Signature Songs - Queen

This week on the Rock-N-Roll Show Podcast, I'm launching a new series, “Signature Songs,” exploring the single track most associated with the greatest artists in rock-n-roll. To kick off the series, I'm starting with Queen, reviewing their major hits as well as the criteria for what defines a signature song beyond simple chart success.

Queen is a special problem—because they didn’t just have hits, they had cultural events. Stadium anthems, radio staples, singalongs that have outlived entire eras… and more than a few songs that could credibly wear the crown.

In this episode, I lay out the shortlist, break down what makes a true signature song (recognition, impact, longevity, identity—not just numbers), and then I make the call. **I won’t spoil the final pick here—**but I will say this: you’ll probably have a strong opinion, and I want to hear it.

Before the reveal: what’s your Queen signature song? Drop it in the comments.

00:00 Welcome and New Series

01:22 What Is a Signature Song

02:48 Examples and Gray Areas

03:50 Why Start With Queen

04:51 Contenders for Queens Signature

07:35 My Top Five Queen Songs

09:49 Queen's Signature Song

10:38 Listener Debate and Wrap Up

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Transcript

0:01

Welcome to The Rock-N-Roll Show Podcast. I'm your host, Alex Gadd, and this week I've got something new for you. If you've checked out the show before, you know that I love talking about music, and the one discussion which I have found to be endlessly reliable for generating a lively debate is not Beatles or Stones Note. I love'em both. It's to consider what any given artist's signature song is. The one track that's their calling card, the one that even non-music fans associate with that act. Sometimes it's obvious, sometimes it's impossible to pick one. Most of the time though, it's open for debate, so I'm kicking off a new series, signature songs. One legendary act at a time. I'll make my case and then I want to hear what you think. To get the ball rolling. I'm starting with kind of a no-brainer, and that's Queen. I'll run through their biggest tracks and make the case for the one song that's their signature song. You know the one. I hope you'll join me this week on The Rock-N-Roll Show Podcast coming up right now. Every popular artist is known for certain songs. Songs that the general public think of when they hear the performer's name. You know, the ones, the ones that we all know the lyrics to by pure repetition at this point that our parents might know the words to maybe even our kids. The most successful acts have more than one of these songs that come to mind, but let's be honest, most are happy to have just one, and one is all you need to be remembered forever if that song has staying power. While music fans often know all the hits songs by an act, there's usually one song that's most identified with any artist or band. So what makes a song an act's signature song? I haven't found a single definition for the term signature song, but it's more than just a hit. It's a musical calling card that's interwoven with the artist public image, especially for the casual fan. Sometimes that song was the first hit they had, which has been in their encore throughout their career, even if they sometimes wish it wasn't. Other times, it's the song that represents their high point commercially. It's that acts first, number one, single or a song that thrusts them into the mainstream and exposed them to a broader audience. A signature song can even be an artistic departure that brought in an entirely different audience and stayed attached to that act from that point forward. For most artists, it's a combination of all those things, and it's more an art than a science to determine which song from their songbook is their signature song. An easy example of a signature song is a one hit wonder."Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas."What's Up" by four Non Blondes?"867-5309/Jenny" by Tommy Tutone. These are songs that were the only hits for those acts, and thus the only ones known by the majority of the public, and even among general music fans. Just as easy are the no-brainers. The song from established acts with multiple hits that is undoubtedly the song that is most identifiable with them. We'll get to those coming up, but as you get into artists that have had more than one hit, it's not always so easy to determine which is their signature song. There are variations across the spectrum of musical acts. Regardless of the level of fame or success a given artist has achieved. There are even a few acts that I would argue have too many great songs to name just one as their signature song, and I'll definitely get into some of those in future episodes. With each artist or band, I'll do my best to lay out a case but this is a topic that if I do it right, will generate a lot of conversation and that's what I'm looking for. So let's dive in. I wanted to start with what I think is a no-brainer to get the ball rolling on this series, and so I chose Queen. Formed in 1970 when guitarist Brian May and drummer Roger Taylor, who had been in the band Smile together before that connected with previously unknown singer Freddie Mercury, and then they rounded out their new band when they brought on bassist John Deacon, a year later, and they were off and running. The band released 15 studio albums between 1973 and 1995. Over those 23 years, they had 20 top 10 singles in either the UK or the US, or both. And some of them are all time memorable songs. Songs like Killer Queen, Somebody To Love. We Were Rock You. We Are The Champions. Crazy Little Thing Called Love. Another One Bites the Dust Under Pressure with David Bowie in 1981. Flash from the Flash Gordon soundtrack. But their first number one song was and is Queen's signature song, their Magnum opus. And that's Bohemian Rhapsody. Don't take my word for it though. Let's look at the options. First, I looked at"Another One Bites the Dust" from 1980's, The Game album, and that was a monster hit for the band when it came out. But I'd argue that it hasn't maintained any cultural relevance in the years since, and now is just another one of the bands many hits. If anything, this may be the Queen song that's aged the poorest. It is so rooted in the late 1970s with its attempt to chase the funk or disco trend. Listen to it and then listen to"Good Times" by Chic back to back and see if you can hear what I'm talking about. The second song I considered is really a combo of two songs that have been played at just about every team sporting event in the Western world for the last 45 or 50 years. We Will Rock You and We Are the Champions. When I first thought about this project, I assumed We Will Rock You would be Queen's signature song. I imagined it'd be hard to find too many sports fans who couldn't name that song and we are the champions. But as I thought about it more and talked to some people, I realized non-sports fans are far less likely to be able to identify that as a Queen song today or to even hear that song anymore outside of a team sporting event. So if they're not going to sporting events, I don't know where younger kids are hearing those songs today. I don't think any of the band's other tunes are really up there with those three, and Bohemian Rhapsody. And if the band had simply stopped releasing new music when they did, then I'd say that We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions would be their signature song as a combo today. But over time, Bohemian Rhapsody has grown in popularity. Thanks in no small part to its inclusion. First in the original Wayne's World movie in 1991, and then again as the title to the band's 2018 Biopic, that won Rami Malick and Oscar for playing Freddie Mercury. Those movie inclusions both helped reignite interest in the song, which I'm sure played a big part in why it ended up as the UK's third bestselling single from the 20th century of all songs. It's also been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004, and the US Library of Congress selected it to be included in the National Recording Registry in 2022. More than that, though, it's been streamed more than 3 billion times, which is far more than any other Queen song. Heck. It's as much as any rock song ever just above Mr. Brightside by The Killers and Lincoln Parks In The End, according to Spotify's, publicly available stream data, and that's more than a billion times. More billion than We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions combined. That tells me that Bohemian Rhapsody remains more relevant in the 21st century than any other Queen song. Now is Bohemian Rhapsody my favorite Queen song? Nope. Not even in the top five. And let me give you my top five Queen songs. At number five. It's, I wanna break free from 1984's The Works album. This one's an anomaly on my favorites list because all four of the other tunes are pretty hard rocking. I love this song because of how appropriate the lyrics were for Freddie at the time, even though the song was written by John Deacon, the bass player. I liked the video also with the band, all dressed in drag hanging around the house, which I didn't know when I was a kid, but was a reference to the old British soap Opera Coronation Street. Fourth on my list of all time great Queen songs is Headlong, a straight ahead rock song, which I have had on every workout playlist. My old running playlist. My old driving playlist since it came out in 1991 on the Innuendo album. That was the last studio album the band released while Freddy was still alive. My third favorite song by Queen is Killer Queen from 1974's, Sheer Heart Attack. It was their first international hit single, but I came onto the song through their original Greatest Hits collection, and I was blown away by their ability to put down complex harmonies with those smart lyrics, cool guitar parts. Great song. Second favorite Queen song is Tie Your Mother Down from 1976's A Day at the Races. This felt more like an early metal song to me when I was listening to it for the first time especially compared to other Queen songs. And the subject matter was pretty raunchy for a 10-year-old kid when I finally found this one, which only increased the appeal for me. Finally, my favorite Queen song of all is Hammer to Fall, which was also from the 1984 album, The Works. This is one of the six songs they played at Live Aid and one of their most Straight Ahead Rock songs. I love the solo that Brian May plays, and it came out right when I thought the Queen had really jumped the shark with the Flash Gordon soundtrack and 1982's Hot Space album, which aside from the song Under Pressure, really had nothing of interest for me as a young teenager who was looking for straight out rock songs. Wherever I could find them. So when I heard Hammer to Fall when I was 15, I was really excited to hear the Queen was making cool music again. But having said all of that, there's a difference between my favorite track and a band signature song. And really, Bohemian Rhapsody is not just another rock and roll song in their catalog. I believe it's the quintessential Queen song because it embodies everything the band stood for, musical innovation, lyrical complexity, and the impressive vocal harmonies that were Queen's signature. It broke all conventions of popular music with its structure defying the standard verse chorus verse form. Instead, bringing together a ballad, an opera, and a hard rock song into something that became Queen's calling card. And so, while there are lots of really popular Queen songs, I'm pretty comfortable declaring that Bohemian Rhapsody stands alone as the band's signature song. To me, it's a no-brainer. Okay, so what did you think? Is there another track that's more prominently tied to Queen in the general public's consciousness? I wanna hear about it and if you have a good argument for a different song, I'd love to invite you to come on a future episode so we can discuss it and debate it, because as I said at the start, I'm doing this to have fun talking about great music, and I've got more than a hundred other acts to get through. So if you like what you heard today, I'd appreciate it if you would like and either subscribe or follow this channel to make sure you get notified about each new episode. And please tell your friends. Also a reminder that I release a playlist for every episode. So look for The Rock-N-Roll Show Podcast playlist on Spotify and Apple Music every week this week, featuring all of Queen's top 10 hits. Plus some additional favorites of mine, so check that out. Additionally, as I said, I want to know what you think. Please leave me a comment and I'll try to respond to every one of them. The Rock-N-Roll Show Podcast is a World Highway Media production. I'm your host, Alex Gadd, and until next week, remember that life is short, so get those concert tickets.