The School Band Freddie Mercury Formed Long Before Queen

Queen's lead singer Freddie Mercury will forever be remembered as an astonishing vocal talent. He was capable of switching not only his tonal range but also his emotions, often within a single line. Flamboyant and irrepressible onstage, the off-stage Freddie was a more nuanced figure.

Let's drop the needle on Mercury's life, and the group he performed with before becoming the frontman of one of the biggest bands in the world.

FREDDIE MERCURY AND HIS FIRST BAND

He came from an interesting background. He was born in Zanzibar in 1946 and relocated with his family to England in 1970. Between those years, from the age of seven until sixteen, Mercury was sent to an English boarding school in Panchgani near Mumbai (then called Bombay), in India. It was there that he performed in his first-ever band – The Hectics. In an interview for The Guardian, Mercury explained: "I was a precocious child. My parents thought boarding school would do me good so they sent me to one when I was seven, dear. I look back on it, and I think it was marvellous. You learn to look after yourself, and it taught me to have responsibility."

The Hectics formed when Mercury (who at that point was still known by his birth name, Farrokh Bulsara) was thirteen and lasted for three years. Freddie wasn't the singer in the band – he played piano – and the group performed covers of popular rock and roll songs of the time. In a playlist of Freddie's most loved songs, published by Queen's official Spotify account, many early rockers’ songs were featured, including Fats Domino's "Blueberry Hill," Elvis Presley's "Love Me Tender," Ricky Nelson's "Hello Mary Lou," and Billy Fury's "Halfway to Paradise." The other boys who played in The Hectics were Bruce Murray as lead singer, Derrick Branche on guitar, Farang Irani on bass, and drummer Victory Rana.

THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE HECTICS

Writing in a 2016 article for Scroll.in, journalist Anvar Alikhan explained how, quite by chance, he met Farang Irani at a restaurant the latter now owns in Pune, Maharashtra. Alikhan subsequently tracked down the rest of The Hectics, and their recollections made for some fascinating reading. 

Bruce Murray recalled the real reason that the band was formed: "Actually, we started the band mainly to impress the girls. We certainly were not musicians. Yes, Freddie was a great musician, but the rest of us just made a lot of noise…But I guess we achieved our objective, because the girls really loved us!" 

Irani echoed Murray's observation that there was only one star: "But the main reason for our success was Freddie. He was the only real musician among us."

Murray recalls that the band did indeed cover songs by Fats Domino and Ricky Nelson, but also numbers by teen idol Fabion. Other songs The Hectics performed included the Coasters’ "Yakkety Yak (which was written by songwriters Mike Stoller and Jerry Lieber)," "The Girl of My Best Friend (first recorded by Charlie Blackwell and made famous by Elvis Presley)," Bill Haley's hugely influential "Rock Around the Clock," and Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti." According to Murray, the boys dressed smartly in pointed shoes and with hair heavily Brylcreamed. Even back then, said Murray, Freddie was something of a prodigy, able to hear a song on the radio just once before noting down its chords.

Rana opined: "Freddie was hugely talented. He was a natural musician. And he had an amazing voice. He could sing anything – from rock ’n’ roll to classical music." 

Irani concurred: "He was born with the gift. Even as a toddler, I believe he loved to sing at family get-togethers and parties – and he loved all the attention it got him. That is something that never changed as he grew up." 

FREDDIE'S TEETH

Something that did change was Freddie's level of confidence. He was bullied at school for his prominent teeth, and nicknamed Bucky. Speaking of his boarding school days in a 1974 interview with New Musical Express, the singer noted: “It’s stupid to say there is no such thing in boarding schools. All the things they say about them are more or less true.

All the bullying and everything else. I’ve had the odd schoolmaster chasing me. It didn’t shock me because somehow boarding schools… you’re not confronted by it; you are just slowly aware of it. It’s going through life.”

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