0:00:02 > 0:00:05This programme contains some strong language.
0:00:05 > 0:00:10There's been a lot of rumours that Queen are going to split up. What do you think?
0:00:10 > 0:00:13SHOUTS OF "No!" They're talking from here.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15CHEERING
0:00:15 > 0:00:17INTRO TO: "One Vision"
0:00:23 > 0:00:24Hey!
0:00:34 > 0:00:38There really wasn't much sex... Well, there wasn't much drugs.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43You wouldn't be able to do that now.
0:00:43 > 0:00:45# One man
0:00:45 > 0:00:47# One goal
0:00:49 > 0:00:50# One mission... #
0:00:50 > 0:00:53For that moment, we kind of owned the world.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56- Where's the modesty gone? - There isn't any.
0:00:56 > 0:00:59# One solution... #
0:00:59 > 0:01:01A lot of the press took against them.
0:01:01 > 0:01:04# Yeah, one God... #
0:01:04 > 0:01:06England doesn't think we're cool.
0:01:06 > 0:01:10But I don't want some arsehole critic to tell me that.
0:01:10 > 0:01:14You might as well paint a target on your head and go, "Shoot me!"
0:01:14 > 0:01:18I think when you go all the way up, the only place is to come down.
0:01:21 > 0:01:24Sun City - I wish I'd never heard of the place!
0:01:24 > 0:01:28# I'm gonna tell you there's no black and no white... #
0:01:28 > 0:01:33When the band came under pressure, there would be a walk-out, a separation, a row.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35# One worldwide vision... #
0:01:35 > 0:01:39We were at a crucial point. We might have had to break up.
0:01:39 > 0:01:44The arguments were creative, then it would become personal. Of course.
0:01:44 > 0:01:46There is an inward jealousy.
0:01:46 > 0:01:53They're all waiting to see if my album is going to do better than the last Queen album.
0:01:53 > 0:01:59Freddie took to the gay scene like David Attenborough making a wildlife programme.
0:01:59 > 0:02:04I just want to pack in as much of life and having a good time as I can.
0:02:12 > 0:02:15'London - the Imperial College of Science and Technology,
0:02:15 > 0:02:19'meeting place for space scientists from 50 nations,
0:02:19 > 0:02:25'specialists who will help develop the equipment which has taken mankind to the new age of space exploration.'
0:02:27 > 0:02:30- We've got Brian May on guitar. - APPLAUSE
0:02:30 > 0:02:35I was studying Physics as an undergraduate here, but Astronomy was always my thing.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42And so I did the Astronomy post-graduate for a PhD.
0:02:42 > 0:02:46When we were at school, me and my mates had a group called 1984.
0:02:46 > 0:02:50When I left for university, the singer we had, Tim Staffell,
0:02:50 > 0:02:55and myself decided to put a new group together called Smile.
0:02:55 > 0:02:58We've got Roger Meddows-Taylor on percussion.
0:02:58 > 0:03:02There was a noticeboard here where you would pin items
0:03:02 > 0:03:06of interest to musicians, so I put a notice saying "drummer wanted".
0:03:06 > 0:03:11"We need Ginger Baker/Mitch Mitchell type drummer."
0:03:11 > 0:03:16I booked this little jazz club room here and Roger brought his kit and I brought a guitar.
0:03:16 > 0:03:20That was the first time we played together.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22# When she was done
0:03:22 > 0:03:24# She hung them up... #
0:03:24 > 0:03:30Something happened, I have to say. We thought, "There is some kind of special sound to this."
0:03:30 > 0:03:34# Goodbye, April Lady... #
0:03:36 > 0:03:40I guess we had the same sort of sound in our heads.
0:03:42 > 0:03:47# Goodbye, April Lady
0:03:47 > 0:03:51# You've done a lot for the folks in this town... #
0:03:53 > 0:03:56- Freddie Mercury on vocals. - APPLAUSE
0:03:56 > 0:04:00Freddie came from a colonial background.
0:04:00 > 0:04:05He was born in Zanzibar and he went to boarding school in India.
0:04:05 > 0:04:10I first met Freddie at Ealing Art School in 1968.
0:04:10 > 0:04:12There was a piano down there
0:04:12 > 0:04:15and Freddie would do this flowery style on the piano.
0:04:15 > 0:04:22It was very Mozart and effective, but unique. You'd never seen anybody play the piano like that before.
0:04:23 > 0:04:28The first time he sang, I knew straight away that that voice was going places.
0:04:28 > 0:04:31# The minute you walked in the joint
0:04:31 > 0:04:34# I could see you were a man of distinction
0:04:34 > 0:04:36# A real big spender
0:04:36 > 0:04:39# Good-looking, so refined
0:04:39 > 0:04:43# Say, wouldn't you like to know what's going on in my mind...? #
0:04:43 > 0:04:48I used to follow Smile a lot. We were friends. I used to go to their shows.
0:04:48 > 0:04:53Freddie was waiting in the wings, literally, and advising us on what to do.
0:04:53 > 0:04:57He would say, "You're brilliant, but you should do this and this..."
0:04:57 > 0:05:02- What did you see in what Brian and Roger were doing with Smile? - Nothing!
0:05:02 > 0:05:08I think he had in the back of his mind some idea about maybe working with us.
0:05:08 > 0:05:14Freddie told everybody that he was going to be a pop star and we didn't take it that seriously.
0:05:14 > 0:05:20He was sitting over there one night. I walked in and he put his head in his hands, looking really depressed.
0:05:20 > 0:05:25I said, "What's the matter with you?" He said, "I'm not going to be a pop star."
0:05:25 > 0:05:28And very slowly he stood up and he said,
0:05:28 > 0:05:32"I'm going to be...a legend."
0:05:34 > 0:05:37# Hey, big spender
0:05:38 > 0:05:43# Spend a little time with me... #
0:05:44 > 0:05:49Although we had a lot of successful gigs and we played colleges, pubs
0:05:49 > 0:05:53and clubs up and down the country, we just never got anywhere.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56Smile made a single which did nothing at all,
0:05:56 > 0:06:01then Tim, our singer, got an offer from someone else called Humpy Bong.
0:06:01 > 0:06:04So Tim sodded off to that.
0:06:04 > 0:06:08Freddie got us. He said, "Come on, you can't give up. I want to sing."
0:06:08 > 0:06:11So we decided that we'd take the plunge.
0:06:11 > 0:06:15And it was then that I sort of thought about the name Queen.
0:06:15 > 0:06:20- Why Queen?- I don't know. At the time, it was outrageous.
0:06:22 > 0:06:24So here we have the main hall.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27In 1973, this is where Queen played.
0:06:27 > 0:06:31This is really the first proper, advertised gig we ever did
0:06:31 > 0:06:37and it's certainly the first review we ever got by Rosemary Horide of what was then Disc.
0:06:39 > 0:06:45From the very beginning, Freddie was absolutely remarkable for stagecraft. He had a presence
0:06:45 > 0:06:50unlike anything I'd seen. I'd been a music journalist for a long time.
0:06:50 > 0:06:56Freddie, even from those days, had an ability to work an audience and they would eat out of his hand.
0:06:57 > 0:07:03He could turn his hand round like that and do that and the audience would stand up.
0:07:03 > 0:07:05# I have sinned, dear Father
0:07:05 > 0:07:08# Father, I have sinned
0:07:08 > 0:07:12# Try and help me, Father
0:07:12 > 0:07:15# Won't you let me in?
0:07:15 > 0:07:17# Liar!
0:07:17 > 0:07:19# Oh, nobody... #
0:07:19 > 0:07:25It was the first moment when I thought, "Something's happening here and people know what we're about."
0:07:36 > 0:07:40When they came along, there had been a denim rock movement,
0:07:40 > 0:07:44if you like, with Status Quo, Uriah Heep.
0:07:44 > 0:07:50I think Queen were an incredible breath of fresh air in rock music.
0:07:50 > 0:07:52They had brilliant songs.
0:07:52 > 0:07:57Freddie Mercury was an absolutely charismatic front man.
0:07:57 > 0:07:58# Liar... #
0:07:58 > 0:08:04Brian May was just this brilliant guitarist and Roger Taylor was a phenomenal drummer.
0:08:04 > 0:08:08And you had that guy that played bass.
0:08:08 > 0:08:13We spent a couple of years looking for a bass player. It was very hard to find the right guy.
0:08:13 > 0:08:15Then we found John.
0:08:15 > 0:08:18- Deacon John on bass. - APPLAUSE
0:08:18 > 0:08:21I came along as a bit of an outsider at first.
0:08:21 > 0:08:25It did take me quite a few years to grow more into the group
0:08:25 > 0:08:28and find myself at home, really.
0:08:31 > 0:08:36Before we signed to a record label, we actually signed to Trident Productions,
0:08:36 > 0:08:42a management company run by the Sheffield brothers who had a studio in the middle of Soho.
0:08:45 > 0:08:50Recording our first album, we were all students finishing off our degrees.
0:08:50 > 0:08:54We had to do it in what time was available
0:08:54 > 0:08:58because the studio was being booked up all the time.
0:08:58 > 0:09:01We had to go in sometimes at two in the morning
0:09:01 > 0:09:06and sometimes finishing at six in the morning, all those weird times that nobody wanted.
0:09:07 > 0:09:13You know, you could see the working girls at night through their lace curtains,
0:09:13 > 0:09:17so while we were mixing, we'd have a little bit of diversion.
0:09:17 > 0:09:23The album came out and sort of resoundingly crashed. It really didn't do much.
0:09:23 > 0:09:29When you make your first album, you go into the record shops and think, "We're in the record stores now!"
0:09:29 > 0:09:36You go in and say, "Have you got the new Queen album then?" They go, "What?" It's a long haul.
0:09:36 > 0:09:38PIANO INTRO
0:09:42 > 0:09:45GUITARS JOIN IN
0:09:45 > 0:09:49With Queen II, I couldn't believe how much work we put into that.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52We felt we were evolving our own sound.
0:09:53 > 0:09:57We were pioneering this sort of multi-tracking thing.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59It gave you a tremendous palette.
0:09:59 > 0:10:05You could get massive choral effects with just three of us singing.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08# Voice from behind... #
0:10:08 > 0:10:12We really got into production and went completely over the top.
0:10:12 > 0:10:15There's a track called March Of The Black Queen.
0:10:15 > 0:10:20# I'll be a bad boy, I'll be your bad boy
0:10:20 > 0:10:23# I'll do the march of the Black Queen... #
0:10:23 > 0:10:29It's very long. It's in about 11 different sections and the complexity of it is staggering.
0:10:31 > 0:10:34I mean, the tape was literally transparent.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39The 16-track, two-inch tape, the oxide was almost completely worn away.
0:10:39 > 0:10:44We'd gone over it so many times. It literally was transparent.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48# Walking true to style
0:10:49 > 0:10:56# She's vulgar abuse and vile Fi-fo the Black Queen tattoos all her pies... #
0:10:56 > 0:10:59It was really only with Queen II and Seven Seas Of Rhye
0:10:59 > 0:11:01that we had the breakthrough.
0:11:01 > 0:11:07We realised that the easiest way of getting a hit album is to have a hit single
0:11:07 > 0:11:10that has some musical validity.
0:11:10 > 0:11:16The key to that was the stroke that was pulled in getting them on Top Of The Pops
0:11:16 > 0:11:20when Bowie dropped out and it absolutely broke that single.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29It was a very underwhelming experience the very first time
0:11:29 > 0:11:32because there was a strike on at the BBC.
0:11:32 > 0:11:36# Fear me, you lords and lady preachers... #
0:11:36 > 0:11:39So it was shot in the weather studio.
0:11:39 > 0:11:42# I command your very souls, you unbelievers
0:11:42 > 0:11:46# Bring before me what is mine The seven seas of Rhye... #
0:11:46 > 0:11:51It was great fun to be at Top Of The Pops because it was all happening.
0:11:51 > 0:11:57You felt like you were in a sense becoming part of public consciousness.
0:11:57 > 0:12:01# I will destroy any man who dares abuse my trust... #
0:12:01 > 0:12:04Top Of The Pops was incredibly uncool.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08It was rubbish because nobody was actually playing.
0:12:08 > 0:12:13There was about 75 teenagers who were herded about the studio
0:12:13 > 0:12:17and a bunch of ageing disc jockeys presenting you.
0:12:17 > 0:12:22Pan's People were there, these very glamorous girls dancing. It was a lot of fun.
0:12:22 > 0:12:28The BBC had a set of plastic cymbals that went "duh" when you hit them, so they didn't make any noise.
0:12:28 > 0:12:31I think that sort of says it all, really.
0:12:31 > 0:12:36We had slightly mixed feelings about Top Of The Pops because it wasn't very cool,
0:12:36 > 0:12:41but it was the great vehicle for selling records, so what can you say?
0:12:41 > 0:12:45It had a big impact. Our record went straight into the top ten.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48So obviously, the impact was huge.
0:12:48 > 0:12:51# Storm the master marathon I'll fly through
0:12:51 > 0:12:56- # By flash and thunder fire and I'll survive - I'll survive, I'll survive
0:12:56 > 0:13:02# Then I'll defy the laws of nature and come out ali-i-ive Then I'll get you... #
0:13:02 > 0:13:08We had this song called Seven Seas Of Rhye, but it's a universal truth that more groups break up
0:13:08 > 0:13:14because of songwriting arguments than anything else in the world. Your songs are your babies.
0:13:14 > 0:13:20The person who has written the song tends to be the one person who sees that one song all the way through
0:13:20 > 0:13:26from the idea they have in their head at first, the final production, the sounds and the mix...
0:13:26 > 0:13:29Most of the time, I have a clear picture of what I want.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33I sort of have a lot of... say, Roger's parts
0:13:33 > 0:13:38and what Brian should do and things... There are rows, of course.
0:13:38 > 0:13:43I've probably never spoken about this before, but The Seven Seas Of Rhye was Freddie's idea.
0:13:43 > 0:13:49He had this lovely little riff idea on the piano and all the middle eight is stuff that I did,
0:13:49 > 0:13:55so we worked on it together, but when it came to the album coming out, Freddie went, "I wrote that."
0:13:55 > 0:13:59And we all went, "OK." It didn't seem like that big a deal.
0:13:59 > 0:14:03Freddie said, "I wrote the words and it was my idea, so it's my song."
0:14:03 > 0:14:10The sort of unwritten law was the person who brought the song in would get the credit for writing that song
0:14:10 > 0:14:12and the money for writing that song.
0:14:12 > 0:14:17Much, much later in Queen history, we recognised this fact.
0:14:24 > 0:14:27- # Here I stand - Here I stand
0:14:27 > 0:14:30# Look around, around
0:14:30 > 0:14:32# Around, around, around... #
0:14:32 > 0:14:38We were very lucky in that we hooked up with Mott The Hoople and we were their warm-up act.
0:14:38 > 0:14:41- # Now I'm here - Now I'm here... #
0:14:41 > 0:14:45We went all around the UK with them and it worked out just perfectly.
0:14:45 > 0:14:49- # Now I'm there - Now I'm there... #
0:14:49 > 0:14:54Then the guys from Mott said, "Would you like to do the same thing in America?"
0:15:00 > 0:15:03# Just a new man
0:15:05 > 0:15:07# Yes, you made me live again... #
0:15:15 > 0:15:19After a few gigs, I started to feel weird.
0:15:19 > 0:15:25Something was happening. I didn't know if it was my head or my body, but I started to feel odd.
0:15:25 > 0:15:30Then I woke up one morning in Boston which was going to be the climax of the tour...
0:15:30 > 0:15:37I woke up and I was yellow. The doctor came and said, "You've got hepatitis. You have to go home."
0:15:37 > 0:15:43I still was amazed we managed to shepherd him through the immigration queue at JFK in New York.
0:15:43 > 0:15:45The poor fellow could hardly stand.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48I was taken on the plane shoulder to shoulder.
0:15:48 > 0:15:54We were devastated the tour had been cut short. It was our first trip to America.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57But we just ploughed on in the studio without him.
0:15:57 > 0:16:00It was a bit of a long haul back to health.
0:16:00 > 0:16:06I was getting over all this stuff and I saw Freddie battering out all these things, thinking,
0:16:06 > 0:16:10"I've not got my shit together," and really starting to worry about it.
0:16:10 > 0:16:13# She keeps her Moet et Chandon
0:16:13 > 0:16:16# In her pretty cabinet
0:16:16 > 0:16:20# "Let them eat cake" she says just like Marie Antoinette... #
0:16:20 > 0:16:26Queen I and Queen II were full-on rock albums and I suppose it was only a question of time
0:16:26 > 0:16:31before they put some clever melody into it and Sheer Heart Attack was that break-out album.
0:16:31 > 0:16:35And Killer Queen where Mercury's vocals have probably never been better.
0:16:35 > 0:16:40# She's a killer queen Gunpowder, gelatine
0:16:40 > 0:16:42# Dynamite with a laser beam
0:16:42 > 0:16:46# Guaranteed to blow your mind Any time... #
0:16:46 > 0:16:49I do remember having a slight reservation about Killer Queen.
0:16:49 > 0:16:54I thought, "Are we selling ourselves as something which has become very light?"
0:16:55 > 0:16:58But every slice through that record
0:16:58 > 0:17:04is a perfect vision. There's lots of little things which visit once only like that bell of the cymbal.
0:17:04 > 0:17:09RINGING SOUND # In conversation she spoke just like a baroness
0:17:09 > 0:17:13# Met a man from China Went down to Geisha Minah
0:17:13 > 0:17:17# Then again incidentally if you're that way inclined... #
0:17:17 > 0:17:24Killer Queen always felt a bit special. It was very sophisticated and it was very Freddie.
0:17:24 > 0:17:30As the albums have progressed, our songwriting has progressed and we ventured into different areas.
0:17:30 > 0:17:34# Dynamite with a laser beam Guaranteed to blow your mind... #
0:17:34 > 0:17:39I like writing different songs. We don't like to repeat the same formula.
0:17:39 > 0:17:44It had a slightly Noel Coward... You know, that kind of element in it.
0:17:44 > 0:17:50When you took the lyrics apart, you thought, "How incredible is that!" Because they were so clever.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54# Drop of a hat, she's as willing as Playful as a pussycat
0:17:54 > 0:17:59# Then momentarily out of action Temporarily out of gas
0:17:59 > 0:18:03# To absolutely drive you wild
0:18:03 > 0:18:06# She's all out to get you
0:18:06 > 0:18:08# She's a killer queen
0:18:08 > 0:18:12# Gunpowder, gelatine Dynamite with a laser beam
0:18:12 > 0:18:16# Guaranteed to blow your mind Any time
0:18:16 > 0:18:21# Oh, recommended at the price Insatiable an appetite
0:18:21 > 0:18:24# Wanna try?
0:18:25 > 0:18:27# You wanna try... #
0:18:31 > 0:18:35We were doing a lot of major tours in Japan, America.
0:18:35 > 0:18:42We were headlining by now and doing very well and selling loads of records and not seeing any money.
0:18:46 > 0:18:51We decided to go with the production company, rather than with the record company.
0:18:51 > 0:18:57The deal was that we made the album for the production company and they sell it to a record company.
0:18:57 > 0:19:00It's probably the worst thing we did.
0:19:00 > 0:19:06The deal that they were on just meant that they weren't going to make any money out of what they did.
0:19:06 > 0:19:09And the way it came to a head
0:19:09 > 0:19:12was with the song Death On Two Legs.
0:19:12 > 0:19:15# You suck my blood like a leech
0:19:15 > 0:19:17# You break the law and you breach
0:19:17 > 0:19:19# Screw my brain till it hurts
0:19:19 > 0:19:23# You've taken all my money
0:19:23 > 0:19:26# And you want more... #
0:19:26 > 0:19:28They were living in bedsits.
0:19:28 > 0:19:34I think Fred was more comfortable. He had a living room and a bedroom.
0:19:34 > 0:19:38Often I would go to do an interview and buy a couple of bottles of wine
0:19:38 > 0:19:42on my expenses because they had no money.
0:19:42 > 0:19:45We didn't expect instant riches. We didn't get them!
0:19:45 > 0:19:49Roger was breaking sticks because he hit the drums pretty hard.
0:19:49 > 0:19:53The management's going, "Don't break any more sticks." We had no money.
0:19:55 > 0:20:01One of the management group bought a Rolls-Royce and we thought, "Hang on, something's going on here."
0:20:04 > 0:20:09It affected Freddie deeply and Freddie got to the point where he said,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12"I am not delivering any more music. I can't."
0:20:14 > 0:20:18To cut a long story short, we went with John Reid
0:20:18 > 0:20:22who was Elton's incredibly successful manager at the time.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25I remember saying, "You go away
0:20:25 > 0:20:29"and make the best record you can. I'll take care of the business."
0:20:29 > 0:20:32We had a good working relationship with John.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36He was very fiery and feisty, but so were we. We weren't scared of him.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40It was the first night I'd gone out to dinner with Freddie.
0:20:40 > 0:20:47I 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."
0:20:47 > 0:20:50And he put his knife and fork down and said, "So am I!"
0:20:51 > 0:20:55Freddie, when I first met him, wasn't out to the band
0:20:55 > 0:20:59because he was struggling with his own sexuality anyway.
0:20:59 > 0:21:04And Freddie was from a very, very traditional Zoroastrian background
0:21:04 > 0:21:10and I think his family considerations were probably paramount.
0:21:12 > 0:21:18I remember when we went into the studio to make A Night At The Opera, it felt like make or break.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21We were not only poor, but we were in debt.
0:21:21 > 0:21:26All the sound and lighting companies and the people we worked with hadn't been paid,
0:21:26 > 0:21:32so we were at a really crucial point. We might have had to break up if that album hadn't done well.
0:21:34 > 0:21:38It was an expensive album, enormous complexity on there.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Even now, I wonder how we did some of that stuff.
0:21:41 > 0:21:45There was so much hunger there. We had so much we wanted to bring out.
0:21:45 > 0:21:49It was all kept in and so we had all kinds of songs.
0:21:49 > 0:21:56Bohemian Rhapsody was basically like three songs that I wanted to put out and I just put the three together.
0:21:56 > 0:22:01I think the groundwork for a song like that was done at Ealing College.
0:22:01 > 0:22:05Freddie had lots of bits of songs which we'd link together
0:22:05 > 0:22:10and one of his bits, I just referred to it as The Cowboy Song and it went, "Mama, I just killed a man."
0:22:10 > 0:22:13# Mama
0:22:13 > 0:22:16# Just killed a man... #
0:22:16 > 0:22:20The first thing I heard was Freddie playing "Mama, just killed a man..."
0:22:20 > 0:22:25"What do you think?" "I love it. It's absolutely brilliant." Not knowing what was to come.
0:22:25 > 0:22:28We ended up having to do it in six studios.
0:22:28 > 0:22:34Because they were using all these studios, you didn't know what was going on.
0:22:36 > 0:22:41You would have guitar parts in one studio and vocal stuff in another.
0:22:41 > 0:22:43# Galileo
0:22:43 > 0:22:44# Galileo
0:22:44 > 0:22:47# Galileo, Figaro... #
0:22:47 > 0:22:52Freddie would just turn up and go, "I've got a few more Galileos."
0:22:52 > 0:22:55We were going round all these studios just hearing parts.
0:22:55 > 0:22:59# Thunderbolt and lightning Very, very frightening me
0:22:59 > 0:23:03HIGHER PITCH: # Lightning, very, very frightening, very, very frightening me... #
0:23:03 > 0:23:08Only Fred had it in his head and he was making some of it up as we went along.
0:23:08 > 0:23:10I thought, "I'll do as I please."
0:23:10 > 0:23:14# Thunderbolt and lightning, very, very frightening me... #
0:23:14 > 0:23:20Do as many multi-layer harmonies as possible. You know, go well over the top.
0:23:20 > 0:23:25It really was tongue-in-cheek, but at the same time, "I bet you can't do this."
0:23:25 > 0:23:28# He's just a poor boy from a poor family
0:23:28 > 0:23:31# Spare him his life from this monstrosity... #
0:23:31 > 0:23:37But the record company as a mass came to us and said, "This is too long. Nobody's going to play it."
0:23:37 > 0:23:41I played it to Elton John at the time
0:23:41 > 0:23:45and he said, "Are you off your head? You'll never get that on the radio."
0:23:45 > 0:23:48I said, "It goes out in its entirety or not at all."
0:23:48 > 0:23:52At the crucial moment, this young man called Kenny Everett came in,
0:23:52 > 0:23:57loved the track, stole a copy of it and played it on his radio show.
0:23:57 > 0:24:02Kenny played it 14 times over the weekend and of course it was a smash.
0:24:02 > 0:24:07Then following that up with what, to my mind, was the first ever real music video.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10- # We will not let you go - Let him go!- Bismillah!
0:24:10 > 0:24:13- # We will not let you go - Let him go!- Bismillah... #
0:24:13 > 0:24:17I'd never seen anything like it and I don't think anybody else had.
0:24:17 > 0:24:20The video took Queen to another level
0:24:20 > 0:24:23where they could really command the landscape.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26- # Mamma mia, mamma mia - Mamma mia, let me go... #
0:24:26 > 0:24:31Night At The Opera was that landmark album that established them as a major force.
0:24:31 > 0:24:36That was the context in which you could do something like the Hyde Park concert.
0:24:44 > 0:24:49# So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye
0:24:49 > 0:24:54# So you think you can love me and leave me to die... #
0:24:54 > 0:24:58It was Richard Branson. "We think we can put you on in Hyde Park."
0:25:00 > 0:25:03Thank you very much. Good evening, everybody.
0:25:03 > 0:25:06CHEERING
0:25:06 > 0:25:09Welcome to our picnic by the Serpentine.
0:25:10 > 0:25:14I remember thinking, "Gulp!" We've carved out a place around the world,
0:25:14 > 0:25:18but England doesn't really think we're that cool.
0:25:19 > 0:25:25It was packed beyond belief and it was really like coming home to a heroes' welcome.
0:25:25 > 0:25:27THRASHING GUITARS
0:25:35 > 0:25:40# Ah, ah, ah, ah, ahhh... #
0:25:42 > 0:25:48It was a thrilling experience to have that kind of contact with an audience in your own home town.
0:25:50 > 0:25:55When it came to make Day At The Races, we just thought, "Let's just do what we do."
0:25:55 > 0:26:00The added ingredient in Day At The Races is this feeling of freedom which we had
0:26:00 > 0:26:06because we had escaped the old situation, we'd sorted out the money side, we weren't in debt any more,
0:26:06 > 0:26:11we weren't struggling for our very existence, so there's a great freedom and joy.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14# Ca-a-an
0:26:14 > 0:26:18# Anybody... #
0:26:18 > 0:26:24It was almost like we were still making A Night At The Opera. We just loved it. We revelled in it.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28# Somebody to lo-o-ove... #
0:26:29 > 0:26:35Freddie came up with a magnificent, little sort of foray into white Gospel, if you want to call it that.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37# Ooh
0:26:37 > 0:26:39# Each morning I get up... #
0:26:39 > 0:26:42We really worked our harmonies on Somebody To Love.
0:26:42 > 0:26:47# Take a look at yourself Take a look in the mirror and cry... #
0:26:47 > 0:26:52Freddie's great inspiration for Somebody To Love was Aretha Franklin.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54He absolutely loved Aretha.
0:26:54 > 0:26:57He would like to have been Aretha Franklin!
0:26:57 > 0:27:00- # Somebody!- Somebody! - Ooh, somebody!- Somebody!
0:27:00 > 0:27:05# Can anybody find me somebody to love...? #
0:27:05 > 0:27:09From that point of view, OK, Bohemian Rhapsody, a big hit,
0:27:09 > 0:27:13but a song like Somebody To Love is in my estimation a better sort of...
0:27:13 > 0:27:16from the writing aspect, a better song.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19# I work till I ache in my bones
0:27:19 > 0:27:22- # At the end - At the end of the day
0:27:22 > 0:27:26# I take home my hard-earned pay all on my own
0:27:26 > 0:27:30# I get down on my knees and I start to pray
0:27:30 > 0:27:33# Till the tears run down from my eyes
0:27:33 > 0:27:36- # Lord, somebody!- Somebody! - Ooh, somebody
0:27:36 > 0:27:39# Can anybody find me... #
0:27:39 > 0:27:45We were using the studio to its maximum capacity, painting a picture like on a huge canvas.
0:27:45 > 0:27:48# Find me somebody to love
0:27:48 > 0:27:51# Find me somebody to love... #
0:27:51 > 0:27:56We had a gift. We had three voices which really blended instantly.
0:27:56 > 0:27:58# Find me somebody to love... #
0:27:58 > 0:28:02Freddie has this wonderful, crystal-clear, sharp vocal sound.
0:28:02 > 0:28:07# Find me somebody to love, find me somebody to love... #
0:28:07 > 0:28:10Naturally, I've got the powerful high voice.
0:28:10 > 0:28:13He's got the dog whistle pitch, a very high voice.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16# Find me somebody to love... #
0:28:16 > 0:28:18And I had quite a warm sound.
0:28:18 > 0:28:21- # Somebody!- Somebody! - Somebody!- Somebody!
0:28:21 > 0:28:26- # Somebody!- Find me... - Somebody find me somebody to love
0:28:26 > 0:28:29# Can anybody find me... #
0:28:29 > 0:28:34Put the three together and you have something which sounds sort of Panavision.
0:28:36 > 0:28:37# Find me
0:28:37 > 0:28:39# Somebody
0:28:39 > 0:28:42# To-o-o love
0:28:42 > 0:28:44# Find me... #
0:28:44 > 0:28:47To keep their attention, you've got to really tempt them.
0:28:47 > 0:28:51Like, "You can have a break. Have a coffee and biscuits."
0:28:51 > 0:28:56While they're in a good mood, grab them and do another 50 million overdubs!
0:28:56 > 0:29:01- # Anybody find me somebody to love - Somebody to love... #
0:29:01 > 0:29:04We used to call it the sausage factory in the end
0:29:04 > 0:29:08because we got so good at it, we could just bang 'em out.
0:29:10 > 0:29:12A Day At The Races,
0:29:12 > 0:29:18as the follow-up to Night At The Opera, was clearly... It had a hard act to follow.
0:29:18 > 0:29:23People who wanted to have a go at Queen could quite readily say, "It's not as good as the last one."
0:29:23 > 0:29:26A lot of the press took against them.
0:29:26 > 0:29:29Maybe if you got too successful too quick,
0:29:29 > 0:29:36there was a resentment there that they hadn't made you, therefore they wanted to break you.
0:29:36 > 0:29:39# Oh, take my breath away... #
0:29:39 > 0:29:43Shortly after I started to manage them,
0:29:43 > 0:29:50I had told all the band one of the ground rules is don't do any press without clearing it with me.
0:29:50 > 0:29:54You open yourself up to all kinds of things. Usually, they turn on you.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58I went out to dinner with Freddie in The White Elephant in Curzon Street.
0:29:58 > 0:30:03Casually, he said, "I did an interview with David Wigg from the Express today."
0:30:03 > 0:30:08I said, "I told you no interviews without clearing it with me." "Oh, never mind."
0:30:08 > 0:30:14I said, "Well, fuck you! If you don't work within my rules, you don't work with me."
0:30:14 > 0:30:17I got up and left and I left him there.
0:30:17 > 0:30:22I came home, I went upstairs, turned on the TV and the next thing I knew,
0:30:22 > 0:30:25a brick came through the window.
0:30:25 > 0:30:30And I looked outside here and there's Freddie standing in the street, hands on his hips,
0:30:30 > 0:30:34"Don't you ever fucking leave me in a restaurant..."
0:30:34 > 0:30:36I said, "You'd better come in."
0:30:37 > 0:30:40Queen didn't have particular respect
0:30:40 > 0:30:44from the critics during the '70s, which is when they had so many hits.
0:30:45 > 0:30:50And then punk happened in the late '70s,
0:30:50 > 0:30:54which made the standard rock group seem passe.
0:30:54 > 0:30:56# God save the Queen
0:30:56 > 0:30:59# We mean it, man
0:31:00 > 0:31:03# We love our Queen... #
0:31:03 > 0:31:08The punk stuff, as opposed to what Queen did, they were coming from two different points of view.
0:31:08 > 0:31:13It was anarchy on one side and monarchy on the other.
0:31:13 > 0:31:17NME was one of the most vocal proponents of punk.
0:31:17 > 0:31:21We were taking, if you like, music icons at that time
0:31:21 > 0:31:24and we were rubbishing them, basically.
0:31:24 > 0:31:29It was thought we should interview Freddie Mercury, in particular,
0:31:29 > 0:31:34and they asked me to go over to a house in Knightsbridge owned by John Reid
0:31:34 > 0:31:38and there's Freddie sitting on the patio.
0:31:38 > 0:31:42The whole house was very ostentatious, it must be said.
0:31:42 > 0:31:45We did an interview here with the NME
0:31:45 > 0:31:49and, you know, we were very nice to the guy.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51I had a butler, we gave him lunch.
0:31:51 > 0:31:54There was a butler, there was a bodyguard.
0:31:54 > 0:31:59There was probably other people going round with feather dusters and what have you.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02Then the story slagged off Freddie.
0:32:03 > 0:32:09Freddie Mercury, when the whole of the punk new wave movement was going on around him,
0:32:09 > 0:32:17had focused in on something that was kind of a bit of an alien concept in some ways which was ballet.
0:32:24 > 0:32:28I just feel that there are sort of balletic moments in our repertoire.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35One of the things that he said to me
0:32:35 > 0:32:40was that his mission in life was to bring ballet to the masses.
0:32:45 > 0:32:50Well, when the NME piece came out, Freddie was furious.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52They called him "a prat".
0:32:53 > 0:32:56You'd be furious.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00I think we realised that talking to the press gets you nowhere.
0:33:01 > 0:33:06You might as well paint a target on your head and go, "Shoot me."
0:33:06 > 0:33:11We all have our ups and downs and our limitations and we know there are certain things you can't do,
0:33:11 > 0:33:15but I don't want some arsehole critic to tell me that.
0:33:18 > 0:33:21I love posing.
0:33:21 > 0:33:23That's for the press.
0:33:34 > 0:33:37Well, this is Wessex Studios
0:33:37 > 0:33:40where a lot of News Of The World was done.
0:33:40 > 0:33:45We were recording here and The Sex Pistols were in at the same time.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48Well, we met The Sex Pistols in Wessex Studios
0:33:48 > 0:33:50and, uh...
0:33:50 > 0:33:53I thought it was fascinating.
0:33:53 > 0:33:58One day we were in the control room and Fred was sat at the desk.
0:33:58 > 0:34:04And suddenly, we heard this voice and it was Sid Vicious who had come in.
0:34:04 > 0:34:07And he was clearly the worse for wear.
0:34:07 > 0:34:11Sid came in. Sid was a moron. You know, he was an idiot.
0:34:11 > 0:34:18And he called in to the room, "Have you succeeded in bringing ballet to the masses yet?"
0:34:18 > 0:34:23I called him "Simon Ferocious" and he didn't like it. I said, "What are you going to do about it?"
0:34:23 > 0:34:27Fred went and took him by the lapels and pushed him out the door.
0:34:27 > 0:34:31- He hated the fact that I could even speak like that.- Right. Then...
0:34:31 > 0:34:35So we went... I think we survived that test.
0:34:35 > 0:34:39# Well, you're just 17 All you wanna do is disappear... #
0:34:39 > 0:34:45I thought when we went into News Of The World, we couldn't reinvent ourselves as a punk band,
0:34:45 > 0:34:49but we wanted it a little bit more simple.
0:34:49 > 0:34:54We thought maybe these really grandiose things weren't quite what was happening then
0:34:54 > 0:34:58and to be more of the time, we made a more straightforward record.
0:34:58 > 0:35:04Once we had our audience, we felt so confident that they would be there for us
0:35:04 > 0:35:07and not require us to be anything that they'd seen before.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09Do a twirl?
0:35:09 > 0:35:14They were very open-minded, Queen audiences, so we never felt constrained.
0:35:22 > 0:35:28We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions had a very sort of definite genesis.
0:35:28 > 0:35:31The way I remember this story is Bingley Hall.
0:35:31 > 0:35:35We played this great hall in the Midlands and it was heaving.
0:35:35 > 0:35:41Those gigs that you love, it's all sweaty and hot, everybody is jumping up and down.
0:35:41 > 0:35:43And they were singing along.
0:35:43 > 0:35:47# She's a killer queen Gunpowder, gelatine
0:35:47 > 0:35:52# Dynamite with a laser beam Guaranteed to blow your mind... #
0:35:52 > 0:35:58In those days, it was really new. You just didn't go to concerts where people sang to rock bands.
0:35:58 > 0:36:02But on this particular occasion, they didn't stop.
0:36:02 > 0:36:06And when we went off stage, they sang You'll Never Walk Alone to us.
0:36:06 > 0:36:10I'd gone to sleep thinking, "What can an audience do?"
0:36:10 > 0:36:16They're all crammed in there. They can stamp their feet, clap their hands and sing.
0:36:16 > 0:36:20So I woke up with We Will Rock You in my head.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24We went into Wessex with these ideas and that's what happened.
0:36:24 > 0:36:28This area here was towards the middle of the main room
0:36:28 > 0:36:31which is where the recording took place.
0:36:31 > 0:36:37And this is where all the "boom-boom-chas" for We Will Rock You were done.
0:36:37 > 0:36:43There were some boards lying around and I thought, "What does this sound like?"
0:36:43 > 0:36:45RHYTHMIC STAMPING AND CLAPPING
0:36:47 > 0:36:54We multi-tracked it a lot of times to achieve a sound of a big throng of people stamping and clapping,
0:36:54 > 0:36:56a huge sort of rally of people.
0:36:56 > 0:37:00# We will, we will rock you... #
0:37:00 > 0:37:02STAMPING AND CLAPPING
0:37:02 > 0:37:06# We will, we will rock you... #
0:37:08 > 0:37:14I came up with We Will Rock You and Freddie with We Are The Champions. His thinking was very similar.
0:37:14 > 0:37:17Basically, it is a participation thing.
0:37:17 > 0:37:22I've been really cool and I'm just thinking in terms of the public/group thing.
0:37:22 > 0:37:25# I've paid my dues
0:37:27 > 0:37:29# Time after time... #
0:37:31 > 0:37:35We had no idea it would become a universal, worldwide sports anthem.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38Both of them did - Rock You and Champions.
0:37:38 > 0:37:42In football or whatever sport, you've got two opposing teams.
0:37:42 > 0:37:47Both can sing We Are The Champions, but in a rock show, there's only one team.
0:37:47 > 0:37:50# I've had my share of sand kicked in my face
0:37:50 > 0:37:52# But I've come through... #
0:37:52 > 0:37:56It could be construed as a rather elitist thing.
0:37:56 > 0:38:01# We are the champions, my friends... #
0:38:01 > 0:38:05But it was really "we", the collective "we".
0:38:06 > 0:38:12But if I were you, before we find out, let's get the sound... Let's get a real sound on the drums.
0:38:12 > 0:38:15It's definitely a song of great unifying power.
0:38:15 > 0:38:19# We are the champions
0:38:19 > 0:38:23# No time for losers
0:38:23 > 0:38:27# Cos we are the champions... #
0:38:27 > 0:38:33Here we've got four tracks of vocals, one with the solo guitar, then that's the end bit solo.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36I've listened to them. That's the only way we can do it.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40Fred was very cheeky. It was about Queen being the champions
0:38:40 > 0:38:43in a sense, the arrogance for which we were famous.
0:38:43 > 0:38:47# We are the champions
0:38:47 > 0:38:50# We are the champions
0:38:50 > 0:38:54# No time for losers
0:38:54 > 0:38:59# Cos we are the champions. #
0:39:02 > 0:39:06APPLAUSE
0:39:06 > 0:39:11Only Queen could come up with the title "We Are The Champions". Where's the modesty gone?
0:39:11 > 0:39:15Well, there isn't any. No modesty whatsoever.
0:39:15 > 0:39:22After the slaggings-off we get from the English music press, who cares? We've got nothing to lose, you know?
0:39:22 > 0:39:26Anyway, it's only a song, isn't it? Fuck 'em!
0:39:32 > 0:39:37In those days, it was do the album, do a video, tour America.
0:39:39 > 0:39:41One, two!
0:39:44 > 0:39:48It was regarded as the sort of grail of the rock scene.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53America was meaning more and more to us,
0:39:53 > 0:39:56and when you smell success in America, you go for it.
0:39:59 > 0:40:03We looked at what was going on in the States at the time.
0:40:03 > 0:40:07The music was very much dominated by the cool West Coast
0:40:07 > 0:40:11kind of rock with The Eagles and Steely Dan and Fleetwood Mac.
0:40:11 > 0:40:15And to some extent, Queen, I guess, didn't fit that mould.
0:40:21 > 0:40:25They were bigger, more glamorous, more extravagant than,
0:40:25 > 0:40:28I think, anything that existed in the States at the time.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30They really didn't know what to make of them.
0:40:30 > 0:40:33Why would you call your band Queen
0:40:33 > 0:40:36when there's obviously four guys in it?
0:40:36 > 0:40:38That was puzzling.
0:40:41 > 0:40:43We were all in one station wagon,
0:40:43 > 0:40:48then we were all in one limo, then it was two in one limo
0:40:48 > 0:40:50and two in another, then it was one each.
0:40:50 > 0:40:53But it was really only because the entourage grew,
0:40:53 > 0:40:57it wasn't anything to do with not wanting to talk to one another.
0:40:57 > 0:40:59We did stay pretty connected,
0:40:59 > 0:41:02we didn't disappear to our dressing rooms.
0:41:02 > 0:41:06Generally, we found a big place where we could all get ready together
0:41:06 > 0:41:12and we would kind of joke around. We had a good kind of camaraderie.
0:41:14 > 0:41:16This is called a miracle, folks!
0:41:16 > 0:41:19I've lost my shoe!
0:41:19 > 0:41:21Oh, but I don't do my own.
0:41:22 > 0:41:25Dave! Do, do, do!
0:41:33 > 0:41:36I went to see the Queen show and I had never seen so much luggage
0:41:36 > 0:41:40and crew and amps and lighting.
0:41:40 > 0:41:43And I said, "This is not rock'n'roll, this is a show.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45"This is a production. This is Broadway".
0:41:45 > 0:41:49MUSIC: "We Will Rock You"
0:42:03 > 0:42:08The audience participation elevated the shows to something really special.
0:42:08 > 0:42:10And I think we put a bit of distance between us
0:42:10 > 0:42:15and some of our contemporaries like that, because it was such a great two-way event.
0:42:15 > 0:42:18This was a coronation for Freddie Mercury in this town.
0:42:18 > 0:42:23# We will, we will rock you tonight
0:42:23 > 0:42:27# We will, we will rock you
0:42:27 > 0:42:30# Buddy you're a young man, hard man, shouting in the street
0:42:30 > 0:42:32# Gonna take on the world someday
0:42:32 > 0:42:36# Mud on your face, big disgrace
0:42:36 > 0:42:39# Waving your banner all over the place
0:42:39 > 0:42:43# We will, we will rock you... #
0:42:43 > 0:42:46It had always surprised us that it took so long
0:42:46 > 0:42:48to break Queen in the States.
0:42:50 > 0:42:55It sounds like it happened quickly, but it didn't, it happened over a period of about eight years.
0:42:55 > 0:42:57We worked very hard at it.
0:42:57 > 0:43:00At no point did you think, "We've made it," cos we hadn't.
0:43:00 > 0:43:04This is, um, a Mercury composition
0:43:04 > 0:43:06from "A Night At The Opera"
0:43:06 > 0:43:09and it's something which a few people asked us to do last time.
0:43:09 > 0:43:13So this is for those people. This is "Love Of My Life".
0:43:13 > 0:43:17The 1977 US tour was pretty much a sell-out. And midway through,
0:43:17 > 0:43:21we actually played two nights at the legendary Madison Square Gardens
0:43:21 > 0:43:25in New York, which is a sort of landmark for any artist.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27It was a watershed for me.
0:43:27 > 0:43:31It was a mythical place, of course, big deal for us to play.
0:43:31 > 0:43:35And my parents, from the beginning... Well, my dad, really.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39My dad had really been against the whole business of me being a rock star.
0:43:39 > 0:43:42It's curious, because he helped me build the guitar.
0:43:42 > 0:43:48If it hadn't been for my dad slaving hours and hours making this homemade guitar,
0:43:48 > 0:43:50I probably would never have got to this place.
0:43:50 > 0:43:54He really felt that I'd thrown my education away.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58I mean, I was educated to a high level. So to suddenly to go off and join a rock band
0:43:58 > 0:44:03with apparently no future, my dad really could not compute it.
0:44:03 > 0:44:08He was kind of in tears, really, he just felt I'd thrown my life away completely.
0:44:08 > 0:44:14# You don't know what it means to me... #
0:44:14 > 0:44:19But anyway, we were playing Madison Square Garden and I said,
0:44:19 > 0:44:22"Look, Dad, this is a big one for us, playing America,
0:44:22 > 0:44:26"it's New York, it's the first time we've played this amazing place. Come over."
0:44:31 > 0:44:33So I said, "Dad, you'll go on Concorde",
0:44:33 > 0:44:38you know, it was my dad and my mum. And they came to the gig
0:44:38 > 0:44:41and I remember to this day, this feeling that our feet
0:44:41 > 0:44:45weren't really on the ground, there was so much electricity in this place.
0:44:45 > 0:44:49# You don't know what it means to me... #
0:44:49 > 0:44:53And we came off thinking, "Wow, that was really something,"
0:44:53 > 0:44:56and then I went back with my dad
0:44:56 > 0:45:02and my dad said, "OK." He said, "OK, I get it now."
0:45:02 > 0:45:03# Oooh. #
0:45:03 > 0:45:05Thank you, Madison Square Garden.
0:45:09 > 0:45:11What's happening when we go back to London?
0:45:11 > 0:45:15You're one of the few bands that actually haven't left Britain.
0:45:15 > 0:45:19We're sort of an English band in a way, we've always lived there.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22Well, London particularly. We've always recorded in England.
0:45:22 > 0:45:27It doesn't change the fact that the taxman still takes a lot of your money!
0:45:27 > 0:45:29I think at the time, we were paying 83%,
0:45:29 > 0:45:33and plus, if you had any money in the bank which was earning interest,
0:45:33 > 0:45:36another 15%, which makes 98% tax.
0:45:36 > 0:45:41So we decided to record the next album, which was "Jazz", in France.
0:45:41 > 0:45:44So that's what we did. In a tiny little village called Super Bear,
0:45:44 > 0:45:47we started the process of making this album.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51# Bicycle, bicycle, bicycle
0:45:51 > 0:45:57# I want to ride my bicycle, bicycle, bicycle... #
0:45:57 > 0:46:00Lots of sort of local colour got put onto that album.
0:46:00 > 0:46:02# I want to ride my bike... #
0:46:02 > 0:46:07We were sitting there and the Tour de France cycle race came through
0:46:07 > 0:46:09and inspired Freddie to write "Bicycle..."
0:46:09 > 0:46:13and for some strange reason, inspired me to write "Fat Bottomed Girls".
0:46:13 > 0:46:16Although there might have been other inspirations there.
0:46:16 > 0:46:20# On your marks, get set, go! #
0:46:24 > 0:46:26Sadly, we weren't there for the filming.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29I thought it was a hugely amusing idea.
0:46:29 > 0:46:33# Bicycle, bicycle, bicycle... #
0:46:33 > 0:46:37I remember the huge disappointment that none of us could be at the photo shoot.
0:46:37 > 0:46:41Because we were exiled from England, so we couldn't go back in to see it!
0:46:41 > 0:46:44I don't think you'd be able to do that now, would you?
0:46:44 > 0:46:48Yeah, I don't think we would go there these days.
0:46:48 > 0:46:49# Bicycle race! #
0:46:51 > 0:46:53When it came time to launch the "Jazz" album,
0:46:53 > 0:46:57we had the idea of having a massive party in New Orleans.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01# Oh, you gonna take me home tonight... #
0:47:01 > 0:47:06It was the so-called launch of that album,
0:47:06 > 0:47:08and we had lots of girls and things,
0:47:08 > 0:47:13there was a New Orleans band, it was a very over-the-top party.
0:47:13 > 0:47:18# Fat bottomed girls, you make the rockin' world go round... #
0:47:22 > 0:47:25We had a bit of a spiritual connection with New Orleans.
0:47:25 > 0:47:27A lot of our friends came, of all sexes.
0:47:29 > 0:47:31It was definitely fun.
0:47:31 > 0:47:34When I opened up the door of my suite,
0:47:34 > 0:47:37on the bed was a complete case of Dom Perignon.
0:47:37 > 0:47:40And it was downhill from there.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44# Heap big woman, you made a bad boy out of me... #
0:47:44 > 0:47:46I remember I felt quite ill the next day.
0:47:46 > 0:47:49The story about the dwarves with the cocaine
0:47:49 > 0:47:55being strapped in bowls to their head for people to help themselves to at a party
0:47:55 > 0:47:58is, I think, complete bollocks.
0:47:58 > 0:48:02I don't know. I don't remember!
0:48:02 > 0:48:06There was a man, he was actually a person of restricted growth,
0:48:06 > 0:48:09who did lay under meats.
0:48:09 > 0:48:13When asked what he did, he said, "I lie under meats."
0:48:13 > 0:48:18And he's covered in sort of cold cuts and sort of, um,
0:48:18 > 0:48:23chopped liver and stuff like that. You couldn't see him.
0:48:23 > 0:48:26So people would approach the trestle table
0:48:26 > 0:48:30and as they just reached out to scoop their meat,
0:48:30 > 0:48:32he would just move, like that.
0:48:32 > 0:48:35And that was his act!
0:48:35 > 0:48:42# Tonight, I'm gonna have myself a real good time
0:48:42 > 0:48:44# I feel ali-i-i-ive... #
0:48:44 > 0:48:48It wasn't a pretence, we actually did live the life of a rock band.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50Sort of living on the edge, in a sense.
0:48:50 > 0:48:55# Turning inside out, yeah
0:48:55 > 0:49:00# Floating around in ecstasy
0:49:00 > 0:49:03# So don't stop me now... #
0:49:03 > 0:49:07"Don't Stop Me Now" is a whole different trip, really.
0:49:07 > 0:49:10It's become one of the most popular Queen songs of all time.
0:49:10 > 0:49:14# I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky like a tiger
0:49:14 > 0:49:17# Defying the laws of gravity
0:49:17 > 0:49:22# I'm a racing car passing by like Lady Godiva
0:49:22 > 0:49:27# I'm gonna go, go, go, there's no stopping me
0:49:27 > 0:49:29# I'm burning through the sky, yeah... #
0:49:29 > 0:49:32It's a song of sort of unfettered joy.
0:49:32 > 0:49:34# ..Mr Fahrenheit
0:49:34 > 0:49:37# I'm travelling at the speed of light
0:49:37 > 0:49:39# I wanna make a supersonic woman of you... #
0:49:41 > 0:49:44I've been quoted as saying I don't like the track.
0:49:44 > 0:49:48I kind of do like the track, but I had mixed feelings,
0:49:48 > 0:49:51because in a sense, it represented a sort of separatism.
0:49:51 > 0:49:53It was very much Freddie's world
0:49:53 > 0:49:56and reflecting what he was going through.
0:49:56 > 0:49:59Freddie took to the gay scene in New York
0:49:59 > 0:50:02like David Attenborough making a wildlife programme.
0:50:02 > 0:50:07He'd report on what he'd seen with that kind of "Hey-hey!" attitude that he had.
0:50:07 > 0:50:10There was this one particular place called The Anvil,
0:50:10 > 0:50:14which seemed to have invented new uses for parts of the human anatomy!
0:50:14 > 0:50:15He was never shocked.
0:50:15 > 0:50:19He was eager to be involved in everything,
0:50:19 > 0:50:21it was like he was a social field worker.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24# I wanna make a supersonic man out of you... #
0:50:24 > 0:50:28As far as I'm concerned, I just want to pack in as much of life
0:50:28 > 0:50:33and fun and having a good time as much as I can.
0:50:33 > 0:50:37# If you want to have a good time, just give me a call
0:50:37 > 0:50:40- # Don't stop me now - Cos I'm having a good time.
0:50:40 > 0:50:43- # Don't stop me now - Yes, I'm having a good time
0:50:43 > 0:50:47# I don't wanna stop at all
0:50:49 > 0:50:52# Da-da da-da dah
0:50:52 > 0:50:55# Da da da-ha
0:50:55 > 0:51:00# Da-da-da ha-ha-hah
0:51:00 > 0:51:03# Da-da-dah... #
0:51:03 > 0:51:05The album "Jazz" was not a complete flop,
0:51:05 > 0:51:08it got to number 6 in the chart.
0:51:08 > 0:51:13But "Don't Stop Me Now", which is a big favourite in Britain to this day,
0:51:13 > 0:51:15in America, only got to the 80s.
0:51:15 > 0:51:18The review in Rolling Stone was notorious.
0:51:18 > 0:51:22And it shows you that Queen were not respected.
0:51:22 > 0:51:24We were confused by that title.
0:51:24 > 0:51:28Why would a rock band call their album "Jazz"?
0:51:28 > 0:51:30It had a couple of great tracks on it,
0:51:30 > 0:51:32but it had some weaker stuff on it.
0:51:32 > 0:51:35Queen was maybe viewed
0:51:35 > 0:51:39as the Indian meal that had gone cold in the refrigerator.
0:51:39 > 0:51:42What's going to happen in '79 for Queen?
0:51:42 > 0:51:46We're going to make more records, tour even more.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50It's difficult to say. This has been our hardest working year.
0:51:50 > 0:51:53We'd heard that there was this great studio called Musicland
0:51:53 > 0:51:57in Munich, and we'd heard there was this great engineer called Mack.
0:51:57 > 0:52:01And we got into this rather kind of indulgent way of just
0:52:01 > 0:52:05bowling into the studio with no ideas, or very few ideas,
0:52:05 > 0:52:07and just doing it from scratch.
0:52:07 > 0:52:09"What you got?" "Well, I've got this."
0:52:09 > 0:52:12MUSIC: "Crazy Little Thing Called Love"
0:52:15 > 0:52:17# This thing called love... #
0:52:17 > 0:52:21Fred did write the song in the bath, in about ten minutes.
0:52:21 > 0:52:23# This thing called love... #
0:52:23 > 0:52:25He said, "Get me a guitar".
0:52:25 > 0:52:27And he sat on the sofa and started the chords
0:52:27 > 0:52:29to "Crazy Little Thing..."
0:52:29 > 0:52:31# Crazy little thing called love... #
0:52:33 > 0:52:37Next, he said, "Tell them I'm coming over and we've got to go straight into the studio."
0:52:37 > 0:52:40- # Like a baby - In the cradle all night... #
0:52:40 > 0:52:43I was very quick, had everything set up in pretty much no time,
0:52:43 > 0:52:47and they put it down, and then the best bit was,
0:52:47 > 0:52:51"Quick, let's finish it before Brian gets here, otherwise it takes a little longer!"
0:52:51 > 0:52:55# There goes my baby
0:52:55 > 0:52:57# She knows how to rock and roll
0:52:57 > 0:53:00# She drives me crazy
0:53:01 > 0:53:03# She gives me hot and cold fever
0:53:03 > 0:53:05# She leaves me in a cold, cold sweat... #
0:53:10 > 0:53:13That was the first number 1 across the board in America.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16Billboard, Cashbox and Record World, I think.
0:53:16 > 0:53:18We were still making a record,
0:53:18 > 0:53:20we hadn't even nearly finished the album,
0:53:20 > 0:53:23and we were going out in Munich and somebody came up and said,
0:53:23 > 0:53:27"It's gone to number 1 in America." We were going, "Yeah! More drinks!"
0:53:31 > 0:53:36So, "Crazy Little Thing..." completely cracked the charts in America.
0:53:36 > 0:53:39But it wasn't easy to find the follow-up.
0:53:39 > 0:53:43"Play The Game" charted outside the US Top 40.
0:53:43 > 0:53:47But the next single was something very different.
0:53:47 > 0:53:50One thing I always liked about Queen was they were four individuals,
0:53:50 > 0:53:54all of whom brought something to the table, musically and in terms of songwriting,
0:53:54 > 0:53:57and that includes the bass player, John Deacon.
0:53:57 > 0:54:00MUSIC: "Another One Bites The Dust"
0:54:05 > 0:54:09I'd always wanted to do something that was more sort of disco-ey,
0:54:09 > 0:54:11which was very uncool at the time.
0:54:11 > 0:54:14I mean, funk wasn't really in the vocabulary.
0:54:17 > 0:54:18Let's go!
0:54:18 > 0:54:22John was pulling us strongly in that direction, sort of funky direction.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25And John got Roger to play
0:54:25 > 0:54:28with tape all over his drums, which is exactly what Roger hated.
0:54:28 > 0:54:30Roger hated his drums being made to sound dead.
0:54:30 > 0:54:35I didn't really want to get into dance music. It wasn't my thing.
0:54:38 > 0:54:40# Another one bites the dust... #
0:54:40 > 0:54:45Freddie got deeply into it, Freddie sort of sang it until he bled,
0:54:45 > 0:54:50cos he was so committed to making it sound the way John wanted it, which was like hardcore...
0:54:50 > 0:54:55I don't know what you would call it. But it's more towards black music than white music.
0:54:58 > 0:55:02# How do you think I'm going to get along without you when you're gone?
0:55:02 > 0:55:07# You took me for everything that I had and kicked me out of my home
0:55:07 > 0:55:11# Are you happy? Are you satisfied? How long can you stand the heat?
0:55:11 > 0:55:16# Out of the doorway, the bullets whistle to the sound of the beat... #
0:55:16 > 0:55:20Michael came to several shows, I think, at the Forum in LA.
0:55:20 > 0:55:23And he loved Freddie. And he kept saying,
0:55:23 > 0:55:28"You guys, you've got to put that song out." I wasn't particularly enamoured with it,
0:55:28 > 0:55:31so I said, "No, you're kidding, that's never a single."
0:55:31 > 0:55:33# Another one bites the dust... #
0:55:33 > 0:55:37"Another One Bites The Dust" was never seen as a single.
0:55:37 > 0:55:39It barely made it onto the album!
0:55:41 > 0:55:46It got on the radio and it got heard by people that didn't even know who the band was.
0:55:46 > 0:55:47# Ah, take it! #
0:55:48 > 0:55:53Strangely enough, the record became huge because of the black audience.
0:55:53 > 0:55:57One particular station in New York picked it up,
0:55:57 > 0:55:59thinking that we were a black band,
0:55:59 > 0:56:02and played the hell out of it, and it became a huge hit.
0:56:02 > 0:56:06It was like number 1 in nine different charts.
0:56:06 > 0:56:09I mean, even in the country chart! It's ridiculous.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13And this thing just kept selling, to around three million.
0:56:13 > 0:56:16It was in the Hot 100 for 31 weeks.
0:56:18 > 0:56:22When an opponent would get knocked out in a boxing match,
0:56:22 > 0:56:24you'd hear "Another One Bites The Dust" used.
0:56:24 > 0:56:27It became an anthem of triumph.
0:56:27 > 0:56:31# Yeah, ye-e-e-e-a-a-ah! All right! #
0:56:31 > 0:56:34I think it's still the biggest record we ever had.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37# Another one bites the dust, yeah! #
0:56:37 > 0:56:40People pointing at the cars - "You guys are bad!"
0:56:40 > 0:56:43"What does that mean?" "It means you're good!"
0:56:43 > 0:56:45# Another one bites the dust
0:56:45 > 0:56:49# Hey, gonna get you too, another one bites the dust... #
0:56:50 > 0:56:53If you're successful in America, basically, you've made it.
0:56:53 > 0:56:56We kind of became the biggest group in the world at that moment.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59It's a fleeting moment, because someone else will come
0:56:59 > 0:57:02and take over. But for that moment, we kind of owned the world.
0:57:02 > 0:57:05MUSIC: "We Are The Champions"
0:57:10 > 0:57:13The sales figures tell the story that the people wanted Queen
0:57:13 > 0:57:15even when the press didn't.
0:57:19 > 0:57:23Looking back on it now, I'd say Queen were never in fashion.
0:57:24 > 0:57:26We were never a fashionable group, I don't think.
0:57:27 > 0:57:29Maybe that was to our benefit,
0:57:29 > 0:57:33that we didn't become the thing of the moment, a fashionable thing.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36We were just popular, which got right up some people's noses!
0:58:25 > 0:58:27Fred, how do you feel, playing and singing
0:58:27 > 0:58:30- before 200,000 people? - Haven't done it yet!
0:58:31 > 0:58:35Every song, you felt, was, "They're stealing the show".
0:58:35 > 0:58:38I like Queen very much, but I don't want to end up life living a quartet.
0:58:38 > 0:58:42The band was pretty much on the verge of falling apart.
0:58:42 > 0:58:45I think he had an idea that he might not be terribly well.
0:58:45 > 0:58:48He said, "I'll come back and finish it off," and he never came back.
0:58:48 > 0:58:51That was the last moment that I had with him.
0:59:11 > 0:59:15Subtitles by Subtext and Red Bee Media Ltd