Interviews QFN-18
==========================================================================

'IN ROCK' - JUNE 1985 - INTERVIEW WITH ROGER TAYLOR
TRANSLATED FROM JAPANESE

Q.   There is a rumour that you guys are planning to have a
concert in China like Wham! did. Is that true?

RT. Yes, that's why we were shocked after we heard about
Wham! in China. It is such a pity. We are totally different
from Wham! - images, sounds, but we had the same dream. I
remember George Michael saying that he wanted to be a number
one musical group. Before we became successful, we used to
say that we wouldn't break up. It has been almost four years
since we began working on the China project and pretty soon
we will be getting permission from the Chinese government.

Q.  But you guys were the first to bring hard rock to Japan.

RT. Yeah, but you should not forget back then Wham! did not
exist and probably we were the first band that had seventeen
concerts in Japan. I heard that is a new record for British
bands.

Q.  You should be proud of it.

RT. Yes, those were the most exciting concerts we had in
Japan.

Q.   Being the most successful band in the world, why do you
do so many solo projects?

RT. I love to produce many projects. I have several
recordings to take care of right now. One that I really
enjoyed producing was Jimmy Nail, you know the actor, he is
making a cover song from Rose Royce, you know the song,
'Love Don't Live Here Anymore'.

Q.   I think you've been very busy with Queen and your solo
projects. Do you spend time with your family?

RT. Well, not doing anything scares me. What I don't want to
do is become rich and then just quit working. My girlfriend,
Dominique, is very supportive. We understand each other and
we have the same visions about life. We know exactly what we
want to do for a living. That's the reason we've been
together so long.

Q.  How long have you guys been together?

RT. The first time I met her was in 1977 at Richard
Branson's party. He is the president of Virgin Records. She
was his secretary then. So, it has been more than seven
years.

Q.  But you don't marry her?

RT. Marriage does not mean anything because it is like a
contract sheet, I don't like it anyway. It's too old
fashioned. People probably wonder why we have kids but I
don't care what people say.

Q.  Well, are you sure? Suddenly you may want to get
married.

RT. Well, I might want to get married someday but not right
now because I have read about too many wives who have taken
all their husband's money.

Q.  It is very strange, you guys are writing romantic songs
yet you are very realistic.

RT. What, romantic? No, it is not my style because I'm
typically British. My son is the only one who I feel
passionate towards. When he was born, it was crazy, but
being a father feels great and he is getting bigger every
day. I'm always surprised when I find something new about
him.

Q.  Was it a hard delivery?

RT. Yes, it was. During that time I was on tour in America.
I made a schedule to come back to England, but it was an
early birth, two months early.

Q.  Two months early, was it difficult?

RT. Yeah, I worried a lot. When he was just born, he was
only four hundred grams. He was too small so the hospital
made special baby clothes for him. he was supposed to be
born on my birthday, but it's OK, he is a very nice kid.

Q.  Do you think that your son will suffer prejudice because
you're not married?

RT. I hope it won't be like that. If someone says such
things to my son, I will beat them up.

Q.  Do you have only one child?

RT. So far, one is enough. he will be five pretty soon. When
he gets older we might have other children, but basically,
I'm not good with kids.

Q.  Roger, your solo album was very good, but do you get
into fights with the other band members because of it?

RT. No, it is even good for us to do solo projects.
Separating for a while helps us to get along better and each
member has an individual mind, no one complains about it.

Q.  Did you know that you guys are pretty famous for
fighting each other?

RT. Really? Sometimes our arguments cause problems, but
we're not gonna break up. I think it is healthy for bands to
fight sometimes, because each member has different ideas
about music. Most of the time, we fix the problems.

Q.  Didn't you guys have a situation that almost caused you
to break up?

RT. Two or three years ago, we were very close to breaking
up because of a management problem. When we are in the
studio or on stage and we're doing bad or just aren't
satisfied, we might get into a huge fight but I don't think
we're gonna break up. Sometimes, one of the members will say
they wanna quit, but we are always together. In our private
lives, we are very close too.

Q.  Is it true that when you guys are on tour, you always
have a crazy party?

RT. Ha ha ha! Our parties are very special because once
every two weeks, us and the crew get together and do some
crazy things. Sometimes people get naked or throw pies at
each other. That's why we always get in trouble after we
receive the bills, but we always feel close to each other
after the party. It is very important to do something crazy
once in a while.

Q.  Do you take your son and girlfriend on tour?

RT. Depends on where we're going. I don't take vacations and
I don't travel either, so sometimes they come to see me and
spend two or three days with us.

Q.  How come you don't take a vacation?

RT. I just don't like to rest because it is always better to
do something.

Q.  You guys have been almost everywhere in the world, but
where is the best country to go and play?

RT. Well, I would say South Africa because I always wanted
to play there. In fact, we were very successful in their
country, but I like Japan the most. People are very polite
and always welcome us in there. Also, when we went to
Australia, we had the funniest moment ever because when we
arrived at the airport, there were so many photographers,
but as soon as they saw us they said "Who are they?" and
left the airport. After that someone told us that they
thought the Queen was coming, you know the British Queen!

Q.  Well right now, you live in another country. Being
British, do you feel guilty living in another place?

RT. It is better to live in another place other than England
because the more money you make, the more taxes you have to
pay. I don't like to live in my country because if you try
to work hard, someone will always bother you. I just have
bad memories in my country.

Q.  Have you been saving money or investing in stocks?

RT. I don't spend a lot of money and I don't buy stocks, but
man, Freddie spends money like a maniac. It would be hard
work to spend money the way he does.

Q.  What about cars, do you own many cars?

RT. I own some cars, but I always have bad luck with them. I
used to have a Ferrari but it got burned up in an accident.

Q.  How did you get into the accident?

RT. Well, when I was driving fast on the highway in France,
somehow, something went wrong with the engine and the next
thing I knew my car was burning.

Q.  What do you do in your spare time?

RT. I don't know, I don't even have a hobby.

Q.  What are you interested in besides music?

RT. Well, I'm collecting Japanese wooden toys. When I went
to Japan, one of our fans gave a wooden necklace to me. It
is very beautiful. I love it. Japanese people are very
artistic.

Q.  Do you prefer spending time at home or do you go out
when you're not working?

RT. Honestly, I don't go out a lot because after I work
hard, I just wanna go home and relax.

Q.  All you guys graduated from a very good University. If
your band wasn't successful today, do you think you would
get a job where you could use you college degree?

RT. I don't think I'd like to do that. I can't imagine
staying in a science lab the rest of my life. The reason I
went to the University was an excuse to go to London.

Q.  But you met the rest of your members there, right?

RT. Yes, except Freddie. I had a band called Smile with
Brian. Freddie and John were friends for a long time before
we decided to put this band together. We also decided not to
play professionally until we graduated, but we always
thought we were gonna be successful. By the way, I used to
sell used clothes.

Q.  It has been fifteen years since Queen started and you
are 35 years old now. Do you think Queen can stay on top in
the future?

RT. Well, I say it's almost a miracle to be playing with the
same members for 15 years, but I really don't know about our
future because it is hard to think about future plans in the
music business. There are no guarantees, but I hope Queen
will stay on top as long as we play.


ROCKLINE - PART 2
BRIAN MAY ON RADIO 1 WITH NEALE JAMES
TRANSCRIPTION BY LIZZ BENDELL

After the News.....
Neale James plays 'Hammer To Fall'

Neale James.   'Hammer To Fall' - it is Queen. Brian May is
in the studio this afternoon - our very first 'Rockline'
guest. You can call - but you'd better make it quick! We
have Paul Banks next up this afternoon - we'll get straight
on with the calls Brian - er, what's your question Paul for
Brian May this afternoon?

Paul Banks.   Well, it's er...oh, hello Brian!

Brian May.   Hi Paul

PB.  You all right?

BM.  Yeah, I'm very good, thank you. Thanks for calling

PB.  Yeah, well you've answered the question about, er,
touring as a solo artist.....

BM.  Yeah

PB.  ...but will you, er, tour with Queen - well, with
Roger & John?

BM.  Um... it's very difficult. We've done a lot of talking
about it, and at the moment I don't think anyone can really
see how we can do it - it doesn't really make sense to go
out and - um - play with anyone else except Freddie, you
know. It's a very knotty problem. I think we would like to
play together somehow, but for the moment....um....no-one
can find a solution. I don't actually know if there is one.
Um...I'd like to give you better news, but - in a way I
think it's quite good for us to get out individually for a
while. I think we've been under this little umbrella for
quite a long time, you know - it's quite good for us to sort
of grow up and get out there and take some chances again.
But certainly if the right thing came along, you know, it
would be nice to do something.

NJ.  All right. Thank you Paul for your question this
afternoon.

BM.  Thanks.

NJ.  Kearny Ford is next up, from Banff this afternoon. I
think we might have, er, touched on this subject, but, er,
Kearny, what's your question?

Kearny Ford.  What age did you start playing the guitar?

BM.  Hi Kearny. What age did I start? Um... roughly seven
'cos my Dad taught me, um.....how old are you?

KF.  Twelve

BM.  Oh right, well you've got loads of time, that's all
right.

NJ.  Lots of time!

BM.  My Dad taught me this instrument called the
ukulele-banjo, which, er, was a famous, er, George Formby
thing and I asked for the guitar for my seventh birthday and
luckily got it and I kind of just worked the chords out for
six strings instead of four strings and I went from there.

NJ.  Kearny, do you play?

KF.  Uh huh

NJ.  Oh, you do?

BM.  Uh huh - how long you been playing?

KF.  Um... about two years

BM.  Uh huh...oh, you're well on the way

KF.  My teacher's moved away now, so I just, um, play about
myself now

BM.  Ah, right

NJ.  A rock star in the making! Thank you Kearny

BM.  Oh well, keep on with it and... and listen to everyone
you can, I would say, you know, don't - don't give up just
'cos your teacher's gone away - keep listening and trying
things out, you know.

NJ.  Thank you Kearny, for your call this afternoon - you
keep playing as Brian said. Matthew Jackson next up! Er...
what's your question Matthew, from London this afternoon?

Matthew Jackson.  Hi Brian

BM.  Hi Matthew

MJ.  Er - how long did it take you to complete your album -
your new album?

BM.  Er... a very long time... more than five years in fact,
which everyone goes (gulp) about, but, um... it sort of had
to develop that way. I wasn't quite sure what I was doing at
the beginning - in fact, I was DEEPLY depressed and, um.. I
wrote this song called 'Back To The Light', really not
understanding quite how I was ever gonna be in the light
again... so without going into great details, it took a long
time to develop and there was also a lot happening during
that time, you know - there was a lot of work for Queen and
there was a lot of, er... general sorting out to do, you
know... and we also went through the time of losing Freddie,
you know, so it - it seems like a lifetime ago that I
started this album. I'm glad it's OUT! I'm glad it's....
Thank you very much.

NJ.  Thank you Matthew, for your call this afternoon. Do I
need to ask why you've chosen to play The Who and 'My
Generation' this afternoon? What a track!

BM.  Yeah... I can just remember the first time I heard it -
I just freaked and I can remember me and my - my mate Tim,
on a number nine bus, up the top, you know...with a little
transistor radio, jumping about to it. I just thought it was
the most incredibly exciting thing I'd ever heard at the
time. I think it stands up pretty well, as well, we'll have
a listen shall we?

NJ.  Well, if you want to jump up and dance around now, be
my guest!

NJ plays 'My Generation' by The Who

NJ.  'My Generation' from The Who this afternoon. Brian May
is our guest and that brought back those double-decker days
didn't it?

BM.  (laughing) Amazing! I think they...it's time for a Who
revival, as far as I'm concerned.

NJ.  You were saying that you think it would be a big hit if
it was released again.

BM.  I think it's a strong possibility, yeah. It was amazing
to have Roger Daltrey on the concert with us, I mean he
was...

NJ.  Oh, of course, yeah.

BM.  Quite a thrill, you know, 'cos these guys really were
heroes of ours and it's very much like, you know, you guys
out there now feel about Nirvana and, um - Guns n' Roses,
you know. To us The Who were the people who really expressed
the sort of frustration and anger that we felt and it was
very genuine, so...

NJ.  I can see that, the way you enjoyed that track.

BM.  I love it, yeah.

NJ.  Lisa Arles from Hertfordshire is calling this
afternoon. What's your question for Brian May?

Lisa Arles.   Hello Brian

BM.  Hello Lisa, how are you doing?

LA.  Fine, thank you. I'd just quickly like to say on
behalf of my sister Tracy, who I know is listening and
myself - we've both been Queen fans for seventeen years and
we'd like to thank you for all the wonderful music and good
luck with everything in the future.

BM.  Oh brilliant, thank you very much. Much appreciated!

LA.   That's okay. I'd better get on with my question now,
otherwise I'll get into trouble!

BM.  (laughing) No, you can stay!

LA.  Um... how do you manage to be so modest when Queen's
been responsible, not only for changing music as we know it,
but also for being a main influence and inspiration to bands
like Extreme and Def Leppard?

NJ.   Time for a bit of modesty I think, Brian!

BM.   Strewth... well, I don't think I'm modest really, I
think I'm very opinionated really! But... um... it's nice to
know that people like that did get influenced by us. I think
the river flows on, you know and we absorbed our
influences... and these people absorbed us. It's good to
know. I think music is alive and well and I'm very happy
about it.

LA.   It certainly is.

BM.   It's good times now - I really feel it's very good.

NJ.   Lisa, thank you for your call this afternoon.

LA.   Thanks very much.

NJ.   Not only UK-wide, but it seems Euro-wide this
afternoon - from France we have Pascelle Cornais. What's
your question, Pascelle?

Pascelle Cornais.   Hello Brian

BM.   Hello Pascelle

PC.   First of all I want to thank you for your album which
is great

BM.   Thank you. Are you calling from France?

PC.   Yeah

BM.   Brilliant!

NJ.   Whereabouts in France?

PC.   Er - in the north of France, about thirty miles from
Calais.

NJ.   I just wondered whether you were French, or you're
actually calling from France.... What's your question for
Brian this afternoon?

PC.   Yeah - I'd like to know if Brian is planning to play
in France, touring this year?

BM.   I'm very excited about France, strangely enough, 'cos
I did my little promotional tour of Europe recently....

PC.   Yeah

BM.  ....and France, very often, was quite difficult for
Queen, you know, and we always felt a lot of, um...you know,
there's a hard core of fans, which is wonderful, but there
was a lot of reserve, you know. This time when I was there,
I felt like there was a lot of excitement and, um... I would
love to certainly tour, er, in France, once I get this band
going, if we get it going right. That would be one of my
first priorities - I'd like to do England, then France,
Germany and Holland and take it from there. Yes, I would
LOVE to be there!

NJ.  So Pascelle, you have something to look forward to!
Thank you for your call this afternoon.

PC.  Thank you

BM.  Cheers!

NJ.   Barry Hall's calling from Liverpool - what's your
question Barry?

Barry Hall.   Hi Brian

BM.   Hi Barry

BH.   Hi..... great.....um, I actually - er - was one of the
extras on the 'Radio Ga Ga' video

BM.   Ah! Good man!

BH  . And it actually took, as far as I can remember, about
eight hours to film.

BM.   Yes, yes, you were all very patient!

BH.   On the actual video, it probably lasts about forty
seconds.

NJ.    Isn't that just the way?!

BH.    Um - what I was going to ask was a) what is your
favourite of the Queen videos, or did you find them all
tedious to do?

NJ.    I'm sure none of them were tedious were they?

BM.   (laughing) Um, yes..yes, yes and yes, really!
Um...yes, they're quite difficult for me

NJ.    Are they?

BM.   There was a lot of standing around making videos, but
I think 'Ga Ga' is probably my favourite really. I think
that there was a lot of input from all of us into it and it
just happened, you know and there was a great feeling on the
day from all you guys coming along... I think it stands up
very well. There's a lot of our videos, which I won't even
mention, which I really DON'T enjoy watching, you know.
Sometimes I think you can destroy a song with a video and
we've been as guilty as anyone in that area, but, um...I
think that was a good one. I also like 'The Invisible Man' -
I don't know if you've seen that one....

BH.   Yeah

BM.   I think that one came off...that's a lot of fun.

BH.   Brian, would it be possible to have a signed
photograph of you please?

BM.   Yes, I'm sending it down the phoneline this second!

NJ.   All right Barry. You stick on the line and we'll
take your address. Thanks for your call this afternoon. I
think what Barry's saying is he loves the video, but he
wouldn't like to appear in another one basically! Listen
Brian, just keep your fingers crossed for three minutes,
'cos I've got some news for you in just three minutes time,
all right? Have a listen to this......

BM.    Uh-oh!  

NJ.   ... and I think you know what I'm talking about.

NJ plays 'Driven By You'

NJ.    1FM, it's 'Rockline' on a Sunday afternoon. Gonna try
and get some more calls in here. I have this news for you
then - we've been teasing you long enough!

BM.   (laughing) Yes... stop this immediately!

NJ.   Would you like to know your album position for the
album?

BM.   Yes, yes, come on then, come on!

NJ.    Would you like to have a guess first of all, just
very quickly?

BM.   I've no idea!

NJ.   Number six

BM.   Not bad, not bad. How wonderful!

NJ.   Straight in at number six, which is absolutely superb
isn't it?

BM.   Thank you - brilliant!

NJ.   Tim Wilkinson from Mansfield this afternoon - what's
your question?

Tim Wilkinson.    Hello Brian, lovely to speak to you mate.

BM.   Thank you for calling - how are you doing?

TW.   Not so bad, not so bad. Um..... have you ever thought
of, um, making an LP of all the weird and wonderful stuff
you did in the early 70's, like, um, 'Big Spender' and stuff
like that?

BM.    Ha ha ha....no!

TW.    We have watched you, you know!

BM.    (laughing) No, we haven't thought of that. I mean, I
suppose it's a possibility. What I wouldn't like to happen
is, sort of, dredging up every kind of out-take and stuff,
which does happen in some cases, like with Jimi Hendrix, you
know.... but, um, certainly there was a lot of stuff that we
did for fun which probably wouldn't go amiss. I don't know
how many people would actually want to go out and buy that
stuff though.

TW.    I think a lot of people because, um.... I mean, I've
got most of the Queen videos and watching you on there, sort
of like when you were playing to sort of like seven hundred
people instead of, er, seven hundred and fifty thousand,
like..... you know what I mean?

BM.    Right.... yeah, well, we have got tapes going back to
the very beginning, so I suppose at some point some of the
early live stuff could go out - that's not a bad idea
actually. Not yet!

NJ.    All right Tim, thank you for your call this
afternoon. Um.... what about Gary Hayes from Bristol? What's
your question Gary?

Gary Hayes.    Hello Brian

BM.   Hello Gary

GH.   Hello... um.... there's been a lot of rumours going
around that, um, before Freddie died he recorded, er, some
material with you. I just wondered how much did he record
with you, if any?

BM.   There's a little, I would say two or three or four
tracks, something like that, which we will work on
eventually.

GH.    Okay. Is it going to be released?

BM.    Yes, but not for a while yet.

GH.    Oh, all right

NJ.    So you'll have to wait a little while for that Gary.
Thanks for your call. We'll come back and take another
couple of calls in just a couple of minutes time.

NJ plays 'One Vision'

NJ.    'One Vision' from Queen. Brian May is our first
'Rockline' guest on a Sunday afternoon. Brian, we're going
to shoot through a couple more questions.

BM.    Okay Neale

NJ.      Kay Kew is next from Luton this afternoon - Kay,
what's your question for Brian May?

Kay Kew.    Hi

BM.    Hello Kay

KK.    Um.... what is the worst thing that's ever happened
to you on stage, in front of the whole audience?

NJ.    What, the most embarrassing, or the worst mistake?

KK.    Um, the worst mistake.

NJ.    All right

BM.    The worst thing that ever happened I think, was in a
place called Saarbrucken in Germany and normally everything
goes very smoothly on stage, you know, but on this
particular night, everything went wrong. Um.... a lot of
silly little things, you know, but gradually you get wound
up and then eventually the monitors completely packed up.
Now, if your monitors go, you might as well.... die, you
know, really, 'cos you can't hear anything. So we came off
that stage totally steaming and.... and all the instruments
got thrown everywhere, which is very.... unlike us, I must
say.

NJ.    Rock 'n' roll, if you like, isn't it?

BM.    And the road crew got very upset with us and it was
the worst night of our lives, I mean..... I think every time
you mention Saarbrucken to anyone in the Queen..... camp,
they'll go (agonised gasp and groan), because it's just
something you don't want to..... think back on, you know.

NJ.     They think of broken instruments..... Thank you for
your call this afternoon Kay. Er, Katie Wright is next up
from Bristol once more. Katie, what's your question for
Brian May?

Katie Wright.    Um..... Hi

BM.   Hello Katie

KW.   What would you say is the best song you've ever
written?

BM.   Umm....... Well, I'm proud of 'We Will Rock You',
because it became so much part of, sort of, public life, so
it's got a sort of special feeling for me - I'm very keen on
that. But I guess, um - I mean I can't claim full credit for
this - but 'Too Much Love Will Kill You' I think is the best
lyric that I've been associated with. I wrote it with two
other people - Frank Musker and his lady - who did a
fantastic job with me and acted as my kind of on-the-spot
therapists, because the ideas were in my head, but I
couldn't get them out at the time..... so I would go for
that one.

NJ.   All right Katie, thank you for your call. Chris Broom
- we're going to try and squeeze in one more very quickly -
Chris from Staffordshire, what's your question?

BM.   Hello Chris

Chris Broom.   Hi Brian

BM.   Hi, how are you doing?

CB.    Er.... how did you go about getting your first
recording contract with Queen?

BM.    It was very difficult. We were lucky enough to make
some demos - I mean, this is cutting a VERY long story
short, because for a long time we'd thrashed around in the
dark - but we made some reasonable quality demos, um, in
return for a favour that we did for some people and we took
them round to all the record companies - they all said no,
so we sort of took them round again, and again, and again
and eventually we found a production company to make the
whole album and then take the whole stuff all the way around
to the record companies again, so it was a long process - I
would say two and a half years in total, during which time
we thought we'd lost it, you know.

NJ.   And since then you've never looked back.

BM.   So don't give up folks, you know.

CB.   All right.

NJ.   Chris, thank you for your call this afternoon and
Brian, thank you for being our very first guest on
'Rockline'

BM.   Thank you Neale, I've enjoyed it VERY much

NJ.   Pleasure talking to you!

BM.   And thanks to all those guys that phoned in.

NJ.   Congratulations! Number six......

BM.   Thank you!

NJ.   ... which is your album entrance.

BM.    Unbelievable! Thank you, all those folks who went out
and bought it! I don't know what to say really!

NJ.   I think we ought to play another track from it, what
do you think?

BM.   Er - why not? I know.... I happen to know what you're
going to play. This is the next single.....

NJ.   Brian, thank you for coming in.

BM.   ...it'll be out in about three weeks time.

NJ.   The next single, yeah?

BM.   Yes

NJ.   Oh, that's great. We'll look forward to it and let's
hope that that's a big single success too.

BM.   Thanks Neale. All the best.

NJ plays 'Back To The Light'

THE END

Phew!
_______________________________________________________________________
END 
