then though, it has done a slow persistent burn up to the top of many fans' favourite lists. And in 2018 through Billboard Japan, the song went up to No. 37 and then No. 32 in 2019.

"Don't Stop Me Now" was released in Japan in March 1979 which of course begs the question about which other singles were getting out there in that month.

Momoe Yamaguchi -- Be Silent（美・サイレント）

Satoshi Kishida -- Kimi no Asa （君の朝）

Southern All Stars -- Itoshi no Ellie （いとしのエリー）

Queen/Kokia -- Teo Torriatte ~ Let Us Cling Together（手をとりあって）

A few weeks ago during Holiday season, I got together with KKP collaborator Larry and Gary, a fellow translator, for some ramen at Santouka downtown, and somehow we got into a conversation about the band Queen. Gary mentioned that Queen was probably even more popular in Japan than even here which wouldn't surprise me since a few other bands have hit a higher legendary status in the country of my ancestors such as The Carpenters and The Ventures.

Then, just this morning, as I was watching "NHK News at 9", there was a short feature recognizing that the movie "Bohemian Rhapsody", which has been quite popular at the box office despite some not-so-great reviews, was doing gangbusters in Japan. Apparently the movie there hit the 10 billion yen mark (about $91 million US) after its release in early November. One person in the industry remarked that there has been a lot of repeat business.

I rather forgot about the above commercial. This was playing all the time when I was living in Ichikawa. Osaka comedian Takashi Okamura（岡村隆史）was cutting up quite the rug for a Kirin drink while Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" was playing. A number of Queen songs have been used for Japanese ads in the past.

My own connection with the British band goes all the way to that summer graduation trip to Japan in 1981. One of my classmates was playing a lot of David Bowie, Brian Eno and Queen on his Walkman on the flight and in the hotels throughout the trip (the fact that he had a Walkman made him a particularly popular member of the class), and of course, the one song that I always remembered was the song "Bohemian Rhapsody". I had known about Queen for some time beforehand, but I only started to get to know Freddie Mercury and the guys through the repeated listenings to "Bohemian Rhapsody" during the Japan trip.

Several weeks ago and I assume that it was because of the debut of the movie "Bohemian Rhapsody", NHK News did do a feature on Queen and their visit to Japan in the 1970s. It was during that feature that I learned that Queen lead guitarist/songwriter/astrophysicist Brian May had written and composed a song called "Teo Torriatte" to be released as a single only in Japan in March 1977 although it was already a track on their 1976 album "A Day At The Races".

"Teo Torriatte" from its romanized spelling looks somewhat Italian but actually it is a Japanese title since a couple of the choruses had been written in Japanese. I only heard a small sliver of the song during the NHK feature but I've finally gotten to hear the whole thing earlier.

A sweet Queen ballad, the lyrics seem to give a "Hope is not lost at all" message as someone seems to be exhorting from the afterlife to his/her beloved that there are many happy tomorrows to be savored, so time to get off the butt and get back on that horse again. I wonder whether "Teo Torriatte" was played when the Japanese news shows were broadcasting on Freddie Mercury's too-early passing.

Some Japanese singers have covered "Teo Torriatte" over the years including singer-songwriter Kokia. Her version came out on her 2008 album "Christmas Gift". Her "Teo Torriatte" has an ethereal and spiritual atmosphere...very soothing.