Freddie Mercury Daily

When we turned up on 4th December I couldn't believe that our seats were in the centre of the stalls, six rows back from the end of Freddie's cat walk!

The show was of course fantastic and made complete at the end of 'We will rock you' (webmaster's comment: it was probably another song). As the song finished, with the boys lined up front of stage, Brian threw a plectrum into the gaggle of girls at the front (mayhem as they tried to find half a square inch of plastic). Roger threw his drum sticks into the crowd and Freddie launched his tamborine towards the ceiling.

I knew straight away, even as it was going up, that it was coming to me (cricket training). I reached up as high as I could and got to it first. Then all hell broke loose. I managed to wrestle myself down below my struggling neighbours together with my prize. As the next song began the mob lost interest and I slipped the tamborine over my foot and left it on the floor.

After the final encore I slipped it under my stretch jacket, which hid nothing, and made my way out to the car and a safe gettaway. The tamborine is still with me and I occasionally pull it out and tell the story. It has no markings or indication of its previous owner so its only value is to me and the memory. Not that I would sell it.

My only problem is that both my sons, now in their twenties, are avid Queen fans. Who to pass it on to?”

Written by Mike Hooker courtesy of Queen Concerts Archive

How lucky is Mike with Freddie’s tambourine

“I remember Freddie's massive black hair, which made him look like a cavalier. He was very proud of his new white shoes. He was like no one I had ever met before. He was very confident and I have never been that confident. We grew up together. I liked him and it went on from there. It took about three years for me to really fall in love. But I had never felt that way before about anyone."

It was at a showcase held at 'Ealing College of Art', Freddie's old art school, that Mary first recognized his star quality. "When he came off the stage all the girls and his friends were crowding round him. He was so busy I just thought, I don't think he needs me now.

Things had suddenly taken a turn for him and the band. Freddie was just so good on that stage, like I had never seen before, as if it was something he'd stored up. For the first time I felt, here is a star in the making. He's on his way. I don't think he needs me any more. I didn't feel tearful or upset. I was happy that it was at last happening for him because of his talent. He wouldn't let me go. That night, I realised that I had to go along with this and be a part of it. As everything took off, I was watching him flower. It was wonderful to observe. There was something about seeing that happen that was so exciting. I was so happy and proud that he wanted to be with me.

I felt very safe with him. The more I got to know him, the more I loved him for himself. He had quality as a person, which I think is rare in life, these days.

One thing which was always constant, was the love. We knew we could trust each other and we were safe with each other. We knew that we would never hurt each other on purpose.”

(Mary Austin)

“I used to go around and have tea with them and it would all be so sweet. The tablecloth would come out along with bone china cups and little teacups and nice little plates of biscuits, and we’d all sit there with our little fingers sort of raised, drinking tea properly. Freddie and Mary were like this old married couple.” (Mick Rock)

Even though as Freddie said their “affair ended in tears,” they remained the dearest of friends for the remainder of his life. They were and will always be soulmates.

“I have built up an immense bond with Mary. I open up to her more than anybody else. We have gone through a lot of ups and downs in our time together, but that has made our relationship all the stronger. I know a lot of people find it hard to understand our relationship. Other people who come into our lives just have to accept it. We love each other very much and look after each other. I don't want anybody else....

Sometimes a good friend is much more valuable than a lover. Apart from Mary I don’t have any real friends. I don’t think I do. Friends come and go. A real true friend for me has to be very strong to put up with me. I think Mary has gone through just about everything with me. She has the depth and the qualities to adapt to me and talk to me about very serious things. Even if we are not together, I talk to her a lot on the phone. She’s about the only person I can think of.

Freddie Mercury

Even as big a star Freddie became, Mary was the one person could still boss him around!

“He would chuck a tube of toothpaste that was half-used into the waste bin and I would literally go into the bin and get it back and roll the toothpaste back up . . . and say, ‘You finish the tube. You can’t be wasteful like this, Freddie!’

“He would say: ‘But I’m the richest guy in the world!’ And I would say, ‘I don’t care. You don’t throw away money.’

Freddie with Mary, possibly 1987

In the winter 1977 Queen fan club magazine he said an hour-long Old Grey Whistle Test special should air in January 1978, but the project would ultimately be shelved, with a possible reason being the Old Grey Whistle Test producers wanted to focus on punk and new wave instead of an older band like Queen.

Some backstage footage and interviews from the period were first seen in "The Champions" documentary aired on US TV in 1979. The black and white interviews of the band seen in the 1995 "Champions Of The World" documentary are from these reels of film as well. Freddie Mercury's interview alone is four hours of tape.

Footage of the band arriving to the venue as well as them running Tie Your Mother Down at soundcheck was seen in the "American Dream" documentary on the News Of The World box set released in 2017. The latter was also shown at the "Stormtroopers in Stilettoes" exhibition in London in 2011.

The beautiful concert photos were taken by Michael Mastro.

The very last pictures (black and white) is Freddie during soundcheck

At the time, famed disco producer Georgio Moroder was reworking what footage still survived of the heavily damaged film (its distributors had edited the film and much of the excised footage was lost until a chance rediscovery of sections of it less than a decade prior), and adding colour filters and a contemporary score - which Freddie had agreed to contribute to.

The ‘Radio Ga Ga’ promo included different scenes from Metropolis, and the rights to these were bought by the band and Jim Beach directly from the German government.

Much of the rest of the video used sets loosely based on those in the film: the machine the film's hero Freder operates, for example, was recreated in vibrant colours for Freddie to work.

David Mallet turned to members of the fan club, who once again found the required number (500) of more than willing fans at incredibly short notice. The fans became the faceless workers who put on white boiler suits, which were then sprayed with silver paint. They were assembled in regimental rows to await for the arrival of the band. Once Queen arrived, the fans had to stand in line, before the band, their heads bowed, clapping their hands in a manner now familiar to every hardened Queen fan (particularly those who would later perform the same move whenever the band perform the song on tour). They were troopers and spent the whole day on the 23rd November under very hot lights at Shepperton Studios in London

Freddie's song, Love Kills, cowritten with Moroder and featuring an uncredited Brian May and Roger Taylor, became a hit single later in 1984, and featured in a key scene of the reworked film. The Radio Ga Ga promo included different scenes from Metropolis, and the rights to these were bought by the band and Jim Beach directly from the German government.

The band stopped off at Harlech TV on the way to see a cassette of the video for 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. The general consensus was quite good for four hours, with much laughter during the operetta. Brian finds film of the group educational - the first time he saw himself was a Mike Mansfield opus for 'Keep Yourself Alive' - "It was 'All right fellows, give it everything you've got but don't move off that spot.' It was terrible." You don't like Mansfield, eh? "Oh, I hate him - we all do... I was horrified when I saw it - I couldn't believe we looked that bad. I looked very static - seeing myself has taught me a lot about stage movement. Some of the things I do are planned for effect, but it's mostly just feeling the audience and communicating that back to them."

Arriving at the motel - several miles out of town - Freddie immediately fell asleep, John held court of a sort, joined later by Brian, while Roger went jogging, a daily event when touring. Tuning in to rock via Bill Haley and Tommy Steele, he became a drummer because he was better at it than guitar. All through school he was in bands; he only went to dental school out of "middle class conditioning, and it was a good way to stay in London without having to work". His mother thought it a bit strange when he opted for a career as a rock star, but she doesn't worry too much now.

The concert starts in much the same manner as the previous night, but there are signs that tonight is work, with posing an afterthought.

During ‘Stone Cold Crazy’ Freddie's movements explode in perfect unison with the music, the lights and surroundings go crazy, and the audience goes berserk.

Freddie asks for requests and receives a roar out of which one can vaguely make 'Liar'. Fred walks along the stage, nodding, agreeing he will do this one and that one while the kids roar on. "I'll tell you what - we'll do them all!"

(Brian twisted his ankle during ‘Liar’ unbeknownst to the audience.)

'Doing Alright' changes into a cha-cha beat, Freddie snapping his fingers, the coolest hipster in town, and then instantly drops into faster-than-light drive - the whole row next to me leaps to their feet as a man, rocking back and forth as Brian roars into a blinding solo.

Two songs later, in 'Seven Seas of Rye', the kids break - very fast - and in five seconds half the audience is a seething mass in front of the stage, climbing on each other in pyramids, sudden openings appearing as a splintering seat sends a few bodies to the floor.

(Seats seats were damaged from the fans climbing over them)

Interestingly, Freddie's strip act during ‘Big Spender’ isn't part of the show every night. On this night Freddie appeared (and remained) in his kimono, while on the previous night he emerged for the encore in his tight white shorts

Queen will probably always be remembered, because as their tour is beginning to demonstrate, they have the ability to actualise and encompass the outer limits of their sense of self-importance. Queen and their music, presentation, production - everything about them says that they are more important than any other band you've every heard, and who has there been, so far, who has objected? Certainly not the 150,000 people (plus 20,000 a day) who bought 'Bohemian Rhapsody' in the first 20 days of its release. Certainly not me.

Source: Queen: A Riot At The Opera

Published in Sounds, November 29 1975

Queen triumphant

After ‘Son And Daughter,’ Freddie asks, "Are you being nice and naughty? Have you been misbehaving yourselves? Good!" He taunts the enthusiastic audience by holding up a copy of the new LP that hasn't been released yet (see pic 4). “Oh, that's right, it's called ‘A Night At The Opera.’ Turn to side two. You you haven't got it yet, but I'm sure you'll buy it. (ANATO will be released on Nov 21st). This is a number written by Brian May. It's called ‘The Prophet's Song.’

This song is far too complex to recreate on stage exactly as it is on the record of course, but Queen manage a startlingly close rendition. For the multi-tracked vocal parts, Freddie sings essentially improvised lines based on the real lyrics, with a delayed echo on his voice. The fans adore this song, and it always go down a storm.

Brian (on ‘The Prophet’s Song’): “I had a dream about what seemed like revenge on people, and I couldn’t really work out in the dream what it was that people had done wrong. It was something like a flood. Things had gone much too far and as a kind of reparation, the whole thing had to start again.

In the dream, people were walking on the streets trying to touch each other’s hands, desperate to try and make some sign that they were caring about other people. I felt that the trouble must be - and this is one of my obsessions anyway - that people don’t make enough contact with each other.

A feeling that runs through a lot of the songs, I write is that if there is a direction to mankind, it ought to be a coming together, and at the moment it doesn’t seem to be happening very well. I worry about it a lot. I worry about not doing anything about it. Things seem to be getting worse.

But I wasn’t trying to preach in the song at all. I was just trying to put across the questions which are in my mind rather than the answers, which I don’t believe I have. The only answer I can see, is to be aware of things like that and to sort of try and put yourself to rights. There is an overseer in the song though, whose cry to the multitudes is to ‘Listen to the warning of the Seer.’

In the song is this guy who also appeared in the dream. I don’t really know whether he was a prophet or an impostor, but anyway, he’s standing up there and saying: ‘Look, you’ve got to mend your ways’. I still don’t know whether he’s the man who thinks he’s the man who thinks he’s sent from God or whether he isn’t. The song asks questions rather than gives answers.”

Alan Freeman hosts the event, which unlike subsequent conventions, is only a half day affair, held on a Saturday afternoon. It kicks off with Freeman explaining the programme for the afternoon and continues with him playing various tracks from the albums. The music is accompanied by a slide show pictures of the band.

The promotional videos for ‘Rhapsody’, ‘Best Friend’, ‘Somebody To Love’, ‘Tie Your Mother Down’, ‘Rock You’, ‘Champions’ and ‘Spread Your Wings’ are also shown.

The afternoon concludes with a complete play-through of the brand new album ‘Jazz’, before a telegram sent by the band from America is read out.

By comparison, the UK convention now spans three days.

Queen Live by Greg Brooks