"Hey jerk-wad! I'm keeping a list and will not hesitate over exaggerating your quote!"
Posted on 08/03/2007 5:34:03 PM PDT by sushiman
Queen guitarist Brian May has handed in his astronomy PhD thesis - 36 years after abandoning it to join the band. May recently carried out observational work in Tenerife, where he studied the formation of "zodiacal dust clouds".
(Excerpt) Read more at news.bbc.co.uk ...
And not a bad musician.
I was a fan, but looking back, there’s not much too remember, except a few great songs.
Let’s see, do I become a rock star, or get my Ph.D?
Looks like he got lucky.
Astronomy. Bandmate of Freddie Mercury. Uranus.
It just seems as if there really ought to be a joke of some sort there, doesn't it...? ;)
ping
No thunderbolts and lightening?
Wish I could have seen Queen in concert.
I understand Brian May built his own guitars, too.
Quite a lot of doofuses in rock, but a few scattered really interesting smart guys. Stewart Copeland of the Police is another one.
Wasn’t Tom Scholz of Boston also a PhD?
” Quite a lot of doofuses in rock “
And in every field inc. politics ! A degree doth not maketh one a scholar .
Glad to see that he went back for it.
Not sure about that ... but he is an MIT graduate.
It's very, very frightening.
IIRC, he built his own guitar at one point also. Good guitar player in a so so band in my opinion.
Ping for the you tube group.
Mama Mia!
Say what you will about Freddie Mercury, but he was the ultimate rock front man.
Wikipedia :
May has played a range of guitars, most often the “Red Special,” which he designed with his father, Harold May, and built with wood from a 19th century fireplace. His comments on this instrument, from Queen In Their Own Words (ed. Mick St. Michael, Omnibus Press, 1992, p. 62) are:
“ I like a big neck – thick, flat and wide. I lacquered the fingerboard with Rustin’s Plastic Coating. The tremolo is interesting in that the arm’s made from an old bicycle saddle bag carrier, the knob at the end’s off a knitting needle and the springs are valve springs from an old motorbike. ”
In addition to using his homemade guitar he prefers to use coins (especially sixpence coins), instead of a more traditional plastic plectrum, on the basis that their rigidity gives him more control in playing. He is known to carry coins in his pockets specifically for this purpose.
I say “Bully for him.” Way to go Brian. A thesis is no small feat!!
And I AM a fan of the band, great housecleaning music, it is!
mrs
"Hey jerk-wad! I'm keeping a list and will not hesitate over exaggerating your quote!"
May’s not the only bright guy. Gene Simmons is college educated, and was actually a school teacher in NYC before Kiss.
You’d be surprised who is very educated. Ron Jeremy has a Master’s Degree.
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