Not surprising when Brian was used to getting his way, at least part of the time.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, part of the time. He's often whined about ''39' and 'Long Away' not being singles (though the latter was, in America of all places) as well as 'Sail Away Sweet Sister.'
[QUOTE] [b]cmsdrums wrote:[/b]
If it were me I'd have been frustrated with another artist coming into my band set up and pretty much taking over (even if albeit unintentionally).[/QUOTE]
Doesn't explain why neither John nor Freddie nor Roger (it was 'their' band as much as it was Brian's) felt frustrated.
scallyuk · Member since
Crystal said : - While we were in Montreux for a while doing some work on the Hot Space album, as we all know Mr Bowie appeared at the studio and Under Pressure was created. The following day he came in early and was going to do some harmonies and sax on Cool Cat. Dave Richards was engineering and Jobby and myself were the only ones in the control room while Bowie was in the studio singing and he was hot so he took his shirt off. Now, the thin white duke is actually very thin and when he walked back into the control room Jobby had just cracked a very very funny joke and I burst out laughing. My timing couldn't have been worse. He thought I was laughing at him and he phoned up Freddie and said, "I'm here in the studio trying to help you on your album and your crew are taking the piss out of me and laughing."
Oops. In trouble once more. Having said that he is/was an amazing talent.
EDIT: Freddie said to me something on the lines of.... "Oh don't worry about her dear, she'll get over it. "
then
After the recording of Under Pressure had finished for the evening the band and DB were going out to eat. That is everyone except Brian. He was, how shall we say this, not happy about the way things were going and was feeling a bit down in the dumps and he said to me he wanted to go and get drunk with me. Me? As if I drank
wink emoticon
So we set off to the nightlife of Montreux, which was the White Horse pub and the Platinum disco, cause we were already barred from the Hazyland which was the only other club in town. We succeeded in getting well and truly plastered. Brian has been known to say some very wise things in his life but tonight was going to be the exception to the rule where he said the most ridiculous thing ever. "Let's go back to the studio and have a jam. You can play drums."
There are a lot of words that could be used when describing my drumming but 'good' is not one of them.
We went and found Dave Richards and began to play. Dave on piano, Brian on guitar and moi hitting things. We even recorded it. We played for about an hour and it was great fun but I presume it was pretty bad.
So there is more unreleased stuff in the archives
then finally
Episode III of the Under Pressure trilogy: The Final Mix.
In a galaxy far far away.....
Well not actually that far but New York was the chosen place to mix it. I've no idea why they chose there as we had never recorded any thing there. Having said that Roger & I did use the Power Station to cut Fun in Space. The guys all flew out then the following day I decided to join them as well and jumped on a plane to NYC. While I was in the baggage hall at JFK I made a phone call. 10 minutes after checking in to my hotel a vision walked through the door. Hello Miss Atlanta
smile emoticon
After we, erm, 'chatted' for a while we went out to get some food and a couple of drinks then headed off to the Power Station. On arrival everyone was there, except the two singers that is. It turned out they were playing mind games with each other. Freddie was phoning the studio "Is he there yet?" Then Bowie would phone "Is he there yet?" It seemed like the biggest star wanted to be the last to turn up. Quite childish I thought. Anyway, it was getting late(ish) about midnight but my body was still on London time so I had been up for nearly 24 hrs and was feeling tired so I had to make a decision. Did I want to stay and listen to Pressure a million times or go back to the hotel with my friend. No contest. Goodnight guys.
The next day I decided I didn't really want to be at the mix and called Roger and said "Se ya in New Orleans in a few days." I got a hire car and headed off to Pennsylvania to see Trip Khalaf. On the drive down there I thought I was gonna cash the car a couple of times. The first while I was driving down the freeway and saw a sign pointing to a town called Blue Balls. Yea that'll be me after last night. Then the next was for a town called Intercourse. I thought about turning off and going there but maybe I was ok for a while
wink emoticon
A few days later the entire entourage met up in New Orleans to start rehearsals for a North American tour.
Pressure on again
Sebastian · Member since
Thanks!
Interesting ... the story about his jam with Brian and DR had been told donkey's years ago, but nice to see some additional perspective and nice trivia about 'Fun in Space.'
Why do roadies always feel the need to boast about their sexual encounters?
By the way, I'm so glad Crystal acknowledges the late 1981 tour was 'North American'. I mean, half of it was in North America (Mexico is in North America), but since it's been (mistakenly) called a 'South American' tour so many times, it's great to see someone (perhaps accidentally?) balancing it out a bit.
Sheer Brass Neck · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]cmsdrums wrote:[/b]
If it were me I'd have been frustrated with another artist coming into my band set up and pretty much taking over (even if albeit unintentionally).[/QUOTE]
Doesn't explain why neither John nor Freddie nor Roger (it was 'their' band as much as it was Brian's) felt frustrated.[/QUOTE]
Hey Seb, at the time I believe Brian's marriage was at best, not great, and his father was ill. The "amount" of guitar on The Game was less (not going to do a study) than previous albums, and if they were deep into Hot Space the guitars had diminished further. Think about CLTCL, AOBTD, Body Language and even the Brian penned Flash. 4 singles with not much Brian May sound, in fact nothing. If Save Me was truly about his role in the band and relationship to Freddie (a fascinating thought that needs its own thread), and he has jokingly acknowledged that the others kicked him out of the band for a while, then he may have felt that Under Pressure was the last straw and further proof that Queen as Brian saw them were losing their way. History proved the others right, song is a masterpiece and while a heavier guitar may have worked it ended up pretty damn amazing as is.
Sebastian · Member since
Didn't Brian's dad fall ill about half a decade later?
And both 'The Game' and 'Hot Space' have guitar on all tracks (100%), which is more than 'Sheer Heart Attack', 'A Night at the Opera' and 'News of the World.'
cmsdrums · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
Didn't Brian's dad fall ill about half a decade later?
And both 'The Game' and 'Hot Space' have guitar on all tracks (100%), which is more than 'Sheer Heart Attack', 'A Night at the Opera' and 'News of the World.'[/QUOTE]
I don't think the number of tracks with guitar on is the issue - more the type and style of guitars, and the song structure and feel.
For example, Chic or Kool & The Gang would have a whole album featuring guitars on all tracks, but it Brian had been their guitarist would he have been happy playing on that?
The Real Wizard · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]scallyuk wrote:[/b]
Freddie said to me something on the lines of.... "Oh don't worry about her dear, she'll get over it. "
[/QUOTE]
Man, that's funny.
Sebastian · Member since
I agree to disagree then. I do agree about the main point, though: Brian was certainly not happy about the way things were going.
Fair play to him, though, for not bringing that up when David died. Would've been completely out of place, like the one time he claimed (again) 'Thriller' had been inspired by 'Hot Space' ... the day after Michael's demise.
matt z · Member since
The odds are it WAS inspired by it.... a ROCK meets POP/SOUL album.... BEAT IT being the strongest of the bunch.
people rewrite and airbrush out the details when someone passes away, it was obvious on the lyrics sheet what was griping Brian.. And given that shitty bands like whitesnake were hitting it big at the time and Van Halen was pushing things... it must have been VERY shirking to play on a weak pop white/eurotrash/funk album for Brian. There's no need to deny it. He loves the instrument and its dynamics... that much is very clear. He's taken guitar places most would never approach.
anyways, getting back to the bit. Nile Rodgers has turned his story of meeting Bowie in an afterhours club into a G -rated version since the obits.
Now, instead of Billy Idol arm and arm and PUKING when he says "Look ere, there's BOW(puke)IE"... it's since become... "Billy Idol ALMOST puked when he said BOWIE"
(reference his interview on the PBS show SPEAKEASY regarding the likely more honest rendering of the story)
Whats the big deal? the band was falling apart and he felt miffed... Hard to say that everybody's pleased with EVERYTHING in their bands.
Sheer Brass Neck · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
And both 'The Game' and 'Hot Space' have guitar on all tracks (100%), which is more than 'Sheer Heart Attack', 'A Night at the Opera' and 'News of the World.'[/QUOTE]
I wrote "the "amount" of guitar on The Game was less (not going to do a study) than previous albums, and if they were deep into Hot Space the guitars had diminished further" with someone in mind Sebastian :) If you think that there is more guitar on The Game and Hot Space then your pedantictism has reached new heights! There are 8-13 guitars on God Save the Queen, maybe more than all of Hot Space.
Sebastian · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]matt z wrote:[/b]
The odds are it WAS inspired by it.... a ROCK meets POP/SOUL album.... BEAT IT being the strongest of the bunch.
[/QUOTE]
A lot of 'Thriller' had already been written and was already partially recorded by the time 'Hot Space' was released. A lot of 'Thriller' was written by people other than MJ.
If there was any Queen influence on 'Thriller', it was from 'The Game', not from 'Hot Space'.
A quick count on the amount of guitars 'Hot Space' has, and I'm only counting the ones Brian played: 1 on 'Staying Power' (there used to be more on the demo), 4-5 on 'Dancer', 2-3 on 'Back Chat' (power chords, lead and some harmonising), 1 on 'Body Language', at least 3 on 'Put Out the Fire', 2-3 on 'Las Palabras de Amor', 2-3 on 'Calling All Girls' and 2-3 on 'Under Pressure'. That's more than 'God Save the Queen'.
Negative Creep · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
I agree to disagree then.[/QUOTE]
What - with yourself?
Sebastian · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Negative Creep wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
I agree to disagree then.[/QUOTE]
What - with yourself?
[/QUOTE]
With the notion that the role of the guitar (or Brian, for that matter) had diminished by 'The Game'.
matt z · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Negative Creep wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
I agree to disagree then.[/QUOTE]
What - with yourself?
[/QUOTE]
With the notion that the role of the guitar (or Brian, for that matter) had diminished by 'The Game'.[/QUOTE]
Yes. Damn near most of it was recorded from songs written by others. The exceptions being Billie Jean and BEAT IT which were nearly all Michael (*excepting the HALL AND OATES connotations)
Pyt didn't sound ANYTHING like the final product
Human Nature was by a Porcaro about his daughter's confusion about why someone who liked her would want to harm her.
Wanna be was an MJ track with a bit of guitar bravado.
The girl is mine was a throw away to Beatles fans who would buy it even though the song **(although well produced) kinda sucked.
The best song on the album was THE LADY in my life. .. and it's obvious Michael didn't write that.
But the STRENGTH of the recordings ought to reveal that Michael was focused on breaking the ROCK BARRIER ... although it is REALLY a practical BLACK AMERICAN art form. ... it is still hardly acknowledged As such.
But it's true.
Negative Creep · Member since
[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Negative Creep wrote:[/b]
[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]
I agree to disagree then.[/QUOTE]
What - with yourself?
[/QUOTE]
With the notion that the role of the guitar (or Brian, for that matter) had diminished by 'The Game'.[/QUOTE]
I was taking the piss.... you simply stated "I agree to disagree" which doesn't make sense. You agree to disagree with someone else not by yourself.... regardless of how mis-used the expression is online.
