PhD Thesis from Barry Promane

http://h6793-music-art.wikispaces.com/file/view/queen+thesis.pdf

A visitor of my l8 website sent me this link some time ago, and I think that's a fantastic work with loads of 'new' info. It's also got many mistakes (not even nearly as many as my now defunct website, though) but it's still interesting and quite amazing.

Some of the highlights:

* According to Mike Moran, all Queen members were on the Barcelona album, even if they weren't credited. I wonder what Brian did...

* The story of Queen's involvement with Arif Mardin is told more in-depth.

* Barcelona was neither written for the Olympics nor commissioned by Montserrat about her birthplace.

* Freddie *was* indeed UP's main producer.

* Great to learn how EIFL originated.

Very cool !

You actually managed to read all that? Well done if you did.

And what's EIFL?

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]
Very cool !
You actually managed to read all that? Well done if you did.
And what's EIFL?[/QUOTE]

Exercises In Free Love!

putting aside the song interpretations and all the coverage to freddie's sexual life, the document has an interesting insight to the recording of bohemian rhapsody, hot space, barcelona, innuendo and MIH.

in recent documentaries we have seen Jim Beach taking all the credit for the barcelona reunion (being asked by freddie to do so). However here i can see again the version i heard at the time, that, after the "informe semanal" interview where Freddie mentions Montserrat, the producer Pino Saglioco makes the link between them.

The theory that Barcelona was never "asked" as the Olympic Theme, makes a lot of sense after the lyrics analysis and the mike moran word.

Here, they again put John Deacon in the Hot Space Wagon with Freddie, Mack probably supports this theory.

I would love to hear the real demo of You Don't Fool me, and to see the great work of David Richards from that demo to the final version (as this document describes)

I'll probably read this at some point. Looks interesting.

Now this looks interesting. I will surely read it. Thanks for the link

Wow - thanks! There goes my productivity for the rest of the week...

This is great stuff Sebastian, thanks a lot for sharing, and thanks to the author for this wonderfull research work.
I´m reading the Barcelona section first- i couldn´t resit it- and i´m simply fascinated by it.
It answers all my questions i had about the original recording, the Synths, the role of Mike Moran in the project, why Freddie didn´t want an orchestra and other brilliant stuff. Especially because i was allways mesmerized about how perfect those synths sounded in that album. Mike Moran explains how he did it. Genius!

Thanks, the thesis contains great information, I also began by reading the Barcelona section. Although in some parts (like counter-arguing Laura Jackson's claims) there is stuff that, well, for example my MA-instructor would not have wanted to see in an academic piece.

I never knew Mary Austin was raised by two deaf parents, and was of a less privileged background? Any truth to this?

[QUOTE] [b]pma wrote:[/b]

I never knew Mary Austin was raised by two deaf parents, and was of a less privileged background? Any truth to this? [/QUOTE]

I´ve read it in the past about the deaf parents, so i assume it´s the truth unless someone knows better.

I read most of this and think it is very well written. I really like the detail of MIH. In response to Sebastian, what are all the mistakes you find? I don't spot ANY in terms of the writing style, and Promane seems vigilant to source his references, almost excessively at times. I wonder what he would say about Lambert now.

Some of the mistakes, which may come from Mack rather than Barry, are:

* Claiming HS sessions began in Montreux.
* Claiming HS uses MIDI technology (MIDI was announced several months *after* HS was released, and began being avaialbe over a year afterwards).
* On the equipment list, it mentions synthesisers that didn't exist in 1981-1982.

There are others, very small ones anyway, such as saying that the main part of KQ is on a jangle piano (it isn't - the jangle piano's an overdub, not a/the main part), and odds and sods here and there but, then again, they're neither nearly as many as the amount of mistakes my website used to have, nor are they big or very relevant ones.

@Seb:

Just a thought: as a super-wealthy, extremely famous band, wouldn't it be likely for Queen to have access to synthesizers before they hit the general market? I mean, can you think of better advertising for your new product than saying "as used by Queen"?

Not really with these dates

MIDI : 1983

Akai S1000 : 1988

Kurzweil K250: 1984

The Akai seems impossible without question, I agree. A Kurzweil K250 would be very unlikely, as it appears the first prototypes (for Stevie Wonder) weren't available until 1983. With MIDI, I think it's a little more difficult. This probably wasn't available to Queen, but theoretically, they could have used it from 1981 onward, as that's the year the major companies started developing their lines of MIDI devices. This would presuppose Queen had access to very early experimental models, and I don't think it's very likely, but I don't feel sure enough to rule it out offhand. The fact that it is mentioned alongside clearly inaccurate items does plead against its credibility.