The  Interviews

Freddie Mercury and Brian May Hawk Their 'News of the World'

Freddie Mercury is no longer the leader of Queen. Has he been fired, you ask, or is he off to pursue a solo career? No. It's simply, with the advent of the News of the World LP (Asylum) the personality of the music and of Brian May, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Deacon have come across more strongly than ever before.
Those who have seen them on the recent US tour notice more than ever before that they're a group comprised of four separate identities, not just a lead singer and background band. Freddie Mercury is delighted to hear it.
"I've never considered myself the leader anyway," says irrepressible Freddie. "The most important person, perhaps." And guitarist May agrees.
"Our separate entities do come to the fore on this album, on which every cut is completely different from the one before it and there's no concept at all. Apart from each having contributed two tracks to the album, Roger and John have been much more involved in the playing. Roger plays rhythm guitar on some of his cuts ("Sheer Heart Attack" and "Fight from the Inside") which makes sense, because he had a better idea of how he wanted it to go. John plays acoustic guitar on one of his as well ("Who Needs You"). I played maracas on it. While we may not do it that way or stage, in the studio that makes more sense."
Brian also does a lot more singing of his own songs on News, but he's content to let Freddie do the singing on stage.
"He's a natural performer," asserts Brian. "He acts on stage as if he was born doing it. That's great for us. We wouldn't want it any other way."
As May and Mercury emphasize, it's not just musically that shifts occur in the group.
"John keeps a very close eye on our business affairs," says Freddie. "He knows everything that's going on and shouldn't be going on. If God forsakes us now the rest of the group won't do anything unless John says it's all right.
"Roger is very important to us in a different way. He's always been an out-and-out rock & roll fan with no time to stop and think about music and that's very good for us. Instinct. He's also the one who is most aware of facets in music, and that's essential in the band. If you listen to 'Sheer Heart Attack' on the new album you'll see what we mean. It sounds like a punk, or 'new wave' song, but it was written at the same time of the Sheer Heart Attack LP. He played it to us then but it wasn't quite finished and he didn't have time to complete it before we started recording. That was three years ago and now almost all these records you hear are like that period." And Roger now? "He was into punk for a long time, but he's tired of it." More about the album later.
But if you still don't believe no crown of leadership rests on the mercurial head of Freddie, it's worth repeating his comment about the composition of the group.
"If anyone left Queen, anyone of the four, that would be the end of Queen. We are four equal, interwoven parts. And the others just couldn't function the same without each quarter."
Queen have just finished a special tour of the states. Not the longest they've ever undertaken, by any means, but special nevertheless.
"It was the first tour we've ever done without the support band," Freddie explained. "There was so much going on on stage that I doubt there would have been room for another band anyway. We have so much material we want to play for people now that it would have been far too long a concert. It's hard enough anyway to know what to leave out: we'd like to play all the new material, but there are some things we just would not dare leave out or I think the fans would lynch us."
It was the sort of tour most rock bands dream of doing. Brian agrees: "We've managed to get some of the most sought after halls there are, even though the tour was short. Most of them are places we've played before. In some cities we had to settle for second, alternative choice auditoriums-the thing was set up so fast. It was also a very compressed tour- 36 dates in six weeks. We did very large halls because we wanted to do a fuller show and our rig was about twice as big as ever we used before. " It provided a complete stage environment, with an extension stage, three trailers and an enormous lighting gimmick not just for New York and Los Angeles. That's why we booked big halls, so that we could give everybody the complete show. We first used our crown centerpiece at London's Earl's Court concert over the Jubilee. At the time, we didn't envisage being able to take the crown on tour with us, but we managed to have it demounted into a portable object. And so we had it for all the gigs. It made the most ambitious backdrop we've ever attempted, but it was worth it. The fans seemed to enjoy it and they are what matter."
That last remark of Brian's is typical of tile group's attitude towards their fans, for they have one of the closest rapports with the fans of any in the business. The same cannot be said for their relationship to the music press, however, especially in Britain. In fact, many people thought the chart-popping single, "We Are the Champions," was Queen's way of telling the press in no uncertain terms that they've made it without them. Others thought it an arrogant statement about their rock supremacy. But how do they feel? First Freddie, who wrote the song:
"Certainly it's 'a relationship that could be, but I was thinking about football when I wrote it. I wanted a participation song, something the fans could latch on to. It was aimed at the masses; I thought we'd see how they took it. It worked a treat. When we performed it at a private concert in London, the fans actually broke into a football chant between numbers. Of course, I've given it more theatrical subtlety than an ordinary football chant. You know me.
"I certainly wasn't thinking about the press when I wrote it. I never think about the British music press these days. It was really meant to be offered the musicians the same as the fans.
"I suppose it could also be construed as my version of 'I Did It My Way.' We have made it, and it certainly wasn't easy. No bed of roses as the song says. And it's still not easy."
Brian concurs, "You know, songs aren't always about what the words say. Messages in songs can appear different. I always see that as the difference between prose and poetry. Prose can mean exactly what it says, while poetry can mean the opposite. That goes for this song. Freddie's stuff is often tongue-in-cheek anyway, as you know. This song is very theatrical. Freddie is very close to his art. You could say, he's married to his music, whether it's 'I Did It My Way' or his 'There's No Business Like Show Business." I must say, when he first played it for us in the studio we all fell on the floor with laughter. So many of the people in the press hate us because we've side-stepped them and got where we have without them.
"But there's no way the song says anything against our audiences. When the song says 'we,' it means 'us and the fans.' When we did that special concert, the fans were wonderful. They understood it so well. I know it sounds corny, but it brought tears to our eyes."
Freddie and Brian are unanimous on that: the spontaneous responses to "We Are the Champions" really move them. But that is the kind of general response News of the World has received because, as Brian May says, "It's a spontaneous album. I think we've managed to cut through to the spontaneity lacking in our other albums. I have no apologies to make for any of our previous albums. We're proud of them and wouldn't have let them out if we weren't. But I now feel some may have been over-produced, so we wanted to go with a more spontaneous, rock & roll based album. It was nice to do something that didn't need such intensity. For example, with 'Sleeping on the Sidewalk' we did it in one take because it just seemed right the first time. We like to think of the album as a window on an unguarded moment, not a set piece. Each cut seems to do that, from the participation songs to Freddie's mood pieces. Even his numbers on the album are different, from his heavy 'Get Down, Make Love' to 'My Melancholy Blues,' which is just what it says."
Brian admits that his own material is different too. But he still tries to keep his private life separate and out of his songs as much as possible.
"If you don't keep something back, it can be very bad for you."
But for the band both the album and the tour are in the past and they have to look at the future. They got back to England on Christmas Eve.
"My mother would have killed me if I wasn't home for Christmas. I haven't missed one yet," says Freddie. And the others felt the same.
"It's time for some stock-taking. We've all become businessmen," admits Freddie, "even though it's against our better judgement. It's something that always happens if you get successful. Being a musician is not just cutting 'discs, unfortunately. I wish it was. We've all got companies now, some connected to music, others not. I'm producing Peter Straker, I have my car company and lots of other fingers in other pies. We must take some time off to get things in perspective, or things will start to go wrong.
"Then there's been talk of doing a big world tour-Britain, South America, Japan, and of course the States as well as lots of other places. But that won't be until later in the year."
So, American fans will have a chance to see Queen in 1978.
"You must tell them not to be too greedy, though," warns Freddie. "They've already seen more of us than any other country."
And what about a message for the American fans, Freddie?
"They know we love them. Apart from that, oh, say something outrageous for me."

Popcorn, Munich, June 1981

On stage, Roger Taylor is hidden behind his giant drum set. Now he stepped into the limelight as the first member of Queen with a solo-LP. POPCORN spoke to Roger Taylor in Munich.

Roger, with "Fun In Space" you just brought out a solo-LP. Why this "ego-trip"?

ROGER: I've written so many songs lately that it was impossible to put them all on a Queen LP. A solo album was the only solution.

How did Freddie, Brian and John react to your "solo run"?

ROGER: They liked the idea so much that they probably soon will do something like that, too. But before that there is a new Queen album to make which we are working on right now again.

You produced this album in Munich again. What is so fascinating about this town?

ROGER: Actually, everything. The studio is fantastic, the people are okay and if you're free you can have a lot of fun. We love the beer-gardens and go to disco often. Munich's club "Shugar Shack" is the hottest disco of the world. We love it so much that we donated a Gold disc to the club that now hangs on the wall beside the bar.

Have you planned something special for the new album?

ROGER: We don't have a concept. Most of the new songs are already written, but the various sound effects and styles are developed step by step in the studio. When the album is done we will for sure go on tour again. And we want develope a completely new kind of show for that.

Will you go on tour on your own soon?

ROGER: No, never. First Queen to me is more important than my solo career, and second working with the band preoccoupies me so much that I would have no time for a tour on my own.

You've done without management as Queen for quite a while. How does it work?

ROGER: Very well. We sign contracts as we want it and aren't dictated as artists. Since we have no manager anymore it started to be fun!

Do you have a boss within the band?

ROGER: God heavens, no! We share the tasks and talk about everything.

Who does what?

ROGER: John is mainly responsible for the financial things, Brian for organisation and I'm a "maid-of-all". Public relations, cover design and tour problems.

And what does Freddie do?

ROGER: Freddie is completely the artist's type. He does not care at all about money or organisation. Freddie is responsible for the show only.

Are there disagreements?

ROGER: Not really. We are very different types and therefore complement each other perfectly. This is also to be seen in our songs. John, for instance, is a great fan of funk, jazz and blues. Brian loves the opposite. His most beloved music is hardrock. Freddie adds a tendency towards classics, and I experiment with New Wave. Nevertheless we are musically a unity.

You belong to the most successful band of all. If you like Queen achieved everything aren't you becoming tired of success?

ROGER: On the contrary. Success gives us more artistic freedom. We have not to rely on hits anymore and can do what we really want to. If we make an album or go on tour we do it for pure fun.

On your new album you play all the instruments yourself. Why didn't you get help from your colleagues?

ROGER: For several reasons. First I spared long explanations about how I want the songs to be. The more, I wanted to prove that I am very versatile. In the end I don't want to spend my whole life behind the drums. There are enough other drummers who showed that solo albums are not only a thing of guitarists, singers and keyboarders.

Your LP is extremely versatile, the styles vary from Rhythm & Blues to synthesizers medleys....

ROGER: Yes, that is in my eyes the only thing critics could reproach me for. But at my first solo album I simply had an itch to show my whole bandwidth. The second album will for sure be more consistent and head towards new wave.

Your voice resembles Rod Stewart's. Do you think the same?

ROGER: It's true that it sounds a bit like sandpaper. I'm not offended if people think on Rod. I like Rod and know him quite well privately, too!

What is the meaning of the monster on the cover?

ROGER: It's called Ernie and derives from an american comic series. I liked the little beast so much that I use it as an identification.

What do you do in your spare time?

ROGER: Music is hobby and job at once. If actually I am at home and have nothing to do, my life is much less exciting than people expect from a rockstar - I watch TV or read books. That's it more or less.
 

On stage Brian May, the musical driving force of Queen, appears shy and introvert. POPCOM-chief editor Gerald Buchelmaler talked in one of the few interviews in London with the guitar genius about Queen's future plans, rock business and general and very personal aspects.

It is easier to get an interview with the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart or other top stars than with Queen. Why are you so much against press?

BRIAN: This talk is the best proof against it - but seriously: We simply think that all what we have to say as a rockband is said on our albums or in our concerts. We are musicians, not more and not less. Classical musicians are hardly asked about their private lifes or political opinions? Why should they? By the way, we don't give any interviews to english journalists because they simply are unfair. They are polite at the interview and the article afterwards is as a rule a slap in the face.

On stage you appear distant and without emotions. Is this impression correct?

BRIAN: On stage I'm very concentrated and anyway I'm very restrained, you could also call it shy. At the start of our career I had stomach aches before bigger gigs and nightmares afterwards. The nervousness sank with growing routine, but I still feel somehow uneasy at the sight of hysterical masses.

Then why are you still on tour so often?

BRIAN: With 100 to 150 concerts a year we are one of the busiest band of all. Even if I spoke about negative aspects to me there is still nothing as satisfying for a musician than to be on stage. We are looked after on tour by a huge staff and cared for like babies (laughs). Everything is organized so well that we really have only to care for a good show each evening. But if you have not yet this status, tours are the most murderous things on earth - physically and mentally. Whoever experienced this must understand why so many bands dump into alcohol and drugs.

How about that with Queen?

BRIAN: Not even in our difficult first years it was no issue. Of course we all have a glas from time to time - that is Freddie and John are nearly hundred percent teetotallers. But I only allow it myself if I have not to work. People think as rockstar you have no responsibility and can do whatever you want. But the opposite is true. If you want to stand our life - a mixture of circus and army - you have to have a very strong self discipline. As a life band we have a very good reputation, and one of the reason is that we are always fit and can give best quality to our fans.

About fans - how do you see them?

BRIAN: Who watches our fans during a concert may think it is a colourless uncritical mass. I think different because with our multilayered music and the often harsh changes of style - for instance from ""Crazy Little Thing Called Love" to "Flash" - we surely attract people with a wide range in taste. There is hardly another band who asks as much from its audience as we do.

Queen Off The Record

with Mary Turner 1986

Freddie: It’s just Fate. A sort of an ingredient that we have, and it’s a combination that seems to have worked…that doesn’t mean we don’t have egos, I mean we all have terrible egos, so there’s always been talk of breaking up and you know there’s been lots of very bad moods and things, and there’s always been somebody or other, one of us saying “I want to call it a day”, and things, but I don’t know I think things seem to be working out right all the time. There’s no sort of pill that we’re taking to keep together, there’s no sort of …you can’t put a finger on it.

I guess it doesn’t matter what it is exactly as long as you have it, and Queen definitely have it, or they wouldn’t still be together after 14 years. Maybe it’s a kind of magic. Only one way to find out. I’m Mary Turner and for the next hour, I’ll be talking with Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor, Brian May, and John Deacon. Queen, Off the Record.

[Don’t Stop Me Now]

Mary Turner: Do you think that your relationships within the band have changed over the 14 years…you’re certainly writing more than you were?

Roger Taylor: Yeah, I feel like I’m personally much happier, I mean I have a lot more creative say and input now, I would say…before it was sort of restricted to drums and the odd vocal part really.

Mary Turner: Roger Taylor

Roger Taylor: So yes, they have changed in a way, we’ve become more democratic, I think. But let’s face it at first Freddie was the only…and Brian were the only real writers in the band, and now it’s all sort of fairly equal.

[Pain is So Close to Pleasure]

MT: How about tempers in the studio amongst yourselves?

John Deacon: Oh, there’s a few. Yeah sure.

MT: So we’re talking many fights and stuff like that?

John Deacon: There’s a few, yeah. I mean the only thing that is hopefully good about us is after the arguments we can actually still face each other the next day or the day after and talk about something else and sort of get over it. The funny thing is I think we’re now getting to that sort of point of maturity that we at least have that confidence that we are a successful band which is what is obviously a desire in the beginning, that’s why sometimes you want to be in a band and, you want to be successful, so we now have that and now it’s sort of a harder thing, of where you go from here, because we still have a few ambitions left…I have a few personal ambitions for the band.…I mean there are certain countries in the world we haven’t played yet that I would like to go to, because in the Far East we’ve played Japan, but we’ve never played any of the other ones like Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, China, that’s a long way off still, but there’s a few things there…and also we still have the desire to come back to America, and to actually come back and to establish ourselves there again.

MT: On “One Vision” there’s what sounds like some backwards kind of stuff at the beginning….what is that?

Roger Taylor: It’s not actually, well some of it is backwards, yeah, you’re right, and some of it’s sort of harmonized, slowed down, and tape trickery in general.

MT: Is there a secret message there?

RT: No, it’s saying….there’s a line and it says… and I think some people attribute it to some kind of devil worship, (and it goes to show you that some people need medical attention, don’t they?)…the line is “God works in mysterious ways”…that’s what it’s saying.

[One Vision]

MT: I’m interested to know, do you have any, before you go onstage, do you have any kind of personal ritual or anything that you do to get yourself psyched up mentally, prepared?

RT: Yes, I have two belts of Scotch, that’s it….two…. no more, no less.

MT: That does the trick, huh?

RT: Yeah, that get’s you just aggressive enough, and just sharp enough. If you have one more, that slows you down a little bit.

MT: How about directly when you come offstage?

RT: I’ll collapse, that’s the first thing. There’s nothing nicer than to have somebody take your shoes and socks off for you. It’s great, that’s usually the first thing that happens, we just sit back in our chairs and have all these people take off our shoes and socks. (laughs)

Sound interesting? Well, stick around. In just a moment we’ll head for London’s Wembley Stadium for a standing room only performance by Queen. I’m Mary Turner.

[ads]

It doesn’t matter how successful you are around the world, everybody still wants to be a hit in their hometown. So when Queen sold out London’s Wembley Stadium in record time, they were happy, relieved, and nervous.

MT: The two Wembley dates you have surpassed or equalled a record set only two times before selling two sold out dates, done by Springsteen and the Stones. That must make you feel pretty good.

RT: It’s great …we were stunned, actually at the response, completely. Harvey Goldsmith, the promoter was just quite amazed. We sold out literally immediately, and you can’t believe half a million ticket applications…it’s quite amazing actually.

MT: Do you feel different playing here on your home turf?

RT: Yeah, there’s always sorts of unnecessary stresses…like maybe your mother’s out there…too many people you know are out there…it’s always nice if you’re just nice and removed from it a bit so that’s why we really like playing…. It will be fun in Vienna, you know? (Laughs) Mind you Wembley's very special cause to the English people Wembley’s the national stadium so it’s sort of the big one, and there haven’t been that many shows there, so maybe we’ll be nervous about that.

MT: The concert last night was for some kind of Royal Charity?

RT: Well, yeah I mean the fact that it’s royal is irrelevant really, but yes, Princess Anne’s very involved, it’s the Save the Children thing, which is like for kids all over the world, sort of under privileged children, we thought it would be nice to give one thing to charity, one complete show…it would be nice…. everybody else seems to be doing things for the Prince’s Trust, they’re probably after their knighthoods or something…Sir Phil Collins, Lord Elton…whatever…the Earl of Clapton…no, but we thought no no no we just give it to a good charity.

MT: But what it’s like? Do you meet these people? There must be something kind of off the wall about meeting royalty, especially if you’re British?

RT: Well they’re just people aren't they really?

MT:: Yeah but….

RT: I suppose you’re right…actually I was quite nervous last year when we met Charles and Diana…and yes it was quite nerve-wracking cause everybody was in a row, and I was next to David Bowie, and we were both really nervous and he smoked about a pack of my Marlboros. And we were right at the end as well, so we had to wait while this…and the camera man was there, and it was a bit nerve wracking, yeah…it was very weird

MT: Was she beautiful?

RT: (Hesitates) yeah, I mean…she’s a girl, you know (laughter)

[Killer Queen]

MT: What’s it like for four young English boys to suddenly be introduced and shaking hands with royalty?

Brian May: (Laughs) I liked it more than I thought I was going to like it. I’m not particularly into all that royalty stuff, but I was surprised how much of a charisma or aura whatever you like to call it Charles and Diana had. I enjoyed it I liked meeting them. They were very nice, very charming and genuinely interested. There’s obviously no falseness about them they were interested in what was going on they understand where we come from a lot more than I expected. And it’s very nice. It does give you a nice feeling, I suppose it’s a kind of, it’s like when you’re a kid and your mother father tell you you’re a good boy and pat you on the head…it gives you a certain, it’s irrational and maybe you shouldn’t feel it, but you do feel it. You feel, ”oh good, I’ve done something right for a change.” (laughs)

MT: Plus also I would think because Charles and Diana are our age same generation, and here this guy is the future king of England. How Beyond-o hanging out with him backstage at a rock and roll concert!

BM: Yeah, strange, I like him a lot actually, I’ve had a lot of respect for Charles for a long time. He’s never been afraid to say what he thinks. You know it’s not easy, you know the King or the Queen of England is not really in a position of power anymore, actually, you know that, it’s not like being the President. But the controls which are exerted on them are enormous they have to kind of tread this fine diplomatic line, and Charles has never really felt that he had to be told what to say, he said a lot of things which weren’t easy to say, and I respect that. I think he’ll be a great king when it comes.

MT: There seems to be a burgeoning interest in the social conscience or rock and roll, of Live Aid and Amnesty, where do you think this is coming from? Ten years ago it would have been you know ‘sit on it’?

BM: I think we’re just a bit more practical these days, because people always did a lot of talking about it in the 60’s there was this big consciousness of let’s spread peace and love, but nobody really know how to do it. And I think Joan Baez was quoted recently…was it Joan Baez? No hang on it was Grace Slick...she was asked how did Live Aid compare with Wood Stock, and she said it’s totally different….Woodstock was a total waste of time because everybody was just into themselves, and live aid was an outward going thing. It actually affected people’s lives who needed some help So it certainly makes me happy. I think Rock and roll has grown up a bit and things occasionally get done right..

[Somebody to Love]

A Kind of Magic is the first Queen album in two years. No it didn’t take them that long to record it, they were busy with other projects like solo albums, movie soundtracks, and educational videos. Educational videos? Are you ready for Brian May, music teacher? Well, get your notebooks ready, we’ve got guitar class coming up right after this, Off the Record.

I’m Mary Turner talking with Brian May and John Deacon of Queen…Off The Record.

{Tear it Up}

MT: You’ve done some things outside making records in the past year. You designed a guitar for commercial…

BM: Oh yes, the Guild guitar is a copy of mine which I’ve used for year s and years and years. Me and my Dad made it twenty years ago…and they made a very good job of it, unfortunately it’s very expensive. And I’m a little upset that it’s become a sort of elitist thing as opposed to something that everyone can have if they want, cause that’s not the way it was meant to be. So maybe in the future we can make a cheaper version.

MT: It’s an exact copy of your guitar?

BM: yes, it’s very, very close and it sounds very close.

MT: Also you made a video?

BM: Yes the Starlicks video which is to…a kind of teaching aid to people who want to play like other people playing. I think it’s a good thing, and the people who run it are well on the ball…it’s a shame it couldn’t have been done earlier I would have like to have had a Star Licks of Eric Clapton when I was trying to learn the guitar…it would have been wonderful…I think it’s a very good thing and I would like to see more people do it. I want to see George Harrison do it and Eric Clapton, you know I think it’s a nice thing because you can say so much more in a video than you could ever say on a piece of paper. You can see the guy’s hands moving and hear what comes out….it’s a very close thing.

[Keep Yourself Alive]

[Another One Bites the Dust]

MT: You are the only one of the band who hasn’t yet done a solo album.

JD: No cause I can’t sing.

(MT laughter)

MT: Are you sure?

JD: Yes, yes it’s pretty bad, but I might have singing lessons one day.

MT: Is that sort of a void in your career? Do you wish you had done that?

JD: Yes. Of course I do it’s awful it’s like being in a wheelchair in a way because you can’t actually express yourself in the way that you’d like to. If I could sing it would be lovely. No, it’s a handicap, a great handicap, in terms of writing songs. I wish I could but I can’t.

MT: When you write a song and do a demo?

JD: Well…mainly you see I’ve worked with Freddie most of my career and he’s very good, because I’ll come up with certain ideas and he just improves on them, and I haven’t worked with any, many other singers really.

[Bo Rhap]

You’ve sold around 25 Million albums, you’ve won countless awards, everything from best new artist to America’s favourite group You’ve had number one songs in every country that has a radio station and even in a few that don’t. So what’s left? Well hear what challenges keep Queen in the game right after this, Off the Record.

Ads

{Radio Ga Ga]

MT: Is music still the most important thing in your life? Do you ever outgrow this I wonder?

RT: Sometimes I think it’s time I should have outgrown it, I should really sort of be outgrowing it, but then it sort of comes back to it that yes it is the most important thing it’s just that I get a bit sick of it sometimes. I think you have enough on the road I don’t get sick of it in the studio I do. I just….“I can’t listen to music anymore!” The last thing I want to hear in the car is the damn radio with music on it. Of course, It’s just too much.

MT: You’ve had years of success, Freddie, gold albums international tours, all the stuff that kids dream of when they start a band. So what keeps you going now, what challenges are left?

FM: It’s a survival test. Of course we could all just go away and say ok we’ve had enough, and live happily ever after, but that’s not what we’re in for….we’re in it to make music and the way I think what else could I do, I mean this is the thing that interests me most. You don’t know what it means when you write a song when people actually appreciate it and they say it’s a good song. It’s a wonderful feeling.

[We are the Champions]

MT: You know it’s funny after all these years that you still get a bad rap from the critics.

FM: I think we’ve learn to live with that.. we’ve been living with that kind of thing for the last five six or seven years, and now it’s the standard thing, it’s just the norm to be honest and it doesn’t worry me at all…I’ve never let the press worry me ..in the early days you think about it, you go out and buy the papers and make sure you’re in it, and all that, and now it’s a completely different set up because it’s your music and basically what you worry about is the people that buy your product.. that’s what keeps us going.

Hard 'N' Heavy, Video Magazine, 1989 Volume 3

Interview with Brian May & Roger Taylor

Interviewer: Well, we're here with two members of Queen, Brian and Roger, and welcome.

Brian: Thank you.

Roger: Hi, thank you, thanks.

Interviewer: This is your first time in a limo isn't it!

Roger: Yeah we've never been in a limo, before!

Brian: First time in a limo, yeah. What is a limo?

Interviewer: Well, we're gonna do something rather unique here, I guess, in that we're gonna conduct this interview in the back of the longest stretch limousine I've ever seen, in my life.

Brian: The thing is ridiculous.

Roger: Yeah.

Interviewer: Yeah it's like an apartment in here, isn't it.

Brian: We could do a gig in here I think.

(Clip of "We will rock you" from Rio I think).
-------------------------------------------------------

Brian: Memories of Sunset Boulevard?

Interviewer: Yeah.

Brian: I remember the first time we came to L.A...

Roger: Yeah, so do I, a long time ago.

Brian: and sort of did the gig. We did Santa Monica Civic the first time we ever came here, and played at the Rainbow, and thought "What a strange place this is".

Roger: Played at the Rainbow?

Brian: No, not played, I mean played around at the Rainbow, not actually played our instruments.

Roger: Oh played, Yeah, yeah played. Yeah.

Brian: And thought my god "What a strange island of odd humanity this is", and I didn't think it was a place that I'd ever want to be again.

Roger: I liked it.

Brian: He loved it, and I hated it. Now I love it and Roger doesn't normally want to come here, but I feel very at home in L.A. now, it seems.

Interviewer:You do?

Brian: I feel, always, one step higher, spiritually, in L.A. there's something about it.

Roger: You're the only one.

Brian: It's very strange. A lot of people don't feel that way, but I come here and I immediately feel, somehow, more central to what i'm doing, and I find I can ring people up, I can play with people.

Roger: You feel spiritually one step higher.

Brian: I love it, and I love the sunshine, it just does me good for some reason, gets me out of my depression.

(Clip of "Bohemian Rhapsody" from same gig in background)

Brian: I remember seeing a big thing up for Led Zeppelin, a billboard, you know, 'cause everyone used to have billboards and that was the sign of success, and we saw Zeppelin at the Forum at that time...

Roger: That's right, yeah. They were great.

Brian: and I thought Jesus Christ, if we ever make this kind of thing... and that was widening our horizons 'cause we thought, or at least I thought in my naivety in those days, I thought, you know, if we play something like the Rainbow in London we've made it, and there isn't anything else, and then suddenly to see these things... and I just thought, god it's a world. If we ever get to that sort of state that'll be it.
-------------------------------------------------------

Roger: (Pointing out of window) I took a girl there once and she got her breasts out in the middle of a meal.

Interviewer: Is that right?

Roger: Yeah.

Interviewer: She got her breasts out?

Roger: Yeah, right in the middle of the restaurant, in the middle of the meal. That's just a little aside there.

Interviewer: What occasion was this?

Roger: I can't remember quite why.

Brian: Did you marry her?

Roger: No. I wanted to at the time.
-------------------------------------------------------

(Clip of "I Want It All" video in background)

Interviewer: Let's talk about the new album, "The Miracle". A lot of people are extremely pleased to see Queen... I won't say return to the old style, but certainly a harder edge, less dance music.

Brian: The way it came out very guitar oriented just happened, as far as I can see. It's very strange.

Roger: Yeah.

Brian: It may have come about because we were actually doing more playing together. There's a lot of live takes on there, So, you know, whereas we had got fairly machine oriented for a while, this isn't.

Interviewer: No.

Brian: There's a lot of technology, but it's kind of after the event. It's basically us playing as a band. So I guess it sounds like it. And no one's more happy than I am. Having decided that we were going to credit every track to the four of us, as opposed to just one, everybody argued over every note...

Interviewer: Is that right?

Brian: Which is very healthy, and it's much more of a cohesive group effort than we've done for a long time.

------------------------------------------------------

Interviewer: Now the song "The Miracle", the title track... this is a real interesting tune lyrically, 'cause you... This is a real celebration of life, it's a plea to stop war.

Brian: We got pasted to the wall for this in England. Everybody hated it, for some reason. It's very uncool to be idealistic in Britain, I suppose, at the moment, and they said "How can they talk about peace", and all that sort of stuff, then of course, China happened and everything. It seems very relevant to us.

Roger: In England 'idealism' is 'naivety', which is wrong, it's not. There's nothing wrong with idealism. Nick Lowe wrote that great song, great title - "What's so bad about peace, love and understanding", yeah, and what is so bad about it?
------------------------------------------------------

Interviewer: Was there a particular story that "Scandal"... that touched off the song "Scandal"?

Roger: (To Brian) I think this is yours.

Brian: Well, Yeah. I mean, it's something which has affected us, individually, as members of the group recently. It's very strange, 'cause we were fairly famous for a long time in England, you know the last fifteen years or whatever, but we didn't become a prey to these kind of scummy papers until recently. And it's not related to what you are doing, you know. They are not interested what music you play, or anything. They just want the dirt, and if they can't find any they'll invent it if they choose to pick on you. So we were all going through a lot of changes in our lives and suddenly it became a big problem, you know, in a similar way... you've heard about what they did to Elton, you know? These stories about Elton, and everything, which he sued them for and got a million quid (NB. slang for pound) off 'em. You know, great.

Interviewer: Yes.

Brian: Well they did very similar things to me particularly, and to a certain extent to Roger, and Freddie also had been through it a little while before.

(Lurid newspaper headlines)

Brian: But this thing is total.. you know, steam in and destroy someone's life. They really are the scum of the earth. You can't exaggerate it too much.
------------------------------------------------------
Brian: I think our best video is Radio Ga-Ga, really.

Roger: I quite like Radio Ga-Ga because it had a mood and a look and we used pieces of "Metropolis which was great.

Interviewer: Absolutely.

Brian: I am going to reveal something, which many people don't know. If you listen to the record very carefully it doesn't actually say "Radio Ga-Ga".

Roger: All you hear is that it's actually "Radio Ca-Ca", which is French for shit.

Brian: That's what it says.

Interviewer: Right, right.

Roger: And that's what it says on the record.

Brian: That was going to be the title of the record.
-------------------------------------------------------

Interviewer: I understand that there is some dispute amongst you all about touring. Where does it stand?

Roger: Don't know about dispute?

Brian: Not exactly. As to where and when and how there is dispute, but I don't think there's any doubt that we want to get out there. I personally can't wait. Once you adapt to the lifestyle and the discipline of it, I think it's something which becomes part of your life, and when it's taken away... like we didn't tour for the last three years.. I found life really difficult, you're suddenly back to responsibilities and you can't think "Oh I can stick with this for the next couple of weeks, 'cause I'm going to be on tour soon.", you think "This is life." and it became very hard.

(Clip of "We Are The Champions" from Rio)

"The Making of Innuendo" ...Rockline 04 Feb. 91.

Brian May and Roger Taylor with Bob Coburn.

BOB: Never before has there been such a blend of flamboyance, brilliant musicianship, outrageous theatrics and just plain old good songs as there is with Queen and tonight we'll play a selection of new songs from the just released 'Innuendo' CD as well as some of your old favourites. More important we'll give you a chance to talk with Queen's guitarist, Brian May. Good evening.

BRIAN: Hi Bob. Great to be here.

BOB: Great to have you back. And also the drummer for the band, Mr. Roger Taylor. Welcome back.

ROGER: Good evening. Great to be here, Bob.

BOB: I got to ask you this right off the bat because your North American fans are starved to hear you live. Are you going to tour this time, my gosh!

BRIAN: We hope so, yeah. The signs look good. But we still have to persuade Freddie that he actually wants to be here. But we can talk about that later.

BOB: Now how long has it been? It's been a long time.

BRIAN: Well, the last time--

ROGER: I think it's nine years.

BOB: Nine years?! Oh, man!

BRIAN: The shame! The shame!

BOB: How did it get to be that long? How's it been that nine years went by?

ROGER: Well, we went to a lot of other countries. We went to South America, a few times, and it got to be a habit not coming here.

BOB: Change your habits! Let's talk about 'Innuendo', the new one. You produced it along with David Richards, and I guess he is the regular engineer at your studio in Switzerland. Is that not the case?

BRIAN: That's right. He's kind of our in-house guy. He's very good.

BOB: He obviously lends a lot to the band, that you feel comfortable doing albums with him, and what not.

BRIAN: Yeah, we have a lot of confidence in him. He started off being the engineer, now we sort of use him as a sort of fifth member of the band. And we use him to bounce off...

BOB: For the second time in a row, everyone in the band contributed to every song. It was literally a group effort. Is this going to be the trend for Queen, as the years go by?

ROGER: Well, we started that on the last album, 'The Miracle'. We found that it was just the best decision that we ever made. It removes all the ego things that get in the way of making decisions on merit, and people aren't worrying about, "hey this is my song, it's better than your song," and whatever the single is, it's contributed to everybody. Everybody contributes to each song. So, it's really worked out well for us.

BOB: Pride of authorship can be a sticky thing sometimes.

BRIAN: That's right, it breaks up groups. So we have a great idea, as Roger says.

BOB: Now the first song that's released here, in the U.S., and I believe Canada, too, "Headlong," is not the song that was released in Britain, which was the title track, "Innuendo. Why choose two different songs for different locations?

BRIAN: It was kind of as a result of the feeling that was fed back by the record company here. They thought that "Headlong" would be the easiest to break into the A.O.R. situation here. The other track, "Innuendo," seemed to be a natural single for England, and in fact it went in at number one in England last week.

BOB: That's right. It debuted at number one.

BRIAN: Yes, we're pretty thrilled about that. It looks pretty good in Europe. I think it will be the second single in the States.

BOB: Now I hear raves about the video for "Innuendo." There is no video for "Headlong," is there?

BRIAN: There is, but we're still messing with it. Yes, it's hiding away somewhere.

ROGER: Actually, the "Headlong" video is basically a performance video, which is a more straight forward animal than the "Innuendo" video, which is a very involved state-of-the-art video.

BOB: Until the video for "Headlong" is available, let's listen to it the old fashioned way, on the radio on Rockline, this is Queen:

 [HEADLONG]

BOB: "Headlong," by Queen, and that of course is on the new one, 'Innuendo', and of course every caller that gets on the air with Brian and Roger from Queen will get an autographed copy of 'Innuendo' courtesy of Hollywood records. Let's hit the phones, the first caller is on the line. Caesar is on the line, from El Paso, Texas. Good evening and welcome.

CAESAR: Hi, Brian and Roger.

BRIAN: Hi, how're you doing?

CAESAR: Great, you don't know what a thrill it is to talk to you guys, you guys are my favourite band.

BRIAN: Brilliant, it's nice to hear that.

ROGER: Thank you. How's Texas?

CAESAR: My question is: You know how David Bowie re-released his old albums. I heard there's a rumour that Queen will be releasing their old catalogue, and if so will there be rare tracks, songs that were never released, different versions of old songs? What's going to be on it?

ROGER: Well, yes, we are releasing the back catalogue. It's been remastered digitally for the CDs. I think what the idea is, they're doing some real interesting remixes of our old tracks, like Rick Rubin has done a sensational remix of "We Will Rock You." It should be interesting.

BRIAN: It's really funny. Very interesting.

BOB: And there are some bonus tracks that are going to be on there.

BRIAN: Yes, we're digging through the files to see if there's some of the old stuff that never got out that we can put on there. There are a few unreleased bits and pieces off our English radio appearances that might get on there. The only trouble is a lot of the tracks we rejected at the time ought to have been rejected. Sometimes you don't want to go back and fish out your garbage.

BOB: There's a reason it didn't make the cut to begin with.

BRIAN: But there may be a few little gems that make it out there.

BOB: Now the information I have is sometime in March, which is obviously very close, we'll start with four CDs. Is that right?

BRIAN: That's right. We've been supervising the remastering onto digital of all those, every album that we ever made. It sounds so much better on the CD.

BOB: We do not have those, but we do have a DAT, digital audio tape, tape recording of those. And from 'Sheer Heart Attack' we'll play "Killer Queen" in just a few minutes. It's from that batch. Caesar, thanks for joining us. Now we'll go to John, from Jacksonville, Florida. Hi.

JOHN: Hey, fellows.

BRIAN: Hello.

ROGER: Hi, John.

JOHN: Roger, Brian, you've both been involved in solo projects. What did you learn from these that you've been able to bring back an incorporate into the band?

ROGER: Mmm, that's a good one. This is Roger here. I had lots of good fun away from the band, but one of the things I learned was the strength we have together in the band. It's always nice to get back, it's like home. There's a sort of magic that happens with the four of us in the studio and when we're on stage. I think I learned that it's nice to get back home.

BRIAN: Yes, there is a lot of good stuff that comes about from getting out into the world, because we were pretty inchular for a lot of our career. You know, the band is working all the time for fifteen years. We would tour, then we'd make a record, another tour, and another record. Recently, we have had the time to get out and meet other musicians, work with them, and it's great. You do bring back in new blood, there's no doubt about it.

BOB: John, another good call. Let's move on and talk with Ryan, in Sawyer, Michigan.

RYAN: Hi guys, how're you doing? My first question is to Brian. I was wondering, the last time on Rockline you said there was going to be a solo album out, I was wondering how it was going, and...

BRIAN: Yes... I'm still working on it. It's the ongoing saga of the Brian May solo album. It's still in the cards, and maybe by this, I'm hoping, by this summer it will be finished and I will put it out. See I have a lot of stuff, but it just needs making into an album. It's a difficult task, making a lot of decisions.

RYAN: How easy is it to work with Freddie in the studio?

BRIAN: It's wonderful, because he's always full of ideas. You couldn't ask for more of anyone. He's never still, and very inspiring, and the stuff he managed to produce out of the instrument he calls his voice, this time around, is unbelievable.

ROGER: I bet you thought he was hard to work with in the studio?

BOB: Is that the case, Ryan? Did you think he was difficult?

RYAN: I was just curious.

ROGER: Ah, ha. No, he's a pleasure. He's always a pleasure.

BOB: Let's listen to the digital audio tape version of "Killer Queen" we have. This is how it's going to sound on the forthcoming CD.

[KILLER QUEEN]

BOB: There's a lot more clarity there, it's very audible.

BRIAN: Out of the murk of the vinyl comes the real music, at last.

BOB: We have another song that we have on DAT that we'll play a little bit later. Right now we go back to the phones, it's an evening with Queen. Russ is waiting patiently on the phones, he's from Memphis, Tennessee. You're on the show, Russ.

RUSS: How're y'all doing?

BRIAN: Very well, thank-you.

RUSS: Greetings from Elvis, Vegas, and I hope you all get to play the Great American Pyramid right here in Memphis, Tennessee. I have one question: Will Queen ever make an album with the inscription "no synths!" on it?

BRIAN: Another one with no synthesizers on it? I think it's highly possible actually. Synthesizers, these days, are very much more human, and we regard them as not such an enemy anymore. Where we used to have an Hammond organ or a piano, it's quite acceptable to have a synthesizer these days, I think.

BOB: They don't have that same mechanical sound they used to have in the beginning. They were very mechanical.

ROGER: You couldn't even play a chord on a synthesizer when we were making our first albums, and it just sounded like a buzz.

BRIAN: We also had an aversion to them because people used to say that what was on the album was a synthesizer, all these complex vocal arrangements, guitar harmonies, etc. They used to say "all this is done by synthesizer." We just used to have a point of saying, "no synthesizers."

BOB: Thank you for your question, Russ. Let's see what Carrie has on her mind, she's in Winnipeg. You're on the Rockline with us, Carrie.

CARRIE: Hi, you guys played Live Aid and were fantastic, I was wondering if it will ever be available on video or cassette?

BRIAN: I don't think it's ever been on a commercial cassette. There's a few bootlegs knocking around.

ROGER: Yeah, I think they're releasing here, I know there's a laser disc, a thing called "The Magic Years," which is a three hour history of us, and they have included bits of that on there. That's the only way I know of that it would be available, I can't think of another way.

BOB: That was not only a landmark show for what it was and what it represented, and the money it raised and what not; it was for you as a band, too. It really served as a catalyst for the group.

BRIAN: It was a good time. I think it did our confidence a lot of good. It was the first time we went out without the lights and the big sound system, even without most of our stage gear, and we had nothing to hide behind, and it was just the four us, and we still got across.

BOB: It was just seventeen minutes, as they say in the film industry, "cut to the chase." Get to the good part quick.

BRIAN: And it has to be said that Freddie rose to the occasion, particularly. We were used to the stadium environment, that helped.

ROGER: But it was a great day, the atmosphere was unbelievable. You really felt like something great was being done that day.

BRIAN: For the right reasons for once, for once in everybody's lives.

BOB: Thanks, Carrie. We're going to speak with Chad now, in Lima Ohio.

CHAD: Yes, I was wondering, I'm a member of Royal Vision and I was wondering what old songs that you've done would you like to play live that you've never played live before?

BRIAN: Interesting question. "Bohemian Rhapsody" would be a good one.

ROGER: We've played that one a couple of times.

BRIAN: We could get it right for once.

ROGER: I would like to play a track on the second album, which you might know if you're in Royal Vision, it's called "March Of The Black Queen." It would be nice to do that whole side of that album, all the songs run into one another. That would be nice to do it live.

BOB: For those who don't know, Royal Vision is the fan club here in North America, and there's also now a Queen hot-line, and we'll give you the number for that at the end of the program tonight. Chad, thanks and we'll move on now to Tokyo, this is Allen.

ALLEN: Hi Bob, and here's my question to the members of Queen. You made videos for your music from the early days of your career. When you write your songs, do you think ahead to the video and then go ahead and write the songs?

BRIAN: I think it's safe to say no. In fact, there's a little bit of resistance from us to make videos these days. It seems there's an obligation, and sometimes you don't want to limit the vision of the record to a particular piece of film or video. No, I think the music comes first and that's all we think about in the studio.

BOB: You're very hands on with your videos aren't you? You don't just franchise them out.

ROGER: We're there from the beginning and we've lost a little bit of interest in the years in the middle. But we've been putting quite a lot of work into the new videos. In fact, Freddie is at the moment in London putting together the ideas for the scenario of the next video. That's what he's doing.

BOB: Good luck, Freddie, across the pond there. I'm going to play the title track from 'Innuendo' right now, and it just occurred to me that a lot of people may not have heard this, it's literally brand new. The album has only been out, you can count it in hours almost. Now Queen is not known for bringing in musicians, but Steve Howe makes an appearance on this track.

BRIAN: That's right, purely by fortuitous accident. He just happened to be around in Switzerland, when we were working and he just dropped in. We were working on this little Spanish guitar piece in the middle. He's very good at that sort of stuff, so instantly it seemed like a good idea to get him in to play all the stuff that I can't play.

BOB: Oh, yeah right.

BRIAN: No, he taught me how to play his chromatic runs, so I owe him a big debt.

BOB: Let's listen to it now, this is "Innuendo" by Queen.

[INNUENDO]

BOB: That is the title track of the new CD by Queen, 'Innuendo'. I have to admit, we went into the other room and looked at the video while the song was playing. I think it's pretty safe to assume you spent more than two dollars on that.

ROGER: Three-and-a-half.

BOB: Three-and-a-half, yes. That is a very exotic video with Claymation, and lots of editing, and it looks real hi-tech. There's a lot going on. Look forward to seeing that, it should be out in a couple of weeks, that's what I heard.

BRIAN: I'm not sure how long, I'm sure it depends on "Headlong"'s performance, and how everybody feels.

BOB: Anyway, keep an eye open for it, that's nothing short of spectacular. We go back to the phones on Rockline with our evening with Queen, it's Enrickay, in Burbank, California. You're on the Rockline, Enrickay.

ENRICKAY: Hi, I was wondering how long it took you to put together this album and how difficult it was to record it. It sounds very reminiscent of 'A Night At The Opera'.

ROGER: Yeah, this is Roger. I agree with that, Enrickay. It took about a year. But what we'd do is we'd go into the studio, work for about three weeks and take two weeks off. The album was really a happy album to make, they're not all happy to make. It sort of wrote itself. We didn't have any problems with it at all, and I think it shows in the end result. The material has depth and maturity to it, and it just runs well, I think, and in some ways it does remind us of the 'A Night At The Opera' days.

BOB: Well spotted, as they say, Enrickay. Let's talk with Mike, in Pueblo, Colorado. You're on the show with us, Mike.

MIKE: Hi, guys, how're you doing.

BRIAN: Very good thank you.

MIKE: I have a question for you: I was wondering that since you're now with virtually a brand-new label, Hollywood records, I was wondering if Queen considered it an honor that your contract with Elektra and Capitol were sold to Hollywood records, and how you felt about it, if you considered it an honor that they would buy your contract.

BRIAN: We're very very happy to be with them, and I don't think that we've ever been so close to a record company in our lives. They have a very good attitude, very open, and it corresponds to our way of doing things. They always want to do things different, they don't want to do anything through the established channels. Up till now, I think we've benefitted more in the last two or three months of being with Hollywood than the last five years anywhere else. It's a great relationship.

BOB: So, all the catalogue will come out on Hollywood records, the entire thing.

BRIAN: We were in the rare position of actually owning all our material, back to day one, which I think is very rare. So, we've given them the whole catalogue, so they can re-do it all properly.

ROGER: They bit the whole bullet.

BRIAN: So, they bought it!

BOB: It is a new company with some new faces and new configurations and what not, but you do have the backing of Warner Bros. behind it, so you get the massive distributorship. So, you get the best of both worlds.

BRIAN: And also a fantastic pool of talent, because we're next to the animation department of Walt Disney, the most wonderful team in the world in that area, and Touchstone films is under the same roof. There's room for so much interaction with other talent. There's a good feeling already being in there.

ROGER: We wanted to use, and they're willing to give us, help from all the other departments that we can. There's lot of potential there.

BOB: Thanks for being on with us, Mike. We're now going to speak with Brandon of Colombus, Ohio.

BRANDON: Hi, I wanted to ask you about rapper Vanilla Ice borrowing your music from "Under Pressure" and did you get any compensation for it.

BRIAN: Did you say "borrowing?" You mean he's going to give it back?

ROGER: He can keep it. The first thing is we were surprised and shocked. And then we were quite flattered in a way that he made a whole song out of one riff from one of our songs.

BOB: Did he have to ask for permission?

BRIAN: He should have done, but he didn't, and for this reason Hollywood records are suing his white ass off, if I may be so bold.

BOB: There might be a number of people out there who might think that's a good thing.

BRIAN: He doesn't seem to have an enormous number of friends here.

ROGER: I think he's too modest, he's just too modest.

BRIAN: He's going to die of modesty.

BOB: Hey! Ice-guy, check with them next time. We're going to play one of those DAT recordings now. This is from 'A Day At The Races', "Tie Your Mother Down," on Rockline.

[TIE YOUR MOTHER DOWN, 1991 REMIX]

BOB: "Tie Your Mother Down" by Queen, wow what a difference!

BRIAN: There were a few little surprises in there.

BOB: That must be closer to what you heard in the studio when you recorded it.

BRIAN: Yes, but that is also remixed, I forget whose done this, but it's a remix which we've had nothing to do with. We gave out a few tapes to people and said have a go at this, "We Will Rock You" has been done, and "Stone Cold Crazy" is another, and some interesting results. So a couple of these will be available as bonus tracks as time goes on.

BOB: Well, that kept the integrity of the original recording but hit you with a couple of surprises in there, which you haven't heard before. We have a Brian on the line, waiting to talk to Brian and Roger, he's from Rodchester.

BRIAN: Hi, how're you doing?

ROGER: Brian, Brian.

BRIAN: I have a question for you, Brian it's about the song we just heard, "Tie Your Mother Down." Was there a certain experience that made you write the lyrics to that song?

BRIAN MAY: Well, it wasn't about my mum really.

ROGER: Strapped down!

BRIAN MAY: It's really meant to be a story about a young boy's frustration and where it leads him, really. It's a simple as that, it's not as personal about some of the stuff we've done, it's more fun.

ROGER: I often wonder what it's about.

BRIAN MAY: I'm bluffing wildly because I can't remember what it was about.

ROGER: Take his little brother swimming with a brick, or something.

BRIAN MAY: I'll tell you the truth, I know what happened. Sometimes you get a little riff, and you just put some words with it, and then you don't even think about what they mean. Now I'm remember thinking, now this isn't a good enough title for this song, but everyone said: "Well actually, it sounds okay," and so we kind of lyrically built it around that. That's the truth, folks.

BOB: There we go, the truth revealed finally, from Brain May. We're going to move to Toronto now, and speak with Fern. Fern, you're on.

FERN: Hey, hello Brian and Roger.

ROGER: Hello, Fern.

FERN: Great, I finally get a chance to talk with you guys, and thanks for the great tunes over the years, I hope your music lives on forever, boys. I have a question for you, okay: Would Queen ever work again with another superstar, such as David Bowie, or another of that stature?

ROGER: That's a good question. I think it would have to depend with who it was. If we sort of got on, and we sort of mutually respected each other as artist, then yes, I don't see why not.

BRIAN: Vanilla Ice, maybe.,p> ROGER: Yes! But, I don't see why not, it could be good.

BOB: Fern, thanks for calling us. By the way, every caller who gets on the air with Brian and Roger from the band will get an autographed copy of 'Innuendo' from Hollywood records. Bob Coburn, here at Rockline, having some fun with Roger Taylor and Brian May of Queen, this evening, and we have a call for the guys from Tokyo, Tetsuo is the callers name. Good evening and welcome.

TETSUO: This is Tetsuo calling from Tokyo, and I would like to ask a question. How do you select your concert material, because you have some songs more popular in one country than another? Do you use different songs for these countries?

ROGER: Oh, good question. Yes we do, actually. There are certain songs which are more popular in different countries, and we did used to vary the songs that we played. For instance, in South America, there was a song that was a major hit, called "Love Of My Life," which was never a hit anywhere else. So we'd always include that, and that became a major part of the show there. Yes, is the answer, I'd say. Can you think of anymore examples, Brian?

BRIAN: Good answer, Roger. Good answer. Basically, we would keep to a certain framework of the show, for the most part, because it was the stuff that was most in our heads at that time, but yeah, we'd make departures for certain countries. It's very important for people to know that you know where you are, I think. Also in Budapest, we played a folksong and played that to them. There is a "Live In Budapest" video somewhere, I don't know if you can get it in this country very easily.

ROGER: I don't think the Hungarians understood a word, though. Freddie had the words written, in Hungarian, on his hand.

BOB: It amazes me how you can go to Buenos Aires, to Argentina, and they sing the lyrics to everything.

BRIAN: Incredible, that was a surprise when we first got there. We were shocked at how many tickets we could sell, because we did all stadiums, "stadia" I should say, out there. We thought that maybe it was just a high curiosity value, 'cos rock and roll was still fairly new there, strangely enough, but in fact we found they sang along, as you said, they knew all the lyrics to the songs, as you said, so it was a genuine rock audience.

ROGER: But a lot of them were probably singing lyrics and they didn't even know what they meant. They were just singing them phonetically, which is incredible really.

BOB: Let's play something new. This is from the brand-new CD, 'Innuendo'. If you haven't heard this, this is one of the stand outs, I think. "I Can't Live With You," Queen on Rockline:

[I CAN'T LIVE WITH YOU]

BOB: That was Queen, from 'Innuendo'. This is Rockline, on the Global Satellite Network. We have Micky on the line from New York, Micky your on the show.

ROGER: Hello, Micky.

MICKY: I'd like to ask Roger how come "Sheer Heart Attack" the song was on the 'Jazz' LP and not on the 'Sheer Heart Attack' album.

ROGER: Ah, I think it was on the 'News Of The World' LP, I think. We came up with the title for the 'Sheer Heart Attack' album, and it was a song that I had an idea for, but I hadn't actually finished the song yet. By the time I had finished the song we were two albums later, so it just struggled out on the 'News Of The World' album. It's quite interesting because we were making an album next-door to a punk band, the Sex Pistols, and it really fit into that punk explosion that was happening at the time, which was happening right then. It was actually better that it happened that it came out on the 'News Of The World' album.

BOB: They were actually adjacent to you recording?

ROGER: Oh, yeah, yeah.

BRIAN: Strangely enough.

ROGER: We used to watch T.V. together.

BRIAN: There was a famous story that Sid Vicious came in and Freddie said, "A