QUEEN · QUEEN NEWS The Roger Taylor and Brian May produced Queen Extravaganza will rock Australia...

The Official International Queen Fan Club | Summer 2015QUEEN

LONG SERVING MEMBERSJUDY SORKIN—London (30 years)

JAYESH PATEL—Leicester (25 years)

MICHAEL BUNDGAARD—Denmark (15 years)

JANE DAVIS—Leamington Spa (23 years)

Hi Everyone!Welcome to the Summer newsletter. I hope you are all well and happy wherever you are! A lovely selection of articles in this issue—from fans and members of the Queen team alike, plenty of good reading!

The rest of this year is shaping up well—the Freddie birthday party in Montreux is adding new things regularly—the latest being the première of the newly restored London Hammersmith Odeon show—a great show, and one of my favourite ever venues for any band! You can find out more about this event at www.queenonline.com. Also the long awaited Studio Collection of vinyl albums—read all about that in a great piece by archivist Greg Brooks in this issue. And then the band are on the road again in South America!

And, of course, the UK convention in November! Our 30th! So excited about that and it is shaping up to be one of our biggest and best! If you haven’t yet booked you can find all the information you need at www.arenatravel.com.

I just heard as we were about to go to print, that Brian and the lovely Kerry Ellis are also hitting the road again next year in Italy, there was no time to get it properly in this issue so the details are:

Sun 21st February ANCONA Teatro Le Muse

Mon 22nd February PADOVA Gran Teatro Geox

Wed 24th February FIRENZE Obihall

Thu 25th February MILANO Arcimboldi

Sat 27th February MANTOVA Palabam

Sun 28th February ROMA Auditorium Parco della Musica

Tickets on sale NOW from www.ticketone.it.

That’s all there is from me this time—if you have ANY ideas for future issues of the magazine, or any fabulous (high resolution) photos we might make use of, do get in touch!

Take care of you and yours.

Love

From the ‘One Voice’ video—see https://youtu.be/0plWNDyA6Ig

Well, the years roll by, folks. Roger and I, along with Adam and the whole Queen Team, are starting

to prepare mentally for our swing through South America next month. Amazing that we should be still

thundering around the world crashing through herds of Queen songs with that phenomenal GFG Adam

Lambert. Well, yes, it’s hard to talk sense these days. In my view, the world has gone mad. Compassion

is a lost concept, all decisions are made on the basis of how they affect ‘The Economy’ or someone’s

personal wealth and power, and selfishness—the F—k You philosophy—rules. So here I am, ranting on

as I do. But I’m a musician, right? Yes, we’ll be seeing you out there in Sao Paulo and Rio and Buenos

Aires and Santiago and Cordoba and Porto Alegre … how thrilling. It’s almost exactly 30 years since

we headlined the very first Rock in Rio night—with Freddie, and John, of course, and now we return

to a new young audience of rockers, with Adam, who I’m convinced they will adore. It was all sold out

months ago, so it ought to be wild.

Behind the scenes, Queen activity is always in full swing. The chaps have been working on a new

historical venture Queen at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1975. This concert was very special because

it was the first time we ever played a whole show completely live on TV … the Christmas Show. The

quality, after great rescue work and transfer into the digital domain, is amazing. And the energy we had

comes across very forcefully. The gnomes have also been assembling a mountain of memorabilia to

go with it, so it should be a nice package … nostalgia, but also a fascinating glimpse into the roots of

our journey.

The long-awaited Vinyl Complete Queen Studio Catalogue Box Set is also ready to go! This is a

stupendous box of all-newly mastered vinyl pressings on custom gaily coloured highest quality

materials. It’s actually a treasure, and there’s a Queen record player to go with it. You know, the Vinyl,

analogue, experience is still something very special—so different from CDs or downloads or iPhones

… we hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we do.

In my own world, apart from Queen, I’ve been putting a lot of hours in, in the studio with the

wonderful Kerry Ellis, rustling up a new album, with the working title Anthems II—and we’re pretty

excited about how it’s sounding. Stuff like this keeps me going in times of darkness and stress, which

occur frequently in my work fighting for a better deal for our Wild Animals. Most of you know the

kind of work we do, and unfortunately we are usually swimming against the current, because at the

top we have a Government which is completely lacking in compassion. Thank Heavens there are some

very ‘Commonly Decent’ MPS in ALL parties in parliament, or else we would be sunk without a trace.

If any of you get to the point where you, like me, feel that it’s time to stand up and do something about

the awful way we behave towards animals, and each other, for that matter, please visit the Save-Me

website and join us !!!

My life is full of stuff … all good stuff that I dreamed of, really—so I feel lucky. In the world of the

London Stereoscopic Company—which I resurrected a few years ago, things are buzzin’! We have

our Poor Man’s Picture Gallery exhibition still on in the Tate Britain—if you haven’t checked it out

yet, please do—it’s on until November. And next year we will have an exciting exhibition at the

V&A—on a completely different stereoscopic subject … watch this space (or my Soapbox!). On a

slow boat from China we have imminently a new ‘Box Set’ coming soon. It’s called Victorian Gems …

and it’s an OWL’s nest packed with new 3-D goodies—a new box of Diableries, a box of Poor Man’s

Picture Gallery cards, and the very first box of Scenes in Our Village cards … something I’ve dreamed

of producing for many many years. Plus an OWL and an explanatory booklet! So look out on the

LondonStereo.com site for that.

Thanks for your support in all the myriad things I try to do … I see you out there, and it’s always a nice

experience. And good luck in all YOU try to do…

Take care !!! Til soon ! Rock !

with love

Dr. Bri XXX

As 2015 is the 40th anniversary of ‘A Night At The Opera’ our front cover features Freddie in the studio working on Bohemian Rhapsody.

Photo courtesy of Brian May.

32 The Official International Queen Fan Club Summer 2015

QUEE

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WSQUEEN EXTRAVAGANZA: AUSTRALIAN TOUR ANNOUNCED!

The Roger Taylor and Brian May produced Queen Extravaganza will rock Australia this October with shows on the Gold Coast, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

The Queen Extravaganza is a spectacular touring concert show designed to take the glorious music and live experience of legendary rock band Queen and bring it to generations of fans.

Two of Queen’s original band mates and songwriters—iconic drummer Roger Taylor and legendary guitarist Brian May—are the masterminds behind The Queen Extravaganza. “The Queen Extravaganza is a brand new show specially designed to enable new fans, together with fans of old, to celebrate the music of Queen in a heart-stopping event”, says Roger. “It’s very spectacular, it’s very visual, there are going to be some shocks and some tremendous surprises. It will be a rock celebration in the Royal tradition.” Roger personally has taken on the role of producer with long-time Queen Keyboardist Spike Edney as global music director. Together Roger and Spike have created the ultimate Queen concert experience in an electrifying road show, which celebrates the band’s music and legacy as performed by a new generation of musical talent.

The band is: vocalist Marc Martel; guitarist Nick Radcliffe; drummer Tyler Warren; and bassist Francois-Oliver Doyon. “This band is now so frighteningly good, I would hate to have to follow them on stage,” explains Roger.

The 90-minute show features more than 20 Queen classics drawn from the band’s biggest hits: “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Another One Bites the Dust”, “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”, “Under Pressure”, “We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions”, “A Kind of Magic”, “Radio Ga Ga”, “Somebody to Love”, and “Killer Queen” as well as other fan favourites. The production will be enhanced visually with rare video footage from Queen’s extensive archives and also newly created imagery.

AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES:

Saturday 3rd October GOLD COAST Jupiters TheatreTuesday 6th October SYDNEY The Star Event CentreSaturday 10th October MELBOURNE Palais TheatreTuesday 13th October PERTH Crown Theatre

The South America shows follow Queen + Adam Lambert having played 67 completely sold out arena shows across North America, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Europe in less than a year.

QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT ‘DON’T STOP THEM NOW’ SOUTH AMERICAN TOUR DATES

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‘Don’t Stop Them Now’ South American Tour16 September Sao Paulo, Ibirapuera Arena, Brazil (SOLD OUT)18 September Rock in Rio Festival, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil 21 September Gigantinho Arena, Porto Alegre, Brazil25 September GEBA Stadium, Buenos Aires, Argentina30 September Pista Atletica, National Stadium, Santiago, Chile

Tickets are also available to buy at the following outlets in Buenos Aires, Argentina:

La Plata El Ateneo, Address: Calle 50 nº 661/663

Downtown El Ateneo, Address: Florida 340

Belgrano Yenny, Address: Av Cabildo 1978

Palermo La Rural, Av Santa Fe 4201

Palermo El Ateneo, Address: Av Santa Fe 1860

Palermo GEBA JN, Marcelino Freire 3831 (w Dorrego street)

Photos courtesy of Richard Gray

5Summer 20154 The Official International Queen Fan Club

MONTREAUX BIRTHDAY PARTY

It started with the idea for a film and the realisation that the world is going to end, not with a whimper, but with an almighty bang. This single realisation led to the creation of a ground-breaking film and the launch of a global awareness-raising initiative supported by the brightest minds in the world today.

In 2010, filmmaker Grigorij Richters watched a BBC documentary called Asteroids: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, which examined the devastating threat posed by asteroids to Earth. His time was immediately consumed by research into the potential cataclysm our planet faces at the hands of Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). Richters realised that in order to make a subject of this magnitude relatable, he needed to filter it through a human prism. His imagination set alight, he set out to pour all of his passion and research into a feature film called 51 Degrees North.

Through meticulous rehearsal and liberating improvisation, the character of protagonist Damon emerged; a young filmmaker struggling with professional and personal challenges who discovers that an asteroid threatens the imminent destruction of the world. Damon became an autobiographical avatar that could project the alarm and urgency Richters himself had experienced. To underscore the personal impact of the story, an omnipresent handheld camera and innovative use of CCTV footage were used to minutely observe the unravelling of Damon and, subsequently, society.

Dr Brian May, astrophysicist and lead guitarist for legendary rock band Queen, was captivated by the subject matter and agreed to provide the soundtrack for the film. Once the film was finished, May suggested that Richters screen the film at Starmus Festival in Tenerife, an annual astronomy related

event combining science, art and music. 51 Degrees North was met with acclaim and inspired Richters, May and some of the most notable names in science to propose the idea of a day dedicated to raising awareness of the asteroid threat around the world.

The proposal for Asteroid Day quickly gained momentum, attracting widespread media interest and garnering the signatures and support of luminaries such as scientists Richard Dawkins, Kip Thorne and Bill Nye; musicians May and Peter Gabriel; and astronauts Chris Hadfield and Jim Lovell, among many others.

Asteroid Day was held on June 30th, 2015, the anniversary of the largest asteroid collision with Earth in recent history, the 1908 Siberian Tunguska impact. What began as a scientifically-minded declaration has captured the popular imagination and is ramping up to be a truly global movement aimed at no less than saving the world from assured destruction.

And it all started with an idea for a film.

JOIN US AND GET READY TO PARTY IN MONTREUX!

IN AID OF THE MERCURY PHOENIX TRUST—FIGHTING AIDS WORLDWIDEJoin fellow fans and members of the Queen team at Freddie Mercury’s Birthday Party which is being held at Casino Barriere Montreux, Switzerland on Saturday 5th September, 2015. The casino is also the home of the Queen Studio Experience.

Tickets are strictly limited and cost £75 / €95 / $112 plus a voluntary donation to The Mercury Phoenix Trust. The ticket includes entry plus food, welcome drink and entertainment.

Additional party details and confirmation of attendance!

• Peter ‘Phoebe’ Freestone—Freddie Mercury’s Personal Assistant and Valet will be compering the evening and sharing some of his personal memories of his time spent with Queen’s enigmatic frontman.

• Greg Brooks—Official Queen Archivist and curator of the Queen Studio Experience will be present on the day to offer his expert knowledge to proceedings in and around the exhibition.

• Justin Shirley-Smith—Queen’s Senior Engineer and Co-Producer will be providing additional tracks for the Queen Studio Experience mixing desk as well as answering questions.

Theme / Dress Code: Keeping it fun, just like Freddie did at his 39th birthday party in Munich, we are going with the classic BLACK & WHITE theme. The next rule is simple, just dress in the spirit of Mr Mercury himself!

The excellent Spike Edney’s All Star Band (The SAS Band) are going on the road!

Thursday, 26th November THE BROOK, Southampton

Tickets on Sale: £29:50 Adv / £32 Doors www.the-brook.com

Sunday, 29th November THE ASSEMBLY HALL THEATRE, Tunbridge Wells

Tickets on Sale: £36 standing / £40 seated www.assemblyhalltheatre.co.uk

Thursday, 3rd December WATFORD COLOSSEUM, Watford

Tickets on Sale: £40 standing / £30 seated www.watfordcolosseum.co.uk

Friday, 4th December SALISBURY CITY HALL, Salisbury

Tickets on Sale: £42 seated / £36 standing www.cityhallsalisbury.co.uk

Saturday, 5th December G LIVE, Guildford THE SAS BAND CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!

Tickets on Sale: £45 seated / £35 standing www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sas-band-all-star-christmas-special-g-live-tickets-17567260148 www.glive.co.uk

Tuesday, 8th December PORTSMOUTH GUILDHALL, Portsmouth

Tickets on sale: £36.30 / £44.00. Group discounts available. www.portsmouthguildhall.org.uk

51 Degrees North—The Film

See Brian talking about the film at https://youtu.be/Agmyu-n2Q9k

SAS BAND ON TOUR!

Brian with Grigorij Richters and Moritz von Zeddelmann


Queen’s Roger Taylor and Brian May paid tribute to their long-serving manager, Jim Beach, for “being the glue that’s held the band together for 40 years” at the Artist and Manager Awards on March 26th this year. The duo presented Beach with the Peter Grant award, named after the late Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin manager, and awarded for outstanding achievement.

Roger said, “Jim Beach has been the glue that’s kept the band of Queen together for 40 years now. Without his tireless terrier like Machiavellian plotting, we wouldn’t really be around these days.”

Brian agreed, adding that without Beach the band wouldn’t be “anything like we are”. “I don’t think we’re without talent, but without a manager like Jim, it wouldn’t have been able to find its fruition, and we certainly wouldn’t be here in the state that we are today, still alive!” he added.

Paying tribute to Queen’s frontman Freddie Mercury, who died in 1991, and bass guitarist John Deacon, who retired at the same time, Brian continued, “Freddie and John would be as enormously proud as we are.

“Jim is such a worthy honoree of the Peter Grant award and we are incredibly happy to present this award to our illustrious manager and inimitable manager, Mr Jim Beach.”

Beach used his acceptance speech to highlight the work both Taylor and May have done over the last 20 years to keep the band alive, including their latest worldwide tour that saw them perform 67 sold-out gigs with US singer/songwriter Adam Lambert. The MMF, Queen’s “incredibly dedicated” team, and his wife were also on his thank you list.

“In 1991, when Freddie died and John Deacon decided to retire, fortunately for me, Brian and Roger decided to continue with the music of Queen and they’ve worked tirelessly in that ever since. I take my hat off to them for pulling off [their latest tour], both musically and physically.

“Secondly, [I thank] the Queen team, some of whom have been with us for 30 years, for their incredible dedication and their perfectionist attitude, I could never have done what I’ve done without them.

“Finally, when Queen approached me in 1977 to ask if I’d take over from [former manager] John Reid, I spoke to my wife who said that she hadn’t married me to watch me walking up the same pavement for 30 years and walking into the offices of [law firm] Harbottle & Lewis.

“It was those words that pushed me into giving up my day job and entering the real world. I thank her very personally for quite frankly being one of the most wonderful partners you could ever have.”

Queen’s Manager

Jim Beach Gets Award


Play The GameQueen: Play The Game is Queen’s first official app and is a digital puzzle and trivia game for smartphones and tablets. With beautiful imagery from Queen’s official archive, re-sampled sounds from all the hits and many recordings you may not have heard, this is a truly unique Queen experience. Test your knowledge of the band, solve puzzles, unlock official artwork, discover new music and win real official Queen merchandise.

This app contains thousands of images, music clips and facts from the official Queen archive. Complete sections of the game and you’ll also be entered into competitions to win real-world high-value packs of official Queen merchandise. The game runs on both Apple’s iOS operating system and Google’s Android so most modern smartphone and tablet users will be able to play.

This game has everything for the Queen fan, young and old and evolves over time with new content and game modes added regularly. How much do you know about Queen’s; songs, albums, tours, band members, producers, live gigs, studios, history, instruments, tastes etc? Whatever your level of knowledge you are sure to unlock some surprising facts about these most iconic of British rock bands.

If you’re a casual Queen fan, or indeed are just starting on your journey with their music, you will learn more about the band from this game than perhaps anywhere else.

This year’s Polish convention saw a return visit to the holiday camp in Budy Grabskie in Skierniewice.Its location in the middle of the woods, next to the Sosenka river made it special. You could swim in the river which many did! Everybody stayed in small wooden cabins. As soon as the fans arrived on the Friday they decorated the windows! Fans started partying on the verandas and the drink flowed. The three nights of Queen began with a bang! There was an on-site bar and the fridges were stocked with beer, beer and more beer! Everyone collected their lanyards and convention T-shirts designed by Tomek Klin Wiercioch. Well done Tomek!

Friday night saw a bonfire on the riverbank and after a walk down some steep steps I joined in the fun. There were two other British visitors, Dave and Irene Taylor and we were all welcomed by the gathering crowd. Sausages were spit roasted and tasty they were too! Making your own hot dog as there was plenty of bread rolls and bread on the table. A couple of fans brought along guitars so it wasn’t long before the sing-along kicked in when the talented beautiful-voiced Malwina Borkowicz singing a number of John Deacon songs started the ball rolling. It was so relaxed and peaceful. Toasted marshmallows and home-made wine were also on offer.

The next day and the sun shone gloriously eventually reaching 41 degrees centigrade! Hot! There was a Queen quiz which was won by British visitors Dave and Irene Taylor. Their prize was a home-made Red Special presented in a box with a sixpence piece. Stunning! A message was played from Brian May which went down a treat! A game of charades saw such fun and yours truly won a prize for an innovative performance of Get Down Make Love! I took part in a Question and Answer session. Thanks to Monica and Sonia for translation. A fun-filled Karaoke session concluded the daytime’s events. There was an incredible thunderstorm, lots of lightning and plenty of loud bangs with the thunder! Thunder and lightning very very frightening me! Really!

The evening was fancy dress and the theme was Bohemian Rhapsody. Many attending dressed up and there were many devils. The disco went on way into the early hours and continued even after the bar shut! Parties continued back at the cabins and some watched the sunrise!

Sunday, another scorcher and there was a game of volleyball and a beer drinking competition. Lots of laughter at both those events! Everyone gathered together to sing Happy Birthday to Brian! Prize presentation took place in the main room. Another thunderstorm and downpour saw crazy people dancing in the rain! Thankfully it stopped so another evening could be spent on the banks of the river and concluded with another bonfire, more spit roasting sausages and obviously the beer and wine flowed like there’s no tomorrow! I gave a talk on what Liverpool meant to Queen. Well done Sonia for translating Scouse to Polish!!

Sadly Monday morning saw the convention come to an end. A HUGE thank you must go to Dagmara Szymanska and to Kasia Zielinska for all their hard work in organising the event and ensuring the weekend ran smoothly. Personal thanks to Radek for the lift to and from the airport and to Kasia for taking me on a tour of Warsaw before heading home. I enjoyed that. Lots! Thanks to all the welcoming Polish fans. This is a special event and well worth attending. It was an absolute pleasure to be there.

Jim Jenkins

Polish Queen Convention

July 2015

Dave and Irene Taylor with their quiz prize


Hello, my name is Sarah Castillo and I attended both nights of what turned out to be Queen Rock Montreal. I first got into Queen in the mid-1970s, when I was given a copy of Sheer Heart Attack from a friend, and I’ve been a fan ever since! At the time of the Montreal shows, I was 19 and had seen them twice before in 1977 and 1978. The previous

two shows were in America, and Queen were among the first rock groups my parents allowed me to see live. I was left in awe each time! My sister and her friend Christian had never seen Queen before, and as they knew I was a fan, they invited me to take the third ticket for both nights. I told them they were in for a treat! I knew from getting front row at an Elton John show a few months before, that the way to get to the front of the stage was to arrive early, and simply follow the rules of the venue. And patience prevailed, as we were up front for both nights! Getting the spots we had was easy. Keeping those spots was the hard part! My sister and Christian ended up getting pushed and pulled away from me both nights, but were still able to stay near the front for both shows.

We all knew about the cameras, but as far as I could tell, they were usually focused on the band with the occasional few shots of the audience as a whole. So you could imagine my surprise when I received a call from my cousin who said I was being shown in full HD on ten TV screens at the electronics store! They had been playing the DVD on repeat for days on their TVs to show the pixel quality of the screens, and my cousin had spotted me at 19 years old holding my mother’s camera in the audience! I sat down and watched the video myself, and was shocked to see it since I didn’t even really remember them even shooting in my direction. My daughter and I visited my sister in America a few months ago, and were able to view it in the IMAX theater which was a great laugh!

I was shown looking a bit moved in the clip. Every time I heard ‘Love of My Life’, I felt quite emotional. I had fallen in love with a man who I truly saw a future with, and who used to play a few songs to serenade me while we were dating. ‘Love of My Life’ was one of those songs, and both nights I can remember feeling like I was on the verge of very happy tears just thinking about my love. He was on my mind and in my heart at the time I was being filmed. The ironic thing is that although my love for that man did eventually burn out, my love for Queen and the song did not!

Unfortunately, the photos I took during both shows are no longer in my possession. In 1992, my husband and I divorced, and as our concert photos from rock shows we’d seen had been blended together in a few scrapbooks, he took them before I even thought to go through them. He moved out, and now lives in America. He and I are no longer on speaking terms. I have thought of them over the years, as well as the others I’m missing from Genesis, Elton John, Michael Jackson and others, but to be honest, it’s never been worth it to speak to him again. I have heard that he still has the photos, and I hope that it’s true. They were not the greatest quality, just taken with my mother’s camera, but I was proud of them.

It’s a neat little story, and really is the most interesting thing Queen related that has ever happened to me. I had no idea so many Queen fans had even noticed me there, much less cared to know who I was! I’m flattered, and although the DVD is rarely ever played in my house, as another fan pointed out to me, this little cameo in the concert means I may no longer have the photos I took, but I have something just as lovely to keep as a memory on DVD!

I so wish I had gone to see Freddie again after Montreal, but I always assumed I would have more time and that there would always be “the next tour”. I had heard of The Works and Magic tour that followed, and just thought I’d catch them later. Hindsight is 20/20 isn’t it? When Freddie passed away, I cherished the memories and albums even more. Recently, I was able to take my mother to see Queen + Adam Lambert, and hearing that wonderful music up on stage again was fantastic! It is now 2015, and their music is still touching the hearts of us fans. A Queen fan I was, and a Queen fan I will always be!

Queen Rock Montreal

Sarah on the Montreal video in 1981 Sarah more recently with her daughter


For as long as I can remember—dating back as far as 1980 when I purchased my first coloured vinyl album, and (a bit later) my first picture discs—I imagined how great it would be to one day be able to walk in to a shop and see the entire Queen catalogue available to buy on pristine

picture discs or coloured vinyl; every album, each one immaculately pressed on multiple colours, appropriately colour-matched to the respective artwork and sleeves, and every bit as good in sound quality terms as is achievable for black vinyl; no compromises at all. Picture discs and coloured vinyl were still very much a novelty back then. It was rare to see such things, and when I did I always wanted them. I recall seeing an Elton John ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ yellow vinyl double album, but by the time I’d saved the money for it, it was no longer available: I missed out and I never forgot it. I learned quickly that these things are usually pressed in strictly limited numbers. Much later I saw A Night At The Opera and News Of The World white and green coloured discs, but they too were financially out of reach.

Instead, I made do with two bootleg albums; ‘Freddie’s Boys At The Beeb’ on both blue and yellow vinyl. A Kind Of Magic came out in ’86 on orange vinyl, and this time I made sure to get one. I paid £25, rather than £50 for the red vinyl version. The orange discs exchanged hands for £300 back in the 1990s, but the arrival of eBay destroyed those kinds of prices and now they’re valued at less than half of that!

Somehow you have to make this Vinyl Breakthru!Putting together the new Queen Studio Collection box set

by Queen Archivist Greg Brooks, July 2015


I never imagined that an all-encompassing one big Queen picture disc or coloured vinyl box would ever happen, or that it would be within my monetary grasp, but I did think about it often and I did later go on to propose it as a product (several times) over the eighteen years I’ve worked for the band. This was an idea that refused to go away, and now that it has emerged it is every bit as impressive as I imagined all those years ago. The quality of the 180 gram discs seems very much better than those 80s and 90s versions, and the sound is superior too, to anything that was around in my teenage years.

A full set of Queen picture discs was my very first ‘dream product’ back in 1980-ish (long before the days when I got seriously into Anthology concepts morning, noon and night!), and thus that was also my first proposition to EMI many years later. One for each album, and two for Live Killers (a picture of each band member on each side of vinyl, under that incredible Killers lighting rig). How great would that be!? And then in the next instant I thought of a coloured vinyl series of some sort. The debut album on purple vinyl was a vivid image to set the mind pondering the rest. Both concepts were exciting and nothing much changed as those ideas stayed with me for over 30 years. Picture discs aside, I recall thinking that a Live Killers coloured alternative would surely be one green disc and one red. And then, only a few months later, I saw precisely that; a Japanese pressing of the album which was indeed red/green vinyl. I loved it. I bought it. It cost me 20 or 30 weeks pocket money (I was 13 at the time) and I have cherished it ever since.

So… many years later and the story is revisited…

In advance of a meeting of the Queen team with the EMI team, probably ten years ago, I was asked by Jim Beach to have ready some ideas of how we might re-present the Queen albums. “Be ready with some ideas, Greg. Something fresh and different that will appeal to the record label, the band, and the fans.” My response was immediate. A complete set of picture discs or coloured vinyl albums, though not necessarily in a box, and thus I conjured from my laptop my picture mock-ups for each scenario. EMI liked both ideas, but I seem to recall picture discs were deemed to be not quite so appealing as coloured vinyl. The latter was thought to be more elegant, classy—call it what you will—and that is probably true. I now see that, if I didn’t then! Plus, they play and sound significantly better, and that has to be priority with Queen music, as it always has been.

Ultimately, neither project gained quite enough momentum to happen at that time and we went on to explore remastered studio albums on vinyl instead, both EMI and Hollywood pressings. They were lovely items too, but I still hankered after those dream products I envisaged as a kid—picture discs, coloured discs, or maybe a combination of both. Many a good idea has come and gone over the years, such is the nature of the business. Good ideas from all members of the Queen team linger and depart, only to re-emerge later in different forms, or to be radically overhauled, and some are never heard of again. Generally the best product concepts manage to survive in some form. The coloured vinyl idea never went too far away. It loitered in various proposals and I would often bring it up, again, probably to the point of colleagues’ frustration.

So… a little over a year ago, Richard Gray informed me that the band and Jim, and particularly the record label, were now ready to look seriously at options for a Queen coloured vinyl project. But, not just any sort of project; the definitive

Queen studio albums coloured vinyl boxed set. Wow! Music to my ears—quite literally, via multiple coloured discs. I’d been waiting close to 35 years for this. Every studio album, an

accompanying book covering the recording of each project, text, memorabilia, photos, captions, all inside a beautiful box.

“I will come back to you soon, Richard, with suggestions”, I promised, and that I did by the same evening. By sundown I had gathered from the internet pictures of coloured vinyl discs (from every artist imaginable; it was only the colour that mattered) for each and every Queen album. Then our colleague Kris Fredrikkson got involved and some very detailed colour possibilities were explored. Kris flew out of the UK to look at some vinyl manufacturing options, and Richard and I sat down with all fifteen album covers and colour swatches from the factory, and it all started to come together. This was not as simple as it might sound.

For several months, Justin Shirley-Smith and Kris became completely immersed in achieving the best possible sound for each album, sourced in every case from the original master tapes, and with Roger and Brian never far from the process. With test pressings coming at them at alarming rates, the chaps undertook their usual meticulous job of scrutinising every second of every track on every side and album, times fifteen, until everything was perfect and they’d approved everything. In the meantime, Richard and I made a start on the book, assessing what we thought best leant itself to this

unusual project. RG and I admired the Beatles’ recent vinyl box and realised there was much to live up to. So, what colour should each disc be? That’s a ten-minute conversation, right? No. It was more like ten hours in all, with Kris in the mix too, and with us knowing exactly what the band like and dislike, what’s likely to get through and what most definitely will not!

The first album had to be purple, of course it did—though I did ponder the 1973 Elektra USA pink (album cover) just for a moment, but I’m a fan first and foremost and I knew what was right. Queen II should have a black side and a white side; that too seemed obvious. But technically one cannot have a coloured vinyl disc with different coloured sides—that is by definition more a picture disc. So was born the idea of two discs; one entirely white, and one black. Fabulous! A double-whammy and also a significant Queen album first. This also meant we could adopt the idea that Elektra used for their 1974 Queen II pressing; an inner lyric sleeve with a black and white side, whereas the UK/European counterpart had only a fully white sleeve. As you know by now, we went with a white sleeve for the white disc, and a black one for the black side. Then followed Richard’s idea to have an etched ‘Queen’ and crest on the redundant reverse sides. It was lovely to discover at this point that both Roger and Brian loved the double-disc Queen II concept. It was a first for that album, and indeed for ANY Queen studio album. Further to that…

This boxed set contains several significant Firsts. Queen II, Made In Heaven and Innuendo are all double albums, Queen and Jazz both have lyrics (where the original LPs did not), Track 13 on the last album finally makes it to vinyl, and certain albums have alternative running orders because of the extra space available over four sides.

Where was I? Oh yes… Sheer Heart Attack had to be a red

disc, of course it did. Blood red. Not least because there’s been so much speculation over the last few decades about the authenticity of a certain red vinyl SHA pressing (did it ever exist or not? If so, was it a bootleg? Etc.), that if we pressed this in any other colour, there’d be a mass revolt of fans screaming at us that we missed a golden opportunity. And we didn’t want the record label saying “Queen fans are revolting!” Seamless use of old joke there!

For ‘A Night At The Opera’ I toyed with light blue in my on-screen mock up; the blue of the letters on the front cover. And I was aware this album had already been issued on white vinyl in France in the seventies, so did that mean we could not repeat it? No. It had to be white. And only a relatively few fans would have a white copy; the rest of us still await it.

Likewise, A Day At The Races had to be black. I thought so anyway—though I did dig out a beige (and then a gold) vinyl disc and hold it next to the Races LP just to see how they looked—and the rest of the team agreed. Opera white / Races black; who could argue with that!?—excluding for a moment the Moanzoners on Queenzone, of course! But they’d complain if we offered them 18-carat gold discs for £10 each!

For News Of The World, I thought of robot metallic silver, just for a change, but then realised that would be the colour of The Game, for what would that album be, if not silver? Then I thought about the dark red/maroon of the NOTW inner sleeve. But… no. There’s no getting away from it, this album has to be bottle green, and the options available to us (which were not infinite) included a lovely green. Sometimes things are obvious for very good reason, and thus you go with it.

1978’s Jazz album. Black or white? No, we’ve done that with Queen II, Races and Opera. So the pink of the logo on the cover, and of the reverse side of the infamous naked cyclists poster, that was perfect. I found a pink vinyl 12” single on the internet by some African dance band from the end of the 20th century, held it next to the Jazz album, and it looked stunning as it emerged from the shiny black inner sleeve. Separately, Richard and Kris had reached the same conclusion, as we all did on several albums, and that was that! I think the Jazz album is utterly stunning in this box; one of the very nicest of all—though I do genuinely like all of them very much. Richard then asked, “Where do we put the Jazz lyrics?” I suggested the reverse of the poster and he liked it. He went with white text instead of black, which was a lovely touch, and that too looks very cool I think. Am I allowed to say cool at my age!?

So, what colour should each disc be? That’s a ten-minute conversation, right?


The Game had to be the grey/silver of the original cover, obviously. That’s a no-brainer. So too the yellow of Flash Gordon. For Hot Space, myself, RG and Kris pondered various ideas—some of them surprisingly obscure. We thought it would be nice to press this album on four different colours; the red, blue, green and yellow of Freddie’s cover design, naturally. And fans could buy whichever one they fancied. But that might cause headaches at the factory. I then thought that it might be more fun if people had no idea what colour Hot Space they had, until they got it home. But then that could cause problems too, and might necessitate use of a sticker on the front, and so on. Who would put these stickers on? And what happens if fans all want green or red discs, and the yellows or blues don’t sell? All this stuff has to be considered. And so it was that we eventually commissioned a special new blue for this album, which we now think is extremely nice and, I might add, may even have saved fighting in the streets among you guys because there were (conceivably) more blue Hot Spaces than red, or less green Spaces than yellow, and before you know where you are, a huge online swapping Hot Spaces campaign has got out of hand as the Paul Birds and Gary Taylors of this world duel until they’ve secured all four colours! We do ponder most or all of these possible permutations and outcomes you know—even the ludicrous ones.

The Works disc could only be red, though darker than that of Heart Attack, that was a clear enough decision. Cog-shaped, would have been good, but would not have played on the turntable too well. And A Kind Of Magic could have been any of the colours that feature on the artwork. We went with orange because lots of fans love the orange vinyl pressings from New Zealand in 1986, but like me, could not afford them then. Other people did not buy them then on account of not being born yet! Plus, we imagined all 18 of these discs spread out for the promotional pack-shot, and it needed an orange disc, rather than two greens or three reds.

For The Miracle, we pondered many options. In my mind, this was always an ‘Eyes’ picture disc (the eyes of the reverse of the cover of course), but now we needed an enticing colour to match the elegance of this most iconic Queen cover. Eventually we decided to commission a brand new aqua-type sky/water merging bluey green colour, and that too emerged as a beautiful rich tone. This is perhaps my favourite of the set—along with Jazz, and the doubly-audacious Innuendo.

Innuendo appears here as a double album and the two colours chosen match one of the Juggler’s airborne balls, and

the colour of the ocean on the globe. Again, you have to lay both discs carefully upon the LP cover to fully admire this, just as we did with multiple variations, and… perhaps imagine which colours Freddie would have chosen if he were present in the room with us. “The purple and the ocean blue, dear. It’s perfectly obvious!”

Colour-wise, Made In Heaven could have gone any number of ways. More alternatives were considered for this, than for any other album. Ultimately we came up with royal blue for disc 1 and a ghostly spiritual clear disc for the second disc—which of course contains Track 13. And you might notice something different about the cover picture of this vinyl LP too!

So, long story told short-ish—but probably nowhere near as short as you would have preferred—that was more or less how we decided upon the colours of the 18 discs. I think they look wonderful as a series together, though inevitably there will be fans that insist Jazz should not be pink, Races

should have been green with yellow stripes, and so on. Personally, I think the discs have emerged every bit as stunning as we could have hoped. Those who wanted an orange Magic, green News Of The World, white

Opera and red Heart Attack, when they originally circulated, but simply could not afford them, finally have them, and that is rather grand in my book. They have 14 additional colours too, and one of the most striking Queen products to date.

So, then came the text. Once again Gary Taylor and I collaborated on writing notes for all 15 studio albums, and then we passed them to the team for collective scrutiny and additions. Boxed sets like this truly are a collaborative affair, and we like to think that one way or another we do manage to cover every detail along the way. We each have our own ideas of content, concepts, form, shape and presentation, and we’re all acutely aware of what the band generally favours.

Richard Gray spent considerable time with me at the archive going through all the relevant tapes (masters for each album), as well as posters, promo flyers, never before seen (recently-ish discovered at Brian’s house) handwritten lyrics and so much other iconic Queen imagery. These things take an age to go through, to whittle down, hone, re-hone and finally fit into the right space of the book. And so too do the multiple quotes from the band that we dug out especially for this project. That task alone spanned nearly a week! Each one had to be gone through and filtered so that each album, and various singles, was represented in a balanced way without getting repetitive.

As far as memorabilia goes, this wasn’t supposed to be a focus on that aspect of the albums (my own book ‘I Want It All’ will be the forum for that—though it’s still unclear when it’s going to emerge). Even so, we still chose to feature some wonderful and rarely seen things. Mostly from Brian’s archive, but also some lyrics from Roger and posters and flyers from Queen fans that were kind enough to loan things for this. Everyone is credited, of course, and this box has really been a collaborative venture. Let’s not forget the amazing photographs featured throughout the 108 page book, by the way. Douglas Puddifoot’s stunning live shots from 1974/5, alongside familiar band session portraits, and Brian’s shot of Freddie in the recording studio. This aspect alone, makes this a distinctly different and exciting Queen project in my opinion.

I must single out here, if you will indulge me, a few items of memorabilia in the accompanying Queen Studio Collection book which I particularly like; first are the two sheets of green A4 paper featuring Freddie handwritten lyrics of Brian’s song Tie Your Mother Down, from 1976, and an Elektra Records 1976 Races flyer featuring the individual astrological elements of the Queen crest (two lions, crab, etc) all racing around the grooves of a vinyl LP race-track. There is also a very strange NOTW promo flyer from Holland (you have to see this), and then there are some fabulous promo flyers for the Bites The Dust, Save Me and Killer Queen singles, and Jazz, Hot Space and Miracle albums. Look out too for the rather wonderful—and vicious looking—Death On Two Legs prototype toy figure which never made it into production at the time of The eYe game in 1998 and is seen here (thanks to Richard Gray) for the very first time ever.

Finally, I must mention here, that though I’ve put all the emphasis on the coloured vinyl set in this piece, there are also black vinyl discs—single discs, not doubles. These will be available to purchase individually, whereas the box set offers all the albums together. So, if you do just want Innuendo or Jazz, you can have them that way too.

You may also have seen the press regarding a brand new limited edition official turntable to coincide with the release of this re-mastered multi-disc box set. Queen has teamed up with one of the worlds most recognised and respected turntable manufacturers, Rega (see more details on page 23). Both brand and band are quintessentially English and the combination of engineering and musical achievements make for a perfect match. This turntable—clichéd though it might be to say—really has to be seen to fully appreciate. It has huge impact and is very striking. Any one of the coloured discs spinning on this deck would look very cool indeed.

Listening to Queen albums on vinyl (with headphones on in my case) was how many of us fans first heard this incredible music. This vibrant set of multi-coloured records, and indeed the black vinyl sister discs, will offer that opportunity once more—for the very first time to certain fans. Listening careful to a vinyl record is a significantly different experience to digital formats, and so you may find you hear these familiar songs in a suddenly and unexpected alternative way. Listening to a Queen album should be an Event, not just something you do in the car on the way to work. I genuinely hope these new products will inspire fans to do precisely that; listen carefully, without distraction, just you and the music and the cover artwork and lyrics.

I hope you will agree that all the little details mentioned herein; from the actual sound of the records, to the sleeves and lyrics, text, pictures, memorabilia and band-member comments and anecdotes, collectively make for a very special and carefully assembled package. I believe this to be one of the loveliest and most exciting products we’ve ever produced. It’s not cheap. We realise that. But quality does not come cheaply and this endeavour was never ever about that. It is purely an exercise in offering Queen’s remarkable catalogue of studio music—the familiar and the lesser-known tracks—in the very best way we could think of for vinyl.

I’ve seen large boxed sets before, that were less expensive than this, and I have purchased some of them. But invariably the lid hinges break or rust, the glue comes apart, the cardboard is too flimsy. The Queen Studio Collection is the John McVicar of the boxed set world. It’s as hard as nails and no nonsense. No creases or dents or things falling off. It’s heavy and substantial and completely without compromise. What else can I say? I believe this box will become hugely sought-after and collectable very quickly. I hope it does and I hope, sincerely, that you enjoy it as much as we enjoyed assembling it.

Thanks to Justin Shirley-Smith for the witty title of this piece.

I would like to dedicate this feature with much respect to Shirley Joyce—Gary Taylor’s recently departed and much loved mum.

“The purple and the ocean blue, dear. It’s perfectly obvious! ”


As a teenager I would often sit in my bedroom and listen to music on an old turntable. Like most teenagers I was on a voyage of self discovery, trying

to make sense of the world and my place in it. Listening to music was a welcome sanctuary, and a glorious place to escape. It was on that wonderful crackly vinyl and through those small boxy speakers that I discovered Roger Taylor’s first solo albums. After being exposed to 1980’s plastic pop bands that were more interested in their hairstyles than the music they created; ‘Fun in Space’ (1981) and ‘Strange Frontier’ (1984) were a revelation. From that little turntable Roger Taylor reached out and grabbed me. I was saved, and life was never the same.

Best known for being the drummer for Queen, Roger Taylor wrote many of the bands hits including ‘Radio Ga Ga, and ‘A Kind of Magic’. From behind his drum kit he delivered a steady heartbeat, he sang lead vocals on ‘I’m in Love with my Car’ and he provided those castratingly high-range vocals in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Along with Freddie Mercury, Brian May and John Deacon, Roger Taylor moulded Queen into one of the best live bands, and ultimately, the band that is still adored worldwide today. Roger Taylor’s contribution to Queen is immeasurable, but it is through his first two solo albums that we begin to see Taylor as an individual. A vocalist, lyricist and multi-instrumentalist; he wrote, played and sang on all but 50% of the keyboards on ‘Fun in Space’. Wow!

Through ‘Fun in Space’ and ‘Strange Frontier’ Roger’s strong and spirited personality emerge and we discover that he is more than a drummer in a rock ‘n roll band. Taylor freely admits that he is not interested in politics, but it is on ‘Fun in Space’ and ‘Strange Frontier’ that we begin to see a man who has a deep regard for humanity, he writes “We’d like to find a cure for every known disease” on ‘Beautiful Dreams’. He also displays an inherent respect for the right to shine a light on injustice “don’t want to kill for some cause of the age, don’t want to cry for somebody else’s need, don’t want no piece of no flag in the breeze” on ‘My Country I & II’. Roger also covers Bob Dylan’s classic protest song ‘Masters of War’ on ‘Strange Frontier’. Sadly the undercurrents of these songs are still relevant today.

Setting those insights aside, the songs Roger Taylor writes on ‘Fun in Space’ and ‘Strange Frontier’ show great heart and extreme care for his fellow human beings by sending the simple but often forgotten message that when life conspires to bring you down, it is possible to rise. He writes in the song ‘Young Love’ that “you gotta stick to your guns, show the world that you just don’t care” or in any given situation to “Just open up your heart, or open up your eyes, Laugh or Cry.”

Roger Taylor’s mischievous side shines through on both albums with the purely indulgent recording of songs just for the fun of it. Examples are the cover of Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Racing in the Street’ which harks back to Roger’s love of fast cars, and the call to arms to misbehave and ‘Let’s Get Crazy’.

Each album contained strong messages for a teenager who was trying to find her way; they provided a voice of clarity and made the world a more interesting place.

Life is a rich tapestry and music is the gold and silver threads shining throughout like a beacon of joy.

After ‘Fun in Space’ and ‘Strange Frontier’ Roger Taylor continued to add those precious silver and gold threads to the tapestry of my life through the releases of ‘Happiness?’ (1994), ‘Electric Fire’ (1998) and ‘Fun on Earth’ (2013). There are musicians that entertain us, and then there are others that continue to inspire us, they live in our heart; and we carry them with us always. Roger Taylor is one of those musicians.

Nearly 34 years on, ‘Fun in Space’ and ‘Strange Frontier’ are being re-issued (with bonus tracks) for a new generation to enjoy. They are available on limited edition vinyl, and on CD or MP3. One thing is for sure, the re-issues will provide the opportunity for the world to discover Roger Taylor, the solo musician; and that alone is a wonderful thing.

Re-issues of Fun in Space and Strange Frontier

by Jane Remedio

‘Fun in Space’ and ‘Strange Frontier’ are available now from: www.queenonlinestore.com/Roger-Taylor/Music/

“you gotta stick to your guns, show the world that you just

don’t care”


Ultimate Turntable for Queen Vinyl LoversTo complement the new Queen Studio Collection vinyl boxset, renowned UK turntable manufacturer Rega are launching a limited edition fully-licensed ‘Queen by Rega’ custom turntable.

The design of this unique custom turntable includes reproductions of classic Queen logos, and incorporates the tonearm technology of the multi-award-winning ‘plug

and play’ Rega turntables. Both brand and band are quintessentially English and the combination of engineering and musical achievements make for a perfect match.

The Queen Turntable features:

� A brand new product designed for Queen.

� A custom designed high-gloss acrylic laminated plinth silk screened with ‘Queen by Rega’ logo.

� Silk screened ‘Queen crest’ platter from artwork created by Freddie Mercury.

� Hand-built RB101 tonearm.

� Factory-fitted Rega Carbon moving magnet cartridge.

� Low noise, low vibration 24V synchronous high-performance motor.

� Queen dustcover lid badge.

Simon Webster from Rega told the fan club, “Rega was approached by Universal Music and Queen’s team, we were then in talks with Richard Gray as the artistic director and he kindly provided all the original artwork and licensees for the relevant artwork and crest produced by Freddie Mercury (which is silk screened to keep the resolution really high and keep it as close to the original as possible). It is printed in the same gold as the Queen logo on the plinth which was designed to match the gold of the boxset.”

The turntable is launched on September 25th and will only be available through Rega distributors and not available online. Find your nearest Rega retailer or distributor at www.rega.co.uk

What a couple of weeks we’ve had! Firstly we attended the Polish Fan Club Convention in the woods just outside Warsaw, then home to repack our cases before setting off to the American Breakthru Convention in Detroit.

We arrived at The Sheraton Hotel on Thursday to relax and chill out before the Breakthru convention began on Friday. Before long we met up with Jacky and Kathy at the bar for a few drinks! We were soon joined by our old friend Peter Freestone and several other Queen fans who decided we needed food to accompany the alcohol that was quickly being consumed. Pizzas were ordered and to our delight they were the largest pizzas we had ever seen. God Bless America!

We all chatted, took photos, ate and drank until it was time to retire and recharge our batteries for the weekend ahead.

Friday began with an enjoyable breakfast in the hotel restaurant and as registration wasn’t until 5pm we had time for a leisurely swim in the pool. During the afternoon more fans arrived which meant more drinks at the bar.

During registration we were given goody bags, name badges and (for those who had ordered them) Breakthru T-shirts, then it was into the Ballroom for a picture slideshow, karaoke qualification round, welcoming newbies with an icebreaker game and viewing the auction items. Once the auction was over we were entertained by the fabulous Rock a la Carte who were joined by the karaoke finalists.

Band entertainment ends, let the disco begin! The choice of songs and videos by DJ Patrick Lemieux was so good we were rarely off the dance floor. As usual we participated in the obligatory Breakthru train which was a little shorter than expected… …and partied well into the early hours.

Saturday began in the marketplace searching for those special items not obtainable in the UK. We Will Rock You the musical was being shown in the Ballroom followed by the Alphabet Game, the Trivia Quiz preliminary round, Q & A session with Jacky, Peter Freestone and Tony Vincent. You could even enter the swing dance contest.

Dinner was an enjoyable hot and cold buffet followed by coffee and cake. Fancy dress was Rocky Horror although some contestants didn’t quite get the idea! Food consumed we were entertained once again by Rock a la Carte with the fabulous Tony Vincent (wish he’d sang more songs). Raffle time followed by The band with Alan Morphew and then another fantastic disco!

Sunday ended the weekend with several videos and the last goodbyes (and more alcohol) And the weekend drew to a close with everyone on the dance floor arm-in-arm swaying to Friends Will Be Friends.

FRIENDS WILL BE FRIENDS INDEED!

Queen Breakthru Official North American Convention

24 – 26 July 2015 Detroit, Michigan

Report by Dave and Irene Taylor


I came to the world-wide adoration of Queen late in life. A little history: I spent much of the 70s and 80s living in the Caribbean and mostly listening to Bob Marley. Not a bad scene but I was ignorant as to what was going on in the States and UK.

Upon my return, with a divorce in hand and two small children, I spent the next couple of decades raising children, pursuing a career and losing almost all my yearning to be immersed in music. I was clueless as to what band sang what, let alone the names of songs or lyrics.

So, in my 66th year, my second husband took me to a Queen Tribute performance by a local—but hugely talented—college theatre troupe. I spent most of the concert saying “Queen wrote that? They did that? That’s a Queen song?” Song after song, emotions running wild, I spent the evening enthralled with what I was hearing. Immediately I bought my first Queen CD, the first “Greatest Hits” album. Played it a lot in the car, bought a few more CDs, learned the lyrics. Then my world crashed.

My dear, beautiful, talented, cherished mother died. I was beyond grief. For a year I was quite sure I would go mad because of her loss.

I was 11 when I first saw Queen…twice…in 1974.

On my 12th birthday on March 20th 1975 I got my OIQFC membership as a birthday present, and I simply never left.

I have been extremely lucky in having seen Queen almost a hundred times live through Europe, and all band members on my solo-performances too. I never missed a Dutch meeting, and attended 15 conventions. I still have a very Queen-influenced interior, and if I can I will visit Queen events. Having met all band members and many people in and around the ‘Queen machine’, I dare say that my blood type is “Q” after four decades. I hope to be a registered fan for another 40 years. The pictures show me with Brian, and with his red special, which I was lucky to have seen, held and touched five times at different occasions. The face of John was also used in the booklet of Queen+ Greatest Hits III. Regretfully I was cut off…his wife took it, and I didn’t even know that it was being used for the booklet…I’m still proud of it, no matter what!

THE most precious ‘items’ of my collection are the ones no one can see...my memories.

And the most beautiful thing about Queen is (in my humble opinion), that they STILL inspire all kinds of musicians in all existing different musical directions and styles, and bring people together and unite them as one big family…and their music of course!

Bas Asselberg

How Queen Saved My Sanity

Enter Queen. In my delirium, to nudge my mind away from this huge loss, I would escape to my car and play Queen CDs. Over and over and over, as loud as possible. Tears streaming down my face. My half-hour drive to work—the worst time with so little distraction—my radio blared so loud the car would shake.

And it worked. Helped me through the worst of that year and left me with a new passion. Queen. For the first time in my life I listened to music and didn’t ever sing along. I just wanted to listen. To Freddie, to the harmonies, to Brian’s amazing guitar riffs—a part of a song I never paid much attention to—to Roger’s drums and even John’s obvious love for his bass collaborations.

I’m hooked. I think I have all the CDs and videos ever produced. Joined the Fan Club. Saw “We Will Rock You” in Detroit. And rued the fact I would never see them in concert in person. But, lucky me, saw the first night of the Queen+Adam Lambert Tour in Chicago. I screamed, I laughed, I cried, I really revelled in the whole experience.

My adoration hasn’t waned and never will. Number two on my Bucket List? Why, to meet Brian and Roger somewhere in London before I die.

Thank you, Queen, for saving my life and my sanity.

Stephanie Zinn

My name is Olesya Pavlyuk. I have been acquainted with the art of mosaic in Mosaic Art House in 2009 / Istanbul. The material that I use are glass, marble, stained glass, smalti and ceramic.

I’ve had three Queen-related exhibitions in Istanbul:• May 2013: Yıldızlar Avluda (The Legends) • Dec 2014: Mozaik Rüzgarı (The Wind of Mosaics) • Mar 2015: Mozaiklerimizle Yolculuk (The Mosaic Journey)

Also I’ve donated one of my artworks from The Legends exhibition to FMMD 2013. The name of the artwork was “Made In Heaven”.

In my view, the art of mosaic has no difference from life itself. Sometimes it seems very easy but sometimes very difficult. Sometimes I take a stone and cut it again and again but it does not fit in. And I put it aside. Then I take another stone and cut it then stick it properly. And I reach such a point when I see that the stone which I couldn’t have cut shall just fit in its proper place. I take it from where I had left it and stick it. And this experience will be very gratifying for me. Because if that stone had fit in just at the beginning I would not be able to appreciate its meaning and value so much. This shows us that everything has a proper moment and that moment shall absolutely come. If you wait for the right time, you will be rewarded for your efforts and be happy as much as you have never been.

Queen Mosaics


Collectors CornerLatest collection details from our expert Gary Taylor

THE QUEEN COLLECTION

After a brief introduction of this superb box set in the last magazine, here is a more in-depth guide to this CD series.

This is a new box set that has been released in Italy only in conjunction with Virgin records. It is called ‘The Queen Collection’ and over a period of 21 weeks eventually included all of Queen’s 15 studio albums on CD as well as four live albums on CD and two live DVDs—21 titles in all. The set was released in conjunction with the Italian television guide ‘TV Sorrisi e Canzoni’, the biggest selling weekly TV magazine by far in the country.

The first CD to be issued was ‘A Kind Of Magic’ in March, and with this package you also got a specially-designed thick card box to hold all the CDs and DVDs in, and was only available through selected kiosks, or newsagents, in Italy.

The final DVD in this series appeared in July and all single CDs were priced at €9.99, 2 CD and 1 DVD at €12.90 and 2 DVD at €14.90. Each CD and DVD was issued in special maxi digi-pack sleeves—a new format, with enhanced booklets that include photos, lyrics and info on the history of each album.

All the text was written by Gary Taylor, Greg Brooks and Phil Symes. The box and CD packaging was designed by Richard Gray.

The box and first CD were presented in a blister pack with a card backing and includes all the information about this release on the front and on the back.

Each box features the titles of the CDs and DVDs as well as photos of each cover.

The CD itself is contained in fold-out card sleeves and most CDs are the 2011 remasters.

The release date order was as follows:

1. A Kind Of Magic 03.03.152. Innuendo 10.03.153. A Night At The Opera 17.03.154. Made in Heaven 24.03.155. The Game 31.03.15 6. The Works 07.04.157. News Of The World 14.04.158. The Miracle 21.04.159. A Day At The Races 28.04.1510. Jazz 05.05.15 11. Sheer Heart Attack 12.05.1512. Live Killers (2CD) 19.05.1513. Flash Gordon 26.05.1514. Hot Space 02.06.1515. Live Magic 09.06.1516. Queen 16.06.1517. Queen II 23.06.1518. Queen On Fire—Live At The Bowl (2CD) 30.06.1519. Queen Rock Montreal (2CD) 07.07.1520. Hungarian Rhapsody (1DVD) 14.07.1521. Live at Wembley Stadium (2DVD) 21.07.15

LA BANDA INMORTALA similar set to the CD books that were released in Spain, Portugal and Poland in 2008 and 2009 are being issued in Argentina beginning in June with the A Kind Of Magic album.


The Official International Queen Fan ClubP.O. Box 141, West Horsley, Surrey KT24 9AJ | +44 (0) 1483 281995 | [email protected] Design and artwork by Tennant | www.cforce.co.uk Print and distribution by Fox Print Services LLP | www.fox-ms.co.uk © OIQFC 2015

Jan Vanco with the beautiful Freddie Memorial in Slovakia

Matias at his 18th birthday party— a true Queen fan!

5 month old Mila, sent in by her proud grandparents Rinus and Marijan Walstijn

2014 marked 40 years since Aston McNeil met Steven Plume at Creighton (now Fortismere) Comprehensive School in Muswell Hill London

and 35 years since they first saw Queen at nearby Alexandra Palace.

They met up to see Q+AL at Wembley Arena nearly 35 years after they first went there to see, well, Queen actually.

QUEEN · QUEEN NEWS The Roger Taylor and Brian May produced Queen Extravaganza will rock Australia...

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Transcript of QUEEN · QUEEN NEWS The Roger Taylor and Brian May produced Queen Extravaganza will rock Australia...