I'm not much of a one for "what ifs" but just imagine if Roger had been there, and had been in the same "happy" frame of mind as Freddie and John, and Freddie asks you "would you like to hear some stuff off the new album?" as the four of them assemble around the drum kit.....!!!!
Hey I am just a session musician...just turned up an played the drums with this 'Queen' bunch of geezers...................
OK I will admit it,Freddie asked me to 'audition' for the band as his drummer couldn't be arsed to turn up....I think i actually got the sausage roll that was earmarked for Mr Taylor that day...........
OK I will admit it,Freddie asked me to 'audition' for the band as his drummer couldn't be arsed to turn up....I think i actually got the sausage roll that was earmarked for Mr Taylor that day...........
Amazing story. You are truly lucky to have that memorie that I’m sure you will cherish forever.
I will yes.But I will also remember the (unplanned) meeting when I bumped into Brian a few months later at Camberley arcade with his son Jimmy.(he recognized me and said hello!) He mentioned that he wanted to get on the road again,but you could tell something was seriously wrong..Bri is a fab,sweet guy but could not hide his emotion when I asked what Freddie was up to,the biggest live band on the planet,with massive sponsorship deals being thrown about? we shook hands,but I KNEW and so did he,that it would never be the same.........RIP Freddie x
Indeed. As much as I LOVE The Miracle album, with hindsight it's tinged with an uneasy quality because of what we now know Freddie was going through at the time. But at the time, despite the rumours, I saw the photos of Freddie looking fantastic in the accompanying booklet and heard him singing as fantastically as ever on the album and thought "no way is this man ill". A mixture of denial and hope, I suppose. I thought he looked great in the Breakthru video and even when I saw the videos for Scandal and The Miracle, I did not think that there was great cause for concern over Freddie's health. Very little was known about the illness in those days, so I thought OK, if he IS suffering from this disease, he would be unable to record and perform in these videos. I was of course as shocked as everyone else as I watched Freddie take to the stage at the 1990 Brit awards, but a year later I heard his incredible vocals on the Innuendo album and, again, brushed any such thoughts aside.
Great reply,thanks.I can relate to that..how Freddie sat through the 'Queen for an hour' thing on radio 1 in 1989 whilst remaining so positive is an inspiration to us all.This man knew that he was dying? and still joked with the others.Same with meeting him,so positive and 'up' You would never had guessed.But then,he had the Queen legacy to protect(business and all that....) I think he knew that the others would still achieve great success even with out him.I have never met anyone like him,then and since...we chatted a bit but I was a bit in awe to be honest.Even in 1989 he admitted that music was dying..lots of RAP and stuff in America,'computer music' taking over.A guy so far in advance? I mentioned that I loved the Barcelona album,he laughed and said yes but it would not be accepted in America.Did he care? NO! He told me he was not bothered about America?
Yes, I've heard that as well. I think after Hot Space and the IWTBF video, Freddie's eyes were opened to how narrow minded some of the industry, and sadly some of the audience, could be in certain parts of the USA. So I do think that as they were waning in the states, instead of getting upset or angry and breaking thier backs to be a success there again, they adopted a "bollocks to them, let's concentrate on the people who enjoy what we do and accept us for what we are". In fact, dur to the rather silly backlash to the Break Free video, the band were asked by thier American record company, as possibly also MTV, can they make a performance video for the song, and they flatly refused. I do think at that point they just thought if you cannot accept us for what we do, it's your loss. And none of them ever had to visit the local dole office after the USA shunned them.
[QUOTE] [b]jrd1951 wrote:[/b]
Great reply,thanks.I can relate to that..how Freddie sat through the 'Queen for an hour' thing on radio 1 in 1989 whilst remaining so positive is an inspiration to us all.This man knew that he was dying? and still joked with the others.Same with meeting him,so positive and 'up' You would never had guessed.But then,he had the Queen legacy to protect(business and all that....) I think he knew that the others would still achieve great success even with out him.I have never met anyone like him,then and since...we chatted a bit but I was a bit in awe to be honest.Even in 1989 he admitted that music was dying..lots of RAP and stuff in America,'computer music' taking over.A guy so far in advance? I mentioned that I loved the Barcelona album,he laughed and said yes but it would not be accepted in America.Did he care? NO! He told me he was not bothered about America?[/QUOTE]
jrd1951, thanks for sharing all your memories! It sounds like Freddie was open and chatty, it must have been amazing to meet him.
It's an eye opener to me that Freddie considered music to be dying back in the 80's. He clearly had a serious side, but I agree with you, he was always incredibly positive and that interview on Queen For An Hour, it was so inspirational, considering what he knew and was facing.
Beemack, I too brushed aside all fears about Freddie back then. I was around 19 when Breakthru came on tv, sat with my mum and boyfriend, watching.....And suddenly mum piped up 'poor Freddie, he's seriously ill isn't he...' It was the first I heard, but mum couldn't remember where she'd heard that, or what the illness was....and this was 89. That's what a lot of people don't realise, even then, people were not thinking of AIDS necessarily (I know some were and there were rumours, but AIDS itself wasn't foremost in the average person's mind). Being 19 and seeing a healthy looking man on the screen, I just replied 'oh don't believe everything you read in the papers, look at him, he's healthy.' RIP Freddie.
I LOVED Breakthru and the video,I remember some Saturday morning show cut the video by half and played the whole of a Jason Donovan song....Freddie still in top form there.A jealous close friend in New Jersey was mad at my Freddie meeting and wanted to know everything,there was a 'Classic Rock' radio show on over there with Queen and Aerosmith,so at least they were still relevant in the States,indeed the album sold pretty well(number 24 on Billboard he said,or number 9 on some Rock chart thing).He thought the album was great,Capitol wanted them to tour of course but I told him what Brian had said,that Freddie didn't want to be running around stage at 'this age'.
I LOVED Breakthru and the video,I remember some Saturday morning show cut the video by half and played the whole of a Jason Donovan song....Freddie still in top form there.A jealous close friend in New Jersey was mad at my Freddie meeting and wanted to know everything,there was a 'Classic Rock' radio show on over there with Queen and Aerosmith,so at least they were still relevant in the States,indeed the album sold pretty well(number 24 on Billboard he said,or number 9 on some Rock chart thing).He thought the album was great,Capitol wanted them to tour of course but I told him what Brian had said,that Freddie didn't want to be running around stage at 'this age'.
I LOVED Breakthru and the video,I remember some Saturday morning show cut the video by half and played the whole of a Jason Donovan song....Freddie still in top form there.A jealous close friend in New Jersey was mad at my Freddie meeting and wanted to know everything,there was a 'Classic Rock' radio show on over there with Queen and Aerosmith,so at least they were still relevant in the States,indeed the album sold pretty well(number 24 on Billboard he said,or number 9 on some Rock chart thing).He thought the album was great,Capitol wanted them to tour of course but I told him what Brian had said,that Freddie didn't want to be running around stage at 'this age'.
Thanks for sharing your memories JRD. I always enjoy reading stories from people who actually met Freddie and the others. He really knew how to treat his fans.
