kgdjpubs wrote:StoneCold wrote:
Why didn't Queen pick up Jeff instead of Rodgers? Everybody has this question. I'd love an answer.
The somewhat substantiated rumor (possibly confirmed) for Queen is that Rodgers was NOT the first choice. John Farnham turned it down previous--which has more credibility if you consider Farnham's version of We Will Rock You from his Greatest Hits album with Queen backing him. This was also right at the time where Farnham had just retired from major tours, and joining Queen would mean a lot of live shows. Add to it that Farnham has been solo for the majority of his 40+ years of performing, exept for replacing the singer in Little River Band, which didn't go over that well--so he knew what he would be getting into. Now, Queen + JF probably would have gone over rather well as Farnham can basically sing anything except for one problem. In Australia, Queen would probably be OPENING for Farnham, but everywhere else, Farnham is nobody. Great singer, great stage presence, but totally unheard of in Europe and America, where Queen's audience is.
Once Farnham was out, Queen was stuck with picking someone up who didn't really sound like Freddy Mercury. Here is probably where JSS came into the picture, however briefly. Paul Rodgers is a name, JSS is not. It doesn't matter if you put a great singer and awesome frontman in the band--he is still unknown to your audience. Paul Rodgers is known however, and has fans, which brings money to Queen in US/UK. Basically, like everything else, it boils down to money.
I don't think Queen would have had any problems in generating income without Paul Rodgers. Weird though that they picked probably the polar opposite vocalist of Freddie to continue Queen's legacy. Like Brian May once said "you have to own your own poo". Frankly, who would know better than him...?
His soulful, motown-like tunes are my favorite JSS stuff too. 
I think you just visually documented the answer to my question. It simply has to be, for lack of a better answer, Jeff has just had his hands in one too many musical pies. And "Joe Public" as musical consumers just can't identify with any singular flavor, so we either digest everything or nibble on musical morsals here and there, hence, his market potential may have never had time to fully develop. 
i think freddy had an ace voice!!
