The Story of Bohemian Rhapsody


The Story of Bohemian Rhapsody

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Transcript


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This programme contains some strong language

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NEEDLE CRACKLES

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# Is this the real life...? #

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We were suddenly in a sort of golden place.

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# Is this just fantasy...? #

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We were sort of getting off on how far can we take this?

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It's nearly 30 years old and still one of the world's best loved songs.

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# Scaramouch, Scaramouch... #

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It's the biggest single of the century.

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# Thunderbolt and lightning... #

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I never heard anything like it.

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For the first time ever, this is the full story behind Bohemian Rhapsody.

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We're on a journey of discovery back to the studio with the band.

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The man who put it together is going to take it apart.

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I've lost it.

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OK, I've lost another Galileo.

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-# Will not let you go!

-Let me go!... #

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We're going to find out how they made THAT video.

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And you get this feedback that trails across.

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# No, no, no, no

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-# Oh, mama mia, mama mia... #

-Mama mia, let me go.

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And we'll be asking

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some of the greatest literary minds in the country

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what the song is all about.

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Beelzebub does seem to make some sense!

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# Me-e-e-e... #

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# Dun-dun-dun! #

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Great stuff!

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"Mama, I killed a man."

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Wow! OK, I'm there! What happened?

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"Nothing happened! We all went off singing nonsense.

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"Scaramouch, can you do the fandango?" No!

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It hurts me now, when I hear the song, it hurts.

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# Any way the wind blows... #

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1975.

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History is made as the Americans and Russians meet in space.

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Saigon falls and Vietnam is finally over.

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At home, unemployment hits the one million mark

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as Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman to lead the Tory Party.

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Jaws is a box-office smash.

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And Queen release the single that will catapult them to stardom

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and provide inspiration for a new generation of rockers.

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# So you think you can love me and leave me to die?

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# Oh, baby-y-y... #

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Axl Rose performed the song at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert

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after the singer's death in 1991.

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He was joined by a host of stars who'd grown up with Queen.

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# Your mommy and your daddy gonna plague me till I die... #

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1975, I was working in a factory in Sheffield

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and daydreaming about wanting to be in a band

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that could produce material of the quality of Bohemian Rhapsody.

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# All your love tonight... #

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I was obsessed with getting all the music that band put out.

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It was a huge part of my whole growing up.

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# Whoa, yeah! #

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Even the band of the moment owe a huge debt to Queen.

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Bohemian Rhapsody is the Holy Grail.

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There's only that. There's nothing else anywhere near it.

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If you ask anybody, "Honestly, do you like Bohemian Rhapsody?"

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if they say no, they're lying.

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The release of Bohemian Rhapsody defied all logic.

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It was a song that broke all the rules.

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For a start, it was six minutes long...

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..and it had an opera section.

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# I see a little silhouetto of a man

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# Scaramouch, Scaramouch Will you do the fandango...? #

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Nothing like it had been heard before

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and there's been nothing like it since. But people loved it.

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It went to number one and stayed there for nine weeks.

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# Magnifico-o-o-o... #

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But Queen weren't a new band.

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It had taken them almost five years to get there.

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The year before, they'd had their first success

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with Seven Seas Of Rhye.

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Long lost from the BBC archive,

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this Top Of The Pops performance was videoed by a fan.

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Freddie's distinctive style was taking shape even then.

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# Seven seas of Rhye... #

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They always were different

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to everybody else that was around at the time.

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They always projected this image of

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being the big, huge rock stars

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even when they hadn't got two ha'pennies to rub together.

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Queen even turned to women's fashion designer Zandra Rhodes.

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I was well known as doing theatrical-type women's outfits,

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and I think it showed quite an extraordinary sense of thought

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that they came to me.

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But it wasn't just the rock star look that Queen were perfecting.

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Their unique sound was also beginning to take shape...

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..thanks to their producer, Roy Thomas Baker.

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Working with Queen meant, be pure definition,

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you were working out of the zone.

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Being told by Freddie and the guys,

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"Queen II - we've got nothing to lose,

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"just put anything in there,

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"any idea you come up with, just give it a go."

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# Once upon a time an old man told me a fable

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# When the piper is gone and the soup is cold... #

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# She keeps her Moet et Chandon in a pretty cabinet... #

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Queen camped it up even more for their third single, Killer Queen,

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which went to number two in 1974.

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# For Khrushchev and Kennedy

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# At any time, an invitation you can't decline... #

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By now, they should have been enjoying

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the trappings of a rock star lifestyle,

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but they were only being paid £200 a week between them.

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# She's a killer queen Gunpowder, gelatin... #

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Freddie was making demands, various things he wanted,

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and we explained to him that the money wasn't there yet.

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It would be there.

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We could see it coming.

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If the sales were like they were reported to be, it would flow.

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But no matter how much Freddie stamped his feet,

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there was no money,

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so Queen turned to Elton John's manager, John Reid.

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There was a kind of stalemate

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between them and the Sheffield brothers.

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Nothing to do with me.

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All I was concerned with was how to get it sorted out,

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how to let them move forward

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and let everybody walk away without losing face.

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So that's what I did.

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At that time, Freddie lived here, on Holland Road in Kensington, London.

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It was here that he wrote most of Bohemian Rhapsody.

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BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY PLAYS ON A PIANO

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Freddie invited me round to his flat in Holland Road.

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I went round and when I went in, the thing that struck me first

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was that Freddie was listening

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to the Liza Minnelli Cabaret soundtrack.

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At that time, I thought, "This is a rock group."

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This music didn't kind of fit.

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Then he showed me the flat. In the bedroom, there was an upright piano

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with candle arms on it, which was his headboard.

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And he said that sometimes during the night,

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he would think of something musical and flip it back and play it.

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He was double jointed. His hands could bend back completely.

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I think that's where some of the passages

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from Bohemian Rhapsody started.

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Playing it backwards.

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MUSIC: Sweet Lady by Queen

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In the summer of 1975,

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Queen left London for Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, South Wales.

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30 years later, they're back.

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It's the first time they've visited

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since they recorded Bohemian Rhapsody.

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I think there was a lot of stress

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and we were very worried about the management situation.

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We were away from home, away from our kids and our families.

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We had young children. It's not ideal.

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We'd just signed up with John Reid, who was Elton's manager,

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and John had said, "OK, boys, I'll take care of the business,

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"you just make the best album you've ever made."

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So there was that feeling.

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It was like, "We have to go in here and kill."

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I actually remember driving here,

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thinking, "I think I'm going the right way,"

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and playing Sheer Heart Attack, thinking,

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"That was the last one we did. Oh, God, that's good, isn't it?

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"It's going to be hard to make a better one than that."

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-Welcome back after all these years.

-Thank you.

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Must be like a walk down memory lane.

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This is where the seeds for Bohemian Rhapsody were sown.

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Queen spent two weeks here recording backing tracks

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for what was to become the most expensive record ever made -

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A Night At The Opera.

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# Yesterday my life was in ruins... #

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It's a poignant trip for Queen.

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This is where their journey from mediocre domestic success

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to international stardom really began.

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# Got a feeling I should be doing all right... #

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The control room.

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Yes, this does actually trigger some memories for me, I've got to say.

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It's a bit plush.

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I think in our day, I remember there was no acoustic treatment.

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This is the Bohemian Rhapsody backing track for me.

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I can distinctly remember being here and seeing you guys go through it.

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Our backing tracks were always either bass, guitar and drums

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or bass, piano and drums.

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This one would be Roger, Freddie and John.

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They're putting down the backing track

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and there's lots of spaces in it for the operatic bits.

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Lots of gaps and Freddie conducting.

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-Shall we have a look in the studio?

-Yeah.

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Here, for the very first time, you can hear Freddie Mercury rehearsing

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the piano parts for what producer Roy Thomas Baker calls Fred's Thing.

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These outtakes from the original recording sessions at Rockfield

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have never been heard before.

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Take one of mark two version of Fred's Thing.

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PIANO MUSIC FOR BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

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MUSIC STOPS Fuck!

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-Still too slow!

-No, that's nice! That's nice.

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Bit slower, though.

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He just said, "Look, I've got this very strange thing.

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"You have to be patient when we do it cos there'll be lots of gaps."

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As soon as we'd mapped it out,

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we all understood what was happening

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but it was a bit confusing at first.

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-It's sort of coming back a bit.

-Hmm.

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-I think the piano WAS about there.

-I think it was.

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-Like that.

-Yeah, more like that than like that.

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You were over there, but there was no partition for the drums.

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-Yeah, that's right.

-It was just all in one room.

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Yeah. That was the drum kit.

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Yeah. Nine AC30s, of course,

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but I don't think I would have had the nine in here.

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We were still saving up for the one, weren't we?

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Yeah! I think most likely I would have had three.

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I remember the first time I heard the melody,

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-the main sort of melody, I loved the melody.

-Yeah.

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A lot of our stuff was done, written in the studio,

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but this was an exception. Really, as Roger says,

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it was all in Freddie's mind before we started.

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Freddie was a great person to be in a band with really because,

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one, he was such a great... rhythmic, rhythmic piano player,

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and it made the backing tracks very easy to do.

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They sort of... It all knitted together. They swung well.

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His bony fingers would whack it out.

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The backing tracks, if you listen to them now, are immaculate!

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Freddie and Roger and John are just absolutely together.

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It's totally live, totally real. There's a feel there.

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PERCUSSIVE MUSIC PLAYS

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As soon as you hit an E flat chord on here,

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you think of Freddie. I do, anyway.

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It's nearly 20 years since Queen played together.

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This performance at Wembley in 1986 saw them bow out on top.

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No-one could sell tickets faster.

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But if it hadn't been for the success of Bohemian Rhapsody,

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they might never have got there.

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So what's so special about the song that made Queen?

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To find out, we have to speak to the man who put it all together.

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Capitol Records, Hollywood, Los Angeles -

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home to some of the most important recordings in the history of music.

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Nearly 30 years after he delivered the finished track to EMI,

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Roy Thomas Baker has come here to take Bohemian Rhapsody apart.

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-# Galileo... #

-I've lost it.

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OK, I've lost another Galileo.

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There's another Galileo missing.

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This is the original 24-track tape in its original box.

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It's now so fragile

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that it has to be baked in an oven before it can be played

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or it will disintegrate.

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And here's Freddie's doodles on the sleeve notes,

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which he did at the time Bohemian Rhapsody was recording.

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# Thunderbolt and lightning, Very, very frightening me... #

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The original mix, when we were doing it manually,

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it was a case of I was sitting approximately here,

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controlling the drums, bass, piano, guitars.

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Then, about here was Freddie, and he had control over the vocals.

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He'd be switching vocals on and off and doing it that way.

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Let me push up the...

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# This time tomorrow

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# Carry on, carry on

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# As if nothing really matters... #

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So this is the piano.

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This is the piano solo.

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This was actually done live by Freddie as we were doing the track.

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So when you listen to the piano tracks,

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you can just about hear some of the drums in the background

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because it was all done in one room, it wasn't done in a separate room.

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We put covers over the piano to try and deaden down the sound

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of the other instruments.

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But the bass, you can hear the bass in the background,

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you can hear the drums.

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The drums...

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..then.

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This is the drums on their own.

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DRUM TRACK PLAYS

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# Scaramouch, Scaramouch Will you do the fandango?

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# Thunderbolt and light... #

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Now John, who was on bass, we spread the bass over three channels.

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BASS GUITAR PLAYS

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We had the...drums and bass together and piano.

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DRUMS, BASS AND PIANO OF BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY

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VOCALS ADDED

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This is the solo from Brian.

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That was also recorded on one track.

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It wasn't done on multiple tracks, it was just one track.

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I wanted to make a little tune

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that would be a sort of counterpart to the main melody.

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I didn't want to just play the melody.

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It could all have been so different, couldn't it?

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I can remember singing it to Freddie

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and him going, "Yeah, that would be good."

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I think, certainly my best stuff is born that way.

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It's much better for me to hear it in my head and then try and play it

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than sit down with a guitar and let the fingers do it.

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The fingers tend to be a little...predictable

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unless they're being led by the brain.

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We were sort of getting off on the...on how far can we take this

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and how big can we make this?

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"Let's make a wall of sound that really is a wall,

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"that starts down there and goes right up."

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So, really, we were quite interested

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in seeing how far you could actually go

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before it became totally ridiculous,

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or the limits of the technology stopped you.

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OK, this is the little Galileo section,

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which is between high vocal from Roger and low from Freddie.

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So, this is Roger's track first.

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# Galileo, Galileo

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# Galileo Figaro... #

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We used to joke about pliers under the frock.

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We were lucky. We had a very good chemistry when it came to vocals.

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I mean, Brian could get down quite low.

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Fred had this incredibly powerful voice through the middle

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and I was very good on all the high stuff.

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So we all sang every part.

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Also, now you're about to hear the opera section.

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Only the vocals, no backing track at all.

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# Easy come, easy go Will you let me go?

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# Bismillah! No, we will not let you go

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# Let him go!

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# Bismillah! We will not let you go!

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-# Let him go!

-Bismillah! We will not let you go

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-# Let me go!

-Will not let you go

-Let me go!

-Will not let you go!

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-# Let me go-o-o-o

-No, no, no, no, no, no, no

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# Oh, mama mia, mama mia

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# Mama mia, let me go

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# Beelzebub has a devil put aside

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# For me-e-e, for me-e-e, for meeee

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# So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye

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# So you think you can love me and leave me to die

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# Oh, baby

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# Can't do this to me, baby

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# Just gotta get out

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# Just gotta get right outta here... #

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John volunteered not to sing. I don't think he liked his own vocals.

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He wasn't going to get an argument from any of us, including the band,

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so, basically, it was the three guys,

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it was Freddie, Brian and Roger who would sing.

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This is going to be a rare scenario.

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We're going to be playing the instrumentation

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of the opera section without the opera.

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Just purely the track,

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and the track consists of drums, bass, Freddie on piano

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and Roger's overdub of a timpani.

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There's a few...stumbled notes here,

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which obviously weren't supposed to be heard. Now you might hear them.

0:21:390:21:43

INSTRUMENTAL TRACK PLAYS

0:21:430:21:45

# So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye... #

0:22:060:22:11

The thing about Freddie was he was far more organised than he lets on.

0:22:110:22:15

He'd have little scraps of paper everywhere

0:22:150:22:17

with little things and Galileos here,

0:22:170:22:20

so it was all written down just on paper and pencil.

0:22:200:22:24

It seemed like it was a bit haphazard, but it wasn't.

0:22:240:22:27

There was times it wasn't easy, it was very, very hard,

0:22:360:22:39

but we didn't mind because we knew we were setting certain trends

0:22:390:22:42

that then eventually technology caught up with us,

0:22:420:22:45

so that was pretty good.

0:22:450:22:46

Four hours into their visit to Rockfield

0:23:150:23:18

and Brian and Roger can't resist striking up in the studio.

0:23:180:23:21

-Yeah...

-That note without the bass.

0:23:580:24:03

Right, then. To the living quarters.

0:25:110:25:13

# Seaside whenever you stroll along with me

0:25:130:25:18

# I'm merely contemplating what you feel inside... #

0:25:180:25:22

This is Roy, this is...Freddie, I think.

0:25:220:25:26

And I think this is me.

0:25:260:25:28

Welcome to my luxurious apartment.

0:25:310:25:34

It wasn't just coming in to make Bohemian Rhapsody.

0:25:340:25:36

It was like we had to make the album which was gonna, I guess, save us.

0:25:360:25:40

If I'd realised Brian's room

0:25:400:25:41

was this much bigger than mine at the time...

0:25:410:25:44

There would have been hell to pay!

0:25:440:25:46

Yes, this was bigger than Roger's room, yeah.

0:25:460:25:48

# Fantastic, c'est la vie mesdames et messieurs... #

0:25:480:25:52

It really was a job of work.

0:25:520:25:54

I remember we utilised the various rooms

0:25:540:25:57

about what is basically an old farmyard.

0:25:570:25:59

# Duh, duh, do-do, do-do do, do, do, do, do... #

0:25:590:26:04

This is definitely not on a par with Brian's.

0:26:090:26:12

One of the key memories I have is

0:26:160:26:17

we were all sitting up one Saturday night with nothing better to do

0:26:170:26:21

than watch A Night At The Opera by the Marx Brothers.

0:26:210:26:24

We were big Marx Brothers fans.

0:26:240:26:26

-I think it's a nicer room.

-Relatively opulent, his was.

0:26:260:26:29

Kitchen... It's got a door and everything!

0:26:290:26:32

We'd been thinking of things to call the album, etc, etc.

0:26:320:26:36

Then suddenly it was there right in front of us - A Night At The Opera.

0:26:360:26:40

# As a matter of fact So tres charmant, my dear

0:26:400:26:45

# Underneath the moonlight... #

0:26:450:26:47

This is in a rather sad state.

0:26:470:26:49

This is the desk, actually, Bohemian Rhapsody

0:26:490:26:52

and the rest of A Night At The Opera was recorded on.

0:26:520:26:54

Missing its guts, some of which are still in use in the studio.

0:26:540:26:58

I still enjoy hearing

0:26:590:27:01

A Night At The Opera as an album all the way through,

0:27:010:27:04

cos that's the way it was designed,

0:27:040:27:06

and Bohemian Rhapsody is the jewel in that crown, if you like.

0:27:060:27:10

# Sensational seaside rendezvous... #

0:27:100:27:13

Years before The Darkness were even born!

0:27:130:27:15

After two weeks, Queen left Rockfield and went to London,

0:27:200:27:24

where they finished Bohemian Rhapsody and the rest of the album.

0:27:240:27:29

You know something special's going on.

0:27:290:27:32

I've got this little phrase

0:27:320:27:33

where there are two feelings in your body -

0:27:330:27:36

you've got a feeling in your head and a feeling in your tummy.

0:27:360:27:38

The feeling in you head is the one

0:27:380:27:40

that fools you all the time and teases you.

0:27:400:27:42

But there's a feeling in the pit of your stomach that you know

0:27:420:27:45

when something's right or wrong, and this was just something fantastic.

0:27:450:27:51

Absolutely fantastic. Seminal.

0:27:510:27:53

When the album was finished, they had to decide on a single.

0:27:530:27:57

At six minutes long, though, Bohemian Rhapsody was a huge gamble.

0:27:570:28:01

# Is this the real life...? #

0:28:010:28:06

I remember Brian brought a rough mix of Bohemian Rhapsody

0:28:060:28:11

round to my flat in London.

0:28:110:28:13

He says, "This is going to be the new single."

0:28:130:28:16

And...he put it on.

0:28:160:28:18

And, I think as everybody else he must have played it to said,

0:28:180:28:23

"You ain't got a hope in hell of getting this played on radio!"

0:28:230:28:26

Seven minute long!

0:28:260:28:27

# I'm just a poor boy... #

0:28:270:28:30

I had an acetate of it and I played it to a couple of people,

0:28:300:28:36

one of whom was Elton John.

0:28:360:28:39

And I played it to him and he said,

0:28:390:28:43

"Are you fucking mad?"

0:28:430:28:45

But Queen had a powerful ally.

0:28:470:28:49

We invited Kenny Everett along, and he listened to it,

0:28:510:28:55

and he said, "That's wonderful, that's great!

0:28:550:28:57

"They should have a new position.

0:28:570:28:59

"It shouldn't be one, it should be a position above that, like half.

0:28:590:29:02

"And that's where it should be. It should be half."

0:29:020:29:05

And we gave him a copy and we said,

0:29:050:29:07

"Whatever you do, you can't play this." And he said,

0:29:070:29:09

"OK, I won't play it," and winked.

0:29:090:29:12

And them that following weekend, he played it, like, 14 times

0:29:120:29:15

on his radio, Capital, show.

0:29:150:29:19

The choice was made

0:29:190:29:21

but Queen were about to go on tour

0:29:210:29:23

and, anyway, they couldn't perform the opera section live,

0:29:230:29:26

so they had to make a video.

0:29:260:29:27

I have to say, the main reason we made it was cos

0:29:290:29:31

we didn't want to go on Top Of The Pops.

0:29:310:29:33

Not because we didn't like the programme,

0:29:350:29:37

but we didn't feel comfortable standing around sort of...miming

0:29:370:29:41

in a rather unfamiliar situation.

0:29:410:29:44

We wanted to make our own vehicle. Plus we knew we'd be on tour

0:29:440:29:48

and if it was in the charts, we wouldn't be able go in there anyway.

0:29:480:29:51

We were actually signed to a company called Trillion

0:29:510:29:55

that was an independent outside broadcast unit for sports for ITV.

0:29:550:30:00

And we suddenly thought, "Why don't we use one of their trucks,

0:30:000:30:02

"get their cameras into Elstree?"

0:30:020:30:05

where we were rehearsing, and we'd film it.

0:30:050:30:08

"We'll put it on this video tape stuff."

0:30:080:30:11

# Now I'm here, now I'm here... #

0:30:110:30:15

The band called in Bruce Gowers,

0:30:150:30:17

who directed a film of Queen's 1974 concert at London's Rainbow Theatre.

0:30:170:30:21

He didn't know then, but making the Bohemian Rhapsody video

0:30:230:30:26

would change his life forever.

0:30:260:30:28

He's now the director of America's biggest show, American Idol.

0:30:320:30:35

There was a call from the band, from Freddie and the group,

0:30:370:30:40

and we got together and talked about making a video,

0:30:400:30:42

which weren't called videos in those days,

0:30:420:30:44

it was called a pop promo.

0:30:440:30:47

We had the idea of bringing the cover of Queen II to life.

0:30:480:30:52

That was our favourite image of us.

0:30:520:30:56

# And the light of the night burned bright... #

0:30:560:31:00

This cover shot was taken by photographer Mick Rock

0:31:000:31:02

18 months before.

0:31:020:31:04

He'd been inspired by a picture of the actress Marlene Dietrich,

0:31:040:31:07

which he'd showed to Freddie.

0:31:070:31:09

He loved it immediately.

0:31:090:31:11

He then went and worked on the group and, OK, cool, Marlene Dietrich.

0:31:110:31:16

Freddie wanted to be Marlene

0:31:160:31:18

and he was determined that should go down.

0:31:180:31:21

The whole band was always involved

0:31:210:31:23

in the discussion and the end result

0:31:230:31:25

so it was a co-operative to that extent,

0:31:250:31:28

but there was but one leader.

0:31:280:31:29

Just sit there for a sec. Which one do you want?

0:31:350:31:38

Try being Freddie for the moment.

0:31:380:31:41

So how did they actually achieve the Bohemian Rhapsody look?

0:31:440:31:48

There. That's good.

0:31:480:31:50

How's that? Down again.

0:31:500:31:53

OK and up again. That's it.

0:31:530:31:55

We tracked down the team who shot the video.

0:31:570:32:00

Cameraman Barry Dodd and floor manager Jim McCutcheon

0:32:000:32:04

were sent to Elstree Studios to shoot the video.

0:32:040:32:07

They had no idea they were about to become part of pop music history.

0:32:070:32:11

They'd been in there rehearsing their tour.

0:32:110:32:15

And what a better to rehearse a tour than in a film studio

0:32:150:32:18

which is the size of a hangar and soundproofed,

0:32:180:32:21

where the roadies come in, build the stage,

0:32:210:32:23

build the lighting rig, build the sound rig?

0:32:230:32:26

But then they wanted to create a video

0:32:260:32:29

of one of the numbers that they'd done.

0:32:290:32:31

Get the boys in, shall we?

0:32:310:32:33

They had a very analytical approach to everything.

0:32:350:32:39

They knew exactly where we were going with what we were doing.

0:32:390:32:42

Take your positions, please.

0:32:420:32:45

Stand by with the smoke.

0:32:450:32:47

Here, using the Queen tribute band GaGa,

0:32:470:32:50

Barry and Jim show us how they did it.

0:32:500:32:53

I got to Elstree about 7.00 in the evening.

0:32:530:32:56

Everything was lit, everything was organised and ready to shoot.

0:32:560:33:00

We started shooting about 7.15.

0:33:000:33:02

-Ready, Barry?

-I think so, James.

-Let's have a took at it.

0:33:020:33:06

Lose the top lights, please. Back lights up.

0:33:060:33:09

Let's have some smoke, please.

0:33:090:33:10

And roll the track, please.

0:33:120:33:15

Five, four, three, two, one, music.

0:33:150:33:20

# Is this the real life...? # Stand by, cross fade.

0:33:200:33:23

# ..Is this just fantasy?

0:33:230:33:27

# Caught in a landslide

0:33:270:33:30

# No escape from reality... # Cross fade. Up you come.

0:33:300:33:35

# ..Open your eyes... #

0:33:350:33:37

And we lit the four faces and we put the cameras on them.

0:33:370:33:42

That was all done beforehand

0:33:440:33:46

in one corner of this big studio, this big stage.

0:33:460:33:49

It was later that we got on to the rock and roll thing but

0:33:490:33:52

what a lot of people probably don't know is

0:33:520:33:53

it was all shot in the same area.

0:33:530:33:55

# I see a little silhouetto of a man

0:33:580:34:01

# Scaramouch, Scaramouch Will you do the fandango?

0:34:010:34:04

# Thunderbolt and lightning Very, very frightening me

0:34:040:34:08

# Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Figaro... #

0:34:080:34:13

What we did to get the echo effect on the "magnifico",

0:34:130:34:16

we have a second camera looking at a monitor,

0:34:160:34:19

and you get feedback, just the same as audio feedback,

0:34:190:34:22

you get video feedback.

0:34:220:34:24

So the vision mixer just opens the fader as he sings that line

0:34:240:34:28

and you get this feedback that trails across.

0:34:280:34:30

# I'm just a poor boy... #

0:34:300:34:32

In those days, the technology was good,

0:34:320:34:34

but a lot of the effects, we had to create ourselves.

0:34:340:34:37

We used a thing like this.

0:34:370:34:38

This is similar to the one we used. It's a multi-facet lens.

0:34:380:34:41

We held this in front of the camera

0:34:410:34:43

to achieve the multiple images that we see.

0:34:430:34:46

# Thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightening me... #

0:34:460:34:49

In those days, that was special effects. Sort of laughable now.

0:34:490:34:54

It was make it up as you go along.

0:34:540:34:56

# Spare him his life from this monstrosity... #

0:34:560:34:59

BRUCE GOWERS: We finished shooting around 10.30.

0:35:000:35:03

That was the choral element and the rock and roll element.

0:35:030:35:07

Then we all hightailed down to the pub.

0:35:070:35:10

When we came to edit, there was a rush to get it completed

0:35:100:35:13

because we were trying to get it aired, I think,

0:35:130:35:16

the week of shooting, on Top Of The Pops.

0:35:160:35:18

# No, no, no, no, no, no... #

0:35:180:35:21

So we cut it in maybe four hours, five hours, something like that.

0:35:210:35:25

And as soon as it was done, it was shipped off to the Beeb.

0:35:250:35:28

# For me, for me, for meeeee... #

0:35:280:35:34

Stop the tape, please.

0:35:380:35:40

I remember distinctly seeing the first rough cut that Bruce brought

0:35:410:35:45

to show us when we were on tour,

0:35:450:35:47

sitting around this little telly watching it.

0:35:470:35:49

We all laughed very heartily,

0:35:490:35:51

saying, "It's really funny, it's really great."

0:35:510:35:53

Slightly kitsch...

0:35:530:35:57

..but it seems to bring the song to life.

0:35:570:36:00

The video took less than four hours to film and cost just £4,500.

0:36:000:36:05

# Is this the real life?

0:36:050:36:08

# Is this just fantasy...? #

0:36:080:36:10

It aired on Top Of The Pops for the first time in November '75.

0:36:100:36:14

It was unforgettable, a seminal moment in music history.

0:36:140:36:17

I remember the Bohemian Rhapsody Queen thing being, like, a rarity.

0:36:190:36:24

Something that, "Oh, my God, stop everything! It's the Queen video!"

0:36:240:36:30

# I'm just a poor boy

0:36:300:36:33

# I need no sympathy... #

0:36:330:36:35

I remember watching the video

0:36:350:36:37

and thinking, "Oh, my God! What is this?!"

0:36:370:36:40

# A little high, little low

0:36:400:36:43

# Any way the wind blows... #

0:36:430:36:46

It just shocked people. "Wow, look at this!",

0:36:460:36:49

especially those multi-images

0:36:490:36:51

when the big choir was singing and all that.

0:36:510:36:53

Nobody had ever done anything like that before.

0:36:530:36:55

It was just brilliant.

0:36:550:36:56

The video turned Queen and Freddie Mercury into household names,

0:36:590:37:03

much to the delight of their families.

0:37:030:37:06

Well, it was completely a different thing for us to watch.

0:37:060:37:10

In those days, they used to perform live on Top Of The Pops,

0:37:100:37:15

but this video came out and everybody was excited about it.

0:37:150:37:19

And the way he sang, especially his costumes!

0:37:190:37:24

I remember when Freddie came to visit us

0:37:280:37:31

for a few days and stayed over.

0:37:310:37:33

We thought we'd take him to York for the day.

0:37:330:37:36

All we saw was a crowd of these schoolchildren

0:37:360:37:41

coming faster and faster towards us and in the end

0:37:410:37:44

we had to run the opposite way.

0:37:440:37:46

And then I realised, "My God, he's being recognised by just everybody!"

0:37:460:37:50

I went to the shops and I was very excited.

0:37:520:37:57

They were all round the shops, Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen.

0:37:570:38:01

I got one and I was so pleased with myself

0:38:010:38:06

that I'm buying my son's first number one record.

0:38:060:38:13

# Goodbye, everybody... #

0:38:130:38:16

We were in Southampton, playing a concert in our tour.

0:38:160:38:20

I remember my mother was there visiting.

0:38:200:38:24

I got a phone call in the morning saying we were number one.

0:38:240:38:28

I just remember going down to breakfast and going,

0:38:280:38:31

"Guess what, Mum. We're number one!"

0:38:310:38:34

It was great. It was fantastic!

0:38:340:38:37

Of course, it hurts me now when I hear the song. It hurts.

0:38:410:38:45

# Any way the wind blows... #

0:38:450:38:48

Bohemian Rhapsody went on to sell

0:38:540:38:56

more than two million copies in the UK alone.

0:38:560:38:58

It sold millions more all over the world.

0:38:580:39:02

It's highly collectable. Get your hands on one of these, though,

0:39:020:39:06

and you're sitting on a small fortune,

0:39:060:39:08

just like Queen's longest-serving roadie, Peter Hince.

0:39:080:39:11

This is number 195 and, yeah,

0:39:110:39:15

the most collectable record in the world, apparently. Very valuable.

0:39:150:39:19

What's it worth? I think it's about two and a half to three grand.

0:39:190:39:22

Given to me by my mate Fred.

0:39:220:39:24

Thank you, Fred. It'll probably buy a hearing aid which I'm sure,

0:39:240:39:28

after listening to all that bloody noise all those years,

0:39:280:39:31

I'll need quite soon, so thank you very much.

0:39:310:39:34

Some of the music press, however,

0:39:360:39:39

didn't think Bohemian Rhapsody was worth a single penny.

0:39:390:39:42

In Melody Maker, they decided the song had all the demented fury

0:39:420:39:46

of the Balham Amateur Operatic Society

0:39:460:39:48

performing The Pirates Of Penzance.

0:39:480:39:50

Meanwhile, in America the song only reached number nine in the charts.

0:39:540:39:59

Most people there didn't know what to make of it.

0:39:590:40:02

There's a sense with Bohemian Rhapsody,

0:40:020:40:04

it's almost the quintessential example

0:40:040:40:06

of the kind of thing that doesn't exactly go over well in America.

0:40:060:40:10

It may have captured the hearts of the record-buying public,

0:40:120:40:16

but it had also captured their imagination.

0:40:160:40:20

What on earth did it all mean?

0:40:200:40:22

"Is this the real life?

0:40:240:40:26

"Is this just fantasy?

0:40:260:40:28

"Caught in a landslide No escape from reality

0:40:280:40:31

"Open your eyes Look up to the skies and see

0:40:310:40:35

"I'm just a poor boy I need no sympathy

0:40:350:40:38

"I'm easy come, easy go A little high, a little low

0:40:380:40:41

"Any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me."

0:40:410:40:44

So does anybody know what the lyrics are about?

0:40:460:40:49

We went to Oxford University

0:40:490:40:51

to ask some of the most brilliant literary minds in the country.

0:40:510:40:55

At the start, it says, "Is this the real life?

0:40:550:40:57

"Is this just fantasy?" Finding out what the fantasy is about and means

0:40:570:41:02

is one of the problems in understanding the whole thing.

0:41:020:41:06

The more you know about the personality of who wrote it...

0:41:060:41:10

..a man, I think, between cultures...

0:41:100:41:12

..between, if you like, selves, presiding over several selves

0:41:120:41:16

several kinds of sexual identities and proclivities and habits,

0:41:160:41:19

and also, Africa, India, London...

0:41:190:41:24

It's a story that no matter how many times you tell it to yourself,

0:41:240:41:27

you think, "What on earth is it about?"

0:41:270:41:30

You can listen to it over and over.

0:41:310:41:33

It's like a sweet lady woman because you try to fathom it...

0:41:330:41:37

But you'll never understand it.

0:41:370:41:39

Yeah, and you'll never need to understand it.

0:41:390:41:41

The bottom line is you love it.

0:41:410:41:43

"Mama, just killed a man

0:41:430:41:45

"Put a gun against his head Pulled my trigger, now he's dead."

0:41:450:41:50

Just killed a man? No, you haven't.

0:41:500:41:52

Put a gun against his head? No.

0:41:520:41:55

What you've done is taken a nice sounding rhyme from a Beatles song -

0:41:550:41:59

"Got up outta bed Dragged a comb across my head..."

0:41:590:42:04

That's what you're doing. You're inhabiting a world of,

0:42:040:42:08

actually, in some ways, rather...

0:42:080:42:09

I did read somewhere that you were the only person that knew what

0:42:120:42:15

the song was about and you'd carry that secret to the grave.

0:42:150:42:18

-I read that as well!

-Not true?

0:42:180:42:21

Well...I know what it means.

0:42:210:42:24

I don't think it's that difficult.

0:42:240:42:26

I think it's fairly self-explanatory.

0:42:260:42:30

There's just a bit of nonsense in the middle.

0:42:300:42:32

"Too late, my time has come

0:42:330:42:36

"Sends shivers down my spine

0:42:360:42:38

"Body's aching all the time Goodbye, everybody

0:42:380:42:41

"I've got to go."

0:42:410:42:43

Shivers, aching, all sorts of more or less sexual sensations going on.

0:42:430:42:49

Indeed, the structure of the lyrics traces a kind of sexual rhythm.

0:42:490:42:56

It ends up post-coitally, not in some nihilistic position,

0:42:560:43:00

but simply in a state of careless, indifferent, post-coital exhaustion.

0:43:000:43:05

"I see a little silhouetto of a man

0:43:050:43:07

"Scaramouch, Scaramouch Will you do the fandango?

0:43:070:43:09

"Thunderbolt and lightning Very, very frightening me

0:43:090:43:12

"Galileo, Galileo, Galileo, Galileo Galileo, Figaro, magnifico

0:43:120:43:16

"I'm just a poor boy Nobody loves me..."

0:43:160:43:19

"Scaramouch, Scaramouch. Do the fandango." Brilliant words!

0:43:190:43:24

Who'd use Scaramouch in a pop song?

0:43:240:43:27

Galileo. Renaissance scientist, astronomer.

0:43:270:43:31

There's no reason for Galileo to be here.

0:43:310:43:34

Figaro - The Marriage Of Figaro, perhaps. Mozart?

0:43:340:43:38

Magnifico - it's there because it sounds like Figaro,

0:43:380:43:40

which sounds like Galileo.

0:43:400:43:43

"Mama, I killed a man." Wow!

0:43:430:43:45

OK, I'm there. What happened?

0:43:450:43:47

"Nothing happened! We all went off singing nonsense!

0:43:470:43:50

"Scaramouch, can you do the fandango?" No!

0:43:500:43:53

"Easy come, easy go Will you let me go?

0:43:530:43:55

"Bismillah! No, we will not let him go!

0:43:550:43:58

"Let him go! Bismillah! We will not let him go! Let him go!

0:43:580:44:02

"Bismillah! We will not let him go!

0:44:020:44:04

"Let him go! Will not let you go!"

0:44:040:44:06

Here you have a grab-bag of cultural allusions that may link together.

0:44:060:44:11

We can make them link together,

0:44:110:44:13

but if we do, that says more about us than the song.

0:44:130:44:16

I think so. It may be just sound.

0:44:160:44:18

What would Freddie think of us saying all this about his poem?

0:44:180:44:22

-He wouldn't mind.

-"Fuck off."

0:44:220:44:23

He'd be absolutely delighted that Oxford University

0:44:230:44:25

are talking about it. Fucking delighted!

0:44:250:44:27

Presenting A Night At The Opera, ladies and gentlemen, this is Queen!

0:44:370:44:40

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

0:44:400:44:41

# We are what we are... #

0:44:440:44:47

As the world pondered the meaning behind Mercury's lyrics,

0:44:470:44:50

Queen crowned their year with their single and album at number one

0:44:500:44:54

and a Christmas Eve concert at London's Hammersmith Odeon.

0:44:540:44:57

I just loved this band. I thought they were terrific.

0:45:110:45:14

They were fantastic live!

0:45:140:45:16

They were amazing live!

0:45:160:45:18

They could really play and they were dynamic

0:45:180:45:20

and they had fabulous energy on stage.

0:45:200:45:22

# When you shook my hand... #

0:45:220:45:25

That fabulous year they had,

0:45:290:45:31

culminating in the Whistle Test special at Hammersmith Odeon.

0:45:310:45:35

Again, this is celebration time.

0:45:350:45:38

Now we're gonna do a nice, tasty little medley for you.

0:45:430:45:48

Just like the one we did the other day, yes.

0:45:480:45:50

We'll start with a segment from a number called Bohemian Rhapsody.

0:45:500:45:56

CROWD CHEER

0:45:560:45:57

# Mama... #

0:46:030:46:05

Bohemian Rhapsody stayed at number one

0:46:050:46:07

until the end of January the following year.

0:46:070:46:11

It was to take an extraordinary song from an extraordinary band

0:46:110:46:14

to knock it off the top.

0:46:140:46:17

# Mama mia

0:46:170:46:18

# Here I go again

0:46:180:46:20

# My, my, how can I resist you?

0:46:200:46:23

# Mama mia Does it show again...? #

0:46:230:46:27

We never suspected we'd nudge Queen off the top,

0:46:270:46:31

but to release Mama Mia was an obvious thing

0:46:310:46:34

because it had been such a big hit in other territories.

0:46:340:46:38

The fact that the words "mama mia"

0:46:380:46:42

are included in Bohemian Rhapsody as well...

0:46:420:46:45

..it's...just coincidence.

0:46:450:46:48

# Just one look and I can hear a bell ring... #

0:46:480:46:52

When I first heard Bohemian Rhapsody on the radio,

0:46:520:46:56

I thought it was pretty phenomenal and fantastic.

0:46:560:47:01

I loved it from the word go and so did Benny and the girls.

0:47:010:47:03

Bohemian Rhapsody went on to top virtually every relevant poll

0:47:060:47:10

and continues to do so to this day.

0:47:100:47:13

Queen picked up many other awards too.

0:47:130:47:15

Perhaps the most impressive was this one -

0:47:150:47:17

The Brits Special Award

0:47:170:47:19

for an outstanding contribution to British music, in 1990.

0:47:190:47:23

Thank you, good night.

0:47:230:47:25

The following year, after Freddie Mercury's death,

0:47:260:47:29

the single was released again.

0:47:290:47:31

And guess what...

0:47:310:47:33

16 years later, it's number one again, and here it is.

0:47:330:47:35

This is Queen and Bohemian Rhapsody at number one.

0:47:350:47:39

It sold an awful lot around the world.

0:47:390:47:41

I think as much again as it had done the first time.

0:47:410:47:44

I suppose I'm not gonna tell you I'm surprised.

0:47:440:47:50

It's a great track.

0:47:500:47:53

I'm sure it will have another lease of life in another few years!

0:47:530:47:57

In America, though,

0:47:570:47:58

it would take something other than Freddie Mercury's death

0:47:580:48:01

to send it to the top of the charts.

0:48:010:48:03

Queen's career there had nosedived

0:48:030:48:05

ever since they'd released a video which Americans just didn't get.

0:48:050:48:09

I remember Freddie saying,

0:48:120:48:13

"I suppose I'll have to fucking die before we're big in America again."

0:48:130:48:18

America had resisted from the days of I Want To Break Free video,

0:48:180:48:22

where we dressed up in drag, which was unforgivable.

0:48:220:48:25

# I want to break free

0:48:250:48:28

# I want to break free... #

0:48:300:48:32

But America's love affair with Queen was eventually rekindled

0:48:350:48:38

and Bohemian Rhapsody became a hit again thanks to Hollywood.

0:48:380:48:42

Remember this?

0:48:420:48:44

I think we'll go with a little Bohemian Rhapsody, gentlemen.

0:48:440:48:46

Good call!

0:48:460:48:47

I think that scene in that movie masculinised that song.

0:48:470:48:51

You know, I think it made it OK for people.

0:48:510:48:55

Even though the song was a hit the first time, it wasn't a number one.

0:48:550:48:59

But it became a much bigger deal when Wayne and Garth made it OK.

0:48:590:49:05

# Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me-e-e... #

0:49:050:49:10

I shot this thing probably for a good ten hours.

0:49:100:49:14

And did it over and over and over again.

0:49:140:49:16

# For me-e-e... #

0:49:160:49:18

And all the perfect energy came together at the perfect time.

0:49:180:49:22

# For meeeee... #

0:49:220:49:26

It's like we all got struck by lightning.

0:49:260:49:28

# Dun-dun-dun! #

0:49:300:49:33

Great stuff, love it!

0:49:330:49:35

I've been in that car, trust me,

0:49:350:49:37

with a couple of mates of mine in Sheffield, I have so been there!

0:49:370:49:42

It's classic!

0:49:420:49:43

When the heavy bit kicks in and their heads go up and down...

0:49:450:49:48

..I nearly wet my pants.

0:49:480:49:50

Mike was asking for aspirin because his head hurt so bad!

0:49:500:49:54

It's great hearing your own tracks on the radio.

0:49:570:50:00

If it happened and we were in the Winnebago on tour or something,

0:50:000:50:03

and it came on the radio, we'd all be head-banging to it,

0:50:030:50:05

and just sort of enjoying the moment.

0:50:050:50:08

I guess Wayne's World were closer to the mark than even they realised.

0:50:080:50:13

Hello, everybody. Feeling good?

0:50:130:50:17

Are you ready to rock?

0:50:180:50:21

AUDIENCE CHEER Ready to roll? OK, let's do it!

0:50:210:50:25

Even today, Queen's music lives on.

0:50:250:50:28

More than a million people have seen the band's musical We Will Rock You.

0:50:280:50:33

And the centrepiece of the show,

0:50:330:50:35

the one generations of Queen fans want to hear more than any other...

0:50:350:50:39

Why, do you really need to ask?!

0:50:390:50:42

# Mama

0:50:420:50:44

# Just killed a man... #

0:50:440:50:48

I was four years old and it was my mum's favourite song

0:50:480:50:50

and I thought it was brilliant.

0:50:500:50:52

# Held a gun against his head

0:50:520:50:54

# Pulled my trigger, now he's dead

0:50:540:50:56

# Mama

0:50:560:50:58

# Life had just begun... #

0:50:580:51:02

"But now I've gone and thrown it all away, Mama, ooh."

0:51:020:51:06

What can you say?! It's unique!

0:51:060:51:09

I think it was probably...

0:51:170:51:19

-We wondered when it was going to finish, didn't we?

-Yes!

0:51:190:51:21

I was quite young, but I remember the video. Very cool video!

0:51:280:51:32

# Sends shivers down my spine

0:51:330:51:35

# Body's aching all the time... #

0:51:350:51:39

Goodbye, everybody.

0:51:390:51:42

I've got to go.

0:51:440:51:47

# Got to leave you all behind and face the truth... #

0:51:470:51:53

What I remember is Wayne's World and the two guys singing it in that

0:51:540:51:57

and I'll always remember that.

0:51:570:51:59

# Mama, oo-oo-ooh... #

0:51:590:52:05

Brilliant!

0:52:050:52:06

First time I heard it was on the Live At Wembley video in '86.

0:52:060:52:11

She was playing it and I walked in and I was like, whoa!

0:52:110:52:14

# I don't want to die

0:52:140:52:17

# I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all

0:52:170:52:21

# Scaramouch, Scaramouch Will you do the fandango?

0:52:530:52:56

# Very, very frightening me

0:52:580:53:00

# Galileo, Galileo

0:53:000:53:01

# Galileo, Galileo

0:53:010:53:03

# He's just a poor boy from a poor family

0:53:090:53:12

# Spare him his life From this monstrosity... #

0:53:120:53:15

"Easy come, easy go Will you let me go?"

0:53:170:53:20

# Bismillah! No! We will not let you go...! #

0:53:200:53:23

-Let him go!

-# Bismillah! We will not let you go... #

0:53:230:53:26

-Let him go!

-# Bismillah! We will not let you go... #

0:53:260:53:29

-Let me go!

-# Will not let you go... #

0:53:290:53:31

-Let me go.

-# Will not let you go. Never!

0:53:310:53:33

-# Let me go-o-o-o-o-o! #

-No, no, no, no, no, no, no

0:53:330:53:37

-# Oh, mama mia, mama mia... #

-Mama mia, let me go

0:53:370:53:40

# Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me... #

0:53:400:53:44

# So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye?

0:53:570:54:04

# So you think you can love me and leave me to die? #

0:54:040:54:09

I've had moments thinking,

0:54:090:54:10

"Oh, God, I'll never get away from Bohemian Rhapsody,"

0:54:100:54:13

but when I hear the thing I still smile and I still feel proud,

0:54:130:54:16

and it doesn't really date.

0:54:160:54:17

# Just gotta get right outta here... #

0:54:170:54:20

You can't guess that something will grab the country,

0:54:200:54:24

and eventually a lot of other countries, as much as that did.

0:54:240:54:28

We were surprised at the longevity of the record...

0:54:280:54:33

..but delighted,

0:54:330:54:35

hence our infinite faith in the taste of the public.

0:54:350:54:39

And that's it. All you ever wanted to know about Bohemian Rhapsody,

0:54:500:54:55

and more, save for some choice words from the man who wrote it.

0:54:550:54:59

FREDDIE: As far as our music is concerned,

0:54:590:55:02

people should just listen to it and discard it.

0:55:020:55:04

That's what people do. Wait for the next one.

0:55:040:55:07

Bohemian Rhapsody always comes back,

0:55:070:55:09

but, as far as I'm concerned, all those days are over,

0:55:090:55:12

that era's over, that type of music is now over

0:55:120:55:15

and I don't wish to even think about it or write about it.

0:55:150:55:18

# Nothing really matters

0:55:180:55:23

# To-o-o-o meeeee

0:55:230:55:30

# Any way the wind blo-o-o-ws. #

0:55:460:55:50

That's it. I don't know any more chords!

0:56:160:56:19

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