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Roger Taylor - Fun in Space

Roger Taylor
I had seen this album many times and thought it looked absolutely awesome. I loved those old Warren magazines. I had a lot of copies of Creepy, Eerie and The Rook. No, I didn't have copies of Vampirella - but I would discreetly read it at the store when no one was looking. 

Roger's sleeve was designed by Hipgnosis, the legendary design team from the UK, and it looked like something that could have come straight out of one of those magazines. I knew someone who had a copy and, as I was a big Queen fan, I asked about it. I was told it was nothing like Queen.

So I passed.

After all, this was Roger, the guy who got the B-side to "Bohemian Rhapsody" to sing about his car. Never my favourite song, but dagnabbit, through sheer force of will Roger earned my respect. Still, the prospect of hearing an entire album seemed to be a bit much.

Everything changed in the summer of '84 after I heard "Man on Fire" - suddenly Mister Taylor was on my radar. Generally my memory for musical trivia and assorted tangential bric-a-brac is kind of surprising to me ... I can usually pull the weirdest associations out of thin air ... but I can't remember why I just walked into the kitchen.

I only mention this because I am fairly certain I bought Strange Frontier and Fun in Space around the same time. Not at the same time, mind you, but I don't know which was the chicken and which was the egg. All I know is I ended up with a tasty musical omelette.

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I know I didn't spend as much time with either album as I should have. I do remember thinking covering Springsteen's "Racing in the Street" was an odd choice on Strange Frontier. I mined "Man on Fire" for a few mix tapes and from Fun in Space, "Let's Get Crazy" was my favourite song.

Roger wasn't especially prolific as it would be another decade before I found a copy of Happiness? and then in '98 he'd release Electric Fire. Don't even get me started on The Cross, a band that totally flew under my radar in between his solo releases, and by the time I wanted to jump on the bandwagon there was no wagon to hop onto ... sigh.

Anyway, such is life.

I have Fun in Space on CD, but I found a copy of the record and figured rules are meant to be broken. One of the dumbest sayings ever. Rules (at least the good ones) are meant to be followed. It's what enables society to function.

A bit of self-imposed restraint in not collecting everything twice isn't a bad thing, and I'm generally pretty good about not doubling up. I said pretty good, not great.

However it happened, I now have this one on record. I had it before, lost it, and now have it again, so in a real sense I'm right back where I started. When I bought the CD I actually broke my rule. Then again, CDs were so much better. Was it really a bad thing?

Holy, what a tangent. You still here?

I've had a fair bit of caffeine already, and I've been playing Fun in Space on repeat. Not because I have to ... I want to.

This came out in 1981, and it's a hard one to classify. It's rock, it's alternative, it's weird, it leans into being experimental - but above all this is really enjoyable. Roger is in absolutely fine voice throughout, and is also the chief sonic architect, playing just about everything.

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The credits are simple:

Roger Taylor: instruments and vocals.

David Richards: engineer and approx. 50% of keyboards ... of which there were 157 according to the postscript.

Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound. Only the best for Roger. 

What surprised me then, and still surprises me now, is how unconcerned Roger seems with trying to make a hit record. Maybe that's not entirely fair as there are certainly songs here that could have fit comfortably on the radio, but for the most part this feels like a guy having fun and following whatever idea wandered into his head. Some of those ideas are stranger than others, but the album never feels self-indulgent.

I have already mentioned "Let's Get Crazy" as a favourite from back in the day, and sure as shootin' it's still a fantastic song. However, revisiting the album all these years later, I found myself paying more attention to the songs around it. "Future Management" another standout track, is wonderfully quirky. 

However the centrepiece is "My Country I & II" which features Roger in all of his glory. Ambitious, eclectic and more than a little over the top, it somehow manages to hold together despite having every reason not to. If there is one song on the album that explains why Fun in Space works, it's probably that one. The title track "Fun in Space" is an atmospheric and densely textured title track, that closes out the album.

back cover

This isn't a timeless album, but there is something about it that, despite the technology, still maintains an organic core. I know it was a surprise to me as I just figured a solo album from one of the guys in Queen would be trying to be ... well, commercial.

Who knew he was just looking to have fun in his space.

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