I certainly can’t do late nights like I used to. Not in bed before 03.00 two nights in a row, and I am barely functioning!! Gone are the days of ‘never again’ in the morning, followed by ‘well, maybe just one’ again in the evening.
Diego asked how I met Freddie.
I was working at the Royal Opera House in London, for the Royal Ballet, looking after their stage costumes. Freddie had been invited to perform with the Ballet at a big charity show that they were organizing. I was at the party after the performance and I was introduced to Freddie. I said that I thought the two songs, Crazy Little thing Called Love and Bohemian Rhapsody, which Freddie performed with live vocals to backing tracks, and being propelled around the stage by the dancers at the same time, worked very well. Freddie thanked me and asked what I did at the Opera House as he had seen me there when he came for rehearsals. I replied describing my job taking care of the costumes. Freddie then started talking with some other people, so I walked away quite happy. A couple of weeks later, my boss received a phone call from Queen management asking if I would be available to do a six week tour with Queen…. taking care of their tour costumes.
Martin wanted to know what Freddie’s most prized possession was.
Freddie possessed many things, property, art, crystal and all the trinkets that he wanted, but on more than one occasion he said that you can have everything you ever want, but without real friends to enjoy these things with, you might as well have nothing. Anybody can have things you can buy, but not everybody has good friends like Freddie knew he had. In an interview he was asked if he lost all his money, what would he do. His reply, do it all over again. In his mind you can replace items, not friends.
Iko asked why Freddie grew his moustache.
Freddie changed his image a few times throughout his career. The moustache was part of that. Freddie had spent time in the USA at the end of the 70s and in the last of those years his hair was getting shorter and the days of the spandex costumes were going. He had noticed that there was a new ‘macho’ image appearing in the States, which suited him. I think it originated with the Marlboro Man, the image from the cigarette adverts. It had been taken up by the gay community in America, but for Freddie, it was a great cover up for his teeth, which he hated. Rachel asked if Freddie’s personality changed along with his styles. Not really, Freddie remained the person he was all the way through my time with him. Perhaps he became a little bit more impatient towards the end of his life, but that was something totally understandable.
Janet wanted to know if there were any other places than New York that Freddie liked in the USA.
For Freddie, Manhattan was the place to go in America. He loved the non-stop life there. For him Los Angeles was too laid back, why do something today, when there is always tomorrow, whereas it NY there were never enough hours in the day. He did enjoy his time in New Orleans and he also went with friends to Houston and Dallas in Texas for a couple of long weekends.
Ross wanted to know what Freddie’s approach to a new Queen album was.
For Freddie, the studio was the office. He was able to tune his mind to what he wanted to write there. The ambiance led to his creative juices being released. While music was his life, the recordings, the videos and the touring, Freddie was able to compartmentalize these things, so that on the occasion he wasn’t working, he could really enjoy himself without worrying about ‘work.’ You can see in various ‘making of’ videos, Freddie could be really serious and fully concentrating on producing the best possible song/video, but you also see him really happy and laughing, enjoying himself completely.
Arash asked if Freddie ever considered doing shows in Iran.
The answer to that is no, there were never plans to go to Iran. You must remember, politically the world was a very different place back in the 1970s and 1980s. There were many places that might have been mentioned, but never approached for many different reasons. Someone asked about shows in Poland and the Czech Republic, but these were behind the Iron Curtain, other places were talked about, but the logistics were against the idea. You must also remember, this was a time well before the advent of the internet and mobile phones, so communication was also a problem. In my days of touring, a plan was made and had to be adhered to, as there was no way to make something new without a great deal of possible confusion.
Alexander asked Freddie’s opinion of Germany.
As he says, Freddie did spend a lot of time in Munich in the 80s. He had a partner there; also he had friends, Barbara Valentin amongst them, who were able to keep him entertained. Because he spent so much time there, most people accepted his presence and didn’t ask for autographs and photos. You will also note that he returned to London when his house Garden Lodge was ready to move into. Munich had kept him happy while this was happening.
Billy amongst many others asked what Freddie would think about the ‘talent’ shows that abound on television now.
I am sure Freddie would acknowledge their place in the world at present. There is sometimes real talent hidden in them. I don’t think he would sit at home and stop doing something to watch a program, but might watch someone that a friend had pointed out. Freddie did his ‘musical apprenticeship’ the hard way and used his talent to become the legend. Most of the so-called stars of these shows fizzle out once the producer has seen the next talent. I’m sure, if Freddie was still here with us, he would join the others doing a performance on a show as it would lead to one of the biggest audiences possible, as while millions of people tune in to them, any band has a guaranteed worldwide audience due to the internet. Like all things, much has changed in the music world recently with the advent of new technology, and while Freddie might have resisted some of it, he knew he would have been stupid to reject everything out of hand.
Please enjoy yourselves till the next time. I think I will try to take in some of the long awaited sun that is shining here.
20
Jun 2013
by Phoebe Freestone