My apology to Freddie Mercury

Encouraged by Bohemian Rhapsody’s Accolades

During the late 70s and early 80s, I covered entertainment. I was fortunate enough to have experiences I only appreciate now, such as hanging backstage with the Beach Boys and eating pasta (which she made!) with Pat Benatar after she filmed the “You Better Run” video on an old railroad track in New York City at 2:00 am.

I was the kid in Almost Famous, still in my teens, having fallen into a great gig with the now-defunct New York Nightlife Magazine, and picking up some additional freelance gigs before my 18th birthday.

One of the other things I did in those days was write entertainment for my college newspaper. For the CW Post Pioneer, I had free reign to write what I wanted. There weren’t any restrictions like there were in my print publications. It wasn’t about just interviews and facts. I was allowed to interject my opinion.

This is where my ode to Freddy Mercury really begins.

It was actually one of my first stories and, at the time, I was quite proud of it. I loved Queen. Actually, I was a fan of all the top bands of the day… Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, Foreigner, the Bee Gees. I never turned down the opportunity to cover music and there was plenty of it coming to Long Island, New York. (I would also occasionally take the train into Madison Square Garden.)

The Queen concert in question was on November 1978 at the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale. I had seen them…