clarification of Thor Arnold's role in Freddie's life

Some funny stories that I remember from the early 80's with Freddie:
When I met him at a New York City after hours bar called "The Anvil"
I had no idea who he was. In America at that time, everyone knew Queen
but ironically very few knew it's creator Freddie Mercury. When asked,
he told me his name was Fred and he was a musician. I said ok, cool. He insisted
that we go back to his hotel in MY car. In the rearview mirror, I saw a limousine
following every turn I made and very close to my car (later learning that this was his driver and
a frantic Peter Freestone). This raised some suspicion
in me and Freddie finally came clean with who he was. I know he LOVED the fact that
I picked him up without knowing who he was. He liked me a lot because I proved
over and over to him that I liked him for him and not his money or his fame. We
only ever spent one night together and from then on it was all friendship.

Next day,
Freddie asked if I wanted to attend his concert that night in Philadelphia. I politely declined because I was working full time
and going to school full time. When I got home that late morning, I said WAIT..how often does an opportunity like this come
along. Well I cut school and called in sick to my job. I had no way of contacting Freddie at that point but I did remember what hotel he said
he was staying at in Philly and he had mentioned his "hotel name" Alfred Mason. I contacted him from the hotel lobby and said..."well, I
made it here after all. I had never been to a Queen concert and I was completely awed and amazed.
After the concert we went to a bar and dance club called I think "the Stairs" or "Steps." Another One Bites the Dust coincidentally was blasting from the dance floor
Well, Freddie Mercury does not carry ID and when the doorman said he could not go in without ID, Freddie did something only very rarely that he called "pulling rank."
Of course we got in and Freddie commented.."I should BUY this PLACE and BURN it DOWN" a line I will never forget.

Yes, welcome Thor. You seem lovely, and Matt Z. like a lot of long time posters have seen so much shit tossed around I'm glad you didn't take his response personally. No question, just welcome :)

Thank you Sheer Brass Neck...I appreciate your message

Late response to one of adrians questions.
Actually Paul Prenter was very nice to me and my friends... His unrequited attraction to my friend Joe Scardilli actually helped me and my crew become a group of friends with Freddie rather than me just being a solo friend. It made things so much more fun and Freddie liked our popularity in the gay culture of New York. As a matter of fact, I worked my way through school working as a bartender at a popular gay club called "Uncle Charlies Downtown" Freddy loved it there and developed a crush on a big, buff Puerto Rican colleague bartender named Ray.

Interesting memory:
After Philadelphia my next exposure to a Queen concert was in Montreal 1981. Lee Nolan and myself were invited to join Freddie for his Montreal concert.
Overnight at a nice hotel, at about 4AM, the general fire alarm for the hotel went off. We all went to the stairs and ran out of the building. Freddie was on one of the higher floors,
perhaps the 40th floor. The alarm lasted for about 1 hour and we found out later that it was a dumpster fire on the second level below the lobby. At breakfast, that morning
we asked Freddie what HE did during the "fire." His response: "Well, dahling, I did two toots, blew dried my hair and ran down 40 flights"..outrageously funny for us.

hahahhahaha You have really good anecdotes, especially that "fire" at Montreal and he wanna buy Steps/The Stairs and burn it! It's nice hear them from the man who knew Freddie, and glad to know you were having a good time. We hope you enjoyed your stay here at QZ.

Hi Thor,

Thank you so much for your wonderful memories and insights, and thank you for indulging us - I can imagine it to be a little overwhelming when you're jumped on by a horde of eager fans bombarding you with questions left and right. I don't have any good questions right now, but I'm thoroughly enjoying the read!

Also, how awesome is it (from Freddie's perspective) to walk into a bar called The Anvil and meet a guy named Thor? That is, forgive the pun, the stuff of legend.

Just to echo the other comments here Thor - thank you very much for your interesting and unique input; fascinating to read.

Best regards to you,

This is brilliant. Thanks for all this, Thor. I've seen you in one or two of the Freddie documentaries I think, and always wondered what had become of you. Nice to know you are doing well.

Hi Thor

I live quite near Munich. Maybe you can remember a person called Peter Ambacher ( Ms. Piggy), He was part of Freddie`s party entourage over here. He also took trips to New York with Freddie and his friends. In case you can remember him, he still alive and well, but unfortunatelly the last surviver of the circle.
He still contributes storys and memorys with the local press.
There are a few Club´s and Bar´s Freddie attended wich are still running. Most of them had a change of ownership meanwhile, but still standing for what they were famous once, like the "Ochsengarten" or the " Deutsche Eiche".


http://www.ochsengarten.de/

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hotel_Deutsche_Eiche

Welcome to the forum and thank you for joining us.

Hello Thor
& everyone else !
( coincidently this is my first post… I have been a silent reader for some while, tried to sign -up forever, but for some technical reason only managed today ).

Anyways, I was wondering if I could ask a few questions ?
Eg. :
-Are you aware of any more “zanzibari chants” (lol) in Queen songs from the eighties ?

-Did Freddie ever mention his upbringing in India & Zanzibar ?

-In case you read the books about FM by his inner circle, the way he is described, do these books reflect the Freddie you knew or does he seem somewhat “distorted” ?

-Could you elaborate a bit on Winnie Kirchberger ? What might be the reason he is rarely mentioned in the “official party line”?
Was the diamond ring Freddie wore in 84/5 related to Kirchberger ?
Were you around when Freddie alledgedly ( according to German reports) gave Kirchberger a ring during the 39th bday party in Munich which Kirchberger later on dumbed on the floor ? ( or is it just tabloid media fluff?) .

Hi Kokax,
My knowledge of Freddie's stay in Munich is very limited. For example, I did not even know Winnie's last name until you mentioned it. I know nothing of this ring you mentioned or Freddie's 39th Birthday party. I personally have only read one or two books on Freddies life namely "Mercury An Intimate Biography of Freddie Mercury" by Lesley-Ann Jones. While he was In Germany, Freddie and I corresponded only by phone and as I remember there was always a terrible and distracting voice delay on the phone which lead to awkward conversations as we often both spoke at the same time.We had to start using walkie-talkie language like "OVER" after each sentence. To answer any questions about Freddie's life after New York, all I would be able to do is refer to what is written in this book or Jim Hutton's book "Mercury and me." After Germany, I was only in London for a week at a time and always at the Logan Place Garden Lodge. This was only about six or seven times and Freddie, for some reason, no longer talked about Munich, but we enjoyed reminiscing about our time and adventures from 1980-1983 New York where we saw each other about 3-4 times per week and talked by phone everyday.
Freddie talked about his upbringing (in Zanzibar, never in India) but only when he was asked about it. The "Zanzibari chant" I may have mistaken for "Eastern chant" as I forget how he labeled it. Besides "Under Pressure" during each concert that I attended, he always had an audience participation routine where he would start the chant words..and then wanted to hear it back from the audience. Each time was more complicated and once the audience messed it up he would say something like..."not too fucking bad...you're alright!"

Late reply to musicland munich,
I have met a few Peter's through Freddie but not a Ms. Piggy (I would have remembered that). I have no knowledge of the Bavarian clubs that Freddie went to...sorry. It never came up.

Here is another funny story. Before a concert trip to Chicago, Freddie took us to Cartier's on Fifth Ave and had us all pick out a clock that we wanted. I still have mine, but it doesn't work and somehow the ruby on the outside of the casing got lost- my damn luck.
Anyway, we attended the first of two concerts in Chicago. Normally, after a concert, the venue would always provided food and drinks for the band, the tour operators and invited guests. Now remember from another reply, I told you that Freddie rarely displayed "star attitude." Well, when Freddie saw that only cold buffet items were available, he threw a fit. He demanded to speak to the Manager and said..I WANT HOT FOOD in a very intimidating tone of voice. The next day after the concert, there was laid a FEAST of wonderful hot foods and specialties and great wines and Champagne. Immediately after the concert and before the buffet, Freddie allowed us into the "cool down room" immediately after the concert. Well let's say that "little white lines" were presented to us in the cool down room, prior to the buffet. Suddenly, none of us were hungry and we wanted to get out to the clubs of Chicago. We passed the manager on the way out and Freddie simply said "thank you." Later when we questioned him on this unusual display, he laughed and said "well, they are supposed to give me hot food- I don't have to eat it" We laughed all night.