The history of
Queen would have been drastically different had they lost two of their founding members to other bands in the early ’70s.
Brian May and could refuse. Taylor recalls being recruited by
Genesis, while May was being wooed by the L.A.-based band Sparks.
While never getting a formal offer, Taylor was invited to a studio to hear Genesis and then joined them at a pub, where he “[got] the impression that’s what they wanted, because their drummer had left. They’re all lovely people, but I didn’t really get the music, to be honest. It was a bit too prog[ressive] for me.” Around that time, Taylor did receive “a wonderful offer from
Queen s Roger Taylor & Brian May recall chances to jump ship to bigger bands
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Queen spent the first few years of its career struggling for even a modicum of acclaim. But that didn t mean that co-founders Brian May and Roger Taylor did turn the heads of other U.K. musicians.
Both May and Taylor had chances to cut bait and join bigger bands, they say.
Speaking with Classic Rock magazine, the Queen long-haulers recalled a pair of occasions where they took stock in their young careers and ultimately recommitted to the band they were building.
Taylor was not-so-subtly recruited by Genesis not long after Queen started. A few years later, May was given a blunt pitch by a band called Sparks.
Sparks approached me, May recalled. “It was after they had their major hit, ‘This Town Ain’t Big Enough for the Both of Us,’ and we’d just had ‘Killer Queen’ out. The two brothers came round my flat. They said, ‘Look, Brian, Queen isn’t going anywhere … you’re not going to have any more hits, but we’re going to conquer the world.’ And I went, ‘Thanks, but no thanks. I think I’m fine.’”
Asked about his flirtation with Genesis, Taylor explained that the band spent a day trying to get a feel for him, inviting him to their studio and then out to a pub after their previous drummer had left.
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Kal Lewis in a race earlier this season. (Credit: Darren Miller/University of Iowa)
University of Iowa freshman Kal Lewis opened his outdoor track season March 27 with a fast 1,500-meter run at the Big 10 Invitational at the University of Indiana’s Bloomington Campus.
Lewis finished 4th in a field of 24.
The 1,500 meter run is 110 meters less than a mile, but is considered track and field’s “Metric Mile.” Saturday was Lewis’s first time running this distance, but based on his exceptional indoor season in the mile, he was seeded to the fastest of two heats with nine other top Big 10 milers.