Is 'Bohemian Rhapsody' the greatest rock song?

While the film about the life of Freddie Mercury and Queen's rise to fame continues to break box office records, the title song, considered by critics and fans alike, had become the most played and streamed song in the 20th century. This is all pretty amazing to me, considering that forty years ago I was plunking away trying to learn to play it, and that decades later it would inspire an entire novel.

First, the film. Bohemian Rhapsody, which is, according to the highest-grossing music biopic of all time, domestically, internationally and worldwide, earning a total of $635 million at the box office, according to Gay Times. 

The film has received nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Rami Malek also received nominations for the Golden Globe Award, the Critics’ Choice Award and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actor.

That Gay Times article mentions the censorship the film suffered in Malaysia. It's hard to imagine how much more deletions were made to accommodate that homophobic country. I've already written about the numerous critiques for its limited depiction of Mercury's life. The film's Wikipedia entry notes the film's many inaccuracies.

Freddie Mercury in the studio

But the fans who ignore or forgive such omissions are what's making this such a huge film. Many shared comments on fan groups online write about repeated viewings.

But what about the song itself? Certainly considered Queen's biggest hit, it's been re-released several times. Doubtless the film's soundtrack will sell millions more.

Universal Music Group (UMG) announced that "Bohemian Rhapsody" has become the most streamed song from the 20th century, racking up a total of 1.6 billion streams. Making the announcement, Sir Lucian Grange, UMG’s chairman and CEO, said: “Bohemian Rhapsody is one the greatest songs by one of the greatest bands in history. My congratulations to Queen and Jim Beach on an incredible achievement that is a testament to the enduring brilliance of Queen.”

The Wikipedia entry about the song's fascinating back story covers its structure and unique history. The single was accompanied by a promotional video, which many scholars consider ground-breaking. Rolling Stone stated that its influence "cannot be overstated, practically inventing the music video seven years before MTV went on the air."

The Death of a Rock Icon: Freddie Mercury Remembered

As November 24, the 27th anniversary of the death of Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury, receives worldwide attention, it's important to remember the legacy he left, that of his music and his amazing performances.

While other, perhaps more 'important' deaths were commemorated ( John F. Kennedy, Harvey Milk and George Moscone), as I've been immersed in the band's music and Mercury's life while finishing my Queen-infused novel, Now I'm Here, I've taken a specific focus on loss.

Many articles have been published and shared about Mercury's life, as told by those close to him. Peter “Phoebe” Freestone (Freddie Mercury’s personal assistant for over 10 years) talked about Freddie’s last words and final moments on his “Ask Phoebe” blog.

 "I remember Freddie’s last words to me," he wrote. "I was with him the whole of the night on Friday 22nd November. There was someone with Freddie 24 hours a day for the last week. I remember sitting on the bed holding his hand. Freddie would doze, wake up, doze, so I held his hand so that he knew someone was there. One of the times he was awake we had a short conversation… about how things were downstairs and if everything was clean and tidy. The very last thing he said to me was ‘thank you’. To this day I’m not sure if it was for the night I was sitting there with him, or for the 12 years we had been together. I suppose it is something I will never know."

Now We're Here - celebrating Queen's music and my novel Now I'm Here

Why would an author like me produce a concert of acoustic Queen music in a beautiful Alamo Square Victorian with a rich LGBT history? Because I can! Also, I won a book award.

Yes, for months, shortly after the publication of my sixth novel, Now I'm Here, I decided to add live music to my reading events. Musicians Peter Fogel and Dudley Saunders offered their guitar and singing skills at my San Francisco and West Hollywood readings in September and October.

But I wanted more music, so when I shot the interior piano-playing scenes for my book trailer at The F'Inn, a lovely historic home run by Mike Finn, I realized that it would be a perfect setting for an intimate salon-style concert.

On Thursday, December 6, you can get a copy of my book, enjoy champagne and food, and hear new live versions of more than a dozen Queen songs performed by some luminary talents:  Peter Fogel, Suzanne Ramsey, Diogo Zavadski, Coleton Schmitto, Adam Dragland and special guests Leigh Crow, Ruby Vixen and Jason Brock.

Bohemian Rhapsody film reviews - the good, the bad and the angry

It's no surprise that my sixth novel, the Queen-infused Now I'm Here, is benefiting from the publicity for the new Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. Although I started the novel more than twenty years ago, news of the film's pre-production two years ago gave me a kickstart to complete it.

But with reviews for the film rolling in, I'm wondering about associating myself too closely with what is being criticized by some media as a standard "paint-by-numbers' celebrity drama that misses the mark, specifically without a nuanced approach to Freddie Mercury's life and homosexuality.

First, the good news. My novel continues to hover in the top 100 for several categories on Amazon.com. This is despite my recommendations that readers purchase the novel through alternative means, specifically directly from the publisher, and via independent bookstores. Then, you can review it on the corporate websites, thus "playing the game," as Freddie's song goes.

True, the advance screening at the Castro Theatre earlier this month left me giddy with having seen the film. But something wasn't exactly right. Still, that I decided to record the onstage interviews with actors Rami Malek, Joe Mazzello and Gwylim Lee proved smart. I posted the lightly edited clips on YouTube, and it's been viewed more than 8,000 times and received almost 200 likes.

That's due in part to the devotion and eager anticipation of Queen fans, along with my clever keyword usage. You can view it here:




Now that the thrill of seeing the film early and seeing three of the four actors playing the band members has subsided, I've of course been curious to see media reviews. Some are good, some not nice and a few take the film to task for "queer erasure."

Now I'm There - Symbols and Signs in Los Angeles, and Bookstore Intimacy

The fuchsia Bohemian Rhapsody sign with Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury looking down through the window from across the street at my West Hollywood reading for my sixth novel Now I'm Here served as just one of many signs (that one an actual sign) and symbols relating to the novel's themes and icons.

And although, after months of anticipation, some fine social media boosts from Book Soup, and a nice advance interview in the Los Angeles Blade, the reading proved more intimately attended than I'd hoped, so I learned that such an event is more about the moments enjoyed and the before and after of such a day.

One fun element was driving around with my brother (a filmmaker whose in-development project, Destination Zero, documents the life of little-known Columbus rock singer Ronald Koal). He indulged me by letting me play Queen songs as we drove. 

At one moment, "Now I'm Here," the title song for my novel, played as we arrived in West Hollywood. Only blocks from where I set a few chapters in the novel (spoiler alert: main character Joshua lives there for a short time), the epigram lyric to the book, "Whatever comes of you and me, I love to leave my memory with you..." played just as we passed under a row of palm trees.

I don't know how many other writers imagine cinematic moments in their novels, but this was like stepping into a scene from my book. Of course, I partially captured it on Instagram.

Book Soup is crammed with books, its black shelves almost invisible as book spines and covers beguile in their variety. The staff was friendly in helping me get set up near the front window, where behind a row of plastic pink flamingos the Bohemian Rhapsody billboard glowed as the sun set.

at my Book Soup reading

Dudley Saunders, an award-winning musician, performer and producer, took time out from his busy schedule to join me and perform a few songs in between my reading and discussion of Now I'm Here. Saunders' acoustic version of "We Will Rock you" exposed the sad truth behind the usually rousing anthem. It all made for a lively conversation about art, masculinity, and other themes. 

Among the attendees were author Felice Picano, a longtime champion of my books, and a few of his writing workshop students. Mark Haile, who had booked me years ago at the former L.A. branch of A Different Light Bookstore, also came by, and even brought a copy of my first novel, PINS, to sign.

Now I'm Here - Enjoying the Ride of a New Novel

While it's been several days since the launch and first reading event for my sixth novel, Now I'm Here, I'm still energized by all the love and support shown by the nearly 50 people who attended the event.

So many folks sat patiently while I read and talked about my latest work. I'm not a big name author, so any attention and early purchases of my books are helpful, particularly from Dog Eared Books, where the first event took place, and Book Soup in West Hollywood, where my next big event on October 12 will include live music performed by Dudley Saunders.

I'm working with a small press, and with so many books being published these days, along with a barrage of painfully disgusting news coming from Washington, it's a feat to get folks out of their homes, or to make the decision to attend a book reading when we're all so busy.

And yet, after months of planning, it all came together. Among the photographers who attended (and whose images they graciously let me share on social media and here) were Tom Schmidt, aka Photos by Dot. Tom shot the cover photos for Now I'm Here back in May with our two handsome cover models, and the adorable border collie owned by publishing pioneers Jack Fritscher and Mark Hemry.

My Dog Eared Books event Sept. 20. photo: Gooch

Also taking great photos was nightlife and San Francisco community photographer Gareth Gooch, whose prolific work documents Bay Area events. I knew this event would mean a lot to me, and also that I would not have time to document it myself. So, it was great to have professionals capturing the evening's highlights.

I'd imagined recording each of musician Peter Fogel's four performances of acoustic versions of Queen songs, but was so nervous at one point that my camera work was wobbly.

I also knocked over the stool twice in between my reading excerpts from Now I'm Here! And I'm not sure if I should try to read the second excerpt (from Chapter 23), because I got a bit choked up. It was as if someone else had written those words, about my character Joshua's triumphant performance of "Bohemian Rhapsody" at a high school assembly.

Freddie Mercury: What I Owe Queen's Fantastic Lead Singer-Composer

September 5 is the birthday of Queen singer Freddie Mercury, and in anticipation of the release of Bohemian Rhapsody, the film biopic about Freddie and the band, the promotional Twitter account asked what fans owe to Mercury, and my answer, of course, is, "Quite a lot, darling!"

My sixth novel, Now I'm Here, (now available on ebook editions and in paperback September 20) fictionalizes some pivotal moments in my own life. 

 Since I was a child, I'd wanted to learn to play piano. But it wasn't until my dad's construction company, set to demolish some homes in northern Ohio for senior apartments, found a funky old upright piano in one of the houses, and my dad had it hauled to our home, where we dragged it into our dining room. Several keys were broken, and I had to strip its layers of paint to get to the deep wood color. How my family endured my hours of after-school playing I'll never know.

The piano at my home in 1977, with beloved cat Rachel.

While my early skills included learning basic classical pieces, I frequently surprised my piano teacher with songbooks of rock albums, Queen in particular. My junior high piano recital was a performance of "Melancholy Blues," an understated performance of a bluesy song. 

But for my senior recital in 1979, my ambition drew me to arrange a piano solo version of "Bohemian Rhapsody." I recall doing okay with the very complicated song (explained section by section on Wikipedia). Sadly, no one, myself included, thought to record my performance, nor any of my clumsy piano efforts of many rock songs.

Now I'm Here music video, performed by Gregory Yee

Here's the book trailer for my sixth novel,
Now I'm Here.    Pretty cool!

Now I'm Here - reading & music events with author Jim Provenzano summer/fall 2018

Instead of whipping up some inspirational essay on writing, or revealing the hours of unleashing stage one of a media campaign, I'll instead just share the goods on my sixth novel, Now I'm Here, and share my schedule of readings with music and more, from this month to mid-October. I spent hours on the moody artwork above, so instead of changing it, the schedule below will. Thanks! Hope to see you soon.

Dog Eared Books

AUG 14
Queer Authors Reading Queer Authors 
Dog Eared Books Castro  489 Castro St.  7pm.
www.dogearedbooks.com
Along with hosts Richard May and Wayne Goodman, stellar authors Margo Perin, Baruch Porras-Hernandez, Nona Caspers and myself bring favorite excerpts from other LGBT authors.  Event info HERE.  I'll be reading from the late Mark Merlis' American Studies.

In 1996, Merlis's novel, one of four great works, won the Los Angeles Times Book Prize

Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction, and the Ferro-Grumley Award for distinction in gay writing. It's a fascinating story of one man's obsession with the past life of a closeted schoolteacher.  Merlis died in 2017.

I've loved each of Merlis's works. His Greek gogo stud epic, An Arrow's Flight, unleashed my impulse to underline my third novel, Cyclizen, with a Greek myth. You can read more in my tribute to Merlis.

In 2012, when I'd been in Philadelphia for a week of researching Message of Love, I ran into many friends, including meeting Merlis and his husband Robert Ashe. We had brunch and talked shop. I was flattered that he recognized me. Two days later I won a Lammy.

Now I'm Here - Get an Advance Reader Copy now!

It's Christmas in July! New Advance Reader Copies of my sixth novel, Now I'm Here, have arrived.  I'll be mailing signed copies to more than a dozen fans in the next few weeks.

To sign up, simply private message me via either of my social media pages: Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads, or Instagram. Like and subscribe, then send a private message with your mailing address.

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In exchange, you agree to post an honest review of Now I'm Here on Amazon.com, Goodreads.com and/or BarnesandNoble.com. Post a review on all three sites, and on the social media account of your choice, and I'll mail you a signed copy of my first novel, PINS!

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This offer is for U.S. and Canada addresses only.
For overseas fans, ebook giveaways will kick off in August. Thanks for reading!

Now I'm Here, new novel, new website

Now I’m Here

a novel by Jim Provenzano

Beautiful Dreamer Press

ISBN-13: 978-0998126265

Release date: September 19, 2018

“Here is a novel of such sweep and breadth that to call it simply a love story is inadequate, even while the love of David and Joshua at the heart of the book resonates so deeply that I could not stop reading their tale. Provenzano is one of our masters; like his character Joshua he is a kind of musician. The instrument he plays on is the heart, and the story of these men rings true for all of us who lived through these years.”  
– Jim Grimsley, author of Dream Boy and Winter Birds

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"Jim Provenzano has again created characters that a reader can’t help but fall in love with. This is an epic story, a tale as captivating as a favorite piece of music.”  
– Mark Abramson, author of Minnesota Boy

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“A haunting page turner;  Provenzano fearlessly navigates, with wit, unflinching candor and a detective’s tenacity, that deepest mystery: first love, with all its euphoria, madness and wreckage. Gorgeously written, Now I’m Here stands alongside the best of Edmund White and Andrew Holleran. I could spend a year with each sentence.” 
– Adam Tendler, concert pianist, author of 88x50: A Memoir of Sexual Discovery, Modern Music and The United States of America

So, yes! My sixth novel is available for pre-order on Amazon.com in ebook and paperback editions. It will be in bookstores in September.

And to jazz up this little celebration, I got a new website: https://www.jimprovenzano.com/
Visit, scroll around and let me know what you think.

Wrestling with Angels, Laughing at Demons

Randy Harrison and Francesca Faridany
 in Angels in America at Berkeley Rep.
photo: Kevin Berne

It would be great if the fact that two major productions of Tony Kushner's two-part drama, Angels in America, could bracket our nation and hold it together. But unfortunately, it reflects the comic chaos then and now, and our confused queries about democracy, death, and justice. On its 25th anniversary, the work continues to inspire, and reminds me of the many people I've lost in the past quarter century.


The story of the play's development is as long and fascinating as the work itself. Here's a Slate oral history of the work's development, which moves from San Francisco to New York, as did my journeys to see the play. A brief quote:

Stephen Spinella with Tony Kushner
in the 1993 Broadway production
of Angels in America

"Tony Kushner’s Angels in America premiered in the tiny Eureka Theatre in San Francisco’s Mission District. Within two years it had won the Pulitzer Prize and begun a New York run that would dominate the Tony Awards two years in a row, revitalize the non-musical play on Broadway, and change the way gay lives were represented in pop culture. Both parts of Angels, Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, put gay men at the center of American politics, history, and mythology at a time when they were marginalized by the culture at large and dying in waves."

Understandably, death plays an important role in the works. But surprisingly, while the main character Prior Walter actually wrestles an angel for answers, and his blessing, the plays are quite funny –hilarious, in fact– because the jokes are paired with serious issues and emotions.

And the Theatre Kids shall lead them; exposing NRA-whore politicians with Truth

Defying the latest round of rightwing-fed 'crisis actor' accusations, teenage survivors of the latest school shooting have proven defiant to the hypocritical inaction of GOP politicians who, instead of enacting swift gun control efforts, veer to the reverse, all the while enacting inept antiquated Band-aids by slapping up In God We Trust on school walls, and in Iowa, banning LGBT books in school libraries.

With the chilling 'conversation' and Q & As with weasels like Trump, Rubio and Florida Governor Scott offering nothing in the way of change, it's going to be a hard road. But the outspoken kids of these town halls may have finally found a breaking point.

Love, Longing and Loss; catching up too late

The mark of a good writer is prolificity, that is, the ability to get it all written. Fortunately, I've been doing that, elsewhere, leaving the obligatory blogging to wait.

A single theme escapes me, other than the toll of author departures. With so many tumultuous events and losses –and I'm not talking about the Dow– it's time to roll on after a brief review. I have to write something to get the December Christmas tree off my front page.

When discussing literature, it's pretty much turned into a toll of loss. Well, one could do that by consulting a list of all recent writer deaths, but let's not. There is hope.