Freddie Mercury: The Biography
Page 29
‘The Great Pretender’ 64, 205, 207–8, 256
‘How Can I Go On’ 228
‘I Was Born to Love You’ 180–1
‘In My Defence’ 195, 256
‘Living On My Own’ 190, 256
‘Love Kills’ 172, 180
‘Love Me Like There’s No Tomorrow’ 191
‘Made in Heaven’ 187
‘Time’ 196
singles (Queen):
‘Another One Bites the Dust’ 147, 179
‘Body Language’ 148, 157
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ 97–106, 110, 125–6, 137, 139, 140, 151, 153, 201, 217, 244, 246
‘Breakthru’ 230
‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ 138, 139, 143, 185
‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ 135
‘Fat Bottomed Girls’ 132–3, 135
‘Flash’ 136
‘Flash’s Theme’ 148
‘Friends Will Be Friends’ 196
‘Hammer to Fall’ 172, 185
‘Headlong’ 237
‘Heaven For Everyone’ 257
‘I Want It All’ 229
‘I Want to Break Free’ 168, 170, 179
‘I Was Born to Love You’ 180–1
‘I’m Going Slightly Mad’ 236–7
‘Innuendo’ 236
‘It’s a Hard Life’ 171
‘Keep Yourself Alive’ 36, 55, 68, 69, 71, 113
‘Killer Queen’ 36, 53, 77, 87–8, 91, 94, 96, 97
‘A Kind of Magic’ 194–5
‘Las Palabras de Amor (The Words of Love)’ 158
‘Liar’ 55, 79
‘Love of My Life’ 128, 136, 150
‘The Miracle’ 230
‘Mother Love’ 258
‘Need Your Loving Tonight’ 148
‘Now I’m Here’ 91, 97
‘One Vision’ 191
‘Princes of the Universe’ 194
‘Radio Ga Ga’ 165, 167, 168
‘Save Me’ 143
‘Scandal’ 230
‘Seven Seas of Rhye’ 36, 79–80, 81, 87
‘The Show Must Go On’ 240, 246
‘Somebody to Love’ 113, 115
‘Spread Your Wings’ 131–2
‘Stone Cold Crazy’ 86
‘Thank God It’s Christmas’ 174
‘These Are the Days of Our Lives’ 238, 244, 246
‘Tie Your Mother Down’ 122, 249
‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’ 257
‘Under Pressure’ 151, 157, 250
‘We Are the Champions’ 125–6, 185, 198, 251, 252
‘We Will Rock You’ 125–7, 185
‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ 179, 204
‘A Winter’s Tale’ 257
‘You’re My Best Friend’ 111
Sink, Liverpool 26–7
Sixty Minutes of Spain 206
Slade 67
Smile 13–28, 32–5, 54
‘Earth’/’Step on Me’ 16
first gig of 14
FM introduced to 13, 15
formed 14
known as ‘Imperial College band’ 51
at Liverpool Art College gig 27
market-trading and 19–20
Mercury Records and 39
musical style perfected by 14
Pink Floyd supported by 14
Queen billed as 38
RT auditions for 14
Smith, Mel 185
Smith, Mick (‘Miffer’) 17
Snowdon, Earl of 153
‘Somebody to Love’ 113, 115
‘Son and Daughter’ 29, 68
Sound of Music, The 153–4
Sounds of the Seventies 66
Sour Milk Sea 32
South Africa 171–5, 196, 261
Spain, King and Queen of 225
Spandau Ballet 198, 212
Speakeasy Club, London 115
Spector, Phil 63
‘Spread Your Wings’ 131–2
Springfield, Dusty 64
Springsteen, Bruce 252
Squier, Billy 160–1
Staffell, Tim ix, 12–16, 19–21, 29, 33, 34–5
‘State of Shock’ 162–3
Status Quo 174, 184
‘Step on Me’ 16, 20, 21, 54
Stewart, Rod 124
Stewart, Tony 124
Stickells, Gerry 106, 127, 150, 200, 207
Sting, 174
Stoddart, Peter 49
‘Stone Cold Crazy’ 86
Stones see Rolling Stones
Straker, Peter 125, 176, 188, 203, 221
Stratton-Smith, Tony 59–60
Stringfellow, Peter ix, 72, 165–6, 167
Sun 89, 211, 212, 218, 235, 239
Sun City Super Bowl, South Africa 171, 173, 187, 196, 261
Sunbury Music Festival, Melbourne 77, 81
Sunnyside Mansions 253
Super Bear Studios, Nice 132
Supercharge 111, 112
Sweet 88
Sydow, Max von 136
Taylor, Dick ix, 44, 102
Taylor, Elizabeth ix, 249–50
Taylor, John (‘Tupp’) 17, 23, 31
Taylor, Melissa 44
Taylor, Roger Meddows 15, 27, 256–60
awards and 149, 204
‘Bo Rhap’ resentment and 201
as dental student 13, 19
extrovert nature of 13
FM’s death and 242, 243
FM’s ill health and 229, 233, 238, 243, 257–8
FM’s posthumous award accepted by 246
Freddie Mercury Tribute concert and 244, 248–52
joins Smile 14
at Liverpool Art College gig 27
market-trading business of 19–20, 27, 31
Music Life poll and 149
Radio Ga Ga video and 168–9
10cc 75, 95
Terrence Higgins Trust (THT) 244–5
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and 244
Testi, Ken ix, 17–19, 21–2, 25, 27–8, 30–1, 39–40, 42–3, 45–6, 53–4, 56–62, 75–6, 80, 123
Tetzlaff, Veronica 90, 110
‘Thank God It’s Christmas’ 174
‘These Are the Days of Our Lives’ 238, 244, 246
Thin Lizzy 70, 114–16, 119, 186
This One’s On Me 125
Thomas, Chris 124
Thomas, Dave 65
Thriller 162
THT 244–5
‘Tie Your Mother Down’ 122, 249
Tiffany (cat) 180, 186, 202
death of 223
Time (album) 198
Time (musical) 195, 199, 202, 205
‘Time’ (single) 196 Tommy 43, 44
‘Too Much Love Will Kill You’ 257–8
Top of the Pops (TOTP) 79, 88, 101–2, 115, 158, 240
Top Rank Club, Liverpool 75–6
Topol, Chaim 136
Town House Studios, London 190, 205, 219
Townshend, Pete 11, 79
transvestism 170
T-Rex 14
Tribeca Productions 261
Trident Audio Productions 61–2, 64
Trident Records 254
Trident Studios 16, 58, 60, 63–7, 70, 90, 93–6, 126
Truro City Hall 38
Turner, Tina 184
‘Tutti Frutti’ 197
Tyler, Bonnie 161
Tyrell, Rob 32
U2 249, 252
Ultravox 174
‘Under Pressure’ 151, 157, 250
Ure, Midge 174, 181
Uris Theatre, New York 85
Valentin, Barbara ix, 155–6, 162, 171, 189, 194, 213–14, 228
Vélez Sársfield 149, 150
Vicious, Sid 124–5
‘Victory’ 162
videos see music videos Virgin 111
Voyager 137
‘Vultan’s Theme’ 136
Wakeman, Rick 62
Waldorf Astoria 259
Wallace, Eugene 62
Warwick, Dionne 195, 225
‘We Are the Champions’ 125–6, 185, 198, 251, 252
We Will Rock You (musical) 259
‘We Will Rock You’ (single) 125–7, 185
Wembley Arena 148, 172
Wembley Conference Centre 126
Wembley Stadium 57, 182, 184–5, 197–200, 246, 249
Wessex Studios, London 111, 124
West End 259
Whitman, Slim 106
Whistle Test, see Old Grey Whistle Test,
The
‘Whiter Shade of Pale, A’ 126
Who 30, 43, 44, 79, 142
‘Who Wants to Live Forever’ 179, 204
Whole World Band 48
Wimbledon Stadium 133
Wings 103, 134, 142
‘Winter’s Tale, A’ 257
Wishbone Ash 21, 27, 48
Wizzard 67
Wonder, Stevie 195
Wood, Steve 133
Woodstock 177
‘Words of Love, The’ see ‘Las Palabras de
Amor’ Works, The (album) 168
‘Works, The’ (tour) 172, 181
Wreckage 25–8, 32, 34, 36, 39, 47
X-Ray Spex 122
Yeadon, Terry ix, 54–6, 60, 65
Yes 48, 62, 128, 177
York, Susannah ix, 221–2
‘You’re My Best Friend’ 111
‘You Nearly Done Me In’ 107
‘You Sexy Thing’ 105
Young, Paul ix, 174, 185, 248–9
Zappa, Frank 29, 200
Zoroastrianism 2, 6, 243
With Mary Austin in 1987 at his 41st birthday at Pikes Hotel, Ibiza. Although Mercury had ended his physical relationship with Austin a decade earlier, she remained, to the end, the love of his life and inherited the bulk of his estate on his death. (Photo courtesy of Tony Pike)
Kindred spirits. Mercury and German film actress Barbara Valentin relax in the studio during a break in recording. ‘We shared a once-in-a-lifetime love. It was so special, and I still loved him,’ Valentin said. (Photo courtesy of Barbara Valentin)
Barbara Valentin’s unique friendship with Mercury survived throughout the eighties. In the late phase of his illness, the star tried to cut himself off from some of his friends, but Valentin recalls, ‘My doorbell rang one day, and it was Freddie. He said “I can’t stay away from you. Take me in and take care of me.”’ (Photo courtesy of Barbara Valentin)
One of many attempts at an early Queen publicity shot, taken in Freddie Mercury’s flat at 100 Holland Park Road, London. Mercury would regularly veto any photograph he felt didn’t flatter him enough. (Photo courtesy of Ken Testi)
Queen’s two party animals celebrate at Pikes. Mercury’s friendship with Roger Taylor was strong and dated from the days when they survived on the tiny income from the stall that they ran together in London’s infamous Kensington Market. (Photo courtesy of Tony Pike)
Mercury’s first manager when he fronted Ibex in 1969, Ken Testi also become Smile’s first manager. When Mercury suggested renaming Smile as Queen, Testi remarked to him, ‘You can’t get away with that!’ To which Mercury replied, ‘But of course we can, my dear.’ (Photo courtesy of Ken Testi)
Freddie Mercury gets to the bottom of things here during the infamous 1978 New Orleans after-gig party. PR guru Tony Brainsby says: ‘It was a really wild night – half naked dancers in bamboo cages, female mud wrestlers, snakes and strippers. All in all, in fact, a first-class party!’ (Photo courtesy of Tony Brainsby)
(Left to right) Queen’s manager Jim Beach, composer and close friend Mike Moran, Mercury, Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballe and promoter Pino Sagliocco are seen together in 1987 at the Spanish Embassy in London. A year later Mercury and Caballe were to headline at La Nit, the opening celebration for the run-up to the 1992 Olympic Games held in Barcelona. (Photo courtesy of Pino Sagliocco)
Surrounded by some of his closest friends at the Ibiza hideaway in 1989. Left to right: (back row) actor Peter Straker, promoter Pino Sagliocco, Mercury, his bodyguard Terry Giddings, an unknown associate, composer Mike Moran and Jim Hutton; (front row) hotelier Tony Pike and Mercury’s confidante Barbara Valentin. (Photo courtesy of Tony Pike)
Close friend Kenny Everett was also a victim of AIDS. In 1975 it was Everett’s unorthodox airtime blitz with ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ that encouraged the single’s release by EMI. (Photo courtesy of Jo Gurnett)
The legendary Hollywood star Elizabeth Taylor, in her capacity as National Chairperson for the American AIDS Research Foundation (AmFAR), made a guest appearance at the 1992 Freddie Mercury Easter Tribute at Wembley. She described Mercury as ‘an extraordinary rock star, who rushed across our cultural landscape like a comet shooting across the sky.’ (Bruce Weber: courtesy of Elizabeth Taylor)
Mercury hides behind his tennis racket after a match with Tony Pike at Pike’s Hotel. (Photo courtesy of Tony Pike)