0:00:02 > 0:00:08This programme contains some strong language
0:00:10 > 0:00:13NEEDLE CRACKLES
0:00:13 > 0:00:17# Is this the real life...? #
0:00:17 > 0:00:19We were suddenly in a sort of golden place.
0:00:19 > 0:00:22# Is this just fantasy...? #
0:00:22 > 0:00:27We were sort of getting off on how far can we take this?
0:00:29 > 0:00:33It's nearly 30 years old and still one of the world's best loved songs.
0:00:33 > 0:00:35# Scaramouch, Scaramouch... #
0:00:35 > 0:00:37It's the biggest single of the century.
0:00:37 > 0:00:39# Thunderbolt and lightning... #
0:00:39 > 0:00:42I never heard anything like it.
0:00:42 > 0:00:46For the first time ever, this is the full story behind Bohemian Rhapsody.
0:00:48 > 0:00:52We're on a journey of discovery back to the studio with the band.
0:00:56 > 0:01:00The man who put it together is going to take it apart.
0:01:02 > 0:01:04I've lost it.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06OK, I've lost another Galileo.
0:01:06 > 0:01:08- # Will not let you go! - Let me go!... #
0:01:08 > 0:01:11We're going to find out how they made THAT video.
0:01:11 > 0:01:13And you get this feedback that trails across.
0:01:13 > 0:01:15# No, no, no, no
0:01:15 > 0:01:18- # Oh, mama mia, mama mia... # - Mama mia, let me go.
0:01:18 > 0:01:19And we'll be asking
0:01:19 > 0:01:21some of the greatest literary minds in the country
0:01:21 > 0:01:23what the song is all about.
0:01:23 > 0:01:26Beelzebub does seem to make some sense!
0:01:26 > 0:01:28# Me-e-e-e... #
0:01:30 > 0:01:32# Dun-dun-dun! #
0:01:32 > 0:01:34Great stuff!
0:01:35 > 0:01:37"Mama, I killed a man."
0:01:37 > 0:01:39Wow! OK, I'm there! What happened?
0:01:39 > 0:01:41"Nothing happened! We all went off singing nonsense.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44"Scaramouch, can you do the fandango?" No!
0:01:47 > 0:01:50It hurts me now, when I hear the song, it hurts.
0:01:51 > 0:01:58# Any way the wind blows... #
0:02:04 > 0:02:051975.
0:02:05 > 0:02:09History is made as the Americans and Russians meet in space.
0:02:09 > 0:02:14Saigon falls and Vietnam is finally over.
0:02:14 > 0:02:18At home, unemployment hits the one million mark
0:02:18 > 0:02:23as Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman to lead the Tory Party.
0:02:23 > 0:02:26Jaws is a box-office smash.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30And Queen release the single that will catapult them to stardom
0:02:30 > 0:02:35and provide inspiration for a new generation of rockers.
0:02:35 > 0:02:41# So you think you can love me and leave me to die?
0:02:41 > 0:02:44# Oh, baby-y-y... #
0:02:45 > 0:02:50Axl Rose performed the song at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert
0:02:50 > 0:02:52after the singer's death in 1991.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56He was joined by a host of stars who'd grown up with Queen.
0:02:56 > 0:02:59# Your mommy and your daddy gonna plague me till I die... #
0:02:59 > 0:03:041975, I was working in a factory in Sheffield
0:03:04 > 0:03:09and daydreaming about wanting to be in a band
0:03:09 > 0:03:13that could produce material of the quality of Bohemian Rhapsody.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15# All your love tonight... #
0:03:17 > 0:03:22I was obsessed with getting all the music that band put out.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25It was a huge part of my whole growing up.
0:03:27 > 0:03:29# Whoa, yeah! #
0:03:33 > 0:03:36Even the band of the moment owe a huge debt to Queen.
0:03:39 > 0:03:42Bohemian Rhapsody is the Holy Grail.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45There's only that. There's nothing else anywhere near it.
0:03:46 > 0:03:49If you ask anybody, "Honestly, do you like Bohemian Rhapsody?"
0:03:49 > 0:03:51if they say no, they're lying.
0:03:51 > 0:03:55The release of Bohemian Rhapsody defied all logic.
0:03:55 > 0:03:57It was a song that broke all the rules.
0:03:57 > 0:04:01For a start, it was six minutes long...
0:04:01 > 0:04:03..and it had an opera section.
0:04:03 > 0:04:06# I see a little silhouetto of a man
0:04:06 > 0:04:09# Scaramouch, Scaramouch Will you do the fandango...? #
0:04:09 > 0:04:11Nothing like it had been heard before
0:04:11 > 0:04:14and there's been nothing like it since. But people loved it.
0:04:14 > 0:04:18It went to number one and stayed there for nine weeks.
0:04:18 > 0:04:20# Magnifico-o-o-o... #
0:04:21 > 0:04:23But Queen weren't a new band.
0:04:23 > 0:04:26It had taken them almost five years to get there.
0:04:29 > 0:04:32The year before, they'd had their first success
0:04:32 > 0:04:33with Seven Seas Of Rhye.
0:04:33 > 0:04:35Long lost from the BBC archive,
0:04:35 > 0:04:38this Top Of The Pops performance was videoed by a fan.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41Freddie's distinctive style was taking shape even then.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43# Seven seas of Rhye... #
0:04:45 > 0:04:46They always were different
0:04:46 > 0:04:49to everybody else that was around at the time.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52They always projected this image of
0:04:52 > 0:04:55being the big, huge rock stars
0:04:55 > 0:04:58even when they hadn't got two ha'pennies to rub together.
0:04:58 > 0:05:03Queen even turned to women's fashion designer Zandra Rhodes.
0:05:03 > 0:05:08I was well known as doing theatrical-type women's outfits,
0:05:08 > 0:05:14and I think it showed quite an extraordinary sense of thought
0:05:14 > 0:05:15that they came to me.
0:05:20 > 0:05:24But it wasn't just the rock star look that Queen were perfecting.
0:05:24 > 0:05:28Their unique sound was also beginning to take shape...
0:05:31 > 0:05:34..thanks to their producer, Roy Thomas Baker.
0:05:34 > 0:05:37Working with Queen meant, be pure definition,
0:05:37 > 0:05:39you were working out of the zone.
0:05:39 > 0:05:41Being told by Freddie and the guys,
0:05:41 > 0:05:42"Queen II - we've got nothing to lose,
0:05:42 > 0:05:44"just put anything in there,
0:05:44 > 0:05:46"any idea you come up with, just give it a go."
0:05:46 > 0:05:53# Once upon a time an old man told me a fable
0:05:53 > 0:05:57# When the piper is gone and the soup is cold... #
0:05:57 > 0:06:01# She keeps her Moet et Chandon in a pretty cabinet... #
0:06:01 > 0:06:05Queen camped it up even more for their third single, Killer Queen,
0:06:05 > 0:06:08which went to number two in 1974.
0:06:08 > 0:06:10# For Khrushchev and Kennedy
0:06:10 > 0:06:15# At any time, an invitation you can't decline... #
0:06:15 > 0:06:17By now, they should have been enjoying
0:06:17 > 0:06:19the trappings of a rock star lifestyle,
0:06:19 > 0:06:22but they were only being paid £200 a week between them.
0:06:22 > 0:06:26# She's a killer queen Gunpowder, gelatin... #
0:06:26 > 0:06:30Freddie was making demands, various things he wanted,
0:06:30 > 0:06:33and we explained to him that the money wasn't there yet.
0:06:33 > 0:06:34It would be there.
0:06:34 > 0:06:36We could see it coming.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40If the sales were like they were reported to be, it would flow.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43But no matter how much Freddie stamped his feet,
0:06:43 > 0:06:45there was no money,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48so Queen turned to Elton John's manager, John Reid.
0:06:48 > 0:06:50There was a kind of stalemate
0:06:50 > 0:06:53between them and the Sheffield brothers.
0:06:53 > 0:06:54Nothing to do with me.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57All I was concerned with was how to get it sorted out,
0:06:57 > 0:06:59how to let them move forward
0:06:59 > 0:07:02and let everybody walk away without losing face.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04So that's what I did.
0:07:08 > 0:07:13At that time, Freddie lived here, on Holland Road in Kensington, London.
0:07:13 > 0:07:17It was here that he wrote most of Bohemian Rhapsody.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY PLAYS ON A PIANO
0:07:32 > 0:07:37Freddie invited me round to his flat in Holland Road.
0:07:37 > 0:07:42I went round and when I went in, the thing that struck me first
0:07:42 > 0:07:44was that Freddie was listening
0:07:44 > 0:07:47to the Liza Minnelli Cabaret soundtrack.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50At that time, I thought, "This is a rock group."
0:07:50 > 0:07:53This music didn't kind of fit.
0:07:53 > 0:07:58Then he showed me the flat. In the bedroom, there was an upright piano
0:07:58 > 0:08:03with candle arms on it, which was his headboard.
0:08:04 > 0:08:09And he said that sometimes during the night,
0:08:09 > 0:08:15he would think of something musical and flip it back and play it.
0:08:15 > 0:08:21He was double jointed. His hands could bend back completely.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24I think that's where some of the passages
0:08:24 > 0:08:26from Bohemian Rhapsody started.
0:08:28 > 0:08:30Playing it backwards.
0:08:42 > 0:08:45MUSIC: Sweet Lady by Queen
0:08:48 > 0:08:50In the summer of 1975,
0:08:50 > 0:08:56Queen left London for Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, South Wales.
0:08:56 > 0:08:5830 years later, they're back.
0:09:00 > 0:09:02It's the first time they've visited
0:09:02 > 0:09:05since they recorded Bohemian Rhapsody.
0:09:05 > 0:09:06I think there was a lot of stress
0:09:06 > 0:09:10and we were very worried about the management situation.
0:09:10 > 0:09:14We were away from home, away from our kids and our families.
0:09:14 > 0:09:16We had young children. It's not ideal.
0:09:16 > 0:09:19We'd just signed up with John Reid, who was Elton's manager,
0:09:19 > 0:09:22and John had said, "OK, boys, I'll take care of the business,
0:09:22 > 0:09:24"you just make the best album you've ever made."
0:09:24 > 0:09:25So there was that feeling.
0:09:25 > 0:09:28It was like, "We have to go in here and kill."
0:09:30 > 0:09:33I actually remember driving here,
0:09:33 > 0:09:35thinking, "I think I'm going the right way,"
0:09:35 > 0:09:37and playing Sheer Heart Attack, thinking,
0:09:37 > 0:09:40"That was the last one we did. Oh, God, that's good, isn't it?
0:09:40 > 0:09:43"It's going to be hard to make a better one than that."
0:09:48 > 0:09:51- Welcome back after all these years.- Thank you.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Must be like a walk down memory lane.
0:10:09 > 0:10:13This is where the seeds for Bohemian Rhapsody were sown.
0:10:13 > 0:10:16Queen spent two weeks here recording backing tracks
0:10:16 > 0:10:20for what was to become the most expensive record ever made -
0:10:20 > 0:10:22A Night At The Opera.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28# Yesterday my life was in ruins... #
0:10:28 > 0:10:30It's a poignant trip for Queen.
0:10:30 > 0:10:33This is where their journey from mediocre domestic success
0:10:33 > 0:10:36to international stardom really began.
0:10:36 > 0:10:43# Got a feeling I should be doing all right... #
0:10:45 > 0:10:47The control room.
0:10:47 > 0:10:51Yes, this does actually trigger some memories for me, I've got to say.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54It's a bit plush.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58I think in our day, I remember there was no acoustic treatment.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01This is the Bohemian Rhapsody backing track for me.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05I can distinctly remember being here and seeing you guys go through it.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09Our backing tracks were always either bass, guitar and drums
0:11:09 > 0:11:11or bass, piano and drums.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14This one would be Roger, Freddie and John.
0:11:14 > 0:11:16They're putting down the backing track
0:11:16 > 0:11:20and there's lots of spaces in it for the operatic bits.
0:11:20 > 0:11:22Lots of gaps and Freddie conducting.
0:11:25 > 0:11:28- Shall we have a look in the studio?- Yeah.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45Here, for the very first time, you can hear Freddie Mercury rehearsing
0:11:45 > 0:11:50the piano parts for what producer Roy Thomas Baker calls Fred's Thing.
0:11:50 > 0:11:53These outtakes from the original recording sessions at Rockfield
0:11:53 > 0:11:55have never been heard before.
0:11:58 > 0:12:04Take one of mark two version of Fred's Thing.
0:12:04 > 0:12:07PIANO MUSIC FOR BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
0:12:23 > 0:12:24MUSIC STOPS Fuck!
0:12:24 > 0:12:27- Still too slow! - No, that's nice! That's nice.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29Bit slower, though.
0:12:31 > 0:12:34He just said, "Look, I've got this very strange thing.
0:12:34 > 0:12:39"You have to be patient when we do it cos there'll be lots of gaps."
0:12:40 > 0:12:42As soon as we'd mapped it out,
0:12:42 > 0:12:44we all understood what was happening
0:12:44 > 0:12:46but it was a bit confusing at first.
0:12:46 > 0:12:49- It's sort of coming back a bit.- Hmm.
0:12:49 > 0:12:52- I think the piano WAS about there. - I think it was.
0:12:52 > 0:12:55- Like that.- Yeah, more like that than like that.
0:12:55 > 0:12:57You were over there, but there was no partition for the drums.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00- Yeah, that's right. - It was just all in one room.
0:13:02 > 0:13:06Yeah. That was the drum kit.
0:13:06 > 0:13:07Yeah. Nine AC30s, of course,
0:13:07 > 0:13:10but I don't think I would have had the nine in here.
0:13:10 > 0:13:12We were still saving up for the one, weren't we?
0:13:12 > 0:13:16Yeah! I think most likely I would have had three.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20I remember the first time I heard the melody,
0:13:20 > 0:13:23- the main sort of melody, I loved the melody.- Yeah.
0:13:23 > 0:13:27A lot of our stuff was done, written in the studio,
0:13:27 > 0:13:30but this was an exception. Really, as Roger says,
0:13:30 > 0:13:34it was all in Freddie's mind before we started.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39Freddie was a great person to be in a band with really because,
0:13:39 > 0:13:45one, he was such a great... rhythmic, rhythmic piano player,
0:13:45 > 0:13:50and it made the backing tracks very easy to do.
0:13:50 > 0:13:54They sort of... It all knitted together. They swung well.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57His bony fingers would whack it out.
0:13:57 > 0:14:00The backing tracks, if you listen to them now, are immaculate!
0:14:00 > 0:14:04Freddie and Roger and John are just absolutely together.
0:14:04 > 0:14:07It's totally live, totally real. There's a feel there.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09PERCUSSIVE MUSIC PLAYS
0:14:15 > 0:14:18As soon as you hit an E flat chord on here,
0:14:18 > 0:14:20you think of Freddie. I do, anyway.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28It's nearly 20 years since Queen played together.
0:14:30 > 0:14:35This performance at Wembley in 1986 saw them bow out on top.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40No-one could sell tickets faster.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44But if it hadn't been for the success of Bohemian Rhapsody,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47they might never have got there.
0:14:47 > 0:14:49So what's so special about the song that made Queen?
0:14:56 > 0:15:00To find out, we have to speak to the man who put it all together.
0:15:03 > 0:15:06Capitol Records, Hollywood, Los Angeles -
0:15:06 > 0:15:11home to some of the most important recordings in the history of music.
0:15:11 > 0:15:15Nearly 30 years after he delivered the finished track to EMI,
0:15:15 > 0:15:19Roy Thomas Baker has come here to take Bohemian Rhapsody apart.
0:15:21 > 0:15:23- # Galileo... #- I've lost it.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25OK, I've lost another Galileo.
0:15:27 > 0:15:30There's another Galileo missing.
0:15:33 > 0:15:37This is the original 24-track tape in its original box.
0:15:37 > 0:15:38It's now so fragile
0:15:38 > 0:15:42that it has to be baked in an oven before it can be played
0:15:42 > 0:15:43or it will disintegrate.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46And here's Freddie's doodles on the sleeve notes,
0:15:46 > 0:15:49which he did at the time Bohemian Rhapsody was recording.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52# Thunderbolt and lightning, Very, very frightening me... #
0:15:52 > 0:15:56The original mix, when we were doing it manually,
0:15:56 > 0:15:59it was a case of I was sitting approximately here,
0:15:59 > 0:16:04controlling the drums, bass, piano, guitars.
0:16:04 > 0:16:09Then, about here was Freddie, and he had control over the vocals.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13He'd be switching vocals on and off and doing it that way.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15Let me push up the...
0:16:15 > 0:16:17# This time tomorrow
0:16:17 > 0:16:21# Carry on, carry on
0:16:21 > 0:16:24# As if nothing really matters... #
0:16:24 > 0:16:26So this is the piano.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30This is the piano solo.
0:16:30 > 0:16:33This was actually done live by Freddie as we were doing the track.
0:16:36 > 0:16:38So when you listen to the piano tracks,
0:16:38 > 0:16:42you can just about hear some of the drums in the background
0:16:42 > 0:16:45because it was all done in one room, it wasn't done in a separate room.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48We put covers over the piano to try and deaden down the sound
0:16:48 > 0:16:50of the other instruments.
0:16:50 > 0:16:53But the bass, you can hear the bass in the background,
0:16:53 > 0:16:54you can hear the drums.
0:16:54 > 0:16:56The drums...
0:16:56 > 0:16:57..then.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01This is the drums on their own.
0:17:01 > 0:17:04DRUM TRACK PLAYS
0:17:15 > 0:17:19# Scaramouch, Scaramouch Will you do the fandango?
0:17:19 > 0:17:21# Thunderbolt and light... #
0:17:21 > 0:17:27Now John, who was on bass, we spread the bass over three channels.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29BASS GUITAR PLAYS
0:17:29 > 0:17:36We had the...drums and bass together and piano.
0:17:36 > 0:17:41DRUMS, BASS AND PIANO OF BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY
0:17:51 > 0:17:55VOCALS ADDED
0:17:55 > 0:17:59This is the solo from Brian.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04That was also recorded on one track.
0:18:04 > 0:18:07It wasn't done on multiple tracks, it was just one track.
0:18:21 > 0:18:22I wanted to make a little tune
0:18:22 > 0:18:25that would be a sort of counterpart to the main melody.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27I didn't want to just play the melody.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30It could all have been so different, couldn't it?
0:18:30 > 0:18:31I can remember singing it to Freddie
0:18:31 > 0:18:35and him going, "Yeah, that would be good."
0:18:35 > 0:18:38I think, certainly my best stuff is born that way.
0:18:38 > 0:18:41It's much better for me to hear it in my head and then try and play it
0:18:41 > 0:18:44than sit down with a guitar and let the fingers do it.
0:18:44 > 0:18:48The fingers tend to be a little...predictable
0:18:48 > 0:18:50unless they're being led by the brain.
0:18:51 > 0:18:57We were sort of getting off on the...on how far can we take this
0:18:57 > 0:18:59and how big can we make this?
0:18:59 > 0:19:03"Let's make a wall of sound that really is a wall,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06"that starts down there and goes right up."
0:19:06 > 0:19:09So, really, we were quite interested
0:19:09 > 0:19:11in seeing how far you could actually go
0:19:11 > 0:19:13before it became totally ridiculous,
0:19:13 > 0:19:18or the limits of the technology stopped you.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22OK, this is the little Galileo section,
0:19:22 > 0:19:26which is between high vocal from Roger and low from Freddie.
0:19:26 > 0:19:30So, this is Roger's track first.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33# Galileo, Galileo
0:19:33 > 0:19:36# Galileo Figaro... #
0:19:36 > 0:19:39We used to joke about pliers under the frock.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44We were lucky. We had a very good chemistry when it came to vocals.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47I mean, Brian could get down quite low.
0:19:47 > 0:19:50Fred had this incredibly powerful voice through the middle
0:19:50 > 0:19:52and I was very good on all the high stuff.
0:19:52 > 0:19:55So we all sang every part.
0:19:55 > 0:19:58Also, now you're about to hear the opera section.
0:19:58 > 0:20:01Only the vocals, no backing track at all.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04# Easy come, easy go Will you let me go?
0:20:04 > 0:20:07# Bismillah! No, we will not let you go
0:20:07 > 0:20:08# Let him go!
0:20:08 > 0:20:11# Bismillah! We will not let you go!
0:20:11 > 0:20:13- # Let him go!- Bismillah! We will not let you go
0:20:13 > 0:20:17- # Let me go!- Will not let you go - Let me go!- Will not let you go!
0:20:17 > 0:20:21- # Let me go-o-o-o - No, no, no, no, no, no, no
0:20:21 > 0:20:23# Oh, mama mia, mama mia
0:20:23 > 0:20:24# Mama mia, let me go
0:20:24 > 0:20:27# Beelzebub has a devil put aside
0:20:27 > 0:20:34# For me-e-e, for me-e-e, for meeee
0:20:42 > 0:20:48# So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye
0:20:48 > 0:20:53# So you think you can love me and leave me to die
0:20:53 > 0:20:56# Oh, baby
0:20:56 > 0:21:00# Can't do this to me, baby
0:21:00 > 0:21:01# Just gotta get out
0:21:01 > 0:21:05# Just gotta get right outta here... #
0:21:05 > 0:21:09John volunteered not to sing. I don't think he liked his own vocals.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12He wasn't going to get an argument from any of us, including the band,
0:21:12 > 0:21:14so, basically, it was the three guys,
0:21:14 > 0:21:17it was Freddie, Brian and Roger who would sing.
0:21:17 > 0:21:20This is going to be a rare scenario.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23We're going to be playing the instrumentation
0:21:23 > 0:21:25of the opera section without the opera.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27Just purely the track,
0:21:27 > 0:21:32and the track consists of drums, bass, Freddie on piano
0:21:32 > 0:21:35and Roger's overdub of a timpani.
0:21:35 > 0:21:39There's a few...stumbled notes here,
0:21:39 > 0:21:43which obviously weren't supposed to be heard. Now you might hear them.
0:21:43 > 0:21:45INSTRUMENTAL TRACK PLAYS
0:22:06 > 0:22:11# So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye... #
0:22:11 > 0:22:15The thing about Freddie was he was far more organised than he lets on.
0:22:15 > 0:22:17He'd have little scraps of paper everywhere
0:22:17 > 0:22:20with little things and Galileos here,
0:22:20 > 0:22:24so it was all written down just on paper and pencil.
0:22:24 > 0:22:27It seemed like it was a bit haphazard, but it wasn't.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39There was times it wasn't easy, it was very, very hard,
0:22:39 > 0:22:42but we didn't mind because we knew we were setting certain trends
0:22:42 > 0:22:45that then eventually technology caught up with us,
0:22:45 > 0:22:46so that was pretty good.
0:23:15 > 0:23:18Four hours into their visit to Rockfield
0:23:18 > 0:23:21and Brian and Roger can't resist striking up in the studio.
0:23:58 > 0:24:03- Yeah... - That note without the bass.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13Right, then. To the living quarters.
0:25:13 > 0:25:18# Seaside whenever you stroll along with me
0:25:18 > 0:25:22# I'm merely contemplating what you feel inside... #
0:25:22 > 0:25:26This is Roy, this is...Freddie, I think.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28And I think this is me.
0:25:31 > 0:25:34Welcome to my luxurious apartment.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36It wasn't just coming in to make Bohemian Rhapsody.
0:25:36 > 0:25:40It was like we had to make the album which was gonna, I guess, save us.
0:25:40 > 0:25:41If I'd realised Brian's room
0:25:41 > 0:25:44was this much bigger than mine at the time...
0:25:44 > 0:25:46There would have been hell to pay!
0:25:46 > 0:25:48Yes, this was bigger than Roger's room, yeah.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52# Fantastic, c'est la vie mesdames et messieurs... #
0:25:52 > 0:25:54It really was a job of work.
0:25:54 > 0:25:57I remember we utilised the various rooms
0:25:57 > 0:25:59about what is basically an old farmyard.
0:25:59 > 0:26:04# Duh, duh, do-do, do-do do, do, do, do, do... #
0:26:09 > 0:26:12This is definitely not on a par with Brian's.
0:26:16 > 0:26:17One of the key memories I have is
0:26:17 > 0:26:21we were all sitting up one Saturday night with nothing better to do
0:26:21 > 0:26:24than watch A Night At The Opera by the Marx Brothers.
0:26:24 > 0:26:26We were big Marx Brothers fans.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29- I think it's a nicer room. - Relatively opulent, his was.
0:26:29 > 0:26:32Kitchen... It's got a door and everything!
0:26:32 > 0:26:36We'd been thinking of things to call the album, etc, etc.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40Then suddenly it was there right in front of us - A Night At The Opera.
0:26:40 > 0:26:45# As a matter of fact So tres charmant, my dear
0:26:45 > 0:26:47# Underneath the moonlight... #
0:26:47 > 0:26:49This is in a rather sad state.
0:26:49 > 0:26:52This is the desk, actually, Bohemian Rhapsody
0:26:52 > 0:26:54and the rest of A Night At The Opera was recorded on.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58Missing its guts, some of which are still in use in the studio.
0:26:59 > 0:27:01I still enjoy hearing
0:27:01 > 0:27:04A Night At The Opera as an album all the way through,
0:27:04 > 0:27:06cos that's the way it was designed,
0:27:06 > 0:27:10and Bohemian Rhapsody is the jewel in that crown, if you like.
0:27:10 > 0:27:13# Sensational seaside rendezvous... #
0:27:13 > 0:27:15Years before The Darkness were even born!
0:27:20 > 0:27:24After two weeks, Queen left Rockfield and went to London,
0:27:24 > 0:27:29where they finished Bohemian Rhapsody and the rest of the album.
0:27:29 > 0:27:32You know something special's going on.
0:27:32 > 0:27:33I've got this little phrase
0:27:33 > 0:27:36where there are two feelings in your body -
0:27:36 > 0:27:38you've got a feeling in your head and a feeling in your tummy.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40The feeling in you head is the one
0:27:40 > 0:27:42that fools you all the time and teases you.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45But there's a feeling in the pit of your stomach that you know
0:27:45 > 0:27:51when something's right or wrong, and this was just something fantastic.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53Absolutely fantastic. Seminal.
0:27:53 > 0:27:57When the album was finished, they had to decide on a single.
0:27:57 > 0:28:01At six minutes long, though, Bohemian Rhapsody was a huge gamble.
0:28:01 > 0:28:06# Is this the real life...? #
0:28:06 > 0:28:11I remember Brian brought a rough mix of Bohemian Rhapsody
0:28:11 > 0:28:13round to my flat in London.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16He says, "This is going to be the new single."
0:28:16 > 0:28:18And...he put it on.
0:28:18 > 0:28:23And, I think as everybody else he must have played it to said,
0:28:23 > 0:28:26"You ain't got a hope in hell of getting this played on radio!"
0:28:26 > 0:28:27Seven minute long!
0:28:27 > 0:28:30# I'm just a poor boy... #
0:28:30 > 0:28:36I had an acetate of it and I played it to a couple of people,
0:28:36 > 0:28:39one of whom was Elton John.
0:28:39 > 0:28:43And I played it to him and he said,
0:28:43 > 0:28:45"Are you fucking mad?"
0:28:47 > 0:28:49But Queen had a powerful ally.
0:28:51 > 0:28:55We invited Kenny Everett along, and he listened to it,
0:28:55 > 0:28:57and he said, "That's wonderful, that's great!
0:28:57 > 0:28:59"They should have a new position.
0:28:59 > 0:29:02"It shouldn't be one, it should be a position above that, like half.
0:29:02 > 0:29:05"And that's where it should be. It should be half."
0:29:05 > 0:29:07And we gave him a copy and we said,
0:29:07 > 0:29:09"Whatever you do, you can't play this." And he said,
0:29:09 > 0:29:12"OK, I won't play it," and winked.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15And them that following weekend, he played it, like, 14 times
0:29:15 > 0:29:19on his radio, Capital, show.
0:29:19 > 0:29:21The choice was made
0:29:21 > 0:29:23but Queen were about to go on tour
0:29:23 > 0:29:26and, anyway, they couldn't perform the opera section live,
0:29:26 > 0:29:27so they had to make a video.
0:29:29 > 0:29:31I have to say, the main reason we made it was cos
0:29:31 > 0:29:33we didn't want to go on Top Of The Pops.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37Not because we didn't like the programme,
0:29:37 > 0:29:41but we didn't feel comfortable standing around sort of...miming
0:29:41 > 0:29:44in a rather unfamiliar situation.
0:29:44 > 0:29:48We wanted to make our own vehicle. Plus we knew we'd be on tour
0:29:48 > 0:29:51and if it was in the charts, we wouldn't be able go in there anyway.
0:29:51 > 0:29:55We were actually signed to a company called Trillion
0:29:55 > 0:30:00that was an independent outside broadcast unit for sports for ITV.
0:30:00 > 0:30:02And we suddenly thought, "Why don't we use one of their trucks,
0:30:02 > 0:30:05"get their cameras into Elstree?"
0:30:05 > 0:30:08where we were rehearsing, and we'd film it.
0:30:08 > 0:30:11"We'll put it on this video tape stuff."
0:30:11 > 0:30:15# Now I'm here, now I'm here... #
0:30:15 > 0:30:17The band called in Bruce Gowers,
0:30:17 > 0:30:21who directed a film of Queen's 1974 concert at London's Rainbow Theatre.
0:30:23 > 0:30:26He didn't know then, but making the Bohemian Rhapsody video
0:30:26 > 0:30:28would change his life forever.
0:30:32 > 0:30:35He's now the director of America's biggest show, American Idol.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40There was a call from the band, from Freddie and the group,
0:30:40 > 0:30:42and we got together and talked about making a video,
0:30:42 > 0:30:44which weren't called videos in those days,
0:30:44 > 0:30:47it was called a pop promo.
0:30:48 > 0:30:52We had the idea of bringing the cover of Queen II to life.
0:30:52 > 0:30:56That was our favourite image of us.
0:30:56 > 0:31:00# And the light of the night burned bright... #
0:31:00 > 0:31:02This cover shot was taken by photographer Mick Rock
0:31:02 > 0:31:0418 months before.
0:31:04 > 0:31:07He'd been inspired by a picture of the actress Marlene Dietrich,
0:31:07 > 0:31:09which he'd showed to Freddie.
0:31:09 > 0:31:11He loved it immediately.
0:31:11 > 0:31:16He then went and worked on the group and, OK, cool, Marlene Dietrich.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18Freddie wanted to be Marlene
0:31:18 > 0:31:21and he was determined that should go down.
0:31:21 > 0:31:23The whole band was always involved
0:31:23 > 0:31:25in the discussion and the end result
0:31:25 > 0:31:28so it was a co-operative to that extent,
0:31:28 > 0:31:29but there was but one leader.
0:31:35 > 0:31:38Just sit there for a sec. Which one do you want?
0:31:38 > 0:31:41Try being Freddie for the moment.
0:31:44 > 0:31:48So how did they actually achieve the Bohemian Rhapsody look?
0:31:48 > 0:31:50There. That's good.
0:31:50 > 0:31:53How's that? Down again.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55OK and up again. That's it.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00We tracked down the team who shot the video.
0:32:00 > 0:32:04Cameraman Barry Dodd and floor manager Jim McCutcheon
0:32:04 > 0:32:07were sent to Elstree Studios to shoot the video.
0:32:07 > 0:32:11They had no idea they were about to become part of pop music history.
0:32:11 > 0:32:15They'd been in there rehearsing their tour.
0:32:15 > 0:32:18And what a better to rehearse a tour than in a film studio
0:32:18 > 0:32:21which is the size of a hangar and soundproofed,
0:32:21 > 0:32:23where the roadies come in, build the stage,
0:32:23 > 0:32:26build the lighting rig, build the sound rig?
0:32:26 > 0:32:29But then they wanted to create a video
0:32:29 > 0:32:31of one of the numbers that they'd done.
0:32:31 > 0:32:33Get the boys in, shall we?
0:32:35 > 0:32:39They had a very analytical approach to everything.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42They knew exactly where we were going with what we were doing.
0:32:42 > 0:32:45Take your positions, please.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47Stand by with the smoke.
0:32:47 > 0:32:50Here, using the Queen tribute band GaGa,
0:32:50 > 0:32:53Barry and Jim show us how they did it.
0:32:53 > 0:32:56I got to Elstree about 7.00 in the evening.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00Everything was lit, everything was organised and ready to shoot.
0:33:00 > 0:33:02We started shooting about 7.15.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06- Ready, Barry?- I think so, James. - Let's have a took at it.
0:33:06 > 0:33:09Lose the top lights, please. Back lights up.
0:33:09 > 0:33:10Let's have some smoke, please.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15And roll the track, please.
0:33:15 > 0:33:20Five, four, three, two, one, music.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23# Is this the real life...? # Stand by, cross fade.
0:33:23 > 0:33:27# ..Is this just fantasy?
0:33:27 > 0:33:30# Caught in a landslide
0:33:30 > 0:33:35# No escape from reality... # Cross fade. Up you come.
0:33:35 > 0:33:37# ..Open your eyes... #
0:33:37 > 0:33:42And we lit the four faces and we put the cameras on them.
0:33:44 > 0:33:46That was all done beforehand
0:33:46 > 0:33:49in one corner of this big studio, this big stage.
0:33:49 > 0:33:52It was later that we got on to the rock and roll thing but
0:33:52 > 0:33:53what a lot of people probably don't know is
0:33:53 > 0:33:55it was all shot in the same area.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01# I see a little silhouetto of a man
0:34:01 > 0:34:04# Scaramouch, Scaramouch Will you do the fandango?
0:34:04 > 0:34:08# Thunderbolt and lightning Very, very frightening me
0:34:08 > 0:34:13# Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Figaro... #
0:34:13 > 0:34:16What we did to get the echo effect on the "magnifico",
0:34:16 > 0:34:19we have a second camera looking at a monitor,
0:34:19 > 0:34:22and you get feedback, just the same as audio feedback,
0:34:22 > 0:34:24you get video feedback.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28So the vision mixer just opens the fader as he sings that line
0:34:28 > 0:34:30and you get this feedback that trails across.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32# I'm just a poor boy... #
0:34:32 > 0:34:34In those days, the technology was good,
0:34:34 > 0:34:37but a lot of the effects, we had to create ourselves.
0:34:37 > 0:34:38We used a thing like this.
0:34:38 > 0:34:41This is similar to the one we used. It's a multi-facet lens.
0:34:41 > 0:34:43We held this in front of the camera
0:34:43 > 0:34:46to achieve the multiple images that we see.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49# Thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightening me... #
0:34:49 > 0:34:54In those days, that was special effects. Sort of laughable now.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56It was make it up as you go along.
0:34:56 > 0:34:59# Spare him his life from this monstrosity... #
0:35:00 > 0:35:03BRUCE GOWERS: We finished shooting around 10.30.
0:35:03 > 0:35:07That was the choral element and the rock and roll element.
0:35:07 > 0:35:10Then we all hightailed down to the pub.
0:35:10 > 0:35:13When we came to edit, there was a rush to get it completed
0:35:13 > 0:35:16because we were trying to get it aired, I think,
0:35:16 > 0:35:18the week of shooting, on Top Of The Pops.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21# No, no, no, no, no, no... #
0:35:21 > 0:35:25So we cut it in maybe four hours, five hours, something like that.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28And as soon as it was done, it was shipped off to the Beeb.
0:35:28 > 0:35:34# For me, for me, for meeeee... #
0:35:38 > 0:35:40Stop the tape, please.
0:35:41 > 0:35:45I remember distinctly seeing the first rough cut that Bruce brought
0:35:45 > 0:35:47to show us when we were on tour,
0:35:47 > 0:35:49sitting around this little telly watching it.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51We all laughed very heartily,
0:35:51 > 0:35:53saying, "It's really funny, it's really great."
0:35:53 > 0:35:57Slightly kitsch...
0:35:57 > 0:36:00..but it seems to bring the song to life.
0:36:00 > 0:36:05The video took less than four hours to film and cost just £4,500.
0:36:05 > 0:36:08# Is this the real life?
0:36:08 > 0:36:10# Is this just fantasy...? #
0:36:10 > 0:36:14It aired on Top Of The Pops for the first time in November '75.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17It was unforgettable, a seminal moment in music history.
0:36:19 > 0:36:24I remember the Bohemian Rhapsody Queen thing being, like, a rarity.
0:36:24 > 0:36:30Something that, "Oh, my God, stop everything! It's the Queen video!"
0:36:30 > 0:36:33# I'm just a poor boy
0:36:33 > 0:36:35# I need no sympathy... #
0:36:35 > 0:36:37I remember watching the video
0:36:37 > 0:36:40and thinking, "Oh, my God! What is this?!"
0:36:40 > 0:36:43# A little high, little low
0:36:43 > 0:36:46# Any way the wind blows... #
0:36:46 > 0:36:49It just shocked people. "Wow, look at this!",
0:36:49 > 0:36:51especially those multi-images
0:36:51 > 0:36:53when the big choir was singing and all that.
0:36:53 > 0:36:55Nobody had ever done anything like that before.
0:36:55 > 0:36:56It was just brilliant.
0:36:59 > 0:37:03The video turned Queen and Freddie Mercury into household names,
0:37:03 > 0:37:06much to the delight of their families.
0:37:06 > 0:37:10Well, it was completely a different thing for us to watch.
0:37:10 > 0:37:15In those days, they used to perform live on Top Of The Pops,
0:37:15 > 0:37:19but this video came out and everybody was excited about it.
0:37:19 > 0:37:24And the way he sang, especially his costumes!
0:37:28 > 0:37:31I remember when Freddie came to visit us
0:37:31 > 0:37:33for a few days and stayed over.
0:37:33 > 0:37:36We thought we'd take him to York for the day.
0:37:36 > 0:37:41All we saw was a crowd of these schoolchildren
0:37:41 > 0:37:44coming faster and faster towards us and in the end
0:37:44 > 0:37:46we had to run the opposite way.
0:37:46 > 0:37:50And then I realised, "My God, he's being recognised by just everybody!"
0:37:52 > 0:37:57I went to the shops and I was very excited.
0:37:57 > 0:38:01They were all round the shops, Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen.
0:38:01 > 0:38:06I got one and I was so pleased with myself
0:38:06 > 0:38:13that I'm buying my son's first number one record.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16# Goodbye, everybody... #
0:38:16 > 0:38:20We were in Southampton, playing a concert in our tour.
0:38:20 > 0:38:24I remember my mother was there visiting.
0:38:24 > 0:38:28I got a phone call in the morning saying we were number one.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31I just remember going down to breakfast and going,
0:38:31 > 0:38:34"Guess what, Mum. We're number one!"
0:38:34 > 0:38:37It was great. It was fantastic!
0:38:41 > 0:38:45Of course, it hurts me now when I hear the song. It hurts.
0:38:45 > 0:38:48# Any way the wind blows... #
0:38:54 > 0:38:56Bohemian Rhapsody went on to sell
0:38:56 > 0:38:58more than two million copies in the UK alone.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02It sold millions more all over the world.
0:39:02 > 0:39:06It's highly collectable. Get your hands on one of these, though,
0:39:06 > 0:39:08and you're sitting on a small fortune,
0:39:08 > 0:39:11just like Queen's longest-serving roadie, Peter Hince.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15This is number 195 and, yeah,
0:39:15 > 0:39:19the most collectable record in the world, apparently. Very valuable.
0:39:19 > 0:39:22What's it worth? I think it's about two and a half to three grand.
0:39:22 > 0:39:24Given to me by my mate Fred.
0:39:24 > 0:39:28Thank you, Fred. It'll probably buy a hearing aid which I'm sure,
0:39:28 > 0:39:31after listening to all that bloody noise all those years,
0:39:31 > 0:39:34I'll need quite soon, so thank you very much.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39Some of the music press, however,
0:39:39 > 0:39:42didn't think Bohemian Rhapsody was worth a single penny.
0:39:42 > 0:39:46In Melody Maker, they decided the song had all the demented fury
0:39:46 > 0:39:48of the Balham Amateur Operatic Society
0:39:48 > 0:39:50performing The Pirates Of Penzance.
0:39:54 > 0:39:59Meanwhile, in America the song only reached number nine in the charts.
0:39:59 > 0:40:02Most people there didn't know what to make of it.
0:40:02 > 0:40:04There's a sense with Bohemian Rhapsody,
0:40:04 > 0:40:06it's almost the quintessential example
0:40:06 > 0:40:10of the kind of thing that doesn't exactly go over well in America.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16It may have captured the hearts of the record-buying public,
0:40:16 > 0:40:20but it had also captured their imagination.
0:40:20 > 0:40:22What on earth did it all mean?
0:40:24 > 0:40:26"Is this the real life?
0:40:26 > 0:40:28"Is this just fantasy?
0:40:28 > 0:40:31"Caught in a landslide No escape from reality
0:40:31 > 0:40:35"Open your eyes Look up to the skies and see
0:40:35 > 0:40:38"I'm just a poor boy I need no sympathy
0:40:38 > 0:40:41"I'm easy come, easy go A little high, a little low
0:40:41 > 0:40:44"Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me."
0:40:46 > 0:40:49So does anybody know what the lyrics are about?
0:40:49 > 0:40:51We went to Oxford University
0:40:51 > 0:40:55to ask some of the most brilliant literary minds in the country.
0:40:55 > 0:40:57At the start, it says, "Is this the real life?
0:40:57 > 0:41:02"Is this just fantasy?" Finding out what the fantasy is about and means
0:41:02 > 0:41:06is one of the problems in understanding the whole thing.
0:41:06 > 0:41:10The more you know about the personality of who wrote it...
0:41:10 > 0:41:12..a man, I think, between cultures...
0:41:12 > 0:41:16..between, if you like, selves, presiding over several selves
0:41:16 > 0:41:19several kinds of sexual identities and proclivities and habits,
0:41:19 > 0:41:24and also, Africa, India, London...
0:41:24 > 0:41:27It's a story that no matter how many times you tell it to yourself,
0:41:27 > 0:41:30you think, "What on earth is it about?"
0:41:31 > 0:41:33You can listen to it over and over.
0:41:33 > 0:41:37It's like a sweet lady woman because you try to fathom it...
0:41:37 > 0:41:39But you'll never understand it.
0:41:39 > 0:41:41Yeah, and you'll never need to understand it.
0:41:41 > 0:41:43The bottom line is you love it.
0:41:43 > 0:41:45"Mama, just killed a man
0:41:45 > 0:41:50"Put a gun against his head Pulled my trigger, now he's dead."
0:41:50 > 0:41:52Just killed a man? No, you haven't.
0:41:52 > 0:41:55Put a gun against his head? No.
0:41:55 > 0:41:59What you've done is taken a nice sounding rhyme from a Beatles song -
0:41:59 > 0:42:04"Got up outta bed Dragged a comb across my head..."
0:42:04 > 0:42:08That's what you're doing. You're inhabiting a world of,
0:42:08 > 0:42:09actually, in some ways, rather...
0:42:12 > 0:42:15I did read somewhere that you were the only person that knew what
0:42:15 > 0:42:18the song was about and you'd carry that secret to the grave.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21- I read that as well!- Not true?
0:42:21 > 0:42:24Well...I know what it means.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26I don't think it's that difficult.
0:42:26 > 0:42:30I think it's fairly self-explanatory.
0:42:30 > 0:42:32There's just a bit of nonsense in the middle.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36"Too late, my time has come
0:42:36 > 0:42:38"Sends shivers down my spine
0:42:38 > 0:42:41"Body's aching all the time Goodbye, everybody
0:42:41 > 0:42:43"I've got to go."
0:42:43 > 0:42:49Shivers, aching, all sorts of more or less sexual sensations going on.
0:42:49 > 0:42:56Indeed, the structure of the lyrics traces a kind of sexual rhythm.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00It ends up post-coitally, not in some nihilistic position,
0:43:00 > 0:43:05but simply in a state of careless, indifferent, post-coital exhaustion.
0:43:05 > 0:43:07"I see a little silhouetto of a man
0:43:07 > 0:43:09"Scaramouch, Scaramouch Will you do the fandango?
0:43:09 > 0:43:12"Thunderbolt and lightning Very, very frightening me
0:43:12 > 0:43:16"Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo Galileo, Figaro, magnifico
0:43:16 > 0:43:19"I'm just a poor boy Nobody loves me..."
0:43:19 > 0:43:24"Scaramouch, Scaramouch. Do the fandango." Brilliant words!
0:43:24 > 0:43:27Who'd use Scaramouch in a pop song?
0:43:27 > 0:43:31Galileo. Renaissance scientist, astronomer.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34There's no reason for Galileo to be here.
0:43:34 > 0:43:38Figaro - The Marriage Of Figaro, perhaps. Mozart?
0:43:38 > 0:43:40Magnifico - it's there because it sounds like Figaro,
0:43:40 > 0:43:43which sounds like Galileo.
0:43:43 > 0:43:45"Mama, I killed a man." Wow!
0:43:45 > 0:43:47OK, I'm there. What happened?
0:43:47 > 0:43:50"Nothing happened! We all went off singing nonsense!
0:43:50 > 0:43:53"Scaramouch, can you do the fandango?" No!
0:43:53 > 0:43:55"Easy come, easy go Will you let me go?
0:43:55 > 0:43:58"Bismillah! No, we will not let him go!
0:43:58 > 0:44:02"Let him go! Bismillah! We will not let him go! Let him go!
0:44:02 > 0:44:04"Bismillah! We will not let him go!
0:44:04 > 0:44:06"Let him go! Will not let you go!"
0:44:06 > 0:44:11Here you have a grab-bag of cultural allusions that may link together.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13We can make them link together,
0:44:13 > 0:44:16but if we do, that says more about us than the song.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18I think so. It may be just sound.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22What would Freddie think of us saying all this about his poem?
0:44:22 > 0:44:23- He wouldn't mind.- "Fuck off."
0:44:23 > 0:44:25He'd be absolutely delighted that Oxford University
0:44:25 > 0:44:27are talking about it. Fucking delighted!
0:44:37 > 0:44:40Presenting A Night At The Opera, ladies and gentlemen, this is Queen!
0:44:40 > 0:44:41CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:44:44 > 0:44:47# We are what we are... #
0:44:47 > 0:44:50As the world pondered the meaning behind Mercury's lyrics,
0:44:50 > 0:44:54Queen crowned their year with their single and album at number one
0:44:54 > 0:44:57and a Christmas Eve concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14I just loved this band. I thought they were terrific.
0:45:14 > 0:45:16They were fantastic live!
0:45:16 > 0:45:18They were amazing live!
0:45:18 > 0:45:20They could really play and they were dynamic
0:45:20 > 0:45:22and they had fabulous energy on stage.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25# When you shook my hand... #
0:45:29 > 0:45:31That fabulous year they had,
0:45:31 > 0:45:35culminating in the Whistle Test special at Hammersmith Odeon.
0:45:35 > 0:45:38Again, this is celebration time.
0:45:43 > 0:45:48Now we're gonna do a nice, tasty little medley for you.
0:45:48 > 0:45:50Just like the one we did the other day, yes.
0:45:50 > 0:45:56We'll start with a segment from a number called Bohemian Rhapsody.
0:45:56 > 0:45:57CROWD CHEER
0:46:03 > 0:46:05# Mama... #
0:46:05 > 0:46:07Bohemian Rhapsody stayed at number one
0:46:07 > 0:46:11until the end of January the following year.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14It was to take an extraordinary song from an extraordinary band
0:46:14 > 0:46:17to knock it off the top.
0:46:17 > 0:46:18# Mama mia
0:46:18 > 0:46:20# Here I go again
0:46:20 > 0:46:23# My, my, how can I resist you?
0:46:23 > 0:46:27# Mama mia Does it show again...? #
0:46:27 > 0:46:31We never suspected we'd nudge Queen off the top,
0:46:31 > 0:46:34but to release Mama Mia was an obvious thing
0:46:34 > 0:46:38because it had been such a big hit in other territories.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42The fact that the words "mama mia"
0:46:42 > 0:46:45are included in Bohemian Rhapsody as well...
0:46:45 > 0:46:48..it's...just coincidence.
0:46:48 > 0:46:52# Just one look and I can hear a bell ring... #
0:46:52 > 0:46:56When I first heard Bohemian Rhapsody on the radio,
0:46:56 > 0:47:01I thought it was pretty phenomenal and fantastic.
0:47:01 > 0:47:03I loved it from the word go and so did Benny and the girls.
0:47:06 > 0:47:10Bohemian Rhapsody went on to top virtually every relevant poll
0:47:10 > 0:47:13and continues to do so to this day.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15Queen picked up many other awards too.
0:47:15 > 0:47:17Perhaps the most impressive was this one -
0:47:17 > 0:47:19The Brits Special Award
0:47:19 > 0:47:23for an outstanding contribution to British music, in 1990.
0:47:23 > 0:47:25Thank you, good night.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29The following year, after Freddie Mercury's death,
0:47:29 > 0:47:31the single was released again.
0:47:31 > 0:47:33And guess what...
0:47:33 > 0:47:3516 years later, it's number one again, and here it is.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39This is Queen and Bohemian Rhapsody at number one.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41It sold an awful lot around the world.
0:47:41 > 0:47:44I think as much again as it had done the first time.
0:47:44 > 0:47:50I suppose I'm not gonna tell you I'm surprised.
0:47:50 > 0:47:53It's a great track.
0:47:53 > 0:47:57I'm sure it will have another lease of life in another few years!
0:47:57 > 0:47:58In America, though,
0:47:58 > 0:48:01it would take something other than Freddie Mercury's death
0:48:01 > 0:48:03to send it to the top of the charts.
0:48:03 > 0:48:05Queen's career there had nosedived
0:48:05 > 0:48:09ever since they'd released a video which Americans just didn't get.
0:48:12 > 0:48:13I remember Freddie saying,
0:48:13 > 0:48:18"I suppose I'll have to fucking die before we're big in America again."
0:48:18 > 0:48:22America had resisted from the days of I Want To Break Free video,
0:48:22 > 0:48:25where we dressed up in drag, which was unforgivable.
0:48:25 > 0:48:28# I want to break free
0:48:30 > 0:48:32# I want to break free... #
0:48:35 > 0:48:38But America's love affair with Queen was eventually rekindled
0:48:38 > 0:48:42and Bohemian Rhapsody became a hit again thanks to Hollywood.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44Remember this?
0:48:44 > 0:48:46I think we'll go with a little Bohemian Rhapsody, gentlemen.
0:48:46 > 0:48:47Good call!
0:48:47 > 0:48:51I think that scene in that movie masculinised that song.
0:48:51 > 0:48:55You know, I think it made it OK for people.
0:48:55 > 0:48:59Even though the song was a hit the first time, it wasn't a number one.
0:48:59 > 0:49:05But it became a much bigger deal when Wayne and Garth made it OK.
0:49:05 > 0:49:10# Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me-e-e... #
0:49:10 > 0:49:14I shot this thing probably for a good ten hours.
0:49:14 > 0:49:16And did it over and over and over again.
0:49:16 > 0:49:18# For me-e-e... #
0:49:18 > 0:49:22And all the perfect energy came together at the perfect time.
0:49:22 > 0:49:26# For meeeee... #
0:49:26 > 0:49:28It's like we all got struck by lightning.
0:49:30 > 0:49:33# Dun-dun-dun! #
0:49:33 > 0:49:35Great stuff, love it!
0:49:35 > 0:49:37I've been in that car, trust me,
0:49:37 > 0:49:42with a couple of mates of mine in Sheffield, I have so been there!
0:49:42 > 0:49:43It's classic!
0:49:45 > 0:49:48When the heavy bit kicks in and their heads go up and down...
0:49:48 > 0:49:50..I nearly wet my pants.
0:49:50 > 0:49:54Mike was asking for aspirin because his head hurt so bad!
0:49:57 > 0:50:00It's great hearing your own tracks on the radio.
0:50:00 > 0:50:03If it happened and we were in the Winnebago on tour or something,
0:50:03 > 0:50:05and it came on the radio, we'd all be head-banging to it,
0:50:05 > 0:50:08and just sort of enjoying the moment.
0:50:08 > 0:50:13I guess Wayne's World were closer to the mark than even they realised.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17Hello, everybody. Feeling good?
0:50:18 > 0:50:21Are you ready to rock?
0:50:21 > 0:50:25AUDIENCE CHEER Ready to roll? OK, let's do it!
0:50:25 > 0:50:28Even today, Queen's music lives on.
0:50:28 > 0:50:33More than a million people have seen the band's musical We Will Rock You.
0:50:33 > 0:50:35And the centrepiece of the show,
0:50:35 > 0:50:39the one generations of Queen fans want to hear more than any other...
0:50:39 > 0:50:42Why, do you really need to ask?!
0:50:42 > 0:50:44# Mama
0:50:44 > 0:50:48# Just killed a man... #
0:50:48 > 0:50:50I was four years old and it was my mum's favourite song
0:50:50 > 0:50:52and I thought it was brilliant.
0:50:52 > 0:50:54# Held a gun against his head
0:50:54 > 0:50:56# Pulled my trigger, now he's dead
0:50:56 > 0:50:58# Mama
0:50:58 > 0:51:02# Life had just begun... #
0:51:02 > 0:51:06"But now I've gone and thrown it all away, Mama, ooh."
0:51:06 > 0:51:09What can you say?! It's unique!
0:51:17 > 0:51:19I think it was probably...
0:51:19 > 0:51:21- We wondered when it was going to finish, didn't we?- Yes!
0:51:28 > 0:51:32I was quite young, but I remember the video. Very cool video!
0:51:33 > 0:51:35# Sends shivers down my spine
0:51:35 > 0:51:39# Body's aching all the time... #
0:51:39 > 0:51:42Goodbye, everybody.
0:51:44 > 0:51:47I've got to go.
0:51:47 > 0:51:53# Got to leave you all behind and face the truth... #
0:51:54 > 0:51:57What I remember is Wayne's World and the two guys singing it in that
0:51:57 > 0:51:59and I'll always remember that.
0:51:59 > 0:52:05# Mama, oo-oo-ooh... #
0:52:05 > 0:52:06Brilliant!
0:52:06 > 0:52:11First time I heard it was on the Live At Wembley video in '86.
0:52:11 > 0:52:14She was playing it and I walked in and I was like, whoa!
0:52:14 > 0:52:17# I don't want to die
0:52:17 > 0:52:21# I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all
0:52:53 > 0:52:56# Scaramouch, Scaramouch Will you do the fandango?
0:52:58 > 0:53:00# Very, very frightening me
0:53:00 > 0:53:01# Galileo, Galileo
0:53:01 > 0:53:03# Galileo, Galileo
0:53:09 > 0:53:12# He's just a poor boy from a poor family
0:53:12 > 0:53:15# Spare him his life From this monstrosity... #
0:53:17 > 0:53:20"Easy come, easy go Will you let me go?"
0:53:20 > 0:53:23# Bismillah! No! We will not let you go...! #
0:53:23 > 0:53:26- Let him go!- # Bismillah! We will not let you go... #
0:53:26 > 0:53:29- Let him go!- # Bismillah! We will not let you go... #
0:53:29 > 0:53:31- Let me go! - # Will not let you go... #
0:53:31 > 0:53:33- Let me go. - # Will not let you go. Never!
0:53:33 > 0:53:37- # Let me go-o-o-o-o-o! # - No, no, no, no, no, no, no
0:53:37 > 0:53:40- # Oh, mama mia, mama mia... # - Mama mia, let me go
0:53:40 > 0:53:44# Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me... #
0:53:57 > 0:54:04# So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye?
0:54:04 > 0:54:09# So you think you can love me and leave me to die? #
0:54:09 > 0:54:10I've had moments thinking,
0:54:10 > 0:54:13"Oh, God, I'll never get away from Bohemian Rhapsody,"
0:54:13 > 0:54:16but when I hear the thing I still smile and I still feel proud,
0:54:16 > 0:54:17and it doesn't really date.
0:54:17 > 0:54:20# Just gotta get right outta here... #
0:54:20 > 0:54:24You can't guess that something will grab the country,
0:54:24 > 0:54:28and eventually a lot of other countries, as much as that did.
0:54:28 > 0:54:33We were surprised at the longevity of the record...
0:54:33 > 0:54:35..but delighted,
0:54:35 > 0:54:39hence our infinite faith in the taste of the public.
0:54:50 > 0:54:55And that's it. All you ever wanted to know about Bohemian Rhapsody,
0:54:55 > 0:54:59and more, save for some choice words from the man who wrote it.
0:54:59 > 0:55:02FREDDIE: As far as our music is concerned,
0:55:02 > 0:55:04people should just listen to it and discard it.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07That's what people do. Wait for the next one.
0:55:07 > 0:55:09Bohemian Rhapsody always comes back,
0:55:09 > 0:55:12but, as far as I'm concerned, all those days are over,
0:55:12 > 0:55:15that era's over, that type of music is now over
0:55:15 > 0:55:18and I don't wish to even think about it or write about it.
0:55:18 > 0:55:23# Nothing really matters
0:55:23 > 0:55:30# To-o-o-o meeeee
0:55:46 > 0:55:50# Any way the wind blo-o-o-ws. #
0:56:16 > 0:56:19That's it. I don't know any more chords!