Even the most casual listener is familiar with Freddie Mercury’s contributions to Queen, but Roger Taylor’s role in shaping the band is less common knowledge.
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Taylor drummed for the band Smile before he began working under the name Queen in 1970. Mercury long admired the band before joining himself. They later changed their name and became the stars they are today. The band released their first self-titled album in 1973 with Taylor contributing to at least one song on every Queen album, and would hop on lead vocals for select songs. This was partly because the band had a strict songwriting credit system, where if one member came up with the original idea, they would claim total ownership.
Taylor was inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame in 2003 and has remained active in the industry, writing with several high-profile artists. In addition to Queen, Taylor has lent his songwriting ear to artists like Phil Collins, Elton John, and Bon Jovi.
Taylor has written some of the band’s biggest hits, and some of their most niche cuts. Here are a few songs that have his name on them.
1. “I’m in Love with My Car” (1975)
Written By Roger Taylor
Home to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” A Night At The Opera is one of the band’s biggest commercial successes. It reached No. 4 on the Billboard 200, entering the charts for the first time in 1975. While “Bohemian Rhapsody” is, by far, the most popular track on the album, the rest of its tracklist is worthy of that same attention.
“I’m in Love with My Car” is the third track to appear on A Night At The Opera, and is the only song to be written by Taylor. As documented in the book Is This the Real Life?: The Untold Story of Queen, written by Mark Blake, the song seems to have been based on their sound person, John Harris, who took great pride in his Triumph TR-4. The band once described him as a ‘boy racer to the end.’
2. “Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll” (1973)
Written By Roger Taylor
Queen’s self-titled debut album was rough around the edges but did not detract from the band’s potential. Rather, the less-than-ideal production quality made their slow ballads like “Doing Alright” all the more impressive, and faster moments all the more intense.
“Modern Times Rock ‘n’ Roll” is the first of Taylor’s songs with Queen to be recorded. Taylor takes lead vocals on the studio recording. However, Mercury would sing it live throughout their early performances, matching the pace and attitude, and showing how syncopated each of the members was with each other.
“Modern Time Rock ’n’ Roll” is a blitz of a track. Clocking in at a little over a minute and a half, it precedes much of the punk movement to come, while still maintaining hints of Queen’s “stadium rock” flare they’d become known for.
3. “Marriage of Dale and Ming (And Flash Approaching)” (1980)
Written By Brian May and Roger Taylor
The Flash Gordon original soundtrack was a massive project for Queen to take on by themselves but undoubtedly fits the epic sound they had cultivated. Flash Gordon, and its soundtrack, was released in 1980. The movie is based on a comic strip by Alex Raymond, which ran from 1934 to 2003. The science fiction story follows Dr. Hans Zarkov, who recruits a football star, Flash Gordon, and a travel agent, Dale Arden, to navigate space looking to stop an extraterrestrial disturbance attacking Earth.
Taylor and guitarist Brian May co-wrote the song together, which proves to be a very untraditional Queen song. The song samples dialogue clips from the movie, mixed with spurts of Mercury’s vocals, synths, then conventional guitars and drums.
4. “Radio Ga Ga” (1984)
Written By Roger Taylor
“Radio Ga Ga” is, suitably, one of Queen’s biggest radio hits, reaching number sixteen on the Hot 100 in 1984. The song opened Queen’s eleventh studio album, The Works, released that same year.
Taylor originally planned to feature the song on a solo record, but after input from Mercury, they tailored it for Queen. The song takes a break from their glam rock sensibilities, employing more of the techno-synth sounds popular at the time. Following in the footsteps of The Buggles’ “Video Killed The Radio Star,” the song comments on the ultra takeover of television and visual media in a mainstream capacity, rendering some past radio specialties obsolete.
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