John's voice

Since John says he can't sing I was wondering Did John by chance sing lead vocals in a pre-Queen band and was booed for his voice

My total absolute guess is that he was too shy and inhibited to express himself in that way. And that his voice if had he felt free to use it would have been adequate and functional for backing vocals

Apparently he sang them the words of AOBTD and Roger told him never to sing again.

[QUOTE] [b]Rick wrote:[/b]

Apparently he sang them the words of AOBTD and Roger told him never to sing again.

[/QUOTE]

Priceless moment indeed,would've paid a big buck to see that hehehe

Right. Apparently . After eight years in the band John suddenly attempted to sing a future worldwide hit. But Misfire or You And I or In Only Seven Days he didn't try. Or he did and the band thought it was ok. But no he waited eight years to sing a song but his voice was then dissed by Roger.So plausible.

John was lead vocalist for 11 seconds.
https://youtu.be/T_Ud1VE3WHQ?t=3m2s

there was a demo of cool cat "now presumbled lost" had John's vocals on it but hated the sound of his own voice

^^ Haha, John trying falsetto would be priceless.

[QUOTE] [b]Rick wrote:[/b]

Apparently he sang them the words of AOBTD and Roger told him never to sing again.

[/QUOTE]

That's completely false. Just another example of how words get twisted and stories merged.

The interview in question is from 16th November 1997, BBC World Service: http://www.queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Group_-_11-16-1997_-_BBC_World_Service

Brian and Roger were asked if they'd heard John sing.

Roger said, 'I'm afraid I have to admit, I have heard him sing, and that's why you can't find him on the records... He's a great bass player though, for a singer.'

Brian added, 'I have to tell you I do remember John singing the lines to Another One Bites The Dust to Freddie, so it s possible you know, but he's a bit shy about it, he doesn't like to sing in public.'

There was absolutely NO implication of both stories referring to the same event, and absolutely NO mention of Rog telling him never to sing again.

Ultimately, when the band convened for the making of a new record there had to be some sort of noise coming from John's vocal chords when he presented a song, even if it was humming. It's just not logical to imagine any other way of presenting a composition.

Theoretically, he could've also played the melody on piano or guitar.

[QUOTE] [b]Sebastian wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]Rick wrote:[/b]

Apparently he sang them the words of AOBTD and Roger told him never to sing again.

[/QUOTE]

That's completely false. Just another example of how words get twisted and stories merged.

The interview in question is from 16th November 1997, BBC World Service: http://www.queenarchives.com/index.php?title=Group_-_11-16-1997_-_BBC_World_Service

Brian and Roger were asked if they'd heard John sing.

Roger said, 'I'm afraid I have to admit, I have heard him sing, and that's why you can't find him on the records... He's a great bass player though, for a singer.'

Brian added, 'I have to tell you I do remember John singing the lines to Another One Bites The Dust to Freddie, so it s possible you know, but he's a bit shy about it, he doesn't like to sing in public.'

There was absolutely NO implication of both stories referring to the same event, and absolutely NO mention of Rog telling him never to sing again.[/QUOTE]

I never start a sentence with 'apparently' again...

You did nothing wrong, it's not your fault. It's just, as I said, an example of how false stories spread like wildfire, just because they sound funny, spectacular or anecdotal. There are actually plenty of those, virtually one per album:

- The debut LP having been a low-budget project done entirely on downtime. Apparently, the receptionist had nothing better to do than ringing four landlines at 3 a.m. and they also always happened to be, A, there and, B, available to take their equipment on a bus at 2 a.m.

- Brian having written the 'Sisters' section of 'Seven Seas of Rhye'.

- 'Sheer Heart Attack' being less complex than 'Queen II'.

- 'Bo Rhap' having been written in 1969 and then being recorded on 16-track 2" tape over a three-week non-stop period commencing on the 24th of August 1975 and partly done at Wessex, featuring 180 vocals and being ultimately cut down from a longer, more epic, version.

- 'You Take My Breath Away' being played live before having been recorded.

- The Sid Vicious incident taking place during 'News of the World' sessions.

- Brian hating 'Don't Stop Me Now.'

- Andy Gibb having originally sung the first verse of 'Play the Game.'

- 'Flash Gordon' being done in between touring breaks in America.

- John being the (co-)dominant force behind 'Hot Space'.

- Brian not performing on 'I Want to Break Free'.

- 'Heaven for Everyone' having been penned for 'A Kind of Magic'.

- Spike having input on 'The Miracle' album (I did hear that a few times some years ago...)

- 'All God's People' having been written for 'Barcelona'.

- Fred recording 'Mother Love' less than two weeks before dying.

Now, all those 'myths' probably originated from something which was true-ish, but they all got expanded and then spread like wildfire, always in more melodramatic or memorable versions.

I think the reality when Deacon presented his compositions would've been a combo of what Moog and Sebastian have suggested. It seems most direct and practical that he would have demonstrated his songs on guitar/piano and singing simultaneously, to make clear the rhythms of the vocal parts.

However, if the few live recordings are any indication, he didn't have outstanding pitch, so perhaps he would have then needed to clarify melodies by playing them.

Especially when they started programming and using midis and stuff... in fact, a friend met Dave Richards ca 15 years ago and that's what he told her: John would record demos with keyboards and those demos would have melody lines, and John would give Fred the lyrics to sing to said melodies ... sometimes, in fact, Fred would write the lyrics himself (e.g. Rain Must Fall, You Don't Fool Me, Cool Cat).

Now, Dave only worked closely with John from '85 onwards, so his testimony doesn't necessarily cover whatever he did up to 'The Works'. He might've had a different strategy then. We'll probably never know.