Queen: The Complete Works

by Georg Purvis

  ONE YEAR OF LOVE (Deacon)

  • Album: AKOM

  Rarely had Queen strayed so dangerously near to the sickly sweet, but they came close with John’s sole contribution to A Kind Of Magic, ‘One Year Of Love’. Unorthodox, in that the main instruments are the synthesizer and a sappy orchestra (arranged by Lynton Naiff), the song plods along at a slow pace as Freddie disconcertingly screeches a set of lyrics that claim the protagonist will never fall in love again.

  Brian rather mordantly described the song in 1986, saying, “There’s a song called ‘One Year Of Love’, which John wrote, and that was written around a different romantic interest. It’s about the Highlander as he is in the twentieth century when he’s just about to fall in love again, even though he said he wouldn’t – ha-ha! That’s a romantic song, too.”

  Perhaps the guitarist’s caustic remarks stemmed from the lack of any guitar work on the song (the band’s only other notable guitar-free tracks being ‘Seaside Rendezvous’ and ‘My Melancholy Blues’). Instead of a guitar solo, John drafted Steve Gregory to deliver a cheesy saxophone solo, reminiscent of his own throaty contribution to George Michael’s 1984 single ‘Careless Whisper’. John would later guest on Gregory’s 1994 debut solo album, Bushfire.

  A drastically different, and more melancholy, performance of the song appeared in the Highlander film, which omitted the schmaltzy background altogether and replaced it with a tasteful piano backing and a more restrained vocal performance from Freddie. As an added bonus, for the Highlander commemorative DVD re-release, an extended mix of the song was included, though it’s not known whether this mix is an officially commissioned one.

  The song was chosen as a single release in October 1986 in European and Australasian countries, with ‘Don’t Lose Your Head’ as the B-side; a video was created by DoRo for the 1992 US video compilation Classic Queen, which blended arbitrary clips of the band with more appropriate moments from Highlander.

  ONLY MAKE BELIEVE (Twitty/Nance)

  • CD single (Brian): 9/98

  Conway Twitty’s original version of ‘It’s Only Make Believe’ was released in November 1958 and reached No. 1 in the charts, thus making it a perfect contender for Brian’s Heroes project (for more information, see the entry for Another World in Part Two). Although that project was abandoned, the recording was included on the September 1998 single release of ‘Why Don’t We Try Again’. With a powerful lead vocal and superb background harmonies from Brian, as well as a great instrumental backing from Brian’s full band, the song is worth repeated listens, and would have been a great inclusion on Another World in lieu of ‘Slow Down’.

  The song was also included on the Japanese Red Special and American Retro Rock mini-albums, and was performed live throughout Brian’s 1998 Another World tour as the opening number, although he took on a different guise: instead of performing the song as himself, he came out in full 1950s regalia, with a Brylcreemed wig and garish sideburns, as T. E. Conway, Conway Twitty’s ‘cousin’.

  OTRO LUGAR: see ANOTHER WORLD

  OUR LITTLE RENDEZVOUS (Berry)

  This rarely covered Chuck Berry song was performed live by 1984.

  OVERTURE PICCANTE (Mercury/Moran)

  • Album (Freddie): Barcelona • B-side (Freddie): 1/89 [95]

  Closing Barcelona in a glorious manner, ‘Overture Piccante’ is a six-minute recap of the album, with segments from ‘Barcelona’, ‘Guide Me Home’, ‘The Fallen Priest’, ‘La Japonaise’, ‘The Golden Boy’ and ‘When This Tired Old Body Wants To Sing’ mixed together to create a unique song. (That latter title, with a fast piano backing and chanted vocals of “Sing it, sing it”, remained a mystery until its release on The Solo Collection in 2000.) Though it would have been more appropriate to have ended with the delicate ‘How Can I Go On’, only seven usable tracks were recorded during the sessions, so ‘Overture Piccante’ was created to boost the running time of the album to just over forty minutes.

  PAIN IS SO CLOSE TO PLEASURE (Mercury/Deacon)

  • Album: AKOM

  Every Queen album since News Of The World featured an obligatory funk-disco amalgamation that was either successful (‘Another One Bites The Dust’) or not (‘Fun It’) – there wasn’t much middle ground. ‘Pain Is So Close To Pleasure’ has its feet planted firmly in that middle ground, being neither unlistenable nor spectacular.

  Released on A Kind Of Magic, the song attempts to fuse together R&B with programmed pop, onto which Freddie added a distinctive falsetto vocal. “There’s a song called ‘Pain Is So Close To Pleasure’, which I started off,” Brian said in a radio interview in 1986, “and I think again John and Freddie worked together on it. That’s really sort of a Motown sounding track, very unusual for us.”

  The second of several collaborations between John and Freddie, the song was, according to Peter Freestone, originally started by the bassist, but Freddie’s contributions were so significant that John insisted that the vocalist be given credit. Recalling the inoffensive ‘Cool Cat’ but taken at a quicker pace, the song glides along nicely in a minor key with an appropriate guitar solo from Brian, but is hardly a classic.

  That didn’t prevent Capitol from issuing the song, with ‘Don’t Lose Your Head’ on the B-side, as the final US single selection from A Kind Of Magic in August 1986. To its credit, the record company issued a superior single mix (recorded after the conclusion of the Magic tour) with snappier production and additional programmed drums which were absent from the album version. The extended remix, present on 12” versions of the single, brought the running time to nearly seven minutes. Housed in perhaps one of Queen’s finest single sleeve covers, ‘Pain Is So Close To Pleasure’ failed to chart in the US, though it peaked at No. 26 in the Dutch charts, hence its inclusion on The Singles Collection – Volume 3 in 2010.

  PARTY (Queen)

  • Album: Miracle

  Perhaps one of the worst tracks ever recorded by Queen, ‘Party’ became the opener for The Miracle and is an hommage to Freddie’s extravagant parties (surprise!) for which he was famous. Awash in programmed drums and a squawking vocal from Freddie, there really aren’t any redeeming qualities about the song, and its exclusion from The Miracle would have made the album far stronger.

  PASSION FOR TRASH (Macrae)

  • Album (The Cross): MBADTK

  Joshua J. Macrae’s first song written for The Cross, ‘Passion For Trash’ is a surprisingly good rock song, with the best moments within the first few seconds when the guitars mesh with the drums and bass. Yet another song about sex, this time the dirty, trashy kind, the song is short and sweet, with a well-used stop-and-go rhythm that showcases Roger’s best rocker voice. The keyboards are mixed to the background here until the climax, and the guitar solo is inspired, contributing to what is an overall strong composition.

  PEACHES: see NOW I’M HERE

  PENETRATION GURU (Moss)

  • Album (The Cross): MBADTK

  A punkish song written by Clayton Moss and taken at a breakneck pace, ‘Penetration Guru’ is, as its title suggests, a thinly veiled double entendre relating to the joys of sex; it may also be the first song to ever use the word ‘bandaloop’. This song is a disappointment considering that it came from the same person who wrote ‘Better Things’, but the guitars and tempo help reaffirm the fact that The Cross, despite the occasional set of dumb lyrics, were just a really good, old-fashioned rock band.

  PEOPLE ON STREETS (Taylor)

  • B-side (Roger): 9/98 [45] • Album (Roger): Electric

  Not to be confused with the first version of ‘Under Pressure’ before David Bowie became involved, ‘People On Streets’ is one of the few songs on the Electric Fire album performed almost exclusively by Roger, who contributes drums, bass and keyboards (along with Jonathan Perkins on the latter); only Jason Falloon contributes the occasional guitar lick. The song features a mysterious vocal performance from ‘Arty’ (a phonetic spelling of RT, Roger’s initials, which he would return to in 2006 on t
he collaborative Felix + Arty single ‘Woman You’re So Beautiful (But Still A Pain In The Ass)’), and is a slight misstep on an otherwise faultless album. The lyrics, surprisingly, aren’t about the downside, the faux-concern of celebrities (and, yes, politicians) for the poverty-stricken, but instead feature Roger imploring those who weild that kind of power to actually do something about it and fix it.

  A ‘mashed’ version was included on the ‘Pressure On’ single as well as the Japanese CD version of Electric Fire, with some of the lyrics replaced by an anonymous rapper and with a darker musical approach. Not surprisingly, the song wasn’t a mainstay in the set list, and was only performed a few times before being dropped.

  PHONE (May)

  • Soundtrack (Brian): Furia

  This is a short, atmospheric keyboard piece, with the main theme performed by flute and doubled by keyboards.

  PISTA 3: see FEELINGS

  PLAY THE GAME (Mercury)

  • A-side: 5/80 [14] • Album: Game • Live: On Fire, Montreal

  By the time The Game was released, Freddie’s songs had started to focus mainly on the pursuit of love and happiness, and most of his lyrics took a more literal approach. The lead-off track from Queen’s eighth studio album, ‘Play The Game’ was a straightforward plea, wearied by lust and mindless sex, for love and romance. “I don’t really sympathize with [the] lyrics,” Roger said in 1980. “It was suggested that we call the album Play The Game, and I don’t like the idea of that; basically, that means, in English, let’s go along with the Establishment. I don’t particularly sympathize with that view.”

  Roger appeared to have misinterpreted the song’s meaning; according to Peter “Phoebe” Freestone, Freddie’s personal assistant, the song was written about Freddie’s then-lover Tony Bastin, who wasn’t following Freddie’s arbitrary rules of love at the time, and was summarily given a gift of a Rolex watch – the singer’s “going away present” for lovers. Constructed as a languid piano ballad, written in the same vein as earlier tracks like ‘Jealousy’ and ‘You Take My Breath Away’, ‘Play The Game’ is brought to extraordinary heights by Brian’s solo, and Freddie’s piano is excellent. The problem is the presence of a synthesizer, which creates a sheet of noise instead of enhancing the textures, achieving what Brian could have easily done instead and with better results. However, the band were determined to evolve, and instead of using the synthesizer as an atmospheric addition (as on ‘Sail Away Sweet Sister’ and ‘Save Me’), on ‘Play The Game’ it’s just there to be there.

  The Official International Fan Club spring 1980 magazine reported that an alternate version was recorded: “Staying at the same hotel [as Queen] in Germany were Andy Gibb and Leif [Garrett] and so the boys invited them to visit the studio during the recording. The band were putting the finishing touches to a backing track when Freddie insisted that Andy Gibb sing with them. The track, as yet untitled, is one of Freddie’s compositions and he was very impressed with Andy’s voice and was heard to remark how good it was.” Gibb, the younger brother of the brothers Gibb (who formed the Bee Gees in 1958), was at that time enjoying his status as a teenage heart-throb and solo artist. This recording has been denied by those “in the know”, but this party line has been thrown about before with other songs, so time will only tell whether or not this actually, definitively exists.

  Released as the third single from The Game in May 1980, the song, backed with Roger’s non-album ‘A Human Body’, peaked at a respectable No. 14 in the UK, but stumbled to a dismal No. 42 in the US. The music video, shot at Trillian Studios and directed by Brian Grant, implements green screen technology (footage of roaring fires and zooming stars play behind the mostly stoic band) to liven up what is an otherwise straightforward performance video. Much like the synthesizer that is so prevalent in the song, this technology might have been groundbreaking at the time, but it hasn’t aged well at all, and remains an unimpressive addition to the band’s catalogue of music videos.

  The song translated better to the live setting, where it was a mainstay in the set between 1980 and 1982. Because the band initially refused to incorporate synthesizers into their live performances, Brian was taken to task to fill out the sound, which he did with aplomb. An especially spirited live version was released on Queen Rock Montreal, while a rendition with Morgan Fisher assisting on synthesizers was released on Queen On Fire: Live At The Bowl.

  POLAR BEAR (May)

  • Compilation (Smile): Ghost Of A Smile

  Written by Brian in 1968, ‘Polar Bear’ is a sublime ballad, an unorthodox genre for an aspiring three-piece rock band to write. The lyric compares a forgotten man to a stuffed polar bear in a store window, witnessing the world going by in front of his helpless eyes, declaring of a lovely girl that “I see her as I’d see a star / Love her from where you are.” Featuring an especially beautiful acoustic guitar solo, the highlight of the song is the delicate harmonies of Brian, Roger and Tim. Recorded in September 1969 at De Lane Lea Studios and produced by Fritz Freyer, the song was later issued on Gettin’ Smile in 1982 and Ghost Of A Smile in 1998.

  ‘Polar Bear’ was recorded by Queen during sessions for the debut album in 1972. Though rumours circulated that it was Barry Mitchell on bass, which would fix the recording date at 1970, a reliable collector has revealed recently that no material was recorded with Mitchell, and that the song actually features John Deacon. More definitively, Mitchell himself, in an impromptu online Q&A on noted fan site Queenzone.com, confirmed both points.

  The technical quality of the song would lead the listener to believe that the performance is little more than a demo, but Freddie’s vocal delivery is clearly the highlight. Because the song is written in a higher register, the vocalist is forced into a falsetto for the chorus, which is executed beautifully. While it’s easy to see why ‘Polar Bear’ wasn’t included on the first album – it was far too delicate and downbeat among the other rock-oriented tracks, and ‘The Night Comes Down’ filled that niche perfectly – it still deserves to be heard.

  POWER TO LOVE (Macrae/Noone/Moss)

  • Album (The Cross): MBADTK • A-side (The Cross): 4/90 [85] • Live (The Cross): Bootleg, Germany

  The songwriting on Mad: Bad: And Dangerous To Know was surprisingly strong, and while most fans argue that Blue Rock is The Cross’ strongest album released, their sophomore effort had its moments, too. Witness ‘Power To Love’, which at first listen is more typical of the mid-1980s power metal ballads, but is actually a strong composition with obvious roots in Roger’s work with Queen. Taken at a heavy tempo, dominated mostly by drums and root notes on the guitar, the focus is on Roger’s voice, with occasional embellishments on slide guitar from Clayton Moss.

  Not surprisingly, considering all the strong material on the album, ‘Power To Love’ was chosen as the first (and only) UK single from the album. Backed by Joshua J. Macrae’s ‘Passion For Trash’, the single performed abysmally, peaking at No. 85, thus becoming the proverbial final nail in the coffin of The Cross’ homegrown success. From here on, all their singles (and their final album) would be continental-exclusive, becoming a minor sensation in Germany. This would also mark the first time that a single by The Cross didn’t feature at least a collaboration credit for Roger.

  A video directed by The Torpedo Twins was prepared for the single and is one of their finest and most elaborate. Imagine all the raunch of ‘Body Language’ with the pomp and circumstance of ‘It’s A Hard Life’: the band perform on stage in full gear (with Roger hamming it up for the cameras, more interested in mugging than in focusing on his mimed guitar parts), completely oblivious to the Renaissance debauchery taking place above them as dozens of well-endowed women and bewigged men engage in a good old-fashioned orgy. As with any good orgy, food is also served, and string cheese and grapes are held and rubbed suggestively; the power to love, indeed.

  PRESSURE ON (Taylor)

  • A-side (Roger): 9/98 [45] • Album (Roger): Electric

  Kicking off Electric Fir
e, Roger’s fourth proper solo album, with an infectious groove, ‘Pressure On’ may arguably be his finest single choice in years. Expanding on the moods previously explored on Happiness?, the song is “just sort of the typical day-to-day pressures which everybody sort of has,” said Roger, adding dryly that it was ‘Under Pressure Mark II’, though that downplays its effectiveness as a song by comparing it to a more popular one.

  While it’s true that the lyrics deal with everyday pressures, Roger has honed his songwriting abilities and not only comes up with some memorable lines (“Analysts here, therapists there / You ain’t getting me sitting in your chair”) but avoids the cringe-inducing couplets that hamper some of his other major works.

  ‘Pressure On’ features a lovely melody, with a repetitive guitar motif as Roger delivers an understated vocal performance, using his natural voice instead of shouting or screeching in the rock ‘n’ roll mode he’d used for most of his career. The band he assembled for the sessions – Keith Prior on drums, Jason Falloon on guitars, Steve Barnacle on bass, Mike Crossley on keyboards and the underused Treana Morris on backing vocals – is tight and on good form, leaving Roger to contribute only vocals, one of the rare instances when he doesn’t perform anything instrumental on one of his own tracks.

  Chosen as the first single from Electric Fire in September 1998, the single mix of ‘Pressure On’, with a ‘mashed’ version of ‘People On Streets’ and a ‘Dub Sangria’ mix of ‘Tonight’ on one disc, and ‘Dear Mr Murdoch’ and the non-album ‘Keep A-Knockin” on a second disc, peaked at only No. 45 in the UK, despite a fair amount of promotion and a prominent position in the live setting.