‘But touch my tears with your lips; Touch my world with your fingertips’

15 September, 1986 – 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐞𝐧‘𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐝, ‘𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐓𝐨 𝐋𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫’ 𝗶𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗞

This beautiful , heartfelt ballad was written by Brian May for the soundtrack, ‘Highlander.’ It was the sixth track on Queen’s twelfth studio album, ‘A Kind of Magic.’

Queen was backed up by an orchestra, with orchestrations by the co-composer of the film’s score, Michael Kamen.

“This is a very different era, of course. The song was written – I’ve documented this very well, I know – but what happened was we went to see the Highlander rushes with Russell Mulcahy, and that was our first experience in any way with Highlander – I hadn’t read the script; I don’t think any of us had – and it was very moving. [The film is] about a man who becomes conscious that he’s immortal, and he’s reluctant to accept that fact, but he’s told that if he falls in love he’s in big trouble, but of course he falls in love anyway. And the girl that he falls in love with eventually grows old and dies in his arms, and that kind of opened up a floodgate in me – I was dealing with a lot of tragedies in my life: the death of my father, the death of my marriage, and so forth. I could immediately hear this ‘Who Wants To Live Forever’ in my head, and it was almost complete in the car going home – I remember singing it to my manager as he drove me home, and he was pretty surprised. He said, ‘Where did that come from?’ and I said, ‘I don’t even know.’ To my mind, I don’t think the video does that much for the song, but it’s nice to see Freddie very formal.”

Extracted from Brian May’s commentary on Queen’s Greatest Video Hits 2 DVD – 2003

It peaked a respectable number 24 in the UK and has since become a firm favourite amongst fans.

Here’s the video

The B-Side is Freddie Mercury’s clever song, ‘Killer Queen’ This track was originally released October 1974 and included on Queen’s third album, ‘Sheer Heart Attack.’ During its release, it peaked at number two in the UK Singles Chart and became their first US hit, reaching number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100!

Freddie definitely kept his Moet et Chandon

in a pretty cabinet awaiting celebration

“We’re very proud of that number. It’s done me a lot of proud. It’s just one of the tracks I wrote for the album to be honest. It wasn’t written as a single. I just wrote a batch of songs for the Sheer Heart Attack album and when I finished writing it, and when we recorded it, we found it was a very, very strong single. It really was. At that time it was very, very unlike Queen. They all said: ‘Awwwwwww.’ It was another risk that we took you know. Every risk we’ve taken so far has paid off.”

Freddie Mercury to the Record Mirror 1976

14/15 September 1984, Queen performed two nights at Palazzo dello Sport in Milan, Italy 🇮🇹

Below is an article published on Queen’s arrival

It was a gloomy morning that day in Milan in September 84. It wasn’t supposed to rain but it did. We were finalizing preparations for the arrival of the “queen” Freddie Mercury and his noble companions. I remember that we were constantly notified of the increase in the number of people on their staff and, consequently, the number of hotel rooms available to us decreased. We ended up forced to sleep eight in the same room, as in boarding school. It was still very rock’n roll. Four limousines, one for each member of the band as many cars for the staff. Five bodyguards, one for each, two for Freddie.

Let’s go back to that unfortunate rainy morning in mid-September. The house, as we called our Emi headquarters, the place of the event, was very spacious inside, but the idea of bringing Queen together with the media in the large garden would certainly have been appreciated by everyone. The catering staff, the technical staff, the Emi collaborators, all waiting for the miracle that would allow us to set up everything outside. But the rain persisted and the sky was in a black. A decision had to be made in the middle of the morning. The arrival of the band was expected at 12.30, that of our journalist guests at 12.00. Even though the rain continued to fall, I could catch a glimpse of a veiled ray of sunshine struggling to make room and I, of course, cheered for him. But those who were pawing to set up, starting to prepare drinks, food, lights and microphones inside, cheered for rationality. Overlooking the street, I saw the people walking with their umbrellas open, the cars with the windshield wipers running, the overflowing puddles. Of course, one would think that it was enough to check the weather on the internet with a computer or a mobile phone…. but it was 1984 and the technology was still poor. The only virtue that existed at the time was that many records were listened to, vinyl albums with large colored covers full of information, which were listened to entirely and over and over. This press conference was in fact organized to present, in addition to the two Milanese concerts of Queen, also their album “The Works”, published after their appearance in San Remo.

Punctual as a Swiss clock, at 12.30, on splendid royal carriages, the Queen arrived and, with them, a warm and total sun. Brian May, John Deacon, Roger Taylor and, of course, Freddie Mercury made a pompous entrance into the garden of the house, greeted by a loud applause. The sun had made everyone in a good mood and of course me too. The meeting with the media was extremely pleasant and informal. Freddie, always professional and very relaxed, confessed his love for our country, as the cradle of opera music, of which he was a great admirer. Arriving towards the villa, he had the opportunity to admire the statue of Giuseppe Verdi, a composer who had given him so many emotions.

In the evening I organized dinner with them in a restaurant near the State University. A pleasant evening with long chats, both with the band and their manager Jim Beach. It was perhaps for this reason that, some time later, Jim Beach decided to take a house on the island of Elba. Later the “queen” was accompanied to a very, very exclusive club … God save the Queen … because … Freddie you’re a boy make a big noise … playing in the street, gonna be a big man someday … singing … We will We will Rock you …

Massimo Bonelli was a Former General Manager of Sony Music, he spent 35 years in the world of marketing and record promotion, always accompanied by a great passion for music.

Extracted from article:
Here Comes The Queen
Massimo Bonelli 2015

The picture is of Massimo Bonelli with Freddie Mercury, Ravizza street, Milan, 14 September 1984

queenband #freddiemercuryforever #freddiemercury #massimobonelli

13 September 1980, Queen performed @ Civic Auditorium in Omaha, Nebraska 🇺🇸
“The Game Tour”

𝐀𝐧 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲… 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧-𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐧! 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 💛

“I don’t know if anyone has ever been able to appreciate a rock concert as much as I did when I saw Queen at age 7. I knew the order the songs were supposed to be in, the way the stage was supposed to look, and what the band was supposed to do. And everything happened perfectly. Except for that damn mustache.

Late summer 1980, I was pestering my mom to take me into town to get candy. She said, “Do you really want to get candy, or would you rather get tickets to see Queen?” I stopped in my tracks and started being the nicest boy you could imagine. I thought maybe she was kidding, but knew she wouldn’t kid me about something like that. I guess my dad had already OKd it too. Like Axl Rose once said about Queen: “They meant everything to me.”

We got two seats in the front of the second balcony, just by the railing to the balcony below. We were on the right side of the arena, about halfway back, so we couldn’t complain. Now, I knew this was the beginning of the biggest wait: sitting in the same spot from 1 in the afternoon to about 9 at night.

The main parts of the stage I liked (from viewing the pictures in my Live Killers album) were intact: the steps were lined with lights under Roger’s drums, and middle of the main stage had a small plank stage that stuck out for Freddie to walk on, where the crowd could touch him but not too easily. Most of the instruments, and all of Roger’s drum set, were covered in giant sheets of plastic. I’d never seen such big speakers; I had a flashback when I saw the black and white photo to the right because that’s what they looked like with the house lights up.

Throughout the afternoon, the lights in the arena would go out, then come back on… like we were being teased. Finally when it was about time for the opening band, the lights went off longer than usual and the band took the stage. The opening band was someone we had never heard of, and my mom and I both can’t even remember who it was now (two people have e-mailed me saying it was a band called “Dakota”). I don’t think they had any hits, and then apparently disappeared soon after. The crowd tolerated the first two or three songs. Then, every song ended with “Just one more song!” much to the audience’s vocal dismay. I went on a trip to the bathroom, and they were still playing when I came back. Then they left. Ten minutes later, they came back and said “Just one more song!” and I think they played three. People were yelling, “We want Queen!” People were getting harsh to the point it was just uncomfortable even seeing the band on the stage. Everyone cheered when they left.

The lights came back on. Another two hours. Just seeing them walk across the stage would have been enough for me, so at that age I really couldn’t comprehend being in their presence for a whole two-hour concert. This wait was easier though because every second we knew the show could start. Seeing Queen still seemed like it was too good to be true, like some act of God would occur just before the show to prevent it. Then, the lights went out.

There’s no feeling like the wait in total darkness just before a Queen concert.

It was 10 minutes of black and the loudest screaming I’d ever heard. I remember it was “scary” and so I think Brian might have also been playing the weeping guitar sound like the beginning of the We Will Rock You concert video. It was a good scary feeling though, like going up the first hill of a roller coaster. After several minutes of intense darkness and the crowd screaming, when I felt like my ears didn’t have room for any more sound to enter (though I loved it), the even louder sound of thunder clapped across the arena with an incredibly blinding light. I could see everyone on the main floor have to turn completely around in unison toward the back of the arena because the lights were so bright. I kept trying to glance at the stage to see what was happening, but it was too bright to see anything… plus, in between the flashes, it was too dark to see anything. It was sort of an unnerving state, being totally blinded in that big of a place with that many people, and coming to the realizaton that it would be unthinkable to actually move around and that we were basically helpless. I was holding my mom’s hand. Queen had the whole crowd paralyzed in their tracks before the show even began.

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12 September 1977 – Roger Taylor wrote in the Queen Fan Club Autumn Magazine that their sixth album, “News Of The World” just finished and took about two and a half months to complete. It was set for a 28 October 1977 release date

After an exhaustive seven years together and several trips around the world – not only to the United Kingdom and the United States, but Europe, Japan, and Australia – the band were ushered back into the recording studios in the summer of 1977 to record a follow-up to ‘A Day At The Races.’

Instead of recording a similar album, several clashing musical styles were beginning to overtake the airwaves and attention of musicians worldwide: punk, new wave, and disco. Smartly opting to explore the first two genres, the band started to write and record more stripped-back songs, foregoing the usual production gimmicks of multiple overdubs and studio trickery.

During this period, Roger started to write and record songs that he felt didn’t suit Queen’s sound. Four songs – ‘Sheer Heart Attack,’ ‘Fight From The Inside,’ ‘Turn On The TV,’ and a deconstruction of Parliament / Funkadelic’s ‘I Wanna Testify’ – were written and demoed in the summer of 1977, with the explicit decision of issuing them as a solo release.

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