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There's been a lot of rumours lately 'bout certain band
for Queen, the rumour said that we are going to split up.
What do you think?
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SHOUTS OF "No!"
They're talking from here.
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So forget those rumours.
We're going to stay together until
we fucking well die, I'm sure of it!
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INTRO TO: "One Vision"
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Hey!
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There really wasn't much sex...
Well, there wasn't much drugs.
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You wouldn't be able to do that now.
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♪ One man
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♪ One goal
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♪ One mission... ♪
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For that moment,
we kind of owned the world.
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00:01:01,270 --> 00:01:04,110
Where's the modesty gone?
There isn't any.
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♪ One solution... ♪
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00:01:06,590 --> 00:01:09,230
Press are never quite understood,
A lot of the press took against them.
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♪ Yeah, one God... ♪
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England doesn't really think we're that cool.
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But I mean I don't want some arsehole critic
to tell me that.
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You might as well paint a target
on your head and go, "Shoot me!"
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I think when you go all the way up,
the only place is to come down.
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Controversy Behind Sun City
I wish I'd never heard of the place!
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♪ I'm gonna tell you there's
no black and no white... ♪
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Whenever the band came under pressure,
there would be a walk-out,
a separation, a row.
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00:01:40,830 --> 00:01:42,750
♪ One worldwide vision... ♪
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We were at a crucial point.
We might have had to break up.
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The arguments were creative, then
it would become personal. Of course.
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There is an inward jealousy.
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They're all wondering & all waiting to see
if my album is going to do better
than the last Queen album.
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Freddie took to the gay scene
like David Attenborough making
a wildlife programme.
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00:02:06,990 --> 00:02:11,990
I just want to pack in as much of
life and having a good time as much as I can.
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00:02:19,750 --> 00:02:23,310
'London - the Imperial College
of Science and Technology,
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'meeting place for space scientists
from 50 nations,
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'specialists who will help develop
the equipment which has taken mankind
to the new age of space exploration.'
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We've got Brian May on guitar.
APPLAUSE
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I was studying Physics
as an undergraduate here,
but Astronomy was always my thing.
36
00:02:45,550 --> 00:02:50,030
And so I did the Astronomy
post-graduate for a PhD.
37
00:02:50,030 --> 00:02:54,150
When we were at school, me and
my mates had a group called 1984.
38
00:02:54,150 --> 00:02:58,110
When I left for university,
the singer we had, Tim Staffell,
39
00:02:58,110 --> 00:03:02,790
and myself decided to put
a new group together called Smile.
40
00:03:02,790 --> 00:03:05,790
We've got Roger Meddows-Taylor
on percussion.
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00:03:05,790 --> 00:03:09,630
There was a noticeboard here
where you would pin items
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of interest to musicians, so I put
a notice saying "drummer wanted".
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"We need Ginger Baker/Mitch Mitchell
type drummer."
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I booked this little jazz club room
here and Roger brought his kit
and I brought a guitar.
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00:03:24,070 --> 00:03:27,590
That was the first time
we played together.
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00:03:27,590 --> 00:03:30,150
♪ When she was done
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♪ She hung them up... ♪
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Something happened, I have to say.
We thought, "There is some kind
of special sound to this."
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♪ Goodbye, April Lady... ♪
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I guess we had the same sort
of sound in our heads.
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00:03:49,670 --> 00:03:54,470
♪ Goodbye, April Lady
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00:03:54,470 --> 00:03:59,030
♪ You've done a lot for the folks
in this town... ♪
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00:04:01,110 --> 00:04:04,390
Freddie Mercury on vocals.
APPLAUSE
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Freddie came from
a colonial background.
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00:04:07,710 --> 00:04:12,870
He was born in Zanzibar and he went
to boarding school in India.
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00:04:12,870 --> 00:04:17,790
I first met Freddie
at Ealing Art School in 1968.
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There was a piano down there
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and Freddie would do
this flowery style on the piano.
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It was very Mozart and effective,
but unique. You'd never seen anybody
play the piano like that before.
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00:04:30,670 --> 00:04:35,830
The first time he sang,
I knew straight away
that that voice was going places.
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♪ The minute you walked in the joint
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♪ I could see
you were a man of distinction
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♪ A real big spender
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♪ Good-looking, so refined
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♪ Say, wouldn't you like to know
what's going on in my mind...? ♪
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00:04:50,870 --> 00:04:55,670
I used to follow Smile a lot. We were
friends. I used to go to their shows.
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00:04:55,670 --> 00:05:00,750
Freddie was waiting in the wings,
literally, and advising us
on what to do.
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He would say, "You're brilliant,
but you should do this and this..."
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00:05:05,190 --> 00:05:10,030
What did you see in what Brian
and Roger were doing with Smile?
Nothing!
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00:05:10,030 --> 00:05:15,750
I think he had
in the back of his mind some idea
about maybe working with us.
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00:05:15,750 --> 00:05:21,590
Freddie told everybody
that he was going to be a pop star
and we didn't take it that seriously.
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He was sitting over there one night.
I walked in and he put his head in
his hands, looking really depressed.
73
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I said, "What's the matter with you?"
He said, "I'm not going to be
a pop star."
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00:05:32,910 --> 00:05:36,390
And very slowly he stood up
and he said,
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00:05:36,390 --> 00:05:40,350
"I'm going to be...a legend."
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00:05:41,950 --> 00:05:44,710
♪ Hey, big spender
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♪ Spend a little time with me... ♪
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Although we had a lot of successful
gigs and we played colleges, pubs
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00:05:57,030 --> 00:06:01,070
and clubs up and down the country,
we just never got anywhere.
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00:06:01,070 --> 00:06:04,110
Smile made a single
which did nothing at all,
81
00:06:04,110 --> 00:06:08,750
then Tim, our singer, got an offer
from someone else called Humpy Bong.
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00:06:08,750 --> 00:06:11,550
So Tim sodded off to that.
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00:06:11,550 --> 00:06:15,990
Freddie got us. He said, "Come on,
you can't give up. I want to sing."
84
00:06:15,990 --> 00:06:18,830
So we decided
that we'd take the plunge.
85
00:06:18,830 --> 00:06:22,790
And it was then that I sort of
thought about the name Queen.
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00:06:22,790 --> 00:06:27,670
Why Queen? I don't know.
At the time, it was outrageous.
87
00:06:29,470 --> 00:06:32,030
So here we have the main hall.
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00:06:32,030 --> 00:06:35,110
In 1973, this is where Queen played.
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00:06:35,110 --> 00:06:39,150
This is really the first proper,
advertised gig we ever did
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00:06:39,150 --> 00:06:44,790
and it's certainly the first review
we ever got by Rosemary Horide
of what was then Disc.
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00:06:46,790 --> 00:06:53,110
From the very beginning,
Freddie was absolutely remarkable
for stagecraft. He had a presence
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00:06:53,110 --> 00:06:57,710
unlike anything I'd seen. I'd been
a music journalist for a long time.
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00:06:57,710 --> 00:07:03,830
Freddie, even from those days, had
an ability to work an audience
and they would eat out of his hand.
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00:07:04,910 --> 00:07:10,590
He could turn his hand round
like that and do that
and the audience would stand up.
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00:07:10,590 --> 00:07:13,390
♪ I have sinned, dear Father
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♪ Father, I have sinned
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♪ Try and help me, Father
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00:07:19,630 --> 00:07:23,070
♪ Won't you let me in?
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♪ Liar!
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00:07:24,590 --> 00:07:26,750
♪ Oh, nobody... ♪
101
00:07:26,750 --> 00:07:33,190
It was the first moment when I
thought, "Something's happening here
and people know what we're about."
102
00:07:43,430 --> 00:07:47,750
When they came along, there had been
a denim rock movement,
103
00:07:47,750 --> 00:07:51,430
if you like, with Status Quo,
Uriah Heep.
104
00:07:51,430 --> 00:07:57,550
I think Queen were an incredible
breath of fresh air in rock music.
105
00:07:57,550 --> 00:07:59,630
They had brilliant songs.
106
00:07:59,630 --> 00:08:04,430
Freddie Mercury was
an absolutely charismatic front man.
107
00:08:04,430 --> 00:08:06,310
♪ Liar... ♪
108
00:08:06,310 --> 00:08:12,070
Brian May was just this brilliant
guitarist and Roger Taylor was
a phenomenal drummer.
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00:08:12,070 --> 00:08:15,510
And you had that guy
that played bass.
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00:08:15,510 --> 00:08:21,310
We spent a couple of years looking
for a bass player. It was very hard
to find the right guy.
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00:08:21,310 --> 00:08:23,310
Then we found John.
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Deacon John on bass.
APPLAUSE
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I came along
as a bit of an outsider at first.
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00:08:28,470 --> 00:08:33,110
It did take me quite a few years
to grow more into the group
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00:08:33,110 --> 00:08:35,830
and find myself at home, really.
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00:08:38,710 --> 00:08:43,750
Before we signed to a record label,
we actually signed
to Trident Productions,
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00:08:43,750 --> 00:08:49,430
a management company run
by the Sheffield brothers who had
a studio in the middle of Soho.
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00:08:53,190 --> 00:08:58,030
Recording our first album,
we were all students
finishing off our degrees.
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We had to do it
in what time was available
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00:09:02,030 --> 00:09:05,550
because the studio was being
booked up all the time.
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00:09:05,550 --> 00:09:08,590
We had to go in sometimes
at two in the morning
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00:09:08,590 --> 00:09:13,950
and sometimes finishing at six in
the morning, all those weird times
that nobody wanted.
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00:09:15,350 --> 00:09:20,750
You know, you could see
the working girls at night
through their lace curtains,
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00:09:20,750 --> 00:09:24,910
so while we were mixing,
we'd have a little bit of diversion.
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00:09:24,910 --> 00:09:30,870
The album came out
and sort of resoundingly crashed.
It really didn't do much.
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00:09:30,870 --> 00:09:36,910
When you make your first album, you
go into the record shops and think,
"We're in the record stores now!"
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00:09:36,910 --> 00:09:43,750
You go in and say, "Have you got
the new Queen album then?" They go,
"What?" It's a long haul.
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00:09:52,430 --> 00:09:56,470
With Queen II, I couldn't believe
how much work we put into that.
129
00:09:56,470 --> 00:09:59,590
I think We felt we were evolving
our own sound.
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00:10:00,630 --> 00:10:04,670
We were pioneering
this sort of multi-tracking thing.
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00:10:04,670 --> 00:10:07,350
It gave you a tremendous palette.
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00:10:07,350 --> 00:10:13,110
You could get massive choral effects
with just three of us singing.
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00:10:13,110 --> 00:10:15,910
♪ Voice from behind... ♪
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00:10:15,910 --> 00:10:20,110
We really got into production
and went completely over the top.
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00:10:20,110 --> 00:10:23,270
There's a track called
March Of The Black Queen.
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00:10:23,270 --> 00:10:27,510
♪ I'll be a bad boy,
I'll be your bad boy
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00:10:27,510 --> 00:10:30,750
♪ I'll do the march
of the Black Queen... ♪
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00:10:30,750 --> 00:10:36,990
It's very long. It's in about
11 different sections and the
complexity of it is staggering.
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00:10:39,030 --> 00:10:42,070
I mean, the tape was
literally transparent.
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00:10:42,070 --> 00:10:47,110
The 16-track, two-inch tape,
the oxide was almost completely
worn away.
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We'd gone over it so many times.
It literally was transparent.
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♪ Walking true to style
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00:10:57,110 --> 00:11:03,430
♪ She's vulgar abuse and vile
Fi-fo the Black Queen
tattoos all her pies... ♪
144
00:11:03,430 --> 00:11:07,070
It was really only with Queen II
and Seven Seas Of Rhye
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00:11:07,070 --> 00:11:09,110
that we had the breakthrough.
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00:11:09,110 --> 00:11:15,350
We realised that the easiest way
of getting a hit album
is to have a hit single
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that has some musical validity.
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The key to that was the stroke
that was pulled in getting them
on Top Of The Pops
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when Bowie dropped out
and it absolutely broke that single.
150
00:11:33,110 --> 00:11:37,150
It was a very underwhelming
experience the very first time
151
00:11:36,250 --> 00:11:39,010
because there was a strike on
at the BBC.
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00:11:39,010 --> 00:11:42,530
♪ Fear me,
you lords and lady preachers... ♪
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00:11:42,530 --> 00:11:45,970
So it was shot
in the weather studio.
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♪ I command your very souls,
you unbelievers
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00:11:49,090 --> 00:11:53,050
♪ Bring before me what is mine
The seven seas of Rhye... ♪
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00:11:53,050 --> 00:11:58,010
It was great fun to be at Top Of The
Pops because it was all happening.
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00:11:58,010 --> 00:12:03,650
You felt like you were in a sense
becoming part
of public consciousness.
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00:12:03,650 --> 00:12:07,930
♪ I will destroy any man
who dares abuse my trust... ♪
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Top Of The Pops
was incredibly uncool.
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00:12:11,370 --> 00:12:14,930
It was rubbish because
nobody was actually playing.
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There was about 75 teenagers
who were herded about the studio
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00:12:19,770 --> 00:12:23,690
and a bunch of ageing disc jockeys
presenting you.
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00:12:23,690 --> 00:12:29,130
Pan's People were there,
these very glamorous girls dancing.
It was a lot of fun.
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00:12:29,130 --> 00:12:35,210
The BBC had a set of plastic cymbals
that went "duh" when you hit them,
so they didn't make any noise.
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00:12:35,210 --> 00:12:38,330
I think that sort of says it all,
really.
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00:12:38,330 --> 00:12:43,370
We had slightly mixed feelings
about Top Of The Pops
because it wasn't very cool,
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00:12:43,370 --> 00:12:48,210
but it was the great vehicle
for selling records,
so what can you say?
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00:12:48,210 --> 00:12:52,250
It had a big impact. Our record
went straight into the top ten.
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00:12:52,250 --> 00:12:54,610
So obviously, the impact was huge.
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00:12:54,610 --> 00:12:58,490
♪ Storm the master marathon
I'll fly through
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00:12:58,490 --> 00:13:03,050
♪ By flash and thunder fire
and I'll survive
I'll survive, I'll survive
172
00:13:03,050 --> 00:13:09,490
♪ Then I'll defy the laws of nature
and come out ali-i-ive
Then I'll get you... ♪
173
00:13:09,490 --> 00:13:15,250
We had this song called Seven Seas
Of Rhye, but it's a universal truth
that more groups break up
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00:13:15,250 --> 00:13:20,970
because of songwriting arguments
than anything else in the world.
Your songs are your babies.
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00:13:20,970 --> 00:13:27,090
The person who has written the song
tends to be the one person who sees
that one song all the way through
176
00:13:27,090 --> 00:13:32,810
from the idea they have in their head
at first, the final production,
the sounds and the mix...
177
00:13:32,810 --> 00:13:36,450
Most of the time, I have
a clear picture of what I want.
178
00:13:36,450 --> 00:13:39,970
I sort of have a lot of...
say, Roger's parts
179
00:13:39,970 --> 00:13:44,530
and what Brian should do and
things... There are rows, of course.
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00:13:44,530 --> 00:13:50,050
I've probably never spoken about
this before, but The Seven Seas
Of Rhye was Freddie's idea.
181
00:13:50,050 --> 00:13:55,610
He had this lovely little riff idea
on the piano and all the middle
eight is stuff that I did,
182
00:13:55,610 --> 00:14:01,650
so we worked on it together,
but when it came to the album coming
out, Freddie went, "I wrote that."
183
00:14:01,650 --> 00:14:05,690
And we all went, "OK."
It didn't seem like that big a deal.
184
00:14:05,690 --> 00:14:10,410
Freddie said, "I wrote the words and
it was my idea, so it's my song."
185
00:14:10,410 --> 00:14:17,010
The sort of unwritten law was the
person who brought the song in would
get the credit for writing that song
186
00:14:17,010 --> 00:14:19,450
and the money for writing that song.
187
00:14:19,450 --> 00:14:24,450
Much, much later in Queen history,
we recognised this fact.
188
00:14:30,650 --> 00:14:34,330
♪ Here I stand
Here I stand
189
00:14:34,330 --> 00:14:36,730
♪ Look around, around
190
00:14:36,730 --> 00:14:39,370
♪ Around, around, around... ♪
191
00:14:39,370 --> 00:14:45,170
We were very lucky in that
we hooked up with Mott The Hoople
and we were their warm-up act.
192
00:14:45,170 --> 00:14:47,610
♪ Now I'm here
Now I'm here... ♪
193
00:14:47,610 --> 00:14:52,170
We went all around the UK with them
and it worked out just perfectly.
194
00:14:52,170 --> 00:14:55,730
♪ Now I'm there
Now I'm there... ♪
195
00:14:55,730 --> 00:15:01,450
Then the guys from Mott said,
"Would you like to do
the same thing in America?"
196
00:15:06,530 --> 00:15:09,970
♪ Just a new man
197
00:15:11,730 --> 00:15:14,250
♪ Yes, you made me live again... ♪
198
00:15:22,490 --> 00:15:26,130
After a few gigs,
I started to feel weird.
199
00:15:26,130 --> 00:15:31,970
Something was happening. I didn't
know if it was my head or my body,
but I started to feel odd.
200
00:15:31,970 --> 00:15:37,370
Then I woke up one morning
in Boston which was going to be
the climax of the tour...
201
00:15:37,370 --> 00:15:43,890
I woke up and I was yellow. The
doctor came and said, "You've got
hepatitis. You have to go home."
202
00:15:43,890 --> 00:15:49,810
I still was amazed we managed to
shepherd him through the immigration
queue at JFK in New York.
203
00:15:49,810 --> 00:15:52,250
The poor fellow could hardly stand.
204
00:15:52,250 --> 00:15:55,450
I was taken on the plane
shoulder to shoulder.
205
00:15:55,450 --> 00:16:00,810
We were devastated
the tour had been cut short.
It was our first trip to America.
206
00:16:00,810 --> 00:16:04,010
But we just ploughed on
in the studio without him.
207
00:16:04,010 --> 00:16:07,290
It was a bit of a long haul
back to health.
208
00:16:07,290 --> 00:16:12,850
I was getting over all this stuff
and I saw Freddie battering out
all these things, thinking,
209
00:16:12,850 --> 00:16:17,210
"I've not got my shit together," and
really starting to worry about it.
210
00:16:17,210 --> 00:16:20,410
♪ She keeps her Moet et Chandon
211
00:16:20,410 --> 00:16:22,650
♪ In her pretty cabinet
212
00:16:22,650 --> 00:16:26,770
♪ "Let them eat cake" she says
just like Marie Antoinette... ♪
213
00:16:26,770 --> 00:16:32,530
Queen I and Queen II were
full-on rock albums and I suppose
it was only a question of time
214
00:16:32,530 --> 00:16:37,730
before they put some clever melody
into it and Sheer Heart Attack was
that break-out album.
215
00:16:37,730 --> 00:16:42,450
And Killer Queen
where Mercury's vocals
have probably never been better.
216
00:16:42,450 --> 00:16:46,770
♪ She's a killer queen
Gunpowder, gelatine
217
00:16:46,770 --> 00:16:49,090
♪ Dynamite with a laser beam
218
00:16:49,090 --> 00:16:52,570
♪ Guaranteed to blow your mind
Any time... ♪
219
00:16:52,570 --> 00:16:56,130
I do remember having a slight
reservation about Killer Queen.
220
00:16:56,130 --> 00:17:01,170
I thought, "Are we selling
ourselves as something
which has become very light?"
221
00:17:02,170 --> 00:17:04,970
But every slice through that record
222
00:17:04,970 --> 00:17:11,050
is a perfect vision. There's lots
of little things which visit once
only like that bell of the cymbal.
223
00:17:11,050 --> 00:17:16,090
RINGING SOUND
# In conversation
she spoke just like a baroness
224
00:17:16,090 --> 00:17:20,210
♪ Met a man from China
Went down to Geisha Minah
225
00:17:20,210 --> 00:17:24,410
♪ Then again incidentally
if you're that way inclined... ♪
226
00:17:24,410 --> 00:17:30,650
Killer Queen always felt a bit
special. It was very sophisticated
and it was very Freddie.
227
00:17:30,650 --> 00:17:36,810
As the albums have progressed,
our songwriting has progressed
and we ventured into different areas.
228
00:17:36,810 --> 00:17:40,850
♪ Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind... ♪
229
00:17:40,850 --> 00:17:45,810
I like writing different songs.
We don't like to repeat
the same formula.
230
00:17:45,810 --> 00:17:50,810
It had a slightly Noel Coward...
You know,
that kind of element in it.
231
00:17:50,810 --> 00:17:56,810
When you took the lyrics apart, you
thought, "How incredible is that!"
Because they were so clever.
232
00:17:56,810 --> 00:18:01,490
♪ Drop of a hat, she's as willing as
Playful as a pussycat
233
00:18:01,490 --> 00:18:05,770
♪ Then momentarily out of action
Temporarily out of gas
234
00:18:05,770 --> 00:18:09,770
♪ To absolutely drive you wild
235
00:18:09,770 --> 00:18:12,690
♪ She's all out to get you
236
00:18:12,690 --> 00:18:15,130
♪ She's a killer queen
237
00:18:15,130 --> 00:18:19,250
♪ Gunpowder, gelatine
Dynamite with a laser beam
238
00:18:19,250 --> 00:18:23,130
♪ Guaranteed to blow your mind
Any time
239
00:18:23,130 --> 00:18:27,970
♪ Oh, recommended at the price
Insatiable an appetite
240
00:18:27,970 --> 00:18:30,770
♪ Wanna try?
241
00:18:31,770 --> 00:18:34,410
♪ You wanna try... ♪
242
00:18:37,890 --> 00:18:42,170
We were doing a lot of major tours
in Japan, America.
243
00:18:42,170 --> 00:18:48,970
We were headlining by now and doing
very well and selling loads of
records and not seeing any money.
244
00:18:53,090 --> 00:18:58,330
We decided to go
with the production company,
rather than with the record company.
245
00:18:58,330 --> 00:19:03,970
The deal was that we made the album
for the production company and
they sell it to a record company.
246
00:19:03,970 --> 00:19:06,570
It's probably the worst thing
we did.
247
00:19:06,570 --> 00:19:13,090
The deal that they were on just meant
that they weren't going to make
any money out of what they did.
248
00:19:13,090 --> 00:19:16,130
And the way it came to a head
249
00:19:16,130 --> 00:19:18,810
was with the song Death On Two Legs.
250
00:19:18,810 --> 00:19:21,730
♪ You suck my blood like a leech
251
00:19:21,730 --> 00:19:23,970
♪ You break the law and you breach
252
00:19:23,970 --> 00:19:26,010
♪ Screw my brain till it hurts
253
00:19:26,010 --> 00:19:30,050
♪ You've taken all my money
254
00:19:30,050 --> 00:19:32,770
♪ And you want more... ♪
255
00:19:35,300 --> 00:19:39,820
Often I would go to do an interview
and I buy a couple of bottles of wine
256
00:19:39,820 --> 00:19:43,220
on my expenses
because they had no money.
257
00:19:43,220 --> 00:19:46,460
We didn't expect instant riches.
We didn't get them!
258
00:19:46,460 --> 00:19:50,380
Roger was breaking sticks because
he hit the drums pretty hard.
259
00:19:50,380 --> 00:19:54,500
The management's going, "Don't break
any more sticks." We had no money.
260
00:19:56,500 --> 00:20:02,940
One of the management group bought
a Rolls-Royce and we thought, "Hang
on, something's going on here."
261
00:20:05,020 --> 00:20:10,060
It affected Freddie deeply
and Freddie got to the point
where he said,
262
00:20:10,060 --> 00:20:13,140
"I am not delivering any more music.
I can't."
263
00:20:15,500 --> 00:20:19,020
To cut a long story short,
we went with John Reid
264
00:20:19,020 --> 00:20:23,020
who was Elton's incredibly
successful manager at the time.
265
00:20:24,020 --> 00:20:26,540
I remember saying, "You go away
266
00:20:26,540 --> 00:20:30,420
"and make the best record you can.
I'll take care of the business."
267
00:20:30,420 --> 00:20:33,460
We had a good working relationship
with John.
268
00:20:33,460 --> 00:20:37,940
He was very fiery and feisty, but so
were we. We weren't scared of him.
269
00:20:37,940 --> 00:20:41,780
It was the first night
I'd gone out to dinner with Freddie.
270
00:20:41,780 --> 00:20:48,140
I said, "I'd just like to say, as
I said to the other guys, I hope you
know I'm gay and it's not a problem."
271
00:20:48,140 --> 00:20:51,660
And he put his knife and fork down
and said, "So am I!"
272
00:20:52,940 --> 00:20:56,500
Freddie, when I first met him,
wasn't out to the band
273
00:20:56,500 --> 00:21:00,340
because he was struggling
with his own sexuality anyway.
274
00:21:00,340 --> 00:21:05,820
And Freddie was from a very, very
traditional Zoroastrian background
275
00:21:05,820 --> 00:21:11,260
and I think his family considerations
were probably paramount.
276
00:21:13,260 --> 00:21:19,100
I remember when we went into the
studio to make A Night At The Opera,
it felt like make or break.
277
00:21:19,100 --> 00:21:22,740
We were not only poor,
but we were in debt.
278
00:21:22,740 --> 00:21:27,780
All the sound and lighting companies
and the people we worked with
hadn't been paid,
279
00:21:27,780 --> 00:21:33,540
so we were at a really crucial
point. We might have had to break up
if that album hadn't done well.
280
00:21:35,340 --> 00:21:39,180
It was an expensive album,
enormous complexity on there.
281
00:21:39,180 --> 00:21:42,620
Even now, I wonder
how we did some of that stuff.
282
00:21:42,620 --> 00:21:46,660
There was so much hunger there. We
had so much we wanted to bring out.
283
00:21:46,660 --> 00:21:50,180
It was all kept in
and so we had all kinds of songs.
284
00:21:50,180 --> 00:21:57,020
Bohemian Rhapsody was basically like
three songs that I wanted to put out
and I just put the three together.
285
00:21:57,020 --> 00:22:02,420
I think the groundwork for a song
like that was done at Ealing College.
286
00:22:02,420 --> 00:22:06,140
Freddie had lots of bits of songs
which we'd link together
287
00:22:06,140 --> 00:22:11,980
and one of his bits, I just referred
to it as The Cowboy Song and it went,
"Mama, I just killed a man."
288
00:22:11,980 --> 00:22:14,540
♪ Mama
289
00:22:14,540 --> 00:22:17,180
♪ Just killed a man... ♪
290
00:22:17,180 --> 00:22:21,220
The first thing I heard was Freddie
playing "Mama, just killed a man..."
291
00:22:21,220 --> 00:22:26,780
"What do you think?" "I love it.
It's absolutely brilliant."
Not knowing what was to come.
292
00:22:26,780 --> 00:22:29,980
We ended up having to do it
in six studios.
293
00:22:29,980 --> 00:22:35,460
Because they were using
all these studios,
you didn't know what was going on.
294
00:22:37,460 --> 00:22:42,660
You would have guitar parts in one
studio and vocal stuff in another.
295
00:22:42,660 --> 00:22:44,100
♪ Galileo
296
00:22:44,100 --> 00:22:45,940
♪ Galileo
297
00:22:45,940 --> 00:22:48,620
♪ Galileo, Figaro... ♪
298
00:22:48,620 --> 00:22:53,060
Freddie would just turn up and go,
"I've got a few more Galileos."
299
00:22:53,060 --> 00:22:56,820
We were going round all these studios
just hearing parts.
300
00:22:56,820 --> 00:23:00,020
♪ Thunderbolt and lightning
Very, very frightening me
301
00:23:00,020 --> 00:23:04,900
HIGHER PITCH:
♪ Lightning, very, very frightening,
very, very frightening me... ♪
302
00:23:04,900 --> 00:23:09,700
Only Fred had it in his head
and he was making some of it up
as we went along.
303
00:23:09,700 --> 00:23:11,900
I thought, "I'll do as I please."
304
00:23:11,900 --> 00:23:15,500
♪ Thunderbolt and lightning,
very, very frightening me... ♪
305
00:23:15,500 --> 00:23:21,140
Do as many multi-layer harmonies
as possible.
You know, go well over the top.
306
00:23:21,140 --> 00:23:26,140
It really was tongue-in-cheek,
but at the same time,
"I bet you can't do this."
307
00:23:26,140 --> 00:23:29,220
♪ He's just a poor boy
from a poor family
308
00:23:29,220 --> 00:23:32,460
♪ Spare him his life
from this monstrosity... ♪
309
00:23:32,460 --> 00:23:38,500
But the record company as a mass
came to us and said, "This is too
long. Nobody's going to play it."
310
00:23:38,500 --> 00:23:42,060
I played it to Elton John
at the time
311
00:23:42,060 --> 00:23:46,620
and he said, "Are you off your head?
You'll never get that on the radio."
312
00:23:46,620 --> 00:23:49,580
I said, "It goes out in its entirety
or not at all."
313
00:23:49,580 --> 00:23:53,620
At the crucial moment, this young
man called Kenny Everett came in,
314
00:23:53,620 --> 00:23:58,020
loved the track, stole a copy of it
and played it on his radio show.
315
00:23:58,020 --> 00:24:03,420
Kenny played it 14 times
over the weekend
and of course it was a smash.
316
00:24:03,420 --> 00:24:08,340
Then following that up
with what, to my mind,
was the first ever real music video.
317
00:24:08,340 --> 00:24:11,580
♪ We will not let you go
Let him go! Bismillah!
318
00:24:11,580 --> 00:24:14,700
♪ We will not let you go
Let him go! Bismillah... ♪
319
00:24:14,700 --> 00:24:18,980
I'd never seen anything like it
and I don't think anybody else had.
320
00:24:18,980 --> 00:24:21,100
The video took Queen to another level
321
00:24:21,100 --> 00:24:24,700
where they could really command
the landscape.
322
00:24:24,700 --> 00:24:27,740
♪ Mamma mia, mamma mia
Mamma mia, let me go... ♪
323
00:24:27,740 --> 00:24:32,900
Night At The Opera was that
landmark album that established them
as a major force.
324
00:24:32,900 --> 00:24:37,940
That was the context
in which you could do something
like the Hyde Park concert.
325
00:24:45,380 --> 00:24:50,380
♪ So you think you can stone me
and spit in my eye
326
00:24:50,380 --> 00:24:55,540
♪ So you think you can love me
and leave me to die... ♪
327
00:25:08,140 --> 00:25:12,540
It was Richard Branson. "We think
we can put you on in Hyde Park."
328
00:25:13,940 --> 00:25:17,460
Thank you very much.
Good evening, everybody.
329
00:25:17,460 --> 00:25:19,780
CHEERING
330
00:25:19,780 --> 00:25:23,220
Welcome to our picnic
by the Serpentine.
331
00:25:24,220 --> 00:25:28,260
I remember thinking, "Gulp!" We've
carved out a place around the world,
332
00:25:28,260 --> 00:25:31,700
but England doesn't really think
we're that cool.
333
00:25:32,660 --> 00:25:38,780
It was packed beyond belief
and it was really like coming home
to a heroes' welcome.
334
00:25:38,780 --> 00:25:40,820
THRASHING GUITARS
335
00:25:49,260 --> 00:25:53,780
♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah, ahhh... ♪
336
00:25:55,860 --> 00:26:01,900
It was a thrilling experience
to have that kind of contact with
an audience in your own home town.
337
00:26:03,660 --> 00:26:09,020
When it came to make
Day At The Races, we just thought,
"Let's just do what we do."
338
00:26:09,020 --> 00:26:14,060
The added ingredient
in Day At The Races is this feeling
of freedom which we had
339
00:26:14,060 --> 00:26:20,100
because we had escaped the old
situation, we'd sorted out the money
side, we weren't in debt any more,
340
00:26:20,100 --> 00:26:25,100
we weren't struggling
for our very existence,
so there's a great freedom and joy.
341
00:26:25,100 --> 00:26:27,740
♪ Ca-a-an
342
00:26:27,740 --> 00:26:31,620
♪ Anybody... ♪
343
00:26:31,620 --> 00:26:37,660
It was almost like we were still
making A Night At The Opera.
We just loved it. We revelled in it.
344
00:26:37,660 --> 00:26:42,020
♪ Somebody to lo-o-ove... ♪
345
00:26:43,020 --> 00:26:49,340
Freddie came up with a magnificent,
little sort of foray into white
Gospel, if you want to call it that.
346
00:26:49,340 --> 00:26:51,060
♪ Ooh
347
00:26:51,060 --> 00:26:53,100
♪ Each morning I get up... ♪
348
00:26:53,100 --> 00:26:56,540
We really worked our harmonies
on Somebody To Love.
349
00:26:56,540 --> 00:27:01,060
♪ Take a look at yourself
Take a look in the mirror
and cry... ♪
350
00:27:01,060 --> 00:27:05,940
Freddie's great inspiration
for Somebody To Love
was Aretha Franklin.
351
00:27:05,940 --> 00:27:07,980
He absolutely loved Aretha.
352
00:27:07,980 --> 00:27:10,860
He would like to have been
Aretha Franklin!
353
00:27:10,860 --> 00:27:14,100
♪ Somebody! Somebody!
Ooh, somebody! Somebody!
354
00:27:14,100 --> 00:27:19,140
♪ Can anybody find me
somebody to love...? ♪
355
00:27:19,140 --> 00:27:23,140
From that point of view,
OK, Bohemian Rhapsody, a big hit,
356
00:27:23,140 --> 00:27:27,460
but a song like Somebody To Love is
in my estimation a better sort of...
357
00:27:27,460 --> 00:27:30,300
from the writing aspect,
a better song.
358
00:27:30,300 --> 00:27:33,020
♪ I work till I ache in my bones
359
00:27:33,020 --> 00:27:36,060
♪ At the end
At the end of the day
360
00:27:36,060 --> 00:27:39,940
♪ I take home my hard-earned pay
all on my own
361
00:27:39,940 --> 00:27:43,660
♪ I get down on my knees
and I start to pray
362
00:27:43,660 --> 00:27:46,780
♪ Till the tears run down
from my eyes
363
00:27:46,780 --> 00:27:50,300
♪ Lord, somebody! Somebody!
Ooh, somebody
364
00:27:50,300 --> 00:27:53,420
♪ Can anybody find me... ♪
365
00:27:53,420 --> 00:27:59,180
We were using the studio
to its maximum capacity, painting
a picture like on a huge canvas.
366
00:27:59,180 --> 00:28:02,300
♪ Find me somebody to love
367
00:28:02,300 --> 00:28:05,420
♪ Find me somebody to love... ♪
368
00:28:05,420 --> 00:28:10,100
We had a gift. We had three voices
which really blended instantly.
369
00:28:10,100 --> 00:28:12,140
♪ Find me somebody to love... ♪
370
00:28:12,140 --> 00:28:16,180
Freddie has this wonderful,
crystal-clear, sharp vocal sound.
371
00:28:16,180 --> 00:28:20,740
♪ Find me somebody to love,
find me somebody to love... ♪
372
00:28:20,740 --> 00:28:24,060
Naturally, I've got
the powerful high voice.
373
00:28:24,060 --> 00:28:27,380
He's got the dog whistle pitch,
a very high voice.
374
00:28:27,380 --> 00:28:29,620
♪ Find me somebody to love... ♪
375
00:28:29,620 --> 00:28:32,020
And I had quite a warm sound.
376
00:28:32,020 --> 00:28:35,020
♪ Somebody! Somebody!
Somebody! Somebody!
377
00:28:35,020 --> 00:28:39,740
♪ Somebody! Find me...
Somebody find me somebody to love
378
00:28:39,740 --> 00:28:42,780
♪ Can anybody find me... ♪
379
00:28:42,780 --> 00:28:47,700
Put the three together
and you have something
which sounds sort of Panavision.
380
00:28:49,820 --> 00:28:51,460
♪ Find me
381
00:28:51,460 --> 00:28:53,100
♪ Somebody
382
00:28:53,100 --> 00:28:55,700
♪ To-o-o love
383
00:28:55,700 --> 00:28:57,700
♪ Find me... ♪
384
00:28:57,700 --> 00:29:01,260
To keep their attention,
you've got to really tempt them.
385
00:29:01,260 --> 00:29:04,900
Like, "You can have a break.
Have a coffee and biscuits."
386
00:29:04,900 --> 00:29:09,940
While they're in a good mood,
grab them and do
another 50 million overdubs!
387
00:29:09,940 --> 00:29:14,700
♪ Anybody find me somebody to love
Somebody to love... ♪
388
00:29:14,700 --> 00:29:17,860
We used to call it
the sausage factory in the end
389
00:29:17,860 --> 00:29:21,700
because we got so good at it,
we could just bang 'em out.
390
00:29:24,180 --> 00:29:26,540
A Day At The Races,
391
00:29:26,540 --> 00:29:31,740
as the follow-up to
Night At The Opera, was clearly...
It had a hard act to follow.
392
00:29:31,740 --> 00:29:37,580
People who wanted to have a go
at Queen could quite readily say,
"It's not as good as the last one."
393
00:29:37,580 --> 00:29:40,180
A lot of the press took
against them.
394
00:29:40,180 --> 00:29:43,220
Maybe if you got too successful
too quick,
395
00:29:43,220 --> 00:29:49,700
there was a resentment there
that they hadn't made you,
therefore they wanted to break you.
396
00:29:49,700 --> 00:29:53,460
♪ Oh, take my breath away... ♪
397
00:29:53,460 --> 00:29:57,500
Shortly after I started
to manage them,
398
00:29:57,500 --> 00:30:04,180
I had told all the band one of the
ground rules is don't do any press
without clearing it with me.
399
00:30:04,180 --> 00:30:08,140
You open yourself up to all kinds
of things. Usually, they turn on you.
400
00:30:08,140 --> 00:30:12,180
I went out to dinner with Freddie in
The White Elephant in Curzon Street.
401
00:30:12,180 --> 00:30:17,540
Casually, he said,
"I did an interview with David Wigg
from the Express today."
402
00:30:17,540 --> 00:30:22,580
I said, "I told you no interviews
without clearing it with me."
"Oh, never mind."
403
00:30:22,580 --> 00:30:28,060
I said, "Well, fuck you!
If you don't work within my rules,
you don't work with me."
404
00:30:28,060 --> 00:30:30,620
I got up and left
and I left him there.
405
00:30:30,620 --> 00:30:36,460
I came home, I went upstairs, turned
on the TV and the next thing I knew,
406
00:30:36,460 --> 00:30:38,660
a brick came through the window.
407
00:30:38,660 --> 00:30:44,180
And I looked outside here and there's
Freddie standing in the street,
hands on his hips,
408
00:30:44,180 --> 00:30:47,700
"Don't you ever fucking leave me
in a restaurant..."
409
00:30:47,700 --> 00:30:49,940
I said, "You'd better come in."
410
00:30:51,260 --> 00:30:54,100
Queen didn't have particular respect
411
00:30:54,100 --> 00:30:58,260
from the critics during the '70s,
which is when they had so many hits.
412
00:30:59,300 --> 00:31:03,700
And then punk happened
in the late '70s,
413
00:31:03,700 --> 00:31:07,900
which made the standard rock group
seem passe.
414
00:31:07,900 --> 00:31:10,460
♪ God save the Queen
415
00:31:10,460 --> 00:31:13,260
♪ We mean it, man
416
00:31:14,520 --> 00:31:20,480
The punk stuff, as opposed
to what Queen did, they were coming
from two different points of view.
417
00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:24,640
It was anarchy on one side
and monarchy on the other.
418
00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:29,160
NME was one of
the most vocal proponents of punk.
419
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:32,800
We were taking, if you like,
music icons at that time
420
00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:36,440
and we were rubbishing them,
basically.
421
00:31:36,440 --> 00:31:40,920
It was thought we should interview
Freddie Mercury, in particular,
422
00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:46,480
and they asked me to go over
to a house in Knightsbridge
owned by John Reid
423
00:31:46,480 --> 00:31:49,880
and there's Freddie
sitting on the patio.
424
00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,520
The whole house was
very ostentatious, it must be said.
425
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:56,720
We did an interview here
with the NME
426
00:31:56,720 --> 00:32:00,640
and, you know,
we were very nice to the guy.
427
00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:03,160
I had a butler, we gave him lunch.
428
00:32:03,160 --> 00:32:06,000
There was a butler,
there was a bodyguard.
429
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:11,200
There was probably other people
going round with feather dusters
and what have you.
430
00:32:11,200 --> 00:32:13,920
Then the story slagged off Freddie.
431
00:32:14,920 --> 00:32:21,400
Freddie Mercury, when the whole
of the punk new wave movement
was going on around him,
432
00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:29,160
had focused in on something that was
kind of a bit of an alien concept
in some ways which was ballet.
433
00:32:35,720 --> 00:32:40,400
I just feel that there are sort of
balletic moments in our repertoire.
434
00:32:44,480 --> 00:32:47,280
One of the things that he said to me
435
00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:52,000
was that his mission in life
was to bring ballet to the masses.
436
00:32:57,480 --> 00:33:01,600
Well, when the NME piece came out,
Freddie was furious.
437
00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:04,160
They called him "a prat".
438
00:33:05,360 --> 00:33:07,800
You'd be furious.
439
00:33:07,800 --> 00:33:12,000
I think we realised that talking
to the press gets you nowhere.
440
00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:17,760
You might as well paint a target
on your head and go, "Shoot me."
441
00:33:17,760 --> 00:33:23,400
We all have our ups and downs
and our limitations and we know there
are certain things you can't do,
442
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:26,680
but I don't want some arsehole critic
to tell me that.
443
00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:32,600
I love posing.
444
00:33:32,600 --> 00:33:35,160
That's for the press.
445
00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:45,640
Well, we met The Sex Pistols
in Wessex Studios
446
00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:47,680
and, uh...
447
00:33:47,680 --> 00:33:49,320
I thought it was fascinating.
448
00:33:51,020 --> 00:33:53,360
Can you imagine it just a whole
thing about punk rock
449
00:33:54,360 --> 00:33:59,720
And anti establishment...
under one roof.
450
00:33:59,500 --> 00:34:03,740
Sid came in. Sid was a moron.
You know, he was an idiot.
451
00:34:03,740 --> 00:34:10,340
And he called in to the room,
"Have you succeeded in bringing
ballet to the masses yet?"
452
00:34:10,340 --> 00:34:15,820
I called him "Simon Ferocious"
and he didn't like it. I said,
"What are you going to do about it?"
453
00:34:24,460 --> 00:34:28,820
He hated the fact that I could even
speak like that. Right. Then...
454
00:34:28,820 --> 00:34:32,180
So we went...
I think we survived that test.
455
00:34:32,180 --> 00:34:36,660
♪ Well, you're just 17
All you wanna do is disappear... ♪
456
00:34:36,660 --> 00:34:42,860
I thought when we went into News
Of The World, we couldn't reinvent
ourselves as a punk band,
457
00:34:42,860 --> 00:34:46,620
but we wanted it
a little bit more simple.
458
00:34:46,620 --> 00:34:51,940
We thought maybe these really
grandiose things weren't quite
what was happening then
459
00:34:51,940 --> 00:34:55,980
and to be more of the time, we made
a more straightforward record.
460
00:34:55,980 --> 00:35:01,020
Once we had our audience,
we felt so confident
that they would be there for us
461
00:35:01,020 --> 00:35:04,660
and not require us to be anything
that they'd seen before.
462
00:35:04,660 --> 00:35:06,700
Do a twirl?
463
00:35:06,700 --> 00:35:11,820
They were very open-minded,
Queen audiences,
so we never felt constrained.
464
00:35:19,820 --> 00:35:25,380
We Will Rock You
and We Are The Champions had
a very sort of definite genesis.
465
00:35:25,380 --> 00:35:28,420
The way I remember this story
is Bingley Hall.
466
00:35:28,420 --> 00:35:32,460
We played this great hall
in the Midlands and it was heaving.
467
00:35:32,460 --> 00:35:38,100
Those gigs that you love,
it's all sweaty and hot,
everybody is jumping up and down.
468
00:35:38,100 --> 00:35:40,220
And they were singing along.
469
00:35:40,220 --> 00:35:44,620
♪ She's a killer queen
Gunpowder, gelatine
470
00:35:44,620 --> 00:35:49,180
♪ Dynamite with a laser beam
Guaranteed to blow your mind... ♪
471
00:35:49,180 --> 00:35:55,660
In those days, it was really new.
You just didn't go to concerts
where people sang to rock bands.
472
00:35:55,660 --> 00:35:59,180
But on this particular occasion,
they didn't stop.
473
00:35:59,180 --> 00:36:03,620
And when we went off stage, they
sang You'll Never Walk Alone to us.
474
00:36:03,620 --> 00:36:07,860
I'd gone to sleep thinking,
"What can an audience do?"
475
00:36:07,860 --> 00:36:13,380
They're all crammed in there.
They can stamp their feet,
clap their hands and sing.
476
00:36:13,380 --> 00:36:17,020
So I woke up with We Will Rock You
in my head.
477
00:36:17,020 --> 00:36:21,060
We went into Wessex with these
ideas and that happened to be..
478
00:36:21,070 --> 00:36:26,620
some boards lying around, strange enough
and I thought, "What does this sound like?"
479
00:36:29,740 --> 00:36:36,580
And we multi-tracked it a lot of times
to achieve a sound of a big throng
of people stamping and clapping,
480
00:36:36,580 --> 00:36:38,820
a huge sort of rally of people.
481
00:36:38,820 --> 00:36:42,660
♪ We will, we will rock you... ♪
482
00:36:44,700 --> 00:36:48,620
♪ We will, we will rock you... ♪
483
00:36:50,340 --> 00:36:56,700
I came up with We Will Rock You and
Freddie with We Are The Champions.
His thinking was very similar.
484
00:36:56,700 --> 00:37:00,020
Basically, it is
a participation thing.
485
00:37:00,020 --> 00:37:05,060
I've been really cool
and I'm just thinking
in terms of the public/group thing.
486
00:37:05,060 --> 00:37:08,180
♪ I've paid my dues
487
00:37:09,260 --> 00:37:12,060
♪ Time after time... ♪
488
00:37:13,540 --> 00:37:17,580
We had no idea it would become a
universal, worldwide sports anthem.
489
00:37:17,580 --> 00:37:20,340
Both of them did -
Rock You and Champions.
490
00:37:20,340 --> 00:37:24,380
In football or whatever sport,
you've got two opposing teams.
491
00:37:24,380 --> 00:37:29,340
Both can sing We Are The Champions,
but in a rock show,
there's only one team.
492
00:37:29,340 --> 00:37:32,380
♪ I've had my share of sand
kicked in my face
493
00:37:32,380 --> 00:37:34,900
♪ But I've come through... ♪
494
00:37:34,900 --> 00:37:38,860
It could be construed
as a rather elitist thing.
495
00:37:38,860 --> 00:37:44,180
♪ We are the champions,
my friends... ♪
496
00:37:44,180 --> 00:37:47,700
But it was really "we",
the collective "we".
497
00:37:48,780 --> 00:37:54,820
But if I were you, before
we find out, let's get the sound...
Let's get a real sound on the drums.
498
00:37:54,820 --> 00:37:57,980
It's definitely a song
of great unifying power.
499
00:37:57,980 --> 00:38:01,620
♪ We are the champions
500
00:38:01,620 --> 00:38:05,220
♪ No time for losers
501
00:38:05,220 --> 00:38:09,780
♪ Cos we are the champions... ♪
502
00:38:09,780 --> 00:38:15,300
Here we've got four tracks of
vocals, one with the solo guitar,
then that's the end bit solo.
503
00:38:15,300 --> 00:38:18,660
I've listened to them.
That's the only way we can do it.
504
00:38:18,660 --> 00:38:22,260
Fred was very cheeky. It was
about Queen being the champions
505
00:38:22,260 --> 00:38:25,860
in a sense, the arrogance
for which we were famous.
506
00:38:25,860 --> 00:38:29,340
♪ We are the champions
507
00:38:29,340 --> 00:38:33,180
♪ We are the champions
508
00:38:33,180 --> 00:38:37,140
♪ No time for losers
509
00:38:37,140 --> 00:38:41,980
♪ Cos we are the champions. ♪
510
00:38:44,500 --> 00:38:48,500
APPLAUSE
511
00:38:48,500 --> 00:38:54,100
Only Queen could come up with
the title "We Are The Champions".
Where's the modesty gone?
512
00:38:54,100 --> 00:38:57,380
Well, there isn't any.
No modesty whatsoever.
513
00:38:57,380 --> 00:39:04,540
After the slaggings-off we get from
the English music press, who cares?
We've got nothing to lose, you know?
514
00:39:04,540 --> 00:39:08,540
Anyway, it's only a song, isn't it?
Fuck 'em!
515
00:39:14,500 --> 00:39:19,460
In those days, it was do the album,
do a video, tour America.
516
00:39:21,300 --> 00:39:23,900
One, two!
517
00:39:26,500 --> 00:39:30,540
It was regarded as the sort of grail
of the rock scene.
518
00:39:33,060 --> 00:39:35,380
America was meaning more
and more to us,
519
00:39:35,380 --> 00:39:39,060
and when you smell success
in America, you go for it.
520
00:39:41,820 --> 00:39:45,340
We looked at what was going on
in the States at the time.
521
00:39:45,340 --> 00:39:49,940
The music was very much
dominated by the cool West Coast
522
00:39:49,940 --> 00:39:53,860
kind of rock with The Eagles
and Steely Dan and Fleetwood Mac.
523
00:39:53,860 --> 00:39:57,780
And to some extent, Queen, I guess,
didn't fit that mould.
524
00:40:03,300 --> 00:40:07,860
They were bigger, more glamorous,
more extravagant than,
525
00:40:07,860 --> 00:40:10,700
I think, anything that existed
in the States at the time.
526
00:40:10,700 --> 00:40:12,980
They really didn't know
what to make of them.
527
00:40:12,980 --> 00:40:15,900
Why would you call your band Queen
528
00:40:15,900 --> 00:40:18,700
when there's obviously
four guys in it?
529
00:40:18,700 --> 00:40:20,940
That was puzzling.
530
00:40:23,260 --> 00:40:25,220
We were all in one station wagon,
531
00:40:25,220 --> 00:40:30,460
then we were all in one limo,
then it was two in one limo
532
00:40:30,460 --> 00:40:33,100
and two in another,
then it was one each.
533
00:40:33,100 --> 00:40:36,020
But it was really only
because the entourage grew,
534
00:40:36,020 --> 00:40:39,860
it wasn't anything to do with
not wanting to talk to one another.
535
00:40:51,860 --> 00:40:53,860
We did stay pretty connected,
536
00:40:53,860 --> 00:40:56,260
we didn't disappear
to our dressing rooms.
537
00:40:56,260 --> 00:41:00,740
Generally, we found
a big place where we could all
get ready together
538
00:41:00,740 --> 00:41:06,860
and we would kind of joke around.
We had a good kind of camaraderie.
539
00:41:08,500 --> 00:41:10,780
This is called a miracle, folks!
540
00:41:10,780 --> 00:41:13,220
I've lost my shoe!
541
00:41:13,220 --> 00:41:15,380
Oh, but I don't do my own.
542
00:41:16,900 --> 00:41:19,860
Dave! Do, do, do!
543
00:41:27,300 --> 00:41:31,020
I went to see the Queen show
and I had never seen so much luggage
544
00:41:31,020 --> 00:41:34,660
and crew and amps and lighting.
545
00:41:34,660 --> 00:41:37,500
And I said, "This is not
rock'n'roll, this is a show.
546
00:41:37,500 --> 00:41:40,020
"This is a production.
This is Broadway".
547
00:41:40,020 --> 00:41:43,420
MUSIC: "We Will Rock You"
548
00:41:57,460 --> 00:42:02,620
The audience participation
elevated the shows to something
really special.
549
00:42:02,620 --> 00:42:05,060
And I think we put a bit
of distance between us
550
00:42:05,060 --> 00:42:09,700
and some of our contemporaries
like that, because it was such
a great two-way event.
551
00:42:09,700 --> 00:42:12,660
This was a coronation
for Freddie Mercury in this town.
552
00:42:12,660 --> 00:42:18,060
♪ We will, we will rock you tonight
553
00:42:18,060 --> 00:42:21,620
♪ We will, we will rock you
554
00:42:21,620 --> 00:42:24,940
♪ Buddy you're a young man, hard
man, shouting in the street
555
00:42:24,940 --> 00:42:27,060
♪ Gonna take on the world someday
556
00:42:27,060 --> 00:42:30,340
♪ Mud on your face, big disgrace
557
00:42:30,340 --> 00:42:33,580
♪ Waving your banner
all over the place
558
00:42:33,580 --> 00:42:37,820
♪ We will, we will rock you... ♪
559
00:42:37,820 --> 00:42:40,580
It had always surprised us
that it took so long
560
00:42:40,580 --> 00:42:42,340
to break Queen in the States.
561
00:42:44,340 --> 00:42:49,900
It sounds like it happened quickly,
but it didn't, it happened over
a period of about eight years.
562
00:42:49,900 --> 00:42:51,420
We worked very hard at it.
563
00:42:51,420 --> 00:42:54,540
At no point did you think,
"We've made it," cos we hadn't.
564
00:42:54,540 --> 00:42:58,780
This is, um, a Mercury composition
565
00:42:58,780 --> 00:43:00,620
from "A Night At The Opera"
566
00:43:00,620 --> 00:43:03,900
and it's something which a few
people asked us to do last time.
567
00:43:03,900 --> 00:43:07,260
So this is for those people.
This is "Love Of My Life".
568
00:43:07,260 --> 00:43:11,900
The 1977 US tour was pretty much
a sell-out. And midway through,
569
00:43:11,900 --> 00:43:16,020
we actually played two nights at
the legendary Madison Square Gardens
570
00:43:16,020 --> 00:43:19,660
in New York, which is
a sort of landmark for any artist.
571
00:43:19,660 --> 00:43:21,460
It was a watershed for me.
572
00:43:21,460 --> 00:43:25,380
It was a mythical place, of course,
big deal for us to play.
573
00:43:25,380 --> 00:43:30,100
And my parents, from the
beginning... Well, my dad, really.
574
00:43:30,100 --> 00:43:33,940
My dad had really been
against the whole business
of me being a rock star.
575
00:43:33,940 --> 00:43:36,820
It's curious, because he helped me
build the guitar.
576
00:43:36,820 --> 00:43:42,220
If it hadn't been for my dad
slaving hours and hours making
this homemade guitar,
577
00:43:42,220 --> 00:43:45,140
I probably would never have got
to this place.
578
00:43:45,140 --> 00:43:48,300
He really felt that I'd thrown
my education away.
579
00:43:48,300 --> 00:43:52,420
I mean, I was educated to a high
level. So to suddenly to
go off and join a rock band
580
00:43:52,420 --> 00:43:57,660
with apparently no future,
my dad really could not compute it.
581
00:43:57,660 --> 00:44:02,660
He was kind of in tears, really,
he just felt I'd thrown
my life away completely.
582
00:44:02,660 --> 00:44:08,620
♪ You don't know
what it means to me... ♪
583
00:44:08,620 --> 00:44:13,220
But anyway, we were playing
Madison Square Garden and I said,
584
00:44:13,220 --> 00:44:16,340
"Look, Dad, this is a big one
for us, playing America,
585
00:44:16,340 --> 00:44:20,900
"it's New York, it's the first time
we've played this amazing place.
Come over."
586
00:44:25,900 --> 00:44:27,900
So I said,
"Dad, you'll go on Concorde",
587
00:44:27,900 --> 00:44:33,060
you know, it was my dad and my mum.
And they came to the gig
588
00:44:33,060 --> 00:44:35,620
and I remember to this day,
this feeling that our feet
589
00:44:35,620 --> 00:44:39,260
weren't really on the ground,
there was so much electricity
in this place.
590
00:44:39,260 --> 00:44:43,420
♪ You don't know
what it means to me... ♪
591
00:44:43,420 --> 00:44:47,660
And we came off thinking,
"Wow, that was really something,"
592
00:44:47,660 --> 00:44:50,380
and then I went back with my dad
593
00:44:50,380 --> 00:44:56,260
and my dad said, "OK."
He said, "OK, I get it now."
594
00:44:56,260 --> 00:44:57,860
♪ Oooh. ♪
595
00:44:57,860 --> 00:45:00,100
Thank you, Madison Square Garden.
596
00:45:04,020 --> 00:45:06,180
What's happening
when we go back to London?
597
00:45:06,180 --> 00:45:09,420
You're one of the few bands
that actually haven't left Britain.
598
00:45:09,420 --> 00:45:13,460
We're sort of an English band
in a way, we've always lived there.
599
00:45:13,460 --> 00:45:16,580
Well, London particularly.
We've always recorded in England.
600
00:45:16,580 --> 00:45:21,620
It doesn't change the fact
that the taxman still takes
a lot of your money!
601
00:45:21,620 --> 00:45:23,900
I think at the time,
we were paying 83%,
602
00:45:23,900 --> 00:45:27,980
and plus, if you had any money in
the bank which was earning interest,
603
00:45:27,980 --> 00:45:30,900
another 15%, which makes 98% tax.
604
00:45:30,900 --> 00:45:35,260
So we decided to record the next
album, which was "Jazz", in France.
605
00:45:35,260 --> 00:45:38,660
So that's what we did.
In a tiny little village
called Super Bear,
606
00:45:38,660 --> 00:45:41,780
we started the process
of making this album.
607
00:45:41,780 --> 00:45:45,660
♪ Bicycle, bicycle, bicycle
608
00:45:45,660 --> 00:45:51,220
♪ I want to ride my bicycle,
bicycle, bicycle... ♪
609
00:45:51,220 --> 00:45:54,860
Lots of sort of local colour
got put onto that album.
610
00:45:54,860 --> 00:45:56,860
♪ I want to ride my bike... ♪
611
00:45:56,860 --> 00:46:01,500
We were sitting there and the Tour
de France cycle race came through
612
00:46:01,500 --> 00:46:03,740
and inspired Freddie
to write "Bicycle..."
613
00:46:03,740 --> 00:46:07,580
and for some strange reason,
inspired me to write
"Fat Bottomed Girls".
614
00:46:07,580 --> 00:46:10,740
Although there might have been
other inspirations there.
615
00:46:10,740 --> 00:46:14,860
♪ On your marks, get set, go! ♪
616
00:46:18,380 --> 00:46:20,740
Sadly, we weren't there
for the filming.
617
00:46:20,740 --> 00:46:23,660
I thought it was
a hugely amusing idea.
618
00:46:23,660 --> 00:46:27,500
♪ Bicycle, bicycle, bicycle... ♪
619
00:46:27,500 --> 00:46:31,660
I remember the huge disappointment
that none of us could be
at the photo shoot.
620
00:46:31,660 --> 00:46:35,980
Because we were exiled from England,
so we couldn't go back in to see it!
621
00:46:35,980 --> 00:46:39,180
I don't think you'd be able
to do that now, would you?
622
00:46:39,180 --> 00:46:42,300
Yeah, I don't think
we would go there these days.
623
00:46:42,300 --> 00:46:43,500
♪ Bicycle race! ♪
624
00:46:45,300 --> 00:46:48,060
When it came time
to launch the "Jazz" album,
625
00:46:48,060 --> 00:46:51,780
we had the idea of having
a massive party in New Orleans.
626
00:46:51,780 --> 00:46:56,180
♪ Oh, you gonna take me home
tonight... ♪
627
00:46:56,180 --> 00:47:00,820
It was the so-called launch
of that album,
628
00:47:00,820 --> 00:47:02,940
and we had lots of girls and things,
629
00:47:02,940 --> 00:47:07,420
there was a New Orleans band,
it was a very over-the-top party.
630
00:47:07,420 --> 00:47:12,860
♪ Fat bottomed girls, you make
the rockin' world go round... ♪
631
00:47:16,220 --> 00:47:19,820
We had a bit of a spiritual
connection with New Orleans.
632
00:47:19,820 --> 00:47:22,100
A lot of our friends came,
of all sexes.
633
00:47:23,380 --> 00:47:25,940
It was definitely fun.
634
00:47:25,940 --> 00:47:28,700
When I opened up
the door of my suite,
635
00:47:28,700 --> 00:47:31,940
on the bed was a complete case
of Dom Perignon.
636
00:47:31,940 --> 00:47:34,220
And it was downhill from there.
637
00:47:34,220 --> 00:47:38,420
♪ Heap big woman, you made a bad boy
out of me... ♪
638
00:47:38,420 --> 00:47:40,620
I remember I felt quite
ill the next day.
639
00:47:41,320 --> 00:47:45,560
There was a lot of acts..
640
00:47:45,560 --> 00:47:50,200
There was a man, he was actually
a person of restricted growth,
641
00:47:50,200 --> 00:47:52,520
who did lay under meats.
642
00:47:52,520 --> 00:47:56,440
When asked what he did, he said,
"I lie under meats."
643
00:47:56,440 --> 00:48:01,760
And he's covered in sort of
cold cuts and sort of, um,
644
00:48:01,760 --> 00:48:06,320
chopped liver and stuff like that.
You couldn't see him.
645
00:48:06,320 --> 00:48:09,800
So people would approach
the trestle table
646
00:48:09,800 --> 00:48:13,680
and as they just reached out
to scoop their meat,
647
00:48:13,680 --> 00:48:16,120
he would just move, like that.
648
00:48:16,120 --> 00:48:18,880
And that was his act!
649
00:48:18,880 --> 00:48:25,800
♪ Tonight, I'm gonna have myself
a real good time
650
00:48:25,800 --> 00:48:28,200
♪ I feel ali-i-i-ive... ♪
651
00:48:28,200 --> 00:48:31,440
It wasn't a pretence, we actually
did live the life of a rock band.
652
00:48:31,440 --> 00:48:34,000
Sort of living on the edge,
in a sense.
653
00:48:34,000 --> 00:48:38,880
♪ Turning inside out, yeah
654
00:48:38,880 --> 00:48:44,000
♪ Floating around in ecstasy
655
00:48:44,000 --> 00:48:47,160
♪ So don't stop me now... ♪
656
00:48:47,160 --> 00:48:50,560
"Don't Stop Me Now"
is a whole different trip, really.
657
00:48:50,560 --> 00:48:54,000
It's become one of the most
popular Queen songs of all time.
658
00:48:54,000 --> 00:48:57,440
♪ I'm a shooting star leaping
through the sky like a tiger
659
00:48:57,440 --> 00:49:01,200
♪ Defying the laws of gravity
660
00:49:01,200 --> 00:49:05,520
♪ I'm a racing car passing by
like Lady Godiva
661
00:49:05,520 --> 00:49:10,800
♪ I'm gonna go, go, go,
there's no stopping me
662
00:49:10,800 --> 00:49:13,280
♪ I'm burning through
the sky, yeah... ♪
663
00:49:13,280 --> 00:49:16,240
It's a song of sort of
unfettered joy.
664
00:49:16,240 --> 00:49:17,760
♪ ..Mr Fahrenheit
665
00:49:17,760 --> 00:49:20,480
♪ I'm travelling
at the speed of light
666
00:49:20,480 --> 00:49:23,240
♪ I wanna make a supersonic woman
of you... ♪
667
00:49:25,080 --> 00:49:28,120
I've been quoted as saying
I don't like the track.
668
00:49:28,120 --> 00:49:31,640
I kind of do like the track,
but I had mixed feelings,
669
00:49:31,640 --> 00:49:35,040
because in a sense, it represented
a sort of separatism.
670
00:49:35,040 --> 00:49:37,120
It was very much Freddie's world
671
00:49:37,120 --> 00:49:39,840
and reflecting what he was
going through.
672
00:49:39,840 --> 00:49:42,720
Freddie took to the gay scene
in New York
673
00:49:42,720 --> 00:49:46,000
like David Attenborough
making a wildlife programme.
674
00:49:46,000 --> 00:49:51,000
He'd report on what he'd seen
with that kind of "Hey-hey!"
attitude that he had.
675
00:49:51,000 --> 00:49:53,640
There was this one particular place
called The Anvil,
676
00:49:53,640 --> 00:49:57,800
which seemed to have invented new
uses for parts of the human anatomy!
677
00:49:57,800 --> 00:49:59,160
He was never shocked.
678
00:49:59,160 --> 00:50:02,440
He was eager to be
involved in everything,
679
00:50:02,440 --> 00:50:04,880
it was like he was
a social field worker.
680
00:50:04,880 --> 00:50:07,600
♪ I wanna make a supersonic man
out of you... ♪
681
00:50:07,600 --> 00:50:11,440
As far as I'm concerned, I just want
to pack in as much of life
682
00:50:11,440 --> 00:50:16,840
and fun and having a good time
as much as I can.
683
00:50:16,840 --> 00:50:21,120
♪ If you want to have a good time,
just give me a call
684
00:50:21,120 --> 00:50:24,080
♪ Don't stop me now
Cos I'm having a good time.
685
00:50:24,080 --> 00:50:26,880
♪ Don't stop me now
Yes, I'm having a good time
686
00:50:26,880 --> 00:50:30,960
♪ I don't wanna stop at all
687
00:50:32,800 --> 00:50:35,560
♪ Da-da da-da dah
688
00:50:35,560 --> 00:50:38,680
♪ Da da da-ha
689
00:50:38,680 --> 00:50:43,360
♪ Da-da-da ha-ha-hah
690
00:50:43,360 --> 00:50:46,440
♪ Da-da-dah... ♪
691
00:50:46,440 --> 00:50:49,080
The album "Jazz"
was not a complete flop,
692
00:50:49,080 --> 00:50:51,720
it got to number 6 in the chart.
693
00:50:51,720 --> 00:50:56,360
But "Don't Stop Me Now",
which is a big favourite in Britain
to this day,
694
00:50:56,360 --> 00:50:58,480
in America, only got to the 80s.
695
00:50:58,480 --> 00:51:01,400
The review in Rolling Stone
was notorious.
696
00:51:01,400 --> 00:51:05,480
And it shows you that
Queen were not respected.
697
00:51:05,480 --> 00:51:07,640
We were confused by that title.
698
00:51:07,640 --> 00:51:11,480
Why would a rock band
call their album "Jazz"?
699
00:51:11,480 --> 00:51:13,960
It had a couple of great
tracks on it,
700
00:51:13,960 --> 00:51:16,160
but it had some weaker stuff on it.
701
00:51:16,160 --> 00:51:18,320
Queen was maybe viewed
702
00:51:18,320 --> 00:51:22,560
as the Indian meal that had
gone cold in the refrigerator.
703
00:51:22,560 --> 00:51:26,000
What's going to happen
in '79 for Queen?
704
00:51:26,000 --> 00:51:30,040
We're going to make more records,
tour even more.
705
00:51:30,040 --> 00:51:33,600
It's difficult to say. This has been
our hardest working year.
706
00:51:33,600 --> 00:51:36,920
We'd heard that there was this
great studio called Musicland
707
00:51:36,920 --> 00:51:41,040
in Munich, and we'd heard there was
this great engineer called Mack.
708
00:51:41,040 --> 00:51:44,800
And we got into this rather
kind of indulgent way of just
709
00:51:44,800 --> 00:51:48,640
bowling into the studio with
no ideas, or very few ideas,
710
00:51:48,640 --> 00:51:50,400
and just doing it from scratch.
711
00:51:50,400 --> 00:51:52,600
"What you got?"
"Well I dont know, I've got this."
712
00:51:52,600 --> 00:51:55,680
MUSIC:
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love"
713
00:51:58,440 --> 00:52:01,280
♪ This thing called love... ♪
714
00:52:05,479 --> 00:52:07,579
First thing we did was
"Crazy Little Thing ...."
715
00:52:09,280 --> 00:52:12,360
Fred did write the song in the bath,
in about ten minutes.
716
00:52:12,800 --> 00:52:14,880
♪ Crazy little thing called love... ♪
717
00:52:16,560 --> 00:52:20,880
Next, he said, "Tell them
I'm coming over and we've got to go
straight into the studio."
718
00:52:20,880 --> 00:52:23,640
♪ Like a baby
In the cradle all night... ♪
719
00:52:23,640 --> 00:52:26,840
I was very quick, had everything
set up in pretty much no time,
720
00:52:26,840 --> 00:52:30,920
and they put it down,
and then the best bit was,
721
00:52:30,920 --> 00:52:35,120
"Quick, let's finish it
before Brian gets here, otherwise
it takes a little longer!"
722
00:52:35,120 --> 00:52:38,920
♪ There goes my baby
723
00:52:38,920 --> 00:52:41,280
♪ She knows how to rock and roll
724
00:52:41,280 --> 00:52:43,600
♪ She drives me crazy
725
00:52:45,200 --> 00:52:46,960
♪ She gives me hot and cold fever
726
00:52:46,960 --> 00:52:48,960
♪ She leaves me in
a cold, cold sweat... ♪
727
00:52:53,800 --> 00:52:57,040
That was the first number 1
across the board in America.
728
00:52:57,040 --> 00:52:59,800
Billboard, Cashbox
and Record World, I think.
729
00:52:59,800 --> 00:53:01,560
We were still making a record,
730
00:53:01,560 --> 00:53:04,040
we hadn't even nearly finished
the album,
731
00:53:04,040 --> 00:53:07,160
and we were going out in Munich
and somebody came up and said,
732
00:53:07,160 --> 00:53:11,200
"It's gone to number 1 in America."
We were going, "Yeah! More drinks!"
733
00:53:15,400 --> 00:53:19,600
So, "Crazy Little Thing..."
completely cracked
the charts in America.
734
00:53:19,600 --> 00:53:23,240
But it wasn't easy to find
the follow-up.
735
00:53:23,240 --> 00:53:27,080
"Play The Game"
charted outside the US Top 40.
736
00:53:27,080 --> 00:53:30,920
But the next single was
something very different.
737
00:53:30,920 --> 00:53:34,400
One thing I always liked about Queen
was they were four individuals,
738
00:53:34,400 --> 00:53:38,480
all of whom brought something
to the table, musically
and in terms of songwriting,
739
00:53:38,480 --> 00:53:40,920
and that includes
the bass player, John Deacon.
740
00:53:40,920 --> 00:53:44,320
MUSIC: "Another One Bites The Dust"
741
00:53:49,200 --> 00:53:52,720
I'd always wanted to do something
that was more sort of disco-ey,
742
00:53:52,720 --> 00:53:54,600
which was very uncool at the time.
743
00:53:54,600 --> 00:53:57,960
I mean, funk wasn't really
in the vocabulary.
744
00:54:00,840 --> 00:54:02,320
Let's go!
745
00:54:02,320 --> 00:54:06,480
John was pulling us strongly in that
direction, sort of funky direction.
746
00:54:06,480 --> 00:54:08,640
And John got Roger to play
747
00:54:08,640 --> 00:54:12,040
with tape all over his drums,
which is exactly what Roger hated.
748
00:54:12,040 --> 00:54:14,480
Roger hated his drums
being made to sound dead.
749
00:54:14,480 --> 00:54:19,440
I didn't really want to get into
dance music. It wasn't my thing.
750
00:54:22,200 --> 00:54:24,440
♪ Another one bites the dust... ♪
751
00:54:24,440 --> 00:54:28,800
Freddie got deeply into it, Freddie
sort of sang it until he bled,
752
00:54:28,800 --> 00:54:33,720
cos he was so committed to making it
sound the way John wanted it,
which was like hardcore...
753
00:54:33,720 --> 00:54:39,480
I don't know what you would call it.
But it's more towards black music
than white music.
754
00:54:42,360 --> 00:54:46,120
♪ How do you think I'm going to get
along without you when you're gone?
755
00:54:46,120 --> 00:54:50,520
♪ You took me for everything that
I had and kicked me out of my home
756
00:54:50,520 --> 00:54:54,800
♪ Are you happy? Are you satisfied?
How long can you stand the heat?
757
00:54:54,800 --> 00:54:59,680
♪ Out of the doorway, the bullets
whistle to the sound of the beat... ♪
758
00:54:59,680 --> 00:55:04,320
Michael came to several shows,
I think, at the Forum in LA.
759
00:55:04,320 --> 00:55:07,320
And he loved Freddie.
And he kept saying,
760
00:55:07,320 --> 00:55:11,920
"You guys, you've got to put that
song out." I wasn't particularly
enamoured with it,
761
00:55:11,920 --> 00:55:14,920
so I said, "No, you're kidding,
that's never a single."
762
00:55:14,920 --> 00:55:16,840
♪ Another one bites the dust... ♪
763
00:55:16,840 --> 00:55:21,040
"Another One Bites The Dust"
was never seen as a single.
764
00:55:21,040 --> 00:55:22,920
It barely made it onto the album!
765
00:55:24,640 --> 00:55:29,960
It got on the radio
and it got heard by people that
didn't even know who the band was.
766
00:55:29,960 --> 00:55:31,440
♪ Ah, take it! ♪
767
00:55:32,480 --> 00:55:37,440
Strangely enough, the record became
huge because of the black audience.
768
00:55:37,440 --> 00:55:40,520
One particular station in New York
picked it up,
769
00:55:40,520 --> 00:55:42,720
thinking that we were a black band,
770
00:55:42,720 --> 00:55:46,120
and played the hell out of it,
and it became a huge hit.
771
00:55:46,120 --> 00:55:50,320
It was like number 1 in nine
different charts.
772
00:55:50,320 --> 00:55:53,040
I mean, even in the country chart!
It's ridiculous.
773
00:55:53,040 --> 00:55:56,960
And this thing just kept selling,
to around three million.
774
00:55:56,960 --> 00:56:00,400
It was in the Hot 100 for 31 weeks.
775
00:56:02,040 --> 00:56:05,520
When an opponent would get
knocked out in a boxing match,
776
00:56:05,520 --> 00:56:08,120
you'd hear
"Another One Bites The Dust" used.
777
00:56:08,120 --> 00:56:10,800
It became an anthem of triumph.
778
00:56:10,800 --> 00:56:15,200
♪ Yeah, ye-e-e-e-a-a-ah!
All right! ♪
779
00:56:15,200 --> 00:56:18,160
I think it's still
the biggest record we ever had.
780
00:56:18,160 --> 00:56:20,840
♪ Another one bites
the dust, yeah! ♪
781
00:56:20,840 --> 00:56:24,000
People pointing at the cars -
"You guys are bad!"
782
00:56:24,000 --> 00:56:27,160
"What does that mean?"
"It means you're good!"
783
00:56:27,160 --> 00:56:28,520
♪ Another one bites the dust
784
00:56:28,520 --> 00:56:32,560
♪ Hey, gonna get you too,
another one bites the dust... ♪
785
00:56:33,640 --> 00:56:37,120
If you're successful in America,
basically, you've made it.
786
00:56:37,120 --> 00:56:40,320
We kind of became the biggest group
in the world at that moment.
787
00:56:40,320 --> 00:56:43,200
It's a fleeting moment,
because someone else will come
788
00:56:43,200 --> 00:56:46,280
and take over. But for that moment,
we kind of owned the world.
789
00:56:46,280 --> 00:56:49,160
MUSIC: "We Are The Champions"
790
00:56:53,520 --> 00:56:57,160
The sales figures tell the story
that the people wanted Queen
791
00:56:57,160 --> 00:56:59,160
even when the press didn't.
792
00:57:03,400 --> 00:57:06,640
Looking back on it now,
I'd say Queen were never in fashion.
793
00:57:07,840 --> 00:57:10,160
We were never a fashionable group,
I don't think.
794
00:57:11,240 --> 00:57:13,280
Maybe that was to our benefit,
795
00:57:13,280 --> 00:57:16,720
that we didn't become the thing
of the moment, a fashionable thing.
796
00:57:16,720 --> 00:57:20,240
We were just popular, which got
right up some people's noses!
797
00:58:08,720 --> 00:58:10,760
Fred, how do you feel,
playing and singing
798
00:58:10,760 --> 00:58:13,560
before 200,000 people?
Haven't done it yet!
799
00:58:15,080 --> 00:58:18,520
Every song, you felt, was,
"They're stealing the show".
800
00:58:18,520 --> 00:58:22,200
I like Queen very much, but I don't
want to end up life living a quartet.
801
00:58:22,200 --> 00:58:25,960
The band was pretty
much on the verge of falling apart.
802
00:58:25,960 --> 00:58:28,840
I think he had an idea
that he might not be terribly well.
803
00:58:28,840 --> 00:58:32,120
He said, "I'll come back and finish
it off," and he never came back.
804
00:58:32,120 --> 00:58:34,800
That was the last moment
that I had with him.
805
00:59:13,200 --> 00:59:16,160
♪ Flash, aaah
806
00:59:16,160 --> 00:59:18,440
♪ Saviour of the universe... ♪
807
00:59:38,400 --> 00:59:41,840
I wanted us to be massively
successful, I mean...
808
00:59:41,840 --> 00:59:44,720
I think almost everybody
in this business does.
809
00:59:44,720 --> 00:59:48,880
♪ Flash, aaah
810
00:59:48,880 --> 00:59:51,080
♪ He'll save every one of us... ♪
811
00:59:51,080 --> 00:59:53,920
Certainly by the beginning
of the '80s,
812
00:59:53,920 --> 00:59:57,200
the world domination they'd
craved for was definitely there.
813
00:59:57,200 --> 01:00:00,880
♪ Aaah
814
01:00:00,880 --> 01:00:02,520
♪ He's a miracle... ♪
815
01:00:04,200 --> 01:00:08,040
The hardest thing is to actually
maintain the level of success
you've achieved
816
01:00:08,040 --> 01:00:12,200
because I think when
you go all the way up,
the only place is to come down.
817
01:00:12,200 --> 01:00:15,320
♪ Flash, aaah
818
01:00:15,320 --> 01:00:17,520
♪ King of the impossible... ♪
819
01:00:20,520 --> 01:00:24,280
You've no idea where you can get to.
It's like the sky's the limit.
820
01:00:24,280 --> 01:00:26,200
♪ He'll save with a mighty hand
821
01:00:26,200 --> 01:00:29,480
♪ Every man, every woman, every child
with a mighty Flash... ♪
822
01:00:34,200 --> 01:00:37,560
We didn't want just America,
we wanted the whole world, you know.
823
01:00:42,960 --> 01:00:45,160
South America reared its head
824
01:00:45,160 --> 01:00:50,720
and we heard rumours that we were...
the biggest thing ever in Argentina
825
01:00:50,720 --> 01:00:54,000
and Brazil and they started to ask
us to go down there.
826
01:00:54,000 --> 01:00:57,040
They were saying, "You can play
football stadiums down there."
827
01:00:57,040 --> 01:00:58,600
We went, "You're joking."
828
01:00:58,600 --> 01:01:02,400
In those days under
the dictatorship in Argentina,
829
01:01:02,400 --> 01:01:06,080
we were negotiating with the army
general and he said to me,
830
01:01:06,080 --> 01:01:09,200
"How can I possibly allow 50,000
young people into a stadium
831
01:01:09,200 --> 01:01:10,600
"when I can't control them?
832
01:01:10,600 --> 01:01:14,200
"What happens if somebody suddenly
shouts out 'Viva Peron'
833
01:01:14,200 --> 01:01:18,640
"in the middle of a Queen concert
and I have a riot on my hands?"
834
01:01:18,640 --> 01:01:22,320
And I tried to explain to him that,
rather like
835
01:01:22,320 --> 01:01:27,240
gladiatorial matches in Rome,
this was panacea to the people,
836
01:01:27,240 --> 01:01:29,560
they'd never, ever had this before,
837
01:01:29,560 --> 01:01:32,440
this would be an
extraordinary experience.
838
01:01:35,360 --> 01:01:37,960
So we got the whole thing together
839
01:01:37,960 --> 01:01:41,200
and it was God knows how many
jumbo jets full of equipment.
840
01:01:41,200 --> 01:01:45,640
And when we arrived in Buenos Aires,
as we're unloading it,
841
01:01:45,640 --> 01:01:48,880
you could see spent bullet cases,
and thinking,
842
01:01:48,880 --> 01:01:51,560
"Yeah, we really are in a very
different place here."
843
01:01:51,560 --> 01:01:56,880
We were looking for a bodyguard for
Freddie, this particular man came in
844
01:01:56,880 --> 01:02:01,120
and his opening recommendation was
that he'd killed 212 people.
845
01:02:01,120 --> 01:02:04,160
The travel arrangements
were very scary.
846
01:02:04,160 --> 01:02:06,240
Driving the wrong way along
a raised motorway
847
01:02:06,240 --> 01:02:11,720
with outriders, with guys in big
jeeps waving their big guns
848
01:02:11,720 --> 01:02:15,840
and getting the cars, coming
straight towards them, to pull over.
849
01:02:15,840 --> 01:02:19,360
We got caught in a traffic jam and
one of the policemen just stood up,
850
01:02:19,360 --> 01:02:20,920
put his head through the roof
851
01:02:20,920 --> 01:02:25,640
and started firing his gun in the
air in order to clear the traffic.
852
01:02:25,640 --> 01:02:26,840
Very hair-raising.
853
01:02:29,080 --> 01:02:30,400
Hello, amigos.
854
01:02:30,400 --> 01:02:33,880
HE SPEAKS PORTUGUESE
855
01:02:38,160 --> 01:02:42,320
Fred, how do you feel playing
and singing before 200,000 people?
856
01:02:42,320 --> 01:02:44,640
I haven't done it yet!
857
01:02:48,400 --> 01:02:52,440
I can remember being nervous
the first night.
858
01:02:52,440 --> 01:02:56,960
The top tier alone took 80,000
and we were in this sort of dug-out
859
01:02:56,960 --> 01:02:59,720
which I guess the football teams
would normally be in.
860
01:02:59,720 --> 01:03:03,160
All the windows were broken
and I remember thinking
861
01:03:03,160 --> 01:03:07,160
this is... You know, it's going to
take some balls to walk out there.
862
01:03:07,160 --> 01:03:08,280
Hello, Sao Paulo!
863
01:03:26,920 --> 01:03:29,080
♪ Get your party gown
864
01:03:29,080 --> 01:03:30,560
♪ Get your pigtail down
865
01:03:30,560 --> 01:03:32,480
♪ Get your heart beating, baby
866
01:03:33,680 --> 01:03:34,920
♪ Get your timing right
867
01:03:34,920 --> 01:03:36,920
♪ I got my act all tight
868
01:03:36,920 --> 01:03:40,120
♪ It's gotta be tonight
My little school babe
869
01:03:40,120 --> 01:03:41,760
♪ Your momma says you don't
870
01:03:41,760 --> 01:03:44,560
♪ Your daddy says you won't
And I'm boiling up inside... ♪
871
01:03:44,560 --> 01:03:47,560
They knew all the songs.
These people don't speak English
872
01:03:47,560 --> 01:03:49,760
but they could sing along
all the Queen songs
873
01:03:49,760 --> 01:03:53,000
so they're obviously very genuine
fans and they went nuts.
874
01:03:53,000 --> 01:03:56,320
♪ Tie your mother down
Tie your mother down
875
01:03:56,320 --> 01:03:59,160
♪ Lock your daddy out of doors
I don't need him nosing around
876
01:03:59,160 --> 01:04:02,560
♪ Tie your mother down
Tie your mother down
877
01:04:02,560 --> 01:04:07,000
♪ Give me all your love tonight
878
01:04:11,120 --> 01:04:13,160
♪ Tonight... ♪
879
01:04:13,160 --> 01:04:15,120
It also takes a certain ego
880
01:04:15,120 --> 01:04:19,000
and a certain drive to want to be
881
01:04:19,000 --> 01:04:21,520
in that spotlight and go on display.
882
01:04:22,520 --> 01:04:26,000
And Freddie thrived
and got better in bigger arenas.
883
01:04:26,000 --> 01:04:27,040
♪ Yeah
884
01:04:27,040 --> 01:04:28,160
AUDIENCE: # Yeah
885
01:04:28,160 --> 01:04:29,240
♪ Yeah
886
01:04:29,240 --> 01:04:30,400
♪ Yeah
887
01:04:30,400 --> 01:04:31,440
♪ Yeah ye-yeah yeah
888
01:04:31,440 --> 01:04:32,760
♪ Yeah ye-yeah yeah
889
01:04:32,760 --> 01:04:34,000
♪ Yeah yeah ye-ye-yeah
890
01:04:34,000 --> 01:04:35,400
♪ Yeah yeah ye-ye-yeah
891
01:04:35,400 --> 01:04:37,360
♪ All right
All right
892
01:04:37,360 --> 01:04:39,200
♪ All right
All right
893
01:04:39,200 --> 01:04:40,840
♪ Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
894
01:04:40,840 --> 01:04:42,000
♪ Yeah Yeah
895
01:04:42,000 --> 01:04:43,640
♪ Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
896
01:04:43,640 --> 01:04:45,160
♪ Yeah Yeah Yeah Yeah
897
01:04:45,160 --> 01:04:46,200
♪ Yeah Yeah
898
01:04:46,200 --> 01:04:47,240
♪ Yeah
899
01:04:47,240 --> 01:04:48,720
♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah
900
01:04:48,720 --> 01:04:54,160
♪ Aaaaaaaall right
901
01:04:54,160 --> 01:04:59,120
♪ Aaaaaaaall right
902
01:05:00,480 --> 01:05:01,880
Let's do it to tempo.
903
01:05:07,360 --> 01:05:09,840
Once we'd finished Argentina
and Brazil,
904
01:05:09,840 --> 01:05:12,360
the band decided to go
back into the studio
905
01:05:12,360 --> 01:05:15,520
and they had of course bought
the studios in Montreux, here.
906
01:05:23,800 --> 01:05:29,320
Mountain Studios was in the casino
by the lake in Montreux.
907
01:05:29,320 --> 01:05:32,400
When they first arrived it was,
like, the top studio in Europe.
908
01:05:34,080 --> 01:05:37,600
We were in the studio in Montreux
and David Bowie lives nearby.
909
01:05:38,560 --> 01:05:41,120
I think we went out for a meal
or drinks or something
910
01:05:41,120 --> 01:05:44,000
and then landed up back in
the studio with the sort of
911
01:05:44,000 --> 01:05:45,840
rough intention of doing something.
912
01:05:45,840 --> 01:05:48,480
We were fooling around and just...
913
01:05:48,480 --> 01:05:51,280
jamming with tracks
and suddenly we said,
914
01:05:51,280 --> 01:05:54,760
"Why don't we just see what we can do
on the spur of the moment?"
915
01:05:54,760 --> 01:05:59,280
Then it's the pressure
of His Majesty David being there
916
01:05:59,280 --> 01:06:04,000
and everybody wanted to look suave
and quick with ideas and stuff.
917
01:06:04,000 --> 01:06:06,960
Deacy of course came up with this
riff - dun dun dun de de dun dun.
918
01:06:06,960 --> 01:06:09,040
"UNDER PRESSURE" BASS RIFF PLAYS
919
01:06:09,040 --> 01:06:11,160
♪ Bom bom bom buddle der der
920
01:06:11,160 --> 01:06:12,680
♪ Ding ding ding digger ding ding
921
01:06:15,160 --> 01:06:17,560
He kept playing that over and over
and over again.
922
01:06:19,000 --> 01:06:21,960
And then we went for a pizza
and he forgot it.
923
01:06:21,960 --> 01:06:26,720
Completely escaped his mind!
We got back and I remembered it.
924
01:06:28,800 --> 01:06:32,200
And of course, we're used to playing
together and now we have this
925
01:06:32,200 --> 01:06:35,720
other guy there who's also
inputting, inputting, inputting.
926
01:06:35,720 --> 01:06:38,120
David's idea of putting these
clicks and claps
927
01:06:38,120 --> 01:06:40,280
and then the track just grew.
928
01:06:45,360 --> 01:06:47,720
By that time,
David was very impassioned.
929
01:06:47,720 --> 01:06:50,560
He had a vision in his head,
I think.
930
01:06:50,560 --> 01:06:53,520
It's quite a difficult process
and somebody has to back off
931
01:06:53,520 --> 01:06:55,800
and actually I did back off,
unusual for me.
932
01:06:55,800 --> 01:07:00,320
♪ Pressure pushing down on me
933
01:07:00,320 --> 01:07:01,720
♪ Pressing down on you
934
01:07:01,720 --> 01:07:03,880
♪ No man ask for
935
01:07:03,880 --> 01:07:05,520
♪ Under pressure
936
01:07:05,520 --> 01:07:08,680
♪ That burns a building down
937
01:07:08,680 --> 01:07:11,200
♪ Splits a family in two
938
01:07:11,200 --> 01:07:12,640
♪ Puts people on streets... ♪
939
01:07:12,640 --> 01:07:15,520
For the vocals, one of them
was to be locked out
940
01:07:15,520 --> 01:07:17,880
and not allowed to
hear what the other one sang
941
01:07:17,880 --> 01:07:20,360
and they sang anything off the top
of their heads.
942
01:07:20,360 --> 01:07:22,360
♪ It never rains but it pours
943
01:07:22,360 --> 01:07:24,400
♪ Um ba-ba bey... ♪
944
01:07:24,400 --> 01:07:29,400
Fred starts doing his bum-didder-dup
and his bits-and-pieces
945
01:07:29,400 --> 01:07:31,800
and I see out of
the corner of my eye,
946
01:07:31,800 --> 01:07:34,960
I see David sticking his head in,
listening.
947
01:07:34,960 --> 01:07:38,800
Then Fred came down, David went up
and Freddie was quite impressed
948
01:07:38,800 --> 01:07:41,400
that he was counterpointing
to what he did before.
949
01:07:41,400 --> 01:07:43,200
♪ ..This world is about
950
01:07:43,200 --> 01:07:47,040
♪ Watching some good friends
screaming let me out
951
01:07:47,040 --> 01:07:51,000
♪ Pray tomorrow gets me
higher, high, high
952
01:07:51,000 --> 01:07:55,240
♪ Pressure on people
People on streets... ♪
953
01:07:55,240 --> 01:07:58,000
And Fred said,
"What do you make of this?"
954
01:07:58,000 --> 01:08:02,480
I said, "It's kind of easy if you
stand in the doorway listening
to what you're doing."
955
01:08:02,480 --> 01:08:05,960
And Freddie turned,
"What the BLEEP"?
956
01:08:05,960 --> 01:08:11,200
♪ Cos love's such
an old fashioned word
957
01:08:11,200 --> 01:08:14,280
♪ And love dares you
958
01:08:14,280 --> 01:08:20,960
♪ To care for the people
on the edge of the night
959
01:08:20,960 --> 01:08:23,920
♪ And love dares you
960
01:08:23,920 --> 01:08:26,640
♪ To change our way of
961
01:08:26,640 --> 01:08:30,720
♪ Caring about ourselves
962
01:08:30,720 --> 01:08:34,480
♪ This is our last dance... ♪
963
01:08:35,800 --> 01:08:39,480
The result is very good but it was
a difficult experience, I think,
964
01:08:39,480 --> 01:08:42,600
because people pulling in different
directions, in a sense.
965
01:08:42,600 --> 01:08:43,840
♪ Under pressure... ♪
966
01:08:43,840 --> 01:08:47,920
Under Pressure, David Bowie,
the band, me,
967
01:08:47,920 --> 01:08:50,920
I don't think it mixed too well.
968
01:08:50,920 --> 01:08:52,480
♪ Pressure. ♪
969
01:08:52,480 --> 01:08:55,000
Shame actually, it's...
970
01:08:55,000 --> 01:08:59,760
I thought it was fabulous,
we could've done some incredible
further things, actually.
971
01:09:06,560 --> 01:09:11,040
Well, here we have a total change
of life for all of us, really.
972
01:09:11,040 --> 01:09:14,440
We went back to Munich
to do the next album
973
01:09:14,440 --> 01:09:17,920
and really, I suppose, things
started to go downhill.
974
01:09:19,160 --> 01:09:21,520
It's actually a rather grim place.
975
01:09:21,520 --> 01:09:27,000
It's a studio in the basement of
a huge tower block which is a hotel.
976
01:09:28,280 --> 01:09:30,240
And it's kind of depressing.
977
01:09:30,240 --> 01:09:34,680
A lot of people used to jump off
that building and kill themselves,
978
01:09:34,680 --> 01:09:37,360
off that particular building,
it was well known for it.
979
01:09:37,360 --> 01:09:40,720
We didn't know that until we got
there, so we went a bit nuts.
980
01:09:44,040 --> 01:09:47,480
By that time, we were getting
very finicky about recording
981
01:09:47,480 --> 01:09:48,880
and we spent months there.
982
01:09:54,320 --> 01:09:57,760
After the massive success of
Another One Bites The Dust,
983
01:09:57,760 --> 01:10:02,080
the thinking was we'll make an album
that's slightly more dance
orientated.
984
01:10:02,080 --> 01:10:03,360
Not my idea.
985
01:10:03,360 --> 01:10:06,360
Especially in Freddie's entourage,
986
01:10:06,360 --> 01:10:09,920
I won't mention any names
like Paul Prenter, for instance,
987
01:10:09,920 --> 01:10:14,440
loathed guitars and
found that Brian was old fashioned.
988
01:10:14,440 --> 01:10:17,560
Paul Prenter had become
Freddie's personal assistant.
989
01:10:17,560 --> 01:10:21,040
He was a very, very bad influence
upon Freddie,
990
01:10:21,040 --> 01:10:23,360
hence on the band, really.
991
01:10:23,360 --> 01:10:26,200
He very much wanted
our music to sound
992
01:10:26,200 --> 01:10:28,200
like you'd just walked in
a gay club.
993
01:10:28,200 --> 01:10:29,880
And I didn't.
994
01:10:29,880 --> 01:10:31,680
♪ Back chat, back chat
995
01:10:31,680 --> 01:10:33,760
♪ Criticising all you see
996
01:10:33,760 --> 01:10:35,680
♪ Back chat, back chat
997
01:10:35,680 --> 01:10:37,640
♪ Analysing what I say... ♪
998
01:10:37,640 --> 01:10:40,240
There were a lot of strains in
the band that'd happen
999
01:10:40,240 --> 01:10:43,960
with four people of that
strength of character.
1000
01:10:43,960 --> 01:10:48,880
Everybody had their say
and the arguments were creative
and then it would become personal.
1001
01:10:48,880 --> 01:10:51,040
Of course!
1002
01:10:51,040 --> 01:10:54,720
It was a sort of emotional
roller coaster.
1003
01:10:54,720 --> 01:10:58,160
I think less and less time
was spent in the studio.
1004
01:11:01,920 --> 01:11:04,920
Get up about three o'clock and go
and have breakfast
1005
01:11:04,920 --> 01:11:07,920
and then a bit of work would be
done and then you'd have dinner
1006
01:11:07,920 --> 01:11:12,640
and then one of the roadies would
start mixing cocktails and then...
1007
01:11:14,160 --> 01:11:16,160
other things would...ahem, happen.
1008
01:11:16,160 --> 01:11:17,840
♪ Give me... ♪
1009
01:11:19,720 --> 01:11:22,520
I'm not saying cocaine
and other drugs
1010
01:11:22,520 --> 01:11:25,600
and loose women had anything
to do with that at all.
1011
01:11:25,600 --> 01:11:27,480
Wink, wink, nudge, nudge!
1012
01:11:27,480 --> 01:11:30,480
♪ Body, body
1013
01:11:30,480 --> 01:11:34,560
♪ Give me your body... ♪
1014
01:11:34,560 --> 01:11:38,040
It turned into a rather exhausting
cycle, I think, in the end.
1015
01:11:38,040 --> 01:11:41,080
♪ Don't talk, don't talk, don't talk
1016
01:11:41,080 --> 01:11:42,880
♪ Baby, don't talk... ♪
1017
01:11:42,880 --> 01:11:46,240
I don't know if I can say this...
Yes, I could probably say this.
1018
01:11:46,240 --> 01:11:50,880
We all got ourselves into deep
trouble emotionally in Munich
1019
01:11:50,880 --> 01:11:56,280
and Freddie was no exception, he got
himself deep into emotional waters
which he couldn't really handle
1020
01:11:56,280 --> 01:11:58,560
and was very unhappy
for some of the time.
1021
01:11:58,560 --> 01:12:03,480
♪ Give me your body... ♪
1022
01:12:03,480 --> 01:12:07,760
He was being sucked into places
which really probably
weren't good for him.
1023
01:12:07,760 --> 01:12:10,200
And I think we all felt that
1024
01:12:10,200 --> 01:12:12,880
and realised that he was
in some kind of danger.
1025
01:12:12,880 --> 01:12:16,480
♪ Give me, yeah
1026
01:12:16,480 --> 01:12:20,120
♪ Your body... ♪
1027
01:12:21,320 --> 01:12:24,120
I certainly saw the change
in Freddie...
1028
01:12:24,120 --> 01:12:25,240
♪ Don't talk... ♪
1029
01:12:25,240 --> 01:12:28,400
..in the club Heaven in 1983.
1030
01:12:28,400 --> 01:12:30,800
I said to him, "Have you
modified your behaviour
1031
01:12:30,800 --> 01:12:34,200
"in light of 'the new disease'",
which as of yet did not have a name.
1032
01:12:35,840 --> 01:12:39,080
And with the sweep of his arms
in a theatrical fashion, he said,
1033
01:12:39,080 --> 01:12:44,760
"Darling, my attitude is fuck it,
I'm doing everything with
everybody."
1034
01:12:44,760 --> 01:12:47,960
If someone kept a chart
of rock and roll royalty,
1035
01:12:47,960 --> 01:12:49,760
Queen would have to be at the top.
1036
01:12:49,760 --> 01:12:52,320
Now Queen is back on tour
1037
01:12:52,320 --> 01:12:55,080
and perhaps up against their
biggest challenge yet.
1038
01:12:55,080 --> 01:13:00,600
Now, most of you know that we've got
some new sounds out last week and...
1039
01:13:02,040 --> 01:13:05,400
..for what it's worth, we're going
to do a few songs in
1040
01:13:05,400 --> 01:13:08,560
the funk-black category,
whatever you call it.
1041
01:13:08,560 --> 01:13:11,000
Record sales are not
as strong as in the past
1042
01:13:11,000 --> 01:13:13,200
and that's left everyone wondering.
1043
01:13:13,200 --> 01:13:14,960
I don't like everything that we do.
1044
01:13:14,960 --> 01:13:17,080
I like a lot of what we do
but not everything.
1045
01:13:17,080 --> 01:13:20,120
It depends on whatever the four
individuals in the group,
1046
01:13:20,120 --> 01:13:23,440
what music they're into at the time
and what songs they're writing.
1047
01:13:23,440 --> 01:13:27,200
There might be a couple of songs
come out you don't like very much.
1048
01:13:27,200 --> 01:13:28,440
I could name a couple!
1049
01:13:28,440 --> 01:13:32,200
Well, Hot Space in Queen terms
was pretty disastrous, really.
1050
01:13:32,200 --> 01:13:35,200
It didn't appeal to
some of the hardcore Queen fans
1051
01:13:35,200 --> 01:13:38,440
who would turn up at concerts with
banners saying "disco sucks".
1052
01:13:38,440 --> 01:13:43,080
It's only a bloody record, people get
so excited about these things.
I mean...
1053
01:13:43,080 --> 01:13:45,560
The band...
1054
01:13:45,560 --> 01:13:47,920
It was pretty much on
the verge of falling apart.
1055
01:13:47,920 --> 01:13:51,680
I think we had a couple of meetings
and staff to discuss
1056
01:13:51,680 --> 01:13:53,680
were we still together etc, etc.
1057
01:13:53,680 --> 01:13:56,760
What to do if you're a member
of an internationally successful
1058
01:13:56,760 --> 01:13:59,040
rock band but want to
blow off creative steam
1059
01:13:59,040 --> 01:14:01,040
that doesn't fit the band's image.
1060
01:14:01,040 --> 01:14:03,560
Our next guest has faced that,
he is Roger Taylor.
1061
01:14:03,560 --> 01:14:07,680
He's just blown off some of his own
steam with his second solo album,
1062
01:14:07,680 --> 01:14:09,400
Strange Frontier. Let's look at it.
1063
01:14:09,400 --> 01:14:12,560
♪ Sometimes I feel
like a man on fire
1064
01:14:12,560 --> 01:14:15,240
♪ Sometimes I feel
like a man possessed
1065
01:14:15,240 --> 01:14:19,880
♪ Sometimes I wanna burn down
this crazy town... ♪
1066
01:14:19,880 --> 01:14:21,600
I think we decided we
needed a break.
1067
01:14:21,600 --> 01:14:26,120
Queen propelled us into the world
but also in a sense it confined us
1068
01:14:26,120 --> 01:14:30,440
into a very small space.
We just worked with each other,
not the other fabulous musicians.
1069
01:14:32,520 --> 01:14:35,840
I ended up in LA
and one morning just got up
1070
01:14:35,840 --> 01:14:39,080
and rang up some mates there and
said, "Why don't we do something?"
1071
01:14:39,080 --> 01:14:41,520
And it led to
the Star Fleet Project.
1072
01:14:41,520 --> 01:14:44,440
♪ Star fleet, star fleet
1073
01:14:47,120 --> 01:14:50,240
♪ Star fleet, star fleet... ♪
1074
01:14:52,720 --> 01:14:55,720
At a certain point we were
all ready, there's no doubt.
1075
01:14:55,720 --> 01:14:58,000
We'd been off doing
our different things,
1076
01:14:58,000 --> 01:15:01,160
refreshing ourselves but we were
ready to get back in the studio.
1077
01:15:07,200 --> 01:15:10,280
This is the hardest time for us,
this is a big test, we've been
1078
01:15:10,280 --> 01:15:16,200
in the business 12 years and to keep
it going that much further is hard.
1079
01:15:16,200 --> 01:15:17,720
The Works was the next album.
1080
01:15:17,720 --> 01:15:19,920
We thought we wanted somewhere
nice and warm
1081
01:15:19,920 --> 01:15:22,320
and not freezing bloody cold Munich.
1082
01:15:22,320 --> 01:15:25,400
So that really made sense,
to go to LA to make that record.
1083
01:15:27,760 --> 01:15:30,520
And I think we got back on track
in The Works, actually.
1084
01:15:34,480 --> 01:15:37,120
They were a complicated
musical marriage.
1085
01:15:37,120 --> 01:15:40,200
They didn't have one room in
a studio, they had three or four.
1086
01:15:40,200 --> 01:15:43,520
Studio B, Studio C,
Studio D, Studio E.
1087
01:15:43,520 --> 01:15:44,920
But that was a good thing
1088
01:15:44,920 --> 01:15:47,840
cos it allowed everybody to
work on their individual songs.
1089
01:15:47,840 --> 01:15:50,160
In the early days it was
Brian and Freddie
1090
01:15:50,160 --> 01:15:52,360
who really used to write
most of the material
1091
01:15:52,360 --> 01:15:54,360
but over the last five years,
1092
01:15:54,360 --> 01:15:57,640
Roger and I have started to
contribute more.
1093
01:16:00,760 --> 01:16:03,960
I thought John Deacon was
kind of a secret weapon because
1094
01:16:03,960 --> 01:16:06,960
he would come up with these
major hits out of nowhere.
1095
01:16:08,120 --> 01:16:10,080
He had this track,
I Want To Break Free,
1096
01:16:10,080 --> 01:16:13,400
and it was pretty much there
except this big hole in the middle.
1097
01:16:14,760 --> 01:16:19,200
I mean, John did not want a guitar
solo so he asked Fred Mandel,
1098
01:16:19,200 --> 01:16:22,080
a very brilliant keyboard player,
to improvise something
1099
01:16:22,080 --> 01:16:25,520
around the main tune
and Fred did this brilliant take.
1100
01:16:25,520 --> 01:16:32,120
SYNTHESIZER ON "I WANT TO BREAK FREE"
1101
01:16:36,840 --> 01:16:40,240
You know, all their records used
to say prominently "no synthesizers"
1102
01:16:40,240 --> 01:16:42,600
then I come along
like another schmuck
1103
01:16:42,600 --> 01:16:44,720
and put synthesizers on everything.
1104
01:16:45,920 --> 01:16:49,160
I wasn't too happy at the time
but I gave it my blessing,
1105
01:16:49,160 --> 01:16:50,200
that's the deal.
1106
01:16:52,360 --> 01:16:56,200
The polarity of writing
within the band changed.
1107
01:16:56,200 --> 01:16:58,600
I think the time has come
where we actually...
1108
01:16:58,600 --> 01:17:00,760
in songwriting,
we're completely even.
1109
01:17:00,760 --> 01:17:04,920
Roger will come up with something
like Radio Ga Ga and it's perfect.
1110
01:17:08,400 --> 01:17:13,320
It was Sunday afternoon, my son
Felix came in, he was very young
1111
01:17:13,320 --> 01:17:17,160
and he just sort of went,
"Ah, radio, caca"
1112
01:17:17,160 --> 01:17:19,120
cos he's half French.
1113
01:17:19,120 --> 01:17:23,240
And, um, I just thought
that's quite nice, you know.
1114
01:17:25,640 --> 01:17:28,080
I put the backing track together
1115
01:17:28,080 --> 01:17:30,720
and presented it to Freddie
who really loved it.
1116
01:17:39,160 --> 01:17:41,920
We took it into the next room
and then Fred and I worked
1117
01:17:41,920 --> 01:17:43,280
on the vocoder parts.
1118
01:17:43,280 --> 01:17:45,560
♪ All we hear is
1119
01:17:45,560 --> 01:17:47,080
♪ Radio ga ga
1120
01:17:47,080 --> 01:17:49,720
♪ Radio goo goo
1121
01:17:49,720 --> 01:17:51,480
♪ Radio ga ga... ♪
1122
01:17:51,480 --> 01:17:54,600
If you listen,
several times it says "radio caca".
1123
01:17:54,600 --> 01:17:56,120
♪ Radio ga ga
1124
01:17:56,120 --> 01:17:58,880
♪ Radio ga ga... ♪
1125
01:17:58,880 --> 01:18:01,840
Radio Ga Ga brought Queen back.
1126
01:18:01,840 --> 01:18:04,520
♪ Radio... ♪
1127
01:18:04,520 --> 01:18:06,200
It came from a rock thing.
1128
01:18:06,200 --> 01:18:08,680
Radio Ga Ga combined the best
elements of
1129
01:18:08,680 --> 01:18:10,400
the '70s with the '80s.
1130
01:18:10,400 --> 01:18:12,840
That's where Queen had a strength
with The Works.
1131
01:18:12,840 --> 01:18:16,320
It was more of a substantial hit
even though it didn't actually make
1132
01:18:16,320 --> 01:18:18,440
the top 10 in America.
1133
01:18:18,440 --> 01:18:21,680
But it got played a lot
and the video made a big impact.
1134
01:18:21,680 --> 01:18:23,560
♪ Let's hope you never
1135
01:18:23,560 --> 01:18:25,800
♪ Leave, old friend
1136
01:18:25,800 --> 01:18:27,640
♪ Like all good things
1137
01:18:27,640 --> 01:18:29,920
♪ On you we depend
1138
01:18:29,920 --> 01:18:32,040
♪ So stick around
1139
01:18:32,040 --> 01:18:34,800
♪ Cos we might miss you... ♪
1140
01:18:34,800 --> 01:18:38,640
We had a killer video which we
put a lot of work into.
1141
01:18:38,640 --> 01:18:40,600
♪ You had your time
1142
01:18:40,600 --> 01:18:42,280
♪ You had the power
1143
01:18:42,280 --> 01:18:44,520
♪ You've yet to have... ♪
1144
01:18:44,520 --> 01:18:47,280
The whole thing just felt good,
of its time.
1145
01:18:47,280 --> 01:18:51,760
It felt a bit different.
It felt modern and it was very fresh.
1146
01:18:51,760 --> 01:18:56,040
♪ All we hear is radio ga ga
1147
01:18:56,040 --> 01:18:57,640
♪ Radio goo goo
1148
01:18:57,640 --> 01:19:00,280
♪ Radio ga ga... ♪
1149
01:19:00,280 --> 01:19:04,320
All of a sudden people,
would participate jointly
1150
01:19:04,320 --> 01:19:06,640
in Radio Ga Ga situations.
1151
01:19:06,640 --> 01:19:11,280
A collective statement
that was good on the radio,
1152
01:19:11,280 --> 01:19:13,160
or on a turntable.
1153
01:19:13,160 --> 01:19:15,440
In live, it really was
a unification.
1154
01:19:15,440 --> 01:19:19,320
♪ All we hear is radio ga ga
1155
01:19:19,320 --> 01:19:21,000
♪ Radio goo goo
1156
01:19:21,000 --> 01:19:22,880
♪ Radio ga ga... ♪
1157
01:19:22,880 --> 01:19:25,720
Freddie said,
"What we do is like the Olympics.
1158
01:19:25,720 --> 01:19:28,560
"It's people believing in you
and everyone behind you.
1159
01:19:28,560 --> 01:19:30,320
"Everyone doing the same thing.
1160
01:19:30,320 --> 01:19:33,800
"That's the Olympics."
He said, "That's what we do."
1161
01:19:33,800 --> 01:19:37,880
♪ Radio ga ga, radio ga ga... ♪
1162
01:19:37,880 --> 01:19:42,400
Suddenly the MTV generation grew up
and video became all-important.
1163
01:19:53,520 --> 01:19:56,520
The most enjoyable video was
I Want To Break Free
1164
01:19:56,520 --> 01:19:57,880
because we just laughed.
1165
01:20:05,760 --> 01:20:08,760
I was dying to dress up in drag.
Doesn't everybody?
1166
01:20:10,360 --> 01:20:14,080
And everybody ran into their frocks
quicker than anything.
1167
01:20:14,080 --> 01:20:19,000
It was their idea, basically,
and I said, "Yeah, let's have a go."
1168
01:20:19,000 --> 01:20:21,880
♪ I want to break free
1169
01:20:22,960 --> 01:20:26,280
♪ I want to break free
1170
01:20:27,960 --> 01:20:31,280
♪ I want to break free
from your lies... ♪
1171
01:20:31,280 --> 01:20:36,120
That great video was a loving
reference to Coronation Street.
1172
01:20:36,120 --> 01:20:38,000
♪ I've got to break free... ♪
1173
01:20:38,000 --> 01:20:41,400
Americans didn't understand it.
It just looked like we wanted
to dress up in drag.
1174
01:20:41,400 --> 01:20:45,680
It was unthinkable
to most of middle America.
1175
01:20:45,680 --> 01:20:47,920
♪ I've got to break free... ♪
1176
01:20:49,120 --> 01:20:53,840
It's a very British thing.
Sometimes the humour doesn't
translate. I'm Canadian so I get it.
1177
01:20:58,760 --> 01:21:00,960
It was just a different
style of humour
1178
01:21:00,960 --> 01:21:03,520
and I don't think it went over
with the "MTV generation".
1179
01:21:07,400 --> 01:21:11,040
I remember this video being banned.
1180
01:21:11,040 --> 01:21:14,000
MTV were very quick on the
trigger to ban things then.
1181
01:21:14,000 --> 01:21:16,840
I mean, if you thought
Mary Whitehouse was bad,
1182
01:21:16,840 --> 01:21:20,600
you should have seen some of
the geezers running MTV
1183
01:21:20,600 --> 01:21:22,400
in the very early '80s.
1184
01:21:28,520 --> 01:21:31,240
Well, MTV were very narrow-minded.
1185
01:21:31,240 --> 01:21:34,480
It was Whitesnake,
and fucking Whitesnake,
1186
01:21:34,480 --> 01:21:36,720
and then another Whitesnake track.
1187
01:21:39,400 --> 01:21:42,760
And they decided that
they didn't think men in drag
1188
01:21:42,760 --> 01:21:47,320
was rock enough for them, I guess,
so they didn't play the video.
1189
01:21:50,400 --> 01:21:53,520
Most Americans were deprived of my,
and Freddie's,
1190
01:21:53,520 --> 01:21:55,320
favourite moment of that video.
1191
01:21:55,320 --> 01:21:58,120
I said to Freddie, "I love
the way you double-step...
1192
01:21:58,120 --> 01:21:59,880
♪ But life still goes on... ♪
1193
01:21:59,880 --> 01:22:02,400
..to get from one room to the other.
1194
01:22:02,400 --> 01:22:06,120
And he said, "I'm so glad you
noticed. That's my favourite part."
1195
01:22:06,120 --> 01:22:09,240
♪ ..without you by my side
1196
01:22:10,800 --> 01:22:13,920
♪ I don't want to live alone
1197
01:22:15,120 --> 01:22:17,680
♪ Hey, God knows
1198
01:22:19,000 --> 01:22:20,520
♪ I've got to make it... ♪
1199
01:22:20,520 --> 01:22:25,520
The funny thing is, we became global
but we lost America.
1200
01:22:25,520 --> 01:22:28,160
And we kind of never got it back.
1201
01:22:28,160 --> 01:22:31,760
♪ I've got to break free. ♪
1202
01:22:33,120 --> 01:22:35,480
Freddie wouldn't go back
to tour America
1203
01:22:35,480 --> 01:22:37,800
unless they were touring a hit,
1204
01:22:37,800 --> 01:22:40,120
and of course
that's the chicken and egg
1205
01:22:40,120 --> 01:22:43,720
because the less you tour America,
the more you lose America.
1206
01:22:43,720 --> 01:22:48,040
It was sad, it's a shame, because
there's a whole catalogue of hits,
1207
01:22:48,040 --> 01:22:52,080
worldwide hits, but not in the
States, and that'll never come back.
1208
01:22:56,340 --> 01:22:59,460
Appearing at Sun City
never helped anybody's image,
1209
01:22:59,460 --> 01:23:01,060
and sometimes it hurt.
1210
01:23:01,060 --> 01:23:06,380
Sun City was this resort of
international standard
in South Africa
1211
01:23:06,380 --> 01:23:09,380
and the position taken
by most of the rock community
1212
01:23:09,380 --> 01:23:12,660
was that if you went to South Africa
you supported apartheid.
1213
01:23:12,660 --> 01:23:15,660
It's very nice to be
here in South Africa
1214
01:23:15,660 --> 01:23:17,740
and I just want to have a good time.
1215
01:23:17,740 --> 01:23:20,100
Anything you'd like to say
to your fans?
1216
01:23:20,100 --> 01:23:24,100
Yeah, we hope you get real excited,
because we're pretty
excited to be here.
1217
01:23:24,100 --> 01:23:26,260
The controversy behind Sun City...
1218
01:23:26,260 --> 01:23:29,060
Sun Fucking City -
wish I'd never heard of the place.
1219
01:23:29,060 --> 01:23:31,180
The principal reason that Queen
went there
1220
01:23:31,180 --> 01:23:34,020
was because they were offered
a large amount of money.
1221
01:23:34,020 --> 01:23:36,380
There was all sorts of hoo-ha
going on,
1222
01:23:36,380 --> 01:23:39,580
you know - "You mustn't play
Sun City because it's a sign
1223
01:23:39,580 --> 01:23:42,140
"that you're supporting apartheid."
1224
01:23:42,140 --> 01:23:44,420
Well, it's simply not true.
1225
01:23:44,420 --> 01:23:47,140
If you adopted a policy of
never playing in a country
1226
01:23:47,140 --> 01:23:49,540
where you don't approve
of the politicians,
1227
01:23:49,540 --> 01:23:51,660
there'd be very few places
you can play.
1228
01:23:51,660 --> 01:23:54,020
Did you know you had
so many fans in South Africa?
1229
01:23:54,020 --> 01:23:56,780
Well, I think we had some
idea of our popularity here,
1230
01:23:56,780 --> 01:24:00,020
but we didn't realise
it was quite that.
1231
01:24:00,020 --> 01:24:04,140
Jim went down there
time after time and I asked
if we'd play to mixed audiences.
1232
01:24:04,140 --> 01:24:06,700
He said we wouldn't play
to segregated audiences.
1233
01:24:06,700 --> 01:24:10,740
And it was not
an apartheid audience,
1234
01:24:10,740 --> 01:24:13,340
but it was mainly white.
1235
01:24:13,340 --> 01:24:15,660
Are you going to the concert?
Definitely.
1236
01:24:15,660 --> 01:24:18,220
What have you heard?
I heard it's a great show.
1237
01:24:18,220 --> 01:24:21,420
What are you expecting at the
concert? Something fantastic.
1238
01:24:21,420 --> 01:24:24,020
I've heard it's
the most fantastic show ever.
1239
01:24:24,020 --> 01:24:27,700
The band then supported a school
for the deaf in Bophutswana
1240
01:24:27,700 --> 01:24:29,660
that we became very involved with.
1241
01:24:29,660 --> 01:24:33,940
The general audience
doesn't read the small print.
It just sees the headlines.
1242
01:24:33,940 --> 01:24:38,660
If it goes, "You're making
a lot of money playing a
gig in an apartheid state",
1243
01:24:38,660 --> 01:24:42,380
it makes it look like
you're following apartheid.
It did not help them.
1244
01:24:42,380 --> 01:24:46,700
I will say to my dying day
that we acted properly
1245
01:24:46,700 --> 01:24:49,900
according to our conscience
as regards South Africa.
1246
01:24:49,900 --> 01:24:51,660
Um... We went there to play music,
1247
01:24:51,660 --> 01:24:54,540
the same as we did
in all kinds of other places.
1248
01:24:54,540 --> 01:24:58,860
We got so much shit for it.
But we went for good reasons.
1249
01:24:58,860 --> 01:25:01,660
But, on balance,
I think it was a mistake to go.
1250
01:25:01,660 --> 01:25:05,060
Whenever the band
came under pressure,
1251
01:25:05,060 --> 01:25:09,420
there would be maybe a walkout,
a separation, a row.
1252
01:25:10,540 --> 01:25:14,620
♪ Sometimes I feel I'm going
to break down and cry
1253
01:25:14,620 --> 01:25:17,540
♪ Nowhere to go
Nothing to do with my time
1254
01:25:17,540 --> 01:25:19,700
♪ I get lonely
1255
01:25:21,140 --> 01:25:23,660
♪ So lonely
1256
01:25:24,620 --> 01:25:25,900
♪ Living on my own... ♪
1257
01:25:25,900 --> 01:25:29,540
I like Queen very much, but I don't
want to end up living a quartet.
1258
01:25:29,540 --> 01:25:32,700
I'm 37 years old
I want to do something different,
1259
01:25:32,700 --> 01:25:36,260
otherwise I'll get too damn old
and I'll be in a wheelchair.
1260
01:25:36,260 --> 01:25:40,220
There was a lot of strain
when Freddie did his solo album,
1261
01:25:40,220 --> 01:25:42,260
mainly because the advance
1262
01:25:42,260 --> 01:25:45,460
was considerably more than
the advances for Queen albums.
1263
01:25:45,460 --> 01:25:48,300
♪ Got to be some good times ahead
1264
01:25:49,380 --> 01:25:51,900
♪ Sometimes I feel
nobody gives me no warning... ♪
1265
01:25:51,900 --> 01:25:53,620
There is an inward jealousy -
1266
01:25:53,620 --> 01:25:56,380
they're all waiting to see if
my album does better
1267
01:25:56,380 --> 01:25:59,100
than the last Queen album,
or something like that.
1268
01:25:59,100 --> 01:26:01,100
♪ It's not easy
1269
01:26:02,540 --> 01:26:05,260
♪ Living on my own... ♪
1270
01:26:05,260 --> 01:26:07,860
Sometimes it's nice to break away
from a group
1271
01:26:07,860 --> 01:26:11,380
that's actually been going for
so long, meaning staying away.
1272
01:26:11,380 --> 01:26:16,020
He was definitely contemplating
the idea of what Living On My Own
1273
01:26:16,020 --> 01:26:21,740
actually means because he lived
in Munich for well over a year.
1274
01:26:21,740 --> 01:26:24,700
♪ Got to be some
good times ahead... ♪
1275
01:26:27,660 --> 01:26:29,380
When Freddie was alone in Munich,
1276
01:26:29,380 --> 01:26:34,140
he had to basically fall back
either on the gay community,
1277
01:26:34,140 --> 01:26:39,260
or, when he needed some sense or
decent advice, he would call us.
1278
01:26:39,260 --> 01:26:43,780
He was hanging out
a lot at our place.
1279
01:26:43,780 --> 01:26:46,260
He'd spend a lot of time
with the kids.
1280
01:26:46,260 --> 01:26:49,540
It was like a family affair.
1281
01:26:53,260 --> 01:26:57,940
He said a lot of times that this
was the best time in his life.
1282
01:26:57,940 --> 01:27:00,620
Out of the songs you've
put on this album, Freddie,
1283
01:27:00,620 --> 01:27:04,580
which one do you find the most
rewarding, personally?
1284
01:27:04,580 --> 01:27:07,060
Oh, I don't know,
the one that sells the most.
1285
01:27:07,060 --> 01:27:10,300
Freddie had a very fulfilling
experience of creativity,
1286
01:27:10,300 --> 01:27:13,540
but he didn't have
a very fulfilling experience,
1287
01:27:13,540 --> 01:27:18,060
um...how shall I say, economically.
1288
01:27:18,060 --> 01:27:23,300
The Mr Bad Guy album really was
a disaster, in terms of sales.
1289
01:27:23,300 --> 01:27:26,140
The strength of Queen
came from the arguments.
1290
01:27:26,140 --> 01:27:29,540
It was the fact
that you had to fight your space.
1291
01:27:29,540 --> 01:27:32,260
Songs got fine-tuned by that,
1292
01:27:32,260 --> 01:27:37,460
and Freddie working on his own in
Munich with an orchestra and Mack,
1293
01:27:37,460 --> 01:27:40,900
there was nobody really
to stand up with him.
1294
01:27:45,100 --> 01:27:48,180
Well, tomorrow, the pop world's
greatest extravaganza,
1295
01:27:48,180 --> 01:27:50,180
as we've been talking about,
Live Aid,
1296
01:27:50,180 --> 01:27:54,340
will bring together rock's
brightest and best from both sides
of the Atlantic,
1297
01:27:54,340 --> 01:27:58,700
all performing free in the
hope of raising millions for the
starving people of Africa.
1298
01:28:02,580 --> 01:28:06,860
You know, looking back, there was a
moment when Queen were thought of
1299
01:28:06,860 --> 01:28:09,220
as a good group that
was predominantly historic.
1300
01:28:09,220 --> 01:28:12,820
Radio Ga Ga was their one
big hit in four years.
1301
01:28:12,820 --> 01:28:15,020
They weren't on a hot streak,
1302
01:28:15,020 --> 01:28:18,180
and they weren't a particularly
productive group at that time.
1303
01:28:18,180 --> 01:28:21,980
There was a feeling
that maybe that was it.
1304
01:28:21,980 --> 01:28:27,900
But Geldof ordered them
to regroup and perform.
1305
01:28:27,900 --> 01:28:31,180
The thing was, did Freddie want
to do it? He wasn't that keen.
1306
01:28:31,180 --> 01:28:34,060
Freddie was a bit reticent
about doing anything,
1307
01:28:34,060 --> 01:28:35,700
but Bob came in one day
1308
01:28:35,700 --> 01:28:37,740
when we talked about Live Aid,
and said,
1309
01:28:37,740 --> 01:28:41,380
"I told Freddie he's doing it."
And I kind of believe him.
1310
01:28:41,380 --> 01:28:44,100
It really is a gathering
of the rock world's elite,
1311
01:28:44,100 --> 01:28:48,060
and already rehearsing in here
are some of rock and roll's royalty.
1312
01:28:48,060 --> 01:28:53,500
It was rehearsed quite intensely at
the Shaw Theatre on Euston Road.
1313
01:28:53,500 --> 01:28:57,180
♪ Here we stand and here we fall
1314
01:28:57,180 --> 01:29:00,740
♪ History won't care at all
1315
01:29:00,740 --> 01:29:03,780
♪ Make the bed, light the light... ♪
1316
01:29:03,780 --> 01:29:08,180
Queen took the responsibility
more professionally than anyone
else on the bill.
1317
01:29:08,180 --> 01:29:12,220
♪ You don't waste no time at all
1318
01:29:12,220 --> 01:29:15,220
♪ Don't hear the bell
but you answer the call... ♪
1319
01:29:15,220 --> 01:29:18,340
I went out and bought these big
plastic white clocks
1320
01:29:18,340 --> 01:29:23,300
and put them in the orchestra pit so
we could see the time.
1321
01:29:23,300 --> 01:29:27,620
There was an 18-minute
slot that each artist had,
1322
01:29:27,620 --> 01:29:31,060
and there were traffic lights
at the side of the stage.
1323
01:29:31,060 --> 01:29:35,620
And you were warned that
the traffic lights after 16 minutes
would turn amber from green,
1324
01:29:35,620 --> 01:29:39,380
and they said, "You won't
see them turn red because
the power goes off."
1325
01:29:39,380 --> 01:29:42,260
So you make it quick and
you make it something they know.
1326
01:29:43,380 --> 01:29:45,580
Just after 16 hours of live Aid,
1327
01:29:45,580 --> 01:29:47,980
would you welcome Status Quo!
1328
01:30:01,780 --> 01:30:07,180
♪ Here we are and here we are
and here we go... ♪
1329
01:30:07,180 --> 01:30:09,660
The energy that day was sensational.
1330
01:30:09,660 --> 01:30:12,940
♪ Rockin' all over the world... ♪
1331
01:30:12,940 --> 01:30:16,580
We were all quite nervous, actually.
1332
01:30:16,580 --> 01:30:19,380
Not necessarily our audience because
they'd put together
1333
01:30:19,380 --> 01:30:23,660
the bill of Live Aid before
we'd been announced as being on it.
1334
01:30:23,660 --> 01:30:29,860
They set the level for the PA
with limiters
1335
01:30:29,860 --> 01:30:33,540
and then when Queen came on, Trip,
who was Queen's sound engineer,
1336
01:30:33,540 --> 01:30:36,420
switched the limiters
so that Queen would be louder.
1337
01:30:43,620 --> 01:30:46,740
From the word go, he came out of
the traps like a champion.
1338
01:30:52,820 --> 01:30:57,980
Freddie performed
against the advice of his doctor
because of a throat condition.
1339
01:30:57,980 --> 01:31:03,740
But he went out there
and gave one of the greatest live
television performances ever.
1340
01:31:03,740 --> 01:31:06,940
♪ You don't waste no time at all
1341
01:31:06,940 --> 01:31:10,740
♪ Don't hear the bell
but you answer the call
1342
01:31:10,740 --> 01:31:14,420
♪ Comes to you as to us all, yeah!
1343
01:31:14,420 --> 01:31:17,500
♪ And it's time for
the hammer to fall... ♪
1344
01:31:18,660 --> 01:31:24,300
The ballet with a BBC cameraman
was shockingly charismatic.
1345
01:31:24,300 --> 01:31:28,500
♪ Every night, every day
1346
01:31:28,500 --> 01:31:31,020
♪ A little piece of you
is falling away
1347
01:31:31,020 --> 01:31:34,180
♪ Lift your face the western way... ♪
1348
01:31:38,020 --> 01:31:42,540
And it was as if all the artists
backstage had heard a dog whistle.
1349
01:31:44,180 --> 01:31:46,980
And their heads turned
and the frisson you felt was,
1350
01:31:46,980 --> 01:31:49,940
"They're stealing the show."
1351
01:31:56,620 --> 01:31:59,740
♪ I've paid my dues
1352
01:31:59,740 --> 01:32:04,660
♪ Time after time
1353
01:32:04,660 --> 01:32:06,460
♪ I did my sentence
1354
01:32:07,860 --> 01:32:09,940
♪ But committed no crime
1355
01:32:11,220 --> 01:32:15,420
♪ And bad mistakes
1356
01:32:15,420 --> 01:32:17,580
♪ I've made a few
1357
01:32:17,580 --> 01:32:21,900
♪ I've had my share of sand kicked
in my face
1358
01:32:21,900 --> 01:32:25,100
♪ But I've come through
1359
01:32:28,820 --> 01:32:34,500
♪ We are the champions,
my friend... ♪
1360
01:32:34,500 --> 01:32:40,300
I defy anybody who saw it not
to have goose pimples
on the back of their neck
1361
01:32:40,300 --> 01:32:43,060
when you saw that sea of people.
1362
01:32:43,060 --> 01:32:45,860
♪ We are the champions
1363
01:32:45,860 --> 01:32:48,660
♪ We are the champions... ♪
1364
01:32:48,660 --> 01:32:54,700
I remember looking up and seeing the
whole place going completely bonkers
in unison and thinking,
1365
01:32:54,700 --> 01:32:56,420
"Oh, this is going well."
1366
01:32:56,420 --> 01:32:59,020
♪ ..the champions
1367
01:32:59,020 --> 01:33:04,860
♪ We are the champions,
my friend
1368
01:33:06,180 --> 01:33:10,580
♪ And we'll keep on
fighting till the end... ♪
1369
01:33:10,580 --> 01:33:13,860
We did have an unfair advantage.
We had done football stadiums.
1370
01:33:13,860 --> 01:33:18,020
Freddie particularly learned this
magical way
1371
01:33:18,020 --> 01:33:20,900
of involving everybody.
In a huge football stadium,
1372
01:33:20,900 --> 01:33:23,500
he could make everybody feel
they were in contact.
1373
01:33:23,500 --> 01:33:29,180
♪ We are the champions...
1374
01:33:33,460 --> 01:33:38,180
♪ ..of the world. ♪
1375
01:33:42,780 --> 01:33:45,140
People say, "Was it a career move?"
1376
01:33:45,140 --> 01:33:46,820
Well, no, it wasn't a career move
1377
01:33:46,820 --> 01:33:49,780
but of course that's
in the back of everybody's mind.
1378
01:33:58,740 --> 01:34:02,420
We got a great reception
from the crowd, even at Wembley,
1379
01:34:02,420 --> 01:34:05,340
and also from the
TV audience as well.
1380
01:34:05,340 --> 01:34:09,660
So in fact, it was a great boost of
confidence, in a way, for the group.
1381
01:34:09,660 --> 01:34:12,140
To have conquered
Live Aid in that way
1382
01:34:12,140 --> 01:34:15,700
undoubtedly breathed
fresh energy into the band.
1383
01:34:21,060 --> 01:34:23,700
It was a shot in the arm
and we went back in the studio.
1384
01:34:31,300 --> 01:34:35,180
We were back in Munich with
all its attendant dangers,
1385
01:34:35,180 --> 01:34:39,140
so we tried to keep ourselves
in the studio as much as possible.
1386
01:34:42,140 --> 01:34:43,620
Ta-dah!
1387
01:34:47,380 --> 01:34:51,260
♪ Hey! One man, one goal
1388
01:34:54,140 --> 01:34:57,420
♪ One mission, one heart... ♪
1389
01:34:57,420 --> 01:35:04,740
I had a page, a sort of poem that
was sort of half nicked off
Martin Luther King's famous speech.
1390
01:35:04,740 --> 01:35:07,780
It doesn't fit. It does.
1391
01:35:07,780 --> 01:35:12,020
One goddamn decision.
Real decision.
1392
01:35:12,020 --> 01:35:13,940
No, it won't fit.
1393
01:35:13,940 --> 01:35:15,660
It was all one this and one that.
1394
01:35:15,660 --> 01:35:19,100
♪ One God, one soul,
make one decision... ♪
1395
01:35:20,860 --> 01:35:25,660
Make one decision. One true religion.
1396
01:35:26,780 --> 01:35:28,380
♪ One God, one vision
1397
01:35:28,380 --> 01:35:32,020
♪ One man, one goal,
one true religion
1398
01:35:32,020 --> 01:35:37,260
♪ One dump, one turd
Two tits, John Deacon
1399
01:35:37,260 --> 01:35:39,660
♪ Woh-oh-oh-oh-oh
1400
01:35:39,660 --> 01:35:42,340
♪ Give me one vision... ♪
1401
01:35:42,340 --> 01:35:45,700
The Magic Tour was the biggest tour
we'd ever undertaken.
1402
01:35:45,700 --> 01:35:48,340
♪ No wrong, no right
1403
01:35:48,340 --> 01:35:51,460
♪ I'm gonna tell you there's no black
and no white... ♪
1404
01:35:51,460 --> 01:35:53,940
We planned an entire tour
of stadium gigs.
1405
01:35:55,980 --> 01:35:58,980
♪ All we need is one world,
one vision... ♪
1406
01:36:01,020 --> 01:36:06,660
Massive shows all over Europe,
and really fantastic reception.
We hit another level.
1407
01:36:10,900 --> 01:36:14,460
We were finally in the place we'd
always dreamed of being, perhaps.
1408
01:36:14,460 --> 01:36:18,940
♪ I had a dream when I was young
1409
01:36:18,940 --> 01:36:21,740
♪ A dream, sweet illusion... ♪
1410
01:36:21,740 --> 01:36:26,540
That tour had gigs like
Budapest in it, which in
itself is a great thing.
1411
01:36:26,540 --> 01:36:30,820
Budapest was the first stadium
concert behind the Iron Curtain.
1412
01:36:32,140 --> 01:36:35,100
People hitch-hiked from
all over Eastern Europe.
1413
01:36:35,100 --> 01:36:39,060
♪ Look what they've done
to my dream... ♪
1414
01:36:39,060 --> 01:36:42,820
It was a great tour because
it ended up two nights at Wembley.
1415
01:36:44,140 --> 01:36:46,900
Hello there, my beauties.
This is happening.
1416
01:36:48,100 --> 01:36:52,860
♪ Give me your hands
Give me your hearts... ♪
1417
01:36:52,860 --> 01:36:55,500
In addition to Wembley Stadium,
we put on an extra one
1418
01:36:55,500 --> 01:36:59,300
because it sold out so quick, the
two nights, so we put Knebworth on.
1419
01:36:59,300 --> 01:37:03,020
♪ One voice, one hope
One real decision
1420
01:37:03,020 --> 01:37:06,820
♪ Gimme one light One light
Gimme one hope One hope
1421
01:37:06,820 --> 01:37:09,900
♪ Just gimme, ah
One man, one man
1422
01:37:09,900 --> 01:37:11,940
♪ One bar one night
One day hey hey
1423
01:37:11,940 --> 01:37:14,340
Gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme
fried chicken. #
1424
01:37:14,340 --> 01:37:16,460
They were the final shows
with Freddie,
1425
01:37:16,460 --> 01:37:19,140
and I remember it being
pretty much perfect.
1426
01:37:19,140 --> 01:37:24,220
MUSIC: "God Save The Queen"
1427
01:37:35,340 --> 01:37:39,180
I just got the vibe from Freddie,
1428
01:37:39,180 --> 01:37:43,620
he felt that he wasn't
maybe able to do any more.
1429
01:37:46,420 --> 01:37:50,660
I know there'll be a time when I
can't run around on stage
1430
01:37:50,660 --> 01:37:54,460
because it'll be ridiculous. There
comes a time when you have to stop.
1431
01:37:59,740 --> 01:38:03,060
I think he had an idea that
he might not be terribly well.
1432
01:38:07,220 --> 01:38:10,140
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1433
01:38:18,260 --> 01:38:22,420
Freddie told me that he was HIV
positive before he told the band.
1434
01:38:22,420 --> 01:38:24,820
This put me in
a very difficult position
1435
01:38:24,820 --> 01:38:28,340
because he told me
he didn't want me to tell the band.
1436
01:38:28,340 --> 01:38:31,940
So there was I, managing
a band, knowing something
1437
01:38:31,940 --> 01:38:36,260
of crucial importance to the band
which I couldn't pass on to them.
1438
01:38:36,260 --> 01:38:41,660
♪ Every drop of rain that falls
in Sahara desert says it all
1439
01:38:41,660 --> 01:38:43,460
♪ It's a miracle
1440
01:38:43,460 --> 01:38:46,420
♪ All God's creations
Great and small
1441
01:38:46,420 --> 01:38:49,060
♪ The Golden Gate
and the Taj Mahal
1442
01:38:49,060 --> 01:38:51,100
♪ That's a miracle
1443
01:38:51,100 --> 01:38:54,260
♪ Test-tube babies being born
1444
01:38:54,260 --> 01:38:56,780
♪ Mothers, fathers, dead and gone
1445
01:38:56,780 --> 01:38:59,580
♪ It's a miracle... ♪
1446
01:38:59,580 --> 01:39:02,180
There were rumours
and he was obviously suffering,
1447
01:39:02,180 --> 01:39:05,300
and we didn't know what it was,
and rumour, rumour, rumour...
1448
01:39:05,300 --> 01:39:07,860
And so he did sit us down
at one point and said,
1449
01:39:07,860 --> 01:39:10,260
"Look, you probably know what
I'm going to say.
1450
01:39:10,260 --> 01:39:13,300
"You know what I'm suffering from.
You know what the problem is
1451
01:39:13,300 --> 01:39:16,340
but I don't want to talk about it
anymore. I just want to make music
1452
01:39:16,340 --> 01:39:20,180
until the day I fucking die.
And...let's get on with it.
1453
01:39:20,180 --> 01:39:22,980
♪ It's a miracle
1454
01:39:22,980 --> 01:39:25,260
♪ It's a miracle... ♪
1455
01:39:25,260 --> 01:39:27,660
These are some of our best
studio times.
1456
01:39:27,660 --> 01:39:31,060
We've made the decision that all
the songs we write will be credited
1457
01:39:31,060 --> 01:39:35,340
to all of us, so it kind of
releases a bit of...
1458
01:39:35,340 --> 01:39:36,780
positive energy in us.
1459
01:39:36,780 --> 01:39:39,380
They became closer and closer,
without any doubt.
1460
01:39:39,380 --> 01:39:42,220
The sharing of writing credits
was a major breakthrough.
1461
01:39:42,220 --> 01:39:45,020
Some magical things happened,
I think.
1462
01:39:45,020 --> 01:39:48,660
There's this track called
The Miracle, itself,
1463
01:39:48,660 --> 01:39:51,700
which I think is one of Freddie's
most beautiful creations.
1464
01:39:51,700 --> 01:39:54,380
♪ The one thing
The one thing
1465
01:39:54,380 --> 01:39:56,380
♪ We're all waiting for
1466
01:39:56,380 --> 01:39:58,740
♪ Is peace on earth
Peace on earth
1467
01:39:58,740 --> 01:40:01,380
♪ And an end to war
An end to war... ♪
1468
01:40:01,380 --> 01:40:05,540
'I love the track. It's all
so optimistic about the world'
1469
01:40:05,540 --> 01:40:08,620
and the miracles that are being
found in the world.
1470
01:40:13,060 --> 01:40:15,980
Which is incredible when you think
what he's looking at
1471
01:40:15,980 --> 01:40:19,460
because he knows what he's got and
he knows what the prognosis is.
1472
01:40:19,460 --> 01:40:24,100
♪ That time will come
One day you'll see
1473
01:40:24,100 --> 01:40:29,980
♪ When we can all be friends
1474
01:40:29,980 --> 01:40:34,580
♪ That time will come
One day you'll see
1475
01:40:34,580 --> 01:40:37,180
♪ When we can all... ♪
1476
01:40:37,180 --> 01:40:41,460
APPLAUSE
Special Award for an outstanding
contribution to British music
1477
01:40:41,460 --> 01:40:45,340
goes to John Deacon, Brian May,
Freddie Mercury,
1478
01:40:45,340 --> 01:40:47,900
Roger Taylor - Queen.
1479
01:40:47,900 --> 01:40:50,020
APPLAUSE
1480
01:40:53,020 --> 01:40:55,460
The first indications
something wasn't right
1481
01:40:55,460 --> 01:40:58,300
was Freddie looked a
little thinner to me.
1482
01:40:59,260 --> 01:41:01,580
And I called John up to see
what was going on.
1483
01:41:01,580 --> 01:41:05,140
I said, "Is something wrong with
Freddie?" And he wouldn't tell me.
1484
01:41:08,540 --> 01:41:11,380
The thing that annoyed me
more than anything was a shot
1485
01:41:11,380 --> 01:41:15,260
of Freddie in The Sun and he'd just
come out of the doctor's, I think.
1486
01:41:15,260 --> 01:41:19,540
It's a really grainy,
full-page shot. "Is this man dying?"
1487
01:41:19,540 --> 01:41:22,740
And I thought,
"You fucking wankers."
1488
01:41:22,740 --> 01:41:24,380
♪ Scandal
1489
01:41:27,060 --> 01:41:28,700
♪ Scandal... ♪
1490
01:41:32,580 --> 01:41:36,460
We hid everything and
we avoided questions.
1491
01:41:36,460 --> 01:41:37,820
♪ Scandal... ♪
1492
01:41:37,820 --> 01:41:39,620
I guess we lied.
1493
01:41:39,620 --> 01:41:41,380
Because we wanted to protect him.
1494
01:41:41,380 --> 01:41:42,420
♪ Scandal... ♪
1495
01:41:43,660 --> 01:41:46,660
I would then say anything
to anybody. "Is Fred sick?"
1496
01:41:46,660 --> 01:41:49,140
"Absolutely not, no.
He was in the gym yesterday.
1497
01:41:49,140 --> 01:41:51,540
"Fuck you," you know.
"None of your business."
1498
01:41:51,540 --> 01:41:54,780
Everybody had to draw
the wagons around him.
1499
01:41:54,780 --> 01:41:58,740
Because at that time, to become ill
was to have a death sentence.
1500
01:41:58,740 --> 01:42:03,940
♪ Today the headlines
Tomorrow hard times
1501
01:42:03,940 --> 01:42:08,500
♪ And no-one ever really knows
The truth from the lies... ♪
1502
01:42:08,500 --> 01:42:10,060
His house was surrounded by...
1503
01:42:10,060 --> 01:42:12,860
I don't know, a couple of
hundred, I reckon.
1504
01:42:12,860 --> 01:42:15,100
Just like vultures, really.
1505
01:42:15,100 --> 01:42:20,540
♪ Deeper and deeper inside... ♪
1506
01:42:21,580 --> 01:42:23,340
It was utterly shocking, you know.
1507
01:42:23,340 --> 01:42:25,980
Filming the groceries in the back
of the car boot.
1508
01:42:25,980 --> 01:42:27,060
♪ Scandal... ♪
1509
01:42:27,060 --> 01:42:30,780
"Any medicine in there?"
You know, it's absolutely shocking.
1510
01:42:31,740 --> 01:42:33,740
It became difficult to
work in London,
1511
01:42:33,740 --> 01:42:36,420
there was such a terrible
focus of attention on him.
1512
01:42:36,420 --> 01:42:38,860
People sticking cameras through
his toilet windows,
1513
01:42:38,860 --> 01:42:40,700
as soon as the rumours
were out there.
1514
01:42:40,700 --> 01:42:45,620
So Montreal was a much more
peaceful place to work so we ended
up doing a lot of stuff there.
1515
01:42:45,620 --> 01:42:47,740
SONG: "I'm Going Slightly Mad"
1516
01:42:53,940 --> 01:42:57,460
Freddie felt much safer there
because people didn't bother.
1517
01:42:57,460 --> 01:43:00,540
You know. They weren't intrusively
observing him.
1518
01:43:04,700 --> 01:43:06,900
At that point we can't play live
1519
01:43:06,900 --> 01:43:10,100
but in the things that we're doing,
it's business as usual.
1520
01:43:10,100 --> 01:43:14,460
♪ I'm going slightly mad
1521
01:43:14,460 --> 01:43:18,740
♪ I'm going slightly mad... ♪
1522
01:43:18,740 --> 01:43:21,420
He was determined to work right up
to the last minute.
1523
01:43:21,420 --> 01:43:24,740
I was surprised that he did
Going Slightly Mad.
1524
01:43:24,740 --> 01:43:26,220
♪ It finally happened... ♪
1525
01:43:26,220 --> 01:43:28,540
Which I thought was a good video,
actually,
1526
01:43:28,540 --> 01:43:31,380
and it had lots of humour in it.
1527
01:43:31,380 --> 01:43:35,540
♪ I'm slightly mad! ♪
1528
01:43:38,180 --> 01:43:40,700
There was a lot more humour in
Freddie than I think
1529
01:43:40,700 --> 01:43:42,220
the general public realised.
1530
01:43:43,260 --> 01:43:45,660
You want to take it? No, I...
1531
01:43:46,820 --> 01:43:49,140
Oh! What's it doing?
1532
01:43:49,140 --> 01:43:52,380
HOOTS OF LAUGHTER
1533
01:43:52,380 --> 01:43:53,940
Roger, what did you do?
1534
01:43:53,940 --> 01:43:56,780
It was just really
a very close time.
1535
01:43:56,780 --> 01:43:58,380
Go for me. Waaa!
1536
01:43:59,820 --> 01:44:03,740
Freddie found an amazing
tranquillity and I never really
heard him complain.
1537
01:44:03,740 --> 01:44:06,420
I remember we went out one night
1538
01:44:06,420 --> 01:44:09,180
and he had horrible
problems with his leg.
1539
01:44:09,180 --> 01:44:13,500
And Freddie saw me looking at it and
said, "Oh, Brian, do you want to see
what it's like?"
1540
01:44:13,500 --> 01:44:15,980
And he showed me, and I think...
1541
01:44:15,980 --> 01:44:17,860
he reacted to my face, and he said,
1542
01:44:17,860 --> 01:44:20,820
"I'm really sorry. I didn't mean
to do that to you."
1543
01:44:20,820 --> 01:44:25,180
I never heard him go, "This is
really awful. My life is shit.
1544
01:44:25,180 --> 01:44:27,340
"I'm going to die."
Never, never, never.
1545
01:44:27,340 --> 01:44:30,020
He was an amazingly strong person.
1546
01:44:30,020 --> 01:44:34,980
The sicker Freddie got, the more
he seemed to need to record,
1547
01:44:34,980 --> 01:44:39,300
to give himself something to do,
you know - some sort of reason
to get up.
1548
01:44:44,780 --> 01:44:47,460
And he would make it in
whenever he could.
1549
01:44:47,460 --> 01:44:51,100
So really, it was a period
of fairly intense work, actually.
1550
01:44:56,020 --> 01:44:59,740
Freddie is becoming weakened
by this horrible disease
1551
01:44:59,740 --> 01:45:02,380
and he finds it hard
to stand up a lot of the time
1552
01:45:02,380 --> 01:45:05,540
but he'll throw a couple of
vodkas down and prop himself up
1553
01:45:05,540 --> 01:45:09,140
on the mixing desk and have his mike
there, and go for it.
1554
01:45:09,140 --> 01:45:10,860
Roll camera, roll playback.
1555
01:45:14,340 --> 01:45:16,780
♪ Sometimes I get to feeling
1556
01:45:16,780 --> 01:45:19,660
♪ I was back in the old days
1557
01:45:19,660 --> 01:45:21,220
♪ Long ago... ♪
1558
01:45:22,860 --> 01:45:26,140
'I can hear the voice is
getting thinner.'
1559
01:45:26,140 --> 01:45:29,380
♪ Things seemed so perfect
You know... ♪
1560
01:45:29,380 --> 01:45:33,740
'I think you can really tell
that it's an ailing voice.'
1561
01:45:33,740 --> 01:45:36,060
Although he hits the notes.
1562
01:45:36,060 --> 01:45:38,220
♪ The sun was always shining
1563
01:45:38,220 --> 01:45:39,740
♪ We just lived for fun
1564
01:45:39,740 --> 01:45:41,540
♪ Sometimes... ♪
1565
01:45:41,540 --> 01:45:44,820
'Roger started writing These Are
The Days Of Our Lives about his
kids'
1566
01:45:44,820 --> 01:45:47,820
and the way he felt about
life and how it comes back.
1567
01:45:47,820 --> 01:45:52,700
But of course, in that context,
it had another meaning.
1568
01:45:52,700 --> 01:45:59,260
♪ Those were the days
of our lives... ♪
1569
01:45:59,260 --> 01:46:01,540
'He looked so ill there.
It was quite scary,'
1570
01:46:01,540 --> 01:46:03,980
and...I thought that was a very
brave thing to do.
1571
01:46:03,980 --> 01:46:05,140
And why not, you know?
1572
01:46:05,140 --> 01:46:08,820
'He spent hours and hours and hours
in make-up, sorting himself out,
1573
01:46:08,820 --> 01:46:09,980
'so it would be OK.'
1574
01:46:09,980 --> 01:46:14,060
♪ Those days are all gone now but
1575
01:46:14,060 --> 01:46:15,820
♪ One thing is true... ♪
1576
01:46:15,820 --> 01:46:18,540
I did too many movements.
1577
01:46:18,540 --> 01:46:21,380
But I just wanted to see...
No, I know...
1578
01:46:22,420 --> 01:46:24,780
♪ I still love you... ♪
1579
01:46:24,780 --> 01:46:27,100
I just want to see...
It doesn't look...
1580
01:46:28,340 --> 01:46:29,580
It doesn't look...
1581
01:46:29,580 --> 01:46:31,540
I think it should be waisted.
1582
01:46:32,620 --> 01:46:35,820
Do you know what I mean? I want a
little bit of shape here.
A tiny bit.
1583
01:46:35,820 --> 01:46:37,900
'Yeah. I like the shape now.'
1584
01:46:37,900 --> 01:46:42,660
♪ Those days are all gone now, but
1585
01:46:42,660 --> 01:46:46,700
♪ One thing's still true
1586
01:46:46,700 --> 01:46:47,860
♪ When I look... ♪
1587
01:46:47,860 --> 01:46:50,940
'Freddie actually kind of says
a goodbye in that song.'
1588
01:46:50,940 --> 01:46:53,540
♪ I still love you... ♪
1589
01:47:00,220 --> 01:47:03,060
I still love you.
1590
01:47:09,780 --> 01:47:12,900
Innuendo was out on the streets,
it was number one
1591
01:47:12,900 --> 01:47:15,780
and two weeks later they
were here in Montreux.
1592
01:47:15,780 --> 01:47:18,900
And they started doing more music.
1593
01:47:18,900 --> 01:47:23,380
And Freddie, at that time, said,
"Write me stuff. I know I don't
have very long.
1594
01:47:24,780 --> 01:47:27,180
"Keep writing me words.
Keep giving me things.
1595
01:47:27,180 --> 01:47:30,260
"I will sing and then you can do
what you like with it afterwards,
1596
01:47:30,260 --> 01:47:31,820
"you know, finish it off."
1597
01:47:31,820 --> 01:47:35,780
And so I was writing on scraps
of paper these lines of Mother Love.
1598
01:47:35,780 --> 01:47:39,300
He was dying and he did those things
1599
01:47:39,300 --> 01:47:43,100
and he knew he would be dead
when they were finished.
1600
01:47:43,100 --> 01:47:46,460
Because he said to me,
"I'm going to sing it now,
1601
01:47:46,460 --> 01:47:50,420
"because I can't wait for them
to do the music on this.
1602
01:47:50,420 --> 01:47:52,660
"I'll give it to you on a drum
machine.
1603
01:47:52,660 --> 01:47:56,340
"Give me a drum machine thing...
They'll finish it off."
1604
01:47:57,340 --> 01:48:01,540
♪ I don't want to make no waves
1605
01:48:01,540 --> 01:48:04,940
♪ You can give me all the love... ♪
1606
01:48:04,940 --> 01:48:08,100
Every time I gave him another line,
he would sing it,
1607
01:48:08,100 --> 01:48:10,060
sing it again, and sing it again.
1608
01:48:10,060 --> 01:48:12,580
So we had three takes for every
line, and that was it.
1609
01:48:12,580 --> 01:48:16,780
♪ I long for peace before I die... ♪
1610
01:48:17,940 --> 01:48:21,700
Mother Love, I think, was the last
one. There's an exceptional
1611
01:48:21,700 --> 01:48:24,140
spine-chilling note in the middle.
1612
01:48:25,820 --> 01:48:27,580
A fantastic bit of singing.
1613
01:48:27,580 --> 01:48:30,100
♪ Out in the city
1614
01:48:30,100 --> 01:48:33,220
♪ In the cold world outside
1615
01:48:33,220 --> 01:48:35,220
♪ I don't want pity
1616
01:48:35,220 --> 01:48:39,100
♪ Just a safe place to hide
1617
01:48:39,100 --> 01:48:43,540
♪ Mama, please, let me back
inside... ♪
1618
01:48:44,500 --> 01:48:48,020
It's absolutely...spine-chilling.
1619
01:48:48,020 --> 01:48:50,820
And we got to the last verse
and he said,
1620
01:48:50,820 --> 01:48:53,620
"Oh, I'm not up to this now,
I need to go away and have a rest.
1621
01:48:53,620 --> 01:48:55,740
"I'll come back and finish
it off", you know.
1622
01:48:55,740 --> 01:48:58,020
And he never came back.
1623
01:48:58,020 --> 01:49:02,140
That was the last moment that I had
with him in the studio.
1624
01:49:04,260 --> 01:49:09,020
I went to see Freddie, and it
was in fact the last time I saw him.
1625
01:49:09,020 --> 01:49:12,020
He said to me, "I haven't given
you anything in my will.
1626
01:49:12,020 --> 01:49:15,860
"You're my executor,
you can do anything with my legacy,
1627
01:49:15,860 --> 01:49:18,500
"you can do anything with my music
1628
01:49:18,500 --> 01:49:20,620
"but never make me boring."
1629
01:49:20,620 --> 01:49:23,820
The last time I saw Freddie was,
Anita and I went to see him
1630
01:49:23,820 --> 01:49:25,020
and he was in bed,
1631
01:49:25,020 --> 01:49:29,740
with the curtains open so he could
see out into his garden,
1632
01:49:29,740 --> 01:49:31,940
and I was talking about
things in his garden,
1633
01:49:31,940 --> 01:49:34,500
saying, "That's really interesting"
and he said,
1634
01:49:34,500 --> 01:49:38,020
"Guys, you don't need to feel like
you need to make conversation.
1635
01:49:38,020 --> 01:49:40,260
"I'm just so happy that you're here,
1636
01:49:40,260 --> 01:49:43,140
"so even if we say nothing,
it's just having these moments."
1637
01:49:47,020 --> 01:49:50,180
The worst thing was I was
actually on my way to see him,
1638
01:49:50,180 --> 01:49:54,020
and I was about 300 yards away
when Peter Freestone rang me
1639
01:49:54,020 --> 01:49:56,500
to tell me, "Don't bother coming
cos he's gone."
1640
01:50:08,660 --> 01:50:11,220
It was me who wrote
the little epitaph
1641
01:50:11,220 --> 01:50:13,500
that's on his statue in Montreux
1642
01:50:13,500 --> 01:50:17,820
which just says, "Freddie Mercury,
Lover of Life - Singer of Songs."
1643
01:50:20,420 --> 01:50:24,100
To me, that sums him up
because he lived life to the full,
1644
01:50:24,100 --> 01:50:27,140
there's no question,
with all that that entailed.
1645
01:50:28,500 --> 01:50:33,500
He was a generous man, a kind man,
an impatient man sometimes,
1646
01:50:33,500 --> 01:50:36,820
but utterly dedicated to what
he felt was important,
1647
01:50:36,820 --> 01:50:38,620
which was making music.
1648
01:50:50,740 --> 01:50:55,860
We made the announcement that we
were going to do a tribute concert
to him when we felt that we could,
1649
01:50:55,860 --> 01:50:58,860
to send him out in the style
which he deserved.
1650
01:50:58,860 --> 01:51:01,460
We hope that a lot of you will
be able to join us
1651
01:51:01,460 --> 01:51:03,660
on April 20th at Wembley Stadium
1652
01:51:03,660 --> 01:51:07,020
for a celebration of Freddie's
life and career.
1653
01:51:07,020 --> 01:51:09,260
You're all welcome. Please join us.
1654
01:51:09,260 --> 01:51:10,620
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1655
01:51:10,620 --> 01:51:15,260
So we drew up a list of people
that we'd like to be on the show.
1656
01:51:15,260 --> 01:51:16,740
Roger got the ball rolling.
1657
01:51:16,740 --> 01:51:20,740
Roger got up one morning and said,
"Look, we're doing this."
And made a few phone calls.
1658
01:51:20,740 --> 01:51:24,740
And Brian said, "Well,
if you can get that lot, I'll come."
1659
01:51:24,740 --> 01:51:27,380
On stage, Mr Roger Daltrey!
1660
01:51:30,500 --> 01:51:33,020
Mr Robert Plant, thank you!
1661
01:51:35,140 --> 01:51:36,620
Mr David Bowie!
1662
01:51:38,020 --> 01:51:39,140
And...
1663
01:51:39,140 --> 01:51:47,180
♪ Any way the wind
blo-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-ows! ♪
1664
01:51:48,380 --> 01:51:52,540
We got a date, Wembley Stadium...
Had to be Wembley Stadium,
didn't it? Had to be.
1665
01:51:52,540 --> 01:51:55,140
The scene of Freddie's
greatest triumphs.
1666
01:52:01,140 --> 01:52:03,140
A lot of amazing things happened.
1667
01:52:03,140 --> 01:52:07,020
I'd like to offer something,
in a very simple fashion.
1668
01:52:08,260 --> 01:52:13,140
David Bowie spontaneously
went into the Lord's Prayer which
was a surprise to us all.
1669
01:52:13,140 --> 01:52:15,460
For thine is the kingdom,
1670
01:52:15,460 --> 01:52:16,660
the power
1671
01:52:16,660 --> 01:52:17,820
and the glory
1672
01:52:17,820 --> 01:52:20,060
for ever and ever,
1673
01:52:20,060 --> 01:52:22,260
A-men.
1674
01:52:22,260 --> 01:52:25,020
APPLAUSE
1675
01:52:25,020 --> 01:52:26,500
God bless Queen.
1676
01:52:28,140 --> 01:52:29,860
God bless you.
1677
01:52:29,860 --> 01:52:31,300
Thank you, good night.
1678
01:52:33,860 --> 01:52:37,020
I want to hear every single person.
1679
01:52:37,020 --> 01:52:38,820
See every single pair of hands.
1680
01:52:38,820 --> 01:52:41,180
Three, four.
1681
01:52:41,180 --> 01:52:44,260
♪ Find me somebody to love
1682
01:52:44,260 --> 01:52:47,500
♪ Find me somebody to love
1683
01:52:47,500 --> 01:52:50,620
♪ Find me somebody to love
1684
01:52:50,620 --> 01:52:53,860
♪ Find me somebody to love
1685
01:52:53,860 --> 01:52:55,620
♪ Somebody! Somebody!
1686
01:52:55,620 --> 01:52:58,740
♪ Somebody! Somebody!
Somebody! Somebody!
1687
01:52:58,740 --> 01:53:02,020
♪ Somebody find me
somebody to love
1688
01:53:02,020 --> 01:53:08,500
♪ Anybody find
me-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e...
1689
01:53:11,380 --> 01:53:17,020
♪ Somebody to-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o... ♪
1690
01:53:17,020 --> 01:53:18,260
Come on!
1691
01:53:18,260 --> 01:53:20,140
AUDIENCE: ♪ Lo-o-o-o-ve. ♪
1692
01:53:20,140 --> 01:53:22,020
'It was completely cathartic.'
1693
01:53:22,020 --> 01:53:24,380
It was like working out
a bit of grief in a way.
1694
01:53:24,380 --> 01:53:25,660
Yeah!
1695
01:53:26,620 --> 01:53:32,380
♪ Somebody find me
somebody to-oo-oo love
1696
01:53:33,540 --> 01:53:37,260
♪ Find me somebody to-oo-oo love
Oo-oo-oo-oo-ooh!
1697
01:53:37,260 --> 01:53:43,060
♪ Find me is somebody, somebody
1698
01:53:43,060 --> 01:53:45,620
♪ To-oo-oo love
1699
01:53:45,620 --> 01:53:50,500
♪ Anybody anywhere find me
somebody to love
1700
01:53:50,500 --> 01:53:53,020
♪ Yeah, yeah
1701
01:53:53,020 --> 01:53:59,380
♪ O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oh
1702
01:53:59,380 --> 01:54:04,260
♪ O-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-oh. ♪
1703
01:54:04,260 --> 01:54:08,340
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1704
01:54:12,620 --> 01:54:14,660
And I remember just as we were
coming off,
1705
01:54:14,660 --> 01:54:17,540
Joe Elliott from Def Leopard
put his hand on my arm
1706
01:54:17,540 --> 01:54:18,820
and said, "Stop, Brian,
1707
01:54:18,820 --> 01:54:22,500
"just turn around and look at that
audience and remember this moment.
1708
01:54:25,700 --> 01:54:28,140
"Nothing like this
will ever happen again."
1709
01:54:42,580 --> 01:54:46,020
'The incredible thing is, it's 40
years since the band was formed.
1710
01:54:46,020 --> 01:54:50,140
'The band is probably
as big as it's ever been.'
1711
01:54:50,140 --> 01:54:53,020
And yet 20 of those 40 years
have been without Freddie.
1712
01:54:53,020 --> 01:54:56,980
We don't have John either
because he's chosen to
be in a very different place.
1713
01:54:56,980 --> 01:54:58,780
For Roger and I...
1714
01:54:58,780 --> 01:55:02,020
there is always that searching.
1715
01:55:03,140 --> 01:55:06,660
♪ The show must go on! ♪
1716
01:55:08,740 --> 01:55:13,060
What's lurking in the wings was
the material we'd done with Freddie
which was unfinished,
1717
01:55:13,060 --> 01:55:15,620
and what were we going to do with
this, make an album?
1718
01:55:15,620 --> 01:55:18,540
Made In Heaven
was obviously different.
1719
01:55:18,540 --> 01:55:22,980
It was very weird working
with Freddie's voice
coming out of the speakers
1720
01:55:22,980 --> 01:55:26,740
but Brian and I felt that we knew
what Freddie would have been
thinking
1721
01:55:26,740 --> 01:55:29,500
so we got there and I was
very pleased with the result.
1722
01:55:29,500 --> 01:55:32,220
I feel like it was
the right completion.
1723
01:55:32,220 --> 01:55:35,980
It was, um...it was the right
album to finish up on.
1724
01:55:40,980 --> 01:55:45,380
Once you've passed your initiation
into being a rock star,
it never leaves you.
1725
01:55:45,380 --> 01:55:48,980
You cannot stop having that
feeling inside you that
makes you want to play.
1726
01:55:48,980 --> 01:55:51,380
♪ The show must go on! ♪
1727
01:55:51,380 --> 01:55:54,500
When we did the Paul Rodgers
tour, it was great, actually.
1728
01:55:54,500 --> 01:55:57,300
Paul was a great singer,
completely different.
1729
01:55:57,300 --> 01:56:03,500
♪ I've never given in
On with the show
1730
01:56:03,500 --> 01:56:08,140
♪ The show must go on. ♪
1731
01:56:08,140 --> 01:56:11,140
It constantly amazes me
to think we were lucky enough
1732
01:56:11,140 --> 01:56:13,940
to be in a great band, to have
a great band together,
1733
01:56:13,940 --> 01:56:17,100
and that, actually, people still
like the music, you know.
1734
01:56:18,380 --> 01:56:20,900
Queen is such a stimulating
creative environment,
1735
01:56:20,900 --> 01:56:24,740
there's really nothing quite
that could live up to that.
1736
01:56:27,100 --> 01:56:31,980
There was a perfect creative
hothouse that was Queen at its best.
1737
01:56:32,940 --> 01:56:36,380
♪ One dream, one soul
1738
01:56:36,380 --> 01:56:40,780
♪ One prize, one goal
1739
01:56:40,780 --> 01:56:46,260
♪ One golden glance of what should be
1740
01:56:46,260 --> 01:56:47,620
♪ It's a kind of magic
1741
01:56:47,620 --> 01:56:53,140
♪ One flash of light
that shows the way
1742
01:56:54,380 --> 01:56:58,260
♪ No mortal man
1743
01:56:58,260 --> 01:57:00,020
♪ Can win this day
1744
01:57:00,020 --> 01:57:02,140
♪ It's a kind of magic
1745
01:57:02,140 --> 01:57:05,740
♪ The bell that rings
1746
01:57:05,740 --> 01:57:07,860
♪ Inside your mind
1747
01:57:09,140 --> 01:57:11,260
♪ Is challenging
1748
01:57:11,260 --> 01:57:14,620
♪ The doors of time
1749
01:57:22,100 --> 01:57:28,980
♪ This rage that lasts
a thousand years
1750
01:57:28,980 --> 01:57:31,500
# Will soon be, will soon be
Will soon be...
1751
01:57:31,500 --> 01:57:35,260
♪ Will soon be done
1752
01:57:36,900 --> 01:57:40,860
♪ Will soon be done
1753
01:57:40,860 --> 01:57:45,340
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
1754
01:57:45,340 --> 01:57:50,500
♪ E-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-up
1755
01:57:50,500 --> 01:57:56,660
AUDIENCE: # E-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-up
1756
01:57:56,660 --> 01:57:58,260
♪ E-e-up
E-e-up
1757
01:57:58,260 --> 01:57:59,420
♪ E-e-up
E-e-up
1758
01:57:59,420 --> 01:58:00,900
♪ E-e-up
E-e-up
1759
01:58:00,900 --> 01:58:02,140
♪ Ee-do-ree-ro-re-ro
1760
01:58:02,140 --> 01:58:04,180
♪ Ee-do-ree-ro-re-ro. ♪
1761
01:58:04,180 --> 01:58:05,580
Fuck you.156806
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