by Georg Purvis
SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE (Mercury)
• A-side: 2/74 [10] • Album: Queen2 • Live: Magic, Wembley • CD Single: 11/88 • Bonus: Queen2 • CD Single: 10/95 [2]
Queen’s breakthrough hit began life as a slower instrumental on the debut album (see next song entry) but what finally emerged in February 1974 was a delicious slice of glam rock that summed up Freddie’s early writing style perfectly. With a mesmerizing piano intro, sped up for effect, the band give the song everything they’ve got – even now, over thirty years after its original release, the band still sound as if they’re trying to prove something to the world. What was eventually proven, of course, was Freddie’s mastery of words, and everyone else’s difficulty in interpreting and analyzing them. The words for ‘Seven Seas Of Rhye’ are ambiguous and defy any explanation; Roger himself told Mojo in 1999, “I never understood a word of it, and I don’t think Freddie did either, but it was just sort of gestures really, but it was a fine song.” The words work well together and create an aural painting of mythology, something which fascinated Freddie at this time (consider his other compositions, especially from the first three albums). Freddie himself later said in a 1977 BBC Radio One documentary, “My lyrics are basically for people’s interpretations, really. I’ve forgotten what they were all about. It’s really factitious, I know it’s like bowing out or the easy way out, but that’s what it is. It’s just a figment of your imagination. It all depends on what kind of song really. At that time I was learning about a lot of things. Like song structure and as far as lyrics go, they’re very difficult as far as I’m concerned. I find them quite a task and my strongest point is actually melody content. I concentrate on that first; melody, then the song structure, then the lyrics come after actually.”
The song was recorded during sessions for Queen II in August 1973 at Trident Studios, but wasn’t included in the set list until it became a bona-fide hit the following year. It stayed in the set list until 1975, then was revived in 1984 for the Queen Works! tour and remained in the live setting until 1986. An absurd dance remix of the song was included as a bonus track on the 1991 remaster of Queen II; while this may represent the dregs of the remix and remaster programme kick-started by Hollywood Records, rumour has it that the song’s original composer was fairly smitten with the new recording.
As well as bearing the distinction of being Queen’s first true hit, peaking at No. 10 in the UK in February 1974, the song is also noted for being Queen’s first appearance on Top Of The Pops that same month. When David Bowie, riding high on the success of ‘Rebel, Rebel’, had to bow out of an appearance, Queen were approached, even though they hadn’t technically had a hit single yet. The band were duly shuffled into Pete Townshend’s Eel Pie Studios (ostensibly to record a new backing but actually pretending to do so to pacify the Musician Union representative) the day before their appearance, which marked the first time the band were seen on British television. This footage was long believed to have been destroyed, until second generation copies showed up in 2007, ultimately appearing on YouTube and related video sites.
SEVEN SEAS OF RHYE... (Mercury)
• Album: Queen
A taster of what went on to become Queen’s first true hit in February 1974, ‘Seven Seas Of Rhye...’ (note the ellipsis) is taken at a slower pace and is devoid of any lyrics. Closing the debut album, the song’s presence is questionable, and doesn’t offer too much insight into what would eventually become a completed song. And, at a mere 1’15, it fades out just as it gets going.
Roger said in 1977, “I think Freddie had half written the song and we thought it was a nice ‘tail out’ to the first album, with the idea of starting the second album with the song.”
SEX SHOW
On the commentary track on the 2007 DVD Queen Rock Montreal, Brian mentions this title as one that Freddie was working on during the summer 1981 recording sessions in Montreux. Freddie improvises some words just prior to the proper start of ‘Keep Yourself Alive’ (“Ooh, ha ha / We’re gonna shake it out / Shake it out”), but whether this was a completed song or just a fragment rightfully abandoned in its early stages remains to be seen.
SHA-LA-LA-LA-LEE (Lynch/Shuman)
This is another Small Faces hit performed live by 1984.
SHAG OUT: see HANGMAN
SHAKE (Cooke)
Sam Cooke’s ‘Shake’ was performed live by 1984.
SHAKE, RATTLE & ROLL (Turner)
Originally recorded by Joe Turner, ‘Shake, Rattle & Roll’ became more well known as recorded by Bill Haley and His Comets in 1954. Between 1970 and 1976, Queen incorporated their own interpretation into the set list as a lasting number in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Medley.
SHE BLOWS HOT AND COLD (Mercury)
• B-side (Freddie): 7/85 [57] • B-side (Freddie): 11/92 [8] • Compilation (Freddie): Solo Collection
Another enjoyable rocker from the Mr Bad Guy sessions, ‘She Blows Hot And Cold’ sounds like it was largely an improvisation. With a rollicking piano performed by Fred Mandel (including a terrific solo midway through), the song could be the cousin of ‘Man On The Prowl’; indeed, it sounds like a Queen cast-off, especially with the Brian May-inspired guitar solo by Paul Vincent. Perhaps realizing the parallel, Freddie asked Brian to play on the song, with a terrific outtake appearing on the Freddie Mercury box set; it may have been this take that Paul Vincent used as a template for his own performance, much to Brian’s later annoyance.
Released as the B-side of ‘Made In Heaven’ in July 1985, an extended version was created for the release, including several unused segments of the song. The original version was part of the ‘In My Defence’ single reissue in November 1992, though the version that is commonly available now excises a twelve-second introductory segment comprised of faintly heard voices and an extended drum intro.
SHE MAKES ME
(STORMTROOPER IN STILETTOES) (May)
• Album: SHA
Marking Brian’s second appearance as lead vocalist on a Queen song, the penultimate track on Sheer Heart Attack is a laborious, mid-paced rocker, and totally at odds with his other three compositions on the album. Often the subject of derision among Queen fans, the song was written during a period in Brian’s life where he wasn’t exactly sure of his future in a rock band: 1974 hadn’t been his best year. He was given a tetanus shot earlier in the year and developed gangrene in his right arm, and it was thought for some time that amputation would be necessary. Then, while on Queen’s first US tour in support of Mott the Hoople, he contracted hepatitis, and the band were forced to withdraw from the tour and focus instead on their third album. Midway through the sessions, Brian developed an ulcer, often interrupting sessions so that he could run to the nearest studio toilet and vomit.
‘She Makes Me (Stormtrooper In Stilettoes)’ focuses on a theme of self-doubt and uncertainty; ‘she’ can be seen as a metaphor for Queen, and Brian’s ultimate decision to stick to his guns. The result is remarkable, since a clearly ailing Brian allows some of his suffering to bleed over into his vocal performance. The song, driven by some rudimentary acoustic guitar work from Brian, incorporates some nifty guitar orchestrations, concluding with the sound of Brian’s heavy breathing and the sound of an ambulance’s wail. In 2011, the subtitle, penned by Roger due to the song’s insistent rhythm (“It was actually Roger’s idea in the beginning to put this subtitle on because he said, ‘Look, I really like this song, it has a great beat and everything but I don’t like this title,’” Brian later told QueenOnline.com. “This is in 1975 [sic] or something. He said, ‘You should call it “Stormtroopers in Stilettoes” if it has this big beat,’ and I said, ‘OK, you can call it that as well if you want.’ So we put ‘She Makes Me’, and in brackets, ‘Stormtroopers in Stilettoes’.”), was also the name of an all-encompassing photo exhibit of Queen’s early years, held at the East End’s Old Truman Brewery.
SHE’S GONE (Crudup)
Arthur ‘Big Boy’ Crudup’s blues standard ‘She’s Gone’ was perfo
rmed live by 1984.
SHEER HEART ATTACK (Taylor)
• Album: World • B-side: 2/78 [34] • Live: Killers, On Fire, Montreal • Bonus: World
Originally written for the album of the same name but held back for a more appropriate time, ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ is the band’s first excursion into punk, and it’s not surprising to learn that Roger was responsible. With some raucous rhythm guitar played by the drummer, the song mocks the punks’ attitude towards music and society, with a particularly scathing “I feel so – inar-inar-inar-inarticulate” parodying the stuttering and incoherence of certain punk records.
However, Queen were not a punk band, which is evident in their skilled performance on this track (even though Roger, who also plays rhythm guitar, bass and drums, and Brian, who plays only a squealing guitar solo, were the only musicians); they never truly regarded punk as an insurgent genre, treating it instead as a passing fad. “It sounds like a punk, or ‘new wave’ song,” Brian told Circus in 1978, “but it was written at the same time as the Sheer Heart Attack LP. [Roger] played it to us then but it wasn’t quite finished and he didn’t have time to complete it before we started recording. That was three years ago and now almost all these records you hear are like that period.” Roger, meanwhile, wasn’t as diplomatic with punk music: “At the moment [punk is] suffering from all the worst symptoms of hype and the oldest plagues of the business possible. It’s so much crap right now. I like raw rock‘n’roll, mind you, and I like the Sex Pistols’ album but ... there’s nothing new, it doesn’t mean much at the moment.”
“We came up with the title for the Sheer Heart Attack album,” Roger explained in 1999, “and it was a song that I had an idea for, but I hadn’t actually finished the song yet. By the time I had finished the song we were two albums later, so it just struggled out on the News Of The World album. It’s quite interesting because we were making an album next door to ... the Sex Pistols, and it really fit into that punk explosion that was happening at the time.”
The song quickly became a live favourite, and was performed as the show closer between November 1977 and May 1978, before becoming a first encore number thereafter. Still, it would often replace ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We Are The Champions’ as a closing number in 1980, and was even performed as the opening number on a few dates in 1982. ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ would allow the band to let loose on stage, with Brian providing some excellent guitar work as Freddie ran around the stage, bashing amps and monitors with his microphone stand (NB., it is Freddie, not Roger, who sings lead vocals on the song). The song was played at virtually every show between 1977 and 1982, and was included on a handful of shows in 1984 before being dropped indefinitely. It also appeared as the B-side of ‘Spread Your Wings’ (in the UK) and ‘It’s Late’ (in the US and Japan) in 1978, and if a version from the Sheer Heart Attack sessions exists, it would be a revelation to hear how the song was handled in 1974, since it’s next to impossible to imagine it on any album but News Of The World.
SHOOTING STAR (Rodgers)
• Live (Q+PR): Ukraine
First released on Bad Company’s 1975 album Straight Shooter, ‘Shooting Star’, unusually, wasn’t released as a single but gained prominence on US radio’s AM waves and album-oriented rock channels, which favoured album tracks over hit singles. The song, with its rags-to-riches story of a kid discovering The Beatles and vowing to become a rock legend, and a hard-hitting chorus, remains a staple of rock radio, making it a perfect inclusion in Queen + Paul Rodgers’ set list. Yet it wasn’t until the 2008 Rock The Cosmos tour that ‘Shooting Star’ debuted, with a performance duly released on Live In Ukraine the following year.
SHOVE IT (Taylor)
• A-side (The Cross): 1/88 [84] • Album (The Cross): Shove • Bonus (The Cross): Shove
The 1980s aren’t remembered fondly for their musical output and nothing sums up the decade better than ‘Shove It’, one of the strangest and most unwelcome Queen-related tracks. Recorded in the summer of 1987 at Mountain Studios, the song has a danceable beat overlaid with nasty trick-shot percussion. The only redeeming factor is the grungey guitar performance, while the most offensive aspect is the unnecessary use of sampling. Clips from several of Queen’s older songs, notably ‘Fat Bottomed Girls’, ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘Flash’, were inserted throughout the song, creating an uncomfortable listening experience.
One would hope that the lyric would at least be up to par, but Roger essentially raps a set of the worst lyrics ever committed to paper, as he tells certain posh groups – VIPs, royalty, etc – to do as the title suggests. What makes the sentiments hard to swallow is the fact that Roger was himself living a life of luxury, making the mood and message of the song all the more hypocritical.
Oddly, ‘Shove It’ was chosen not only as the title of the album but also as the second single released by The Cross, though it was, in all but name, a Roger Taylor solo song. Backed by ‘Rough Justice’ (which would have been a far superior choice as the lead track), the song fared poorly in the UK, reaching an abysmal No. 84 in the charts, the worst chart performance of any track released from the album. Several alternate versions also surfaced, including an extended mix (bringing the running time up to five minutes, well beyond tolerable) and a ‘Metropolix Mix’, which sped up the song and made the percussion even louder. The most bizarre variation of ‘Shove It’ came in the form of ‘The 2nd Shelf Mix’, which was essentially an extended version of the extended version, released as a bonus track on the UK CD of the album. A video was filmed by VDO Productions during November 1987 at Crazy Larry’s Club in Chelsea, with the band “asking” the crowd what’s “in” and what can be “shoved”; quite a concept.
Special mention must be given to the sleeve of the single, which is one of the more creative artistic decisions made in Queen’s career. Drawn in the style of a Warner Bros cartoon, a gloved hand, looking suspiciously like its owner was Bugs Bunny, is shown giving the middle finger, while other trademarks of the cartoons are featured, including a desert background (recalling Wile E Coyote and Roadrunner) and a curtain similar to the one Porky Pig pokes his head out of at the conclusion of ‘Loony Toon’. Imaginative and offensive at the same time, which is twice as much as can be said about the song itself.
THE SHOW MUST GO ON (Queen)
• Album: Innuendo • A-side: 10/91 [16] • Compilation: Hits3 • Live: 46664 • Live (Q+PR): Return, Ukraine
By the time the band started work on Innuendo, they knew they were existing on borrowed time. As has been so often stated, especially by Brian, Freddie demanded that the band continue to write songs and give them to him; his soul, energy and passion were still there, even if his physical presence was fading away. It must have been particularly disturbing for the vocalist, then, to sing ‘The Show Must Go On’, a song so blatantly influenced by him that people have often thought it was also written by him. Brian, however, wrote the song: he was going through a particularly difficult period in his life, and watching one of his closest friends withering away in front of him was heartbreaking.
Quite simply, ‘The Show Must Go On’ is one of Queen’s finest songs and looks at the conclusion of a chapter of someone’s life through the eyes of an ageing actor: “Inside my heart is breaking / My make-up may be flaking / But my smile still stays on.” Opening with a particularly mournful organ intro, the song is a veritable tour de force of emotions, brilliantly captured in both vocal and instrumental performance.
“‘The Show Must Go On’ came from Roger and John playing the sequence and I started to put things down,” Brian told Guitarist in 1994. “At the beginning it was just this chord sequence but I had this strange feeling that it could be somehow important and I got very impassioned and went and beavered away at it. I sat down with Freddie and we decided what the theme should be and wrote the first verse. It’s a long story, that song, but I always felt it would be important because we were dealing with things that were hard to talk about at the time, but in the world of mus
ic you could do it.”
The overall performance is tight and well-structured, with plenty of freedom for Brian’s guitar to roam, and while the arrangement may be typically overblown in the unique Queen manner, there’s a certain feeling about the track that allows all the instruments to breathe properly. The middle eight of the song, concluding with “I can fly, my friends,” provides the perfect epitaph for Freddie. Vocal harmonies are sparse; when they are present, they’re used either to complement a certain lyric or to add more backing to the chorus. The star of the show, then, is Freddie, who reportedly recorded the vocal in one take.
“It’s my favourite song on the album, now,” Brian told Guitar World in 1991, shortly after Innuendo came out, obviously trying not to reveal too much about the song itself. “It’s got that kind of sadness, but it’s hopeful.” Roger concurred in 1993, saying, “Typical Queen, sort of a closing track, metaphorical in a way.” Brian told Vox that “I very much like the last track on the album, which is called ‘The Show Must Go On’. It’s one of those things which evolved, and there’s bits of all of us in it. It has a little bit of retrospective stuff and it has a little bit of forward looking stuff. There was a point where I looked into it and got a vision of it, and put down a few things; and felt it meant something special, so I’m pretty fond of that one. Sometimes these tracks have a life of their own and no matter what you do they have a certain sound to them. [It] has a very broad and lush sound to it, which I like.” Ten years after its release, Brian told Goldmine, “For some reason, John and Freddie and Roger had been playing around with things in the studio and I heard one of the sequences they had come up with, and I could just hear the whole thing descending from the skies ... almost in the form, sound-wise, that it ended up. It’s something that came as a gift from heaven, I suppose. I did some demos, chopped things up, did some singing demos and some guitar and got it to a point where I could play it to the guys, and they all thought it was something worth pursuing. Then Freddie and I sat down, and I got out my scribblings and said, ‘What do you think of all this?’ It was a very strange and memorable moment really, because what I’d done was come up with something which I thought was the world viewed through his eyes. We didn’t talk about it as such. We talked about in terms of the story ... it was very poignant at the time, but strange, not precious in any sense. It was just a song and we just loved the idea of it. I was very pleased with the way it came out, especially the way Freddie pushed his voice to ridiculous heights. Some of that stuff I mapped out in falsetto for him, and I remember saying, ‘I really don’t know if this is asking way too much...’ And he went, ‘Oh darling, not a problem. I’ll have a couple of vodkas then go ahead and do it.’ And he did.”