The Complete BBC Radio Sessions Available as 2-CD set and
3-LP set
Collector’s Edition 6-CD set with added live concert
broadcasts and radio interviews
Released globally November 4 on Virgin EMI. Hollywood
Records for North America.
Queen’s meteoric ascendancy during the 1970s has been
well documented. From their gloriously ambitious self-titled debut album of
1973 through to the album that put them in the superstar bracket, 1975’s A
Night At The Opera, and beyond, this unique group carved out a singular path as
the most visionary, inventive and charismatic band of that epic decade.
But there is another side to Queen’s rise that has been
largely overlooked. Between February 1973 and October 1977, the band recorded
six radio sessions exclusively for the BBC. The twenty four landmark recordings
include alternate versions of the debut single, unique takes of classic album
tracks and a radically reworked reimagining of one of their best known anthems
that has never previously appeared on any Queen studio release.
The band’s final BBC session was recorded on October
28th, 1977 at Maida Vale 4 studio, London. Queen returned to the BBC a global
phenomenon, following the success of Bohemian Rhapsody. They recorded some radically different
versions of four songs from the brand new News Of The World album, on the same
day as it was given its UK release: the epic power ballad Spread Your Wings,
the steel-plated rocker It’s Late, the dusky jazz number My Melancholy Blues
and two significantly contrasting renditions of the global hit We Will Rock You
– the ‘regular’ version and the ‘fast’ version, a full-tilt guitar-heavy take
on the song. The accelerated version on Queen On Air is the only studio
recording of this live favourite. “’We
Will Rock You’ – profundity or just another teenage anthem!?”, remarks John
Peel on playing the track during the session. Peel is the person who once said
(on air) of the band, “I’ve never seen them live. I must admit I’d like to – a
band that sounds like nutters, actually, and I like that because I like rock
music to sound a little out of control.”
The most notable deviation from the familiar material in
this session has to be the unexpected appearance of a curious narrative section
between the two different versions of We Will Rock You. A female voice cuts in
briefly, reading a dissertation about Herman Hesse’s 1922 Siddhartha novel –
hence the intriguing references to Buddhism, Brahmanism and deluded spirits.
This unlikely excursion came about by happy coincidence. Every session recorded
for the BBC during this time, by any artist, was recorded on 8-track machines
and while stereo copies were sometimes retained, the numerous multi-track tapes
used to create them, were not. When Queen assembled in the control room to play
back the material just recorded here, they were surprised to discover the
remnants of an un-broadcast Radio 4 programme laid down in the same studio days
earlier.
Producer Jeff Griffin comments: “The piece about Buddha
just happened to be on a piece of tape in the studio and, as these things often
happen, it just seemed to fit the recording, so we used it. There is no special
significance to it.”
Ultimately, what emerged was perhaps the definitive
alternative version of one of Queen’s best known anthems. Featuring full band
instrumentation, different chords and, as the title suggests, a more frenetic
pace, this is Queen performing a dramatically different ‘fast’ arrangement of
We Will Rock You. “Right On!” exclaims Freddie at the end of the track. Peel
follows this immediately with, “Right On! to you too chaps. Queen, and the
first from them tonight. It's called ‘We Will Rock You’… profundity or just
another teenage anthem!?”
Jeff Griffin continues:
“We Will Rock You, now that was fun, particularly fun for
me and my engineer Mark Robinson, because the band said, “Look, we need as many
voices on this as possible, so we want you two to come in and sing in the
studio”. Mike and I were a bit reluctant at first, not that we minded singing –
I sing in a choir and Mike sings old Irish songs – but it’s not quite the same
as going in a studio with Queen.
It was a great session, and certainly the two Johns [Peel
& his producer Walters] were very pleased with it when they heard it and
when it went out. When you consider that this was now the era of punk, into
which John had bought quite heavily, I think it caused quite a bit of a stir at
the time because people were surprised that it would be going out on the John
Peel Show among all the other things.”
For the very first time, all six Queen BBC sessions -
meticulously restored by Queen engineer Kris Fredriksson and mastered by Grammy
Award winner Adam Ayan - have been brought together on Queen On Air, released
on November 4 by Virgin EMI. North America through Hollywood Records. Available
as a 2-CD set and a 3-LP vinyl edition, plus a Deluxe 6-disc edition featuring
a CD of live concert broadcasts and 3 CDs of radio interviews, Queen On Air is
an essential addition for connoisseurs of the band.
Queen On Air is more than just a collection of rare
recordings – it is a glorious snapshot of the growth of a legend.
Queen On Air Full Tracklisting
2-CD Edition:
The Complete BBC Radio Sessions:
Available formats: Physical + digital & streaming
CD1
Session 1:
1. My Fairy King
2. Keep Yourself Alive
3. Doing All Right
4. Liar
Session 2:
5. See What A Fool I’ve Been
6. Keep Yourself Alive
7. Liar
8. Son And Daughter
Session 3:
9. Ogre Battle
10. Modern Times Rock’n’Roll
11. Great King Rat
12. Son And Daughter
CD2
Session 4:
1. Modern Times Rock’n’Roll
2. Nevermore
3. White Queen (As It Began)
Session 5:
4. Now I’m Here
5. Stone Cold Crazy
6. Flick Of The Wrist
7. Tenement Funster
Session 6:
8. We Will Rock You
9. We Will Rock You (Fast)
10. Spread Your Wings
11. It’s Late
12. My Melancholy Blues
3-LP Vinyl Edition: The Complete BBC Radio Sessions:
Side 1 – Session 1
1. My Fairy King
2. Keep Yourself Alive
3. Doing All Right
4. Liar
Side 2 –Session 2
1. See What A Fool I’ve Been
2. Keep Yourself Alive
3. Liar
4. Son And Daughter
Side 3 – Session 3
1. Ogre Battle
2. Modern Times Rock’n’Roll
3. Great King Rat
4. Son And Daughter
Side 4 – Session 4
1. Modern Times Rock’n’Roll
2. Nevermore
3. White Queen (As It Began)
Side 5 – Session 5
1. Now I’m Here
2. Stone Cold Crazy
3. Flick Of The Wrist
4. Tenement Funster
Side 6 – Session 6
1. We Will Rock You
2. We Will Rock You (Fast)
3. Spread Your Wings
4. It’s Late
5. My Melancholy Blues
Deluxe 6-CD Edition
CD1: The Complete BBC Radio Sessions
Session 1:
1. My Fairy King
2. Keep Yourself Alive
3. Doing All Right
4. Liar
Session 2:
5. See What A Fool I’ve Been
6. Keep Yourself Alive
7. Liar
8. Son And Daughter
Session 3:
9. Ogre Battle
10. Modern Times Rock’n’Roll
11. Great King Rat
12. Son And Daughter
CD2: The Complete BBC Radio Sessions
Session 4:
1. Modern Times Rock’n’Roll
2. Nevermore
3. White Queen (As It Began)
Session 5:
4. Now I’m Here
5. Stone Cold Crazy
6. Flick Of The Wrist
7. Tenement Funster
Session 6:
8. We Will Rock You
9. We Will Rock You (Fast)
10. Spread Your Wings
11. It’s Late
12. My Melancholy Blues
CD3: Queen Live On Air
Golders Green Hippodrome, London, 13th September 1973:
1. Procession (Intro Tape)
2. Father To Son
3. Son And Daughter
4. Guitar Solo
5. Son And Daughter (Reprise)
6. Ogre Battle
7. Liar
8. Jailhouse Rock
Estádio Do Morumbi, São Paulo, Brazil, 20th March 1981:
9. Intro
10. We Will Rock You (Fast)
11. Let Me Entertain You
12. I’m In Love With My Car
13. Alright Alright
14. Dragon Attack
15. Now I’m Here
16. Love Of My Life
Maimmarktgelände, Mannheim, Germany, 21st June 1986:
17. A Kind Of Magic
18. Vocal Improvisation
19. Under Pressure
20. Is This The World We Created
21. (You’re So Square) Baby I Don’t Care
22. Hello Mary Lou
(Goodbye Heart)
23. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
24. God Save The Queen
CD4: Queen On Air: The Interviews (1976-1980)
Freddie Mercury With Kenny Everett (November 1976) /
Queen with Tom Browne (Christmas 1977) / Roger Taylor with Richard Skinner
(June 1979) / Roger Taylor with Tommy Vance (December 1980) / Roy Thomas Baker
‘The Record Producers’
CD5: Queen On Air: The Interviews: (1981-1986)
John Deacon, South American tour (March 1981) / Brian May
‘Rock On’ with John Tobler (June 1982) / Brian May ‘Saturday Live’ with Richard
Skinner and Andy Foster (March 1984) / Freddie Mercury ‘Newsbeat’ (August 1984)
/ Brian May ‘Newsbeat’ (September 1984) / Freddie Mercury ‘Saturday Live’
(September 1984) / Freddie Mercury with Simon Bates (April 1985) / Brian May
‘The Way It Is’ with David ‘Kid’ Jensen (July 1986)
CD 6: Queen On Air: The Interviews (1986-1992)
Roger Taylor ‘My Top Ten’ with Andy Peebles (May 1986) /
‘Queen For An Hour’ with Mike Read (May 1989) / Brian May ‘Freddie And Too Much
Love Will Kill You’ with Simon Bates (August 1982) / Brian May ‘Freddie Mercury
Tribute Concert’ with Johnnie Walker (October 1992)
