# Odd opening songs for rock musicians

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-opening-songs-for-rock-musicians/831092>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [March 13, 2019, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-opening-songs-for-rock-musicians/831092 "2019-03-13T19:54:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-opening-songs-for-rock-musicians/831092/21 "2019-03-24T12:03:57Z")

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> [@kenobi\_65](#):
>
> The first time that Adam Lambert toured the U.S. with Queen, in 2014, they opened the show with “Now I’m Here,” a song from “Sheer Heart Attack” that was never released as a single in the U.S. It’s a rocking song, and part of the reason they chose it, I think, was to note that Adam was now part of the band (as he sang “now I’m here”), but opening with a deep catalog song was an interesting choice.

They probably know where their songs were hits better than most, I suppose, but to me as a Brit the idea that “Now I’m Here” is an obscurity is very surprising. I’m not a particular fan - they’re fine - but I know that track from their Greatest Hits album, the best selling album in UK chart history (and one of the best selling albums of all time worldwide).

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**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-opening-songs-for-rock-musicians/831092/22 "2019-03-24T13:34:02Z")

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Ah, but it wasn’t on the US version of Queen’s Greatest Hits - the first LP I ever purchased, in truth - and I was surprised when I later saw an import with the wider tracklist.

These tracks appeared on the UK version and did not appear on the US/CAN version:

Don’t Stop Me Now  
Save Me  
Now I’m Here  
Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy  
Seven Seas of Rhye

Contrariwise, Under Pressure was listed on the US version and not the UK version.

Now I’m here is a great song, it’s true, but it was never released in the US as a single and thus couldn’t be a ‘Greatest Hits’ as such was defined at the time. Ditto ‘Save Me’ which never charted in the US at all and don’t ask me at all about what’s up with ‘Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy’. It reached #17 in the UK but didn’t chart anywhere else.

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**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\
**Post date:** [March 24, 2019, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/odd-opening-songs-for-rock-musicians/831092/23 "2019-03-24T13:35:42Z")

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also when I saw the Eagles in the 70s there was no mention of an opening act but my friend and I knew there was an opening act. Lights go down and everyone starts screaming. Then the band says “we are Blue Steel” and you could hear a pin drop. 🙂 They were a no hit wonder as far as I know.

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