Hey
emrabt , no need. Here an English translation from google.
Queen in Yugoslavia, Freddie pleasantly surprised:
I heard we sell a lot of records here? (1979)
February 1979: In a situation of a futile concert rock scene (such as at least Belgrade), an interview with one of the world's famous rock stars is a special event. And yet, even though a person is not in a situation to choose and has no experience behind him with Jagger, Lennon or Dylan, these conversations are sometimes reduced to the usual routine exchange of questions and answers ... Kind me, kind subject ... I smile, smile are examined. I ask a question, I know the answer in advance.
Hand on heart, that was exactly the conversation with the first man of the Queen group.
Despite the millions of records sold, the sound clearly defined and the status of the stars, the guys from the group do not have a particularly interesting "story" behind them. The only way to do something exceptional is to try to provoke the interlocutor, but one usually doesn't have the opportunity to do so at such "serially" organized meetings between stars and the press, where a bunch of silly idlers are dragged around without a lot of smart work in mind.
The press conference was held in the "Intercontinental" full of boring luxuries and, on this occasion, unusual brothers. After a short wait (the stars are always late), the Queen appeared, dressed as employees of an English insurance company on vacation.
After the first moments of doubt, various guys of unknown faces and occupations attacked them. Of course the main victim was Mercury. Honestly, I didn't expect so many people with tape recorders, notebooks and similar aids. It is not only clear to me where they will be able to place all that, because I have not seen the results of that journalistic attack anywhere except in "Polet", from an interview made on another occasion.
Maybe it's better not to publish it anywhere, because in a short time I heard so much nonsense and ignorance that I felt pity for poor Freddie. Now it is clear to me why he is taking with him two guys, as if taken off the shore, who were strategically arranged around the front door during the whole press conference.
And finally when the crowd subsided I seized the opportunity to talk to Mercury.
Not particularly tall, black, in a leather jacket and jeans, he looked more like one of the tappers in front of the Belgrade cinemas than the world-famous rock old man. Stoic accepted to give an interview for "Jukebox", although over time he approved and became somewhat more exhaustive. I probably bothered him less than the others.
As usual, I started from the beginning ...
- It's a long story. Brian, Roger and I knew each other as students. John came later. We had experiences with previous bands where we played as high school students. When we created Queen we had a clear idea of what we wanted to do and our work today is the evolution of those plans and dreams. We had a very clear guiding star. From the very beginning.
Is it still clear that the leading star after all these successes and millions of records sold?
Why not. The halls where we play are always full, the records are on the top lists. Why not?
From the articles we read about you, it could not be said that critics love you very much. What does it look like to be in one of the world's leading rock bands, and at the same time read how the records are being ruthlessly denigrated?
That is the case only with the English press. It could not be said that we live in the best relations with them. Today, the English have no choice but to be cynical, which is why the press is like that to us. Because of that, you can rarely read our interview in NME or Melody Maker. There is no point in us being a training ground for them. We learned to live with it and, you know, I didn't care much for that. Our records sell well. In recent years, a big thing has happened with punk, and we are understood as the total opposite.
One of the main objections is the dependence on technology. Your records are lavishly produced to perfection ...
Today you cannot survive without technology. Loudspeakers, lights, instruments and the most ordinary rock band look like an LP & P to a folk group or a symphony orchestra ... Even today they can't survive without technology. Electricity is all around us and you can't avoid it. The production on our records is rich, but I don't think it's an end in itself as many want to present. I play an ordinary piano, John an ordinary "Fender bass", only Brian has special "jokes" that I make myself, but even that is not excessive. The most important thing is that it is all in the service of the idea.
You are all university educated. Do you think that had an impact on this kind of group management? I noticed that there are prejudices in English newspapers about such groups, in fact about groups that originated from such an environment, starting from "Genesis" onwards?
First of all, we don't have much to do with "Genesis", then such prejudices are the most common nonsense. I don't see any purpose for them. I don't even know that being at university automatically makes us intellectuals!
I have no doubt that you spend a lot of time in the studio preparing the album, that's obvious. From filming you created a kind of art (interrupts me) ...
We record, than what. That's what everyone does! But we made a style out of it. We do everything in a special way and I think there is imagination. It's specificity, not covering up weaknesses or something like that ... We don't even try to reproduce the sound from our records ... Those are hours and hours of work and there are hundreds and hundreds of recorded sections.
The record is one thing and the concert is quite another. And although some people pass it on to us as a flaw, we are very happy with their gig. It would be a tedious and boring job to always play the same ... At one time we were thinking of introducing auxiliary musicians to our performances, but I don't think that would work. It is our music and we understand it best. Such a way would only bring us unnecessary problems and obligations.
Can we expect any significant changes in your sound and direction on the next panels. There is a lot of criticism that you have fallen into a certain manner ...
Again about the critics ... we care the least about them! We have created a certain sound, success, image and that is what we are. It is logical for the group to evolve slowly ... It would be stupid to try something radically different ... And that is what the "scribblers" expect to have something to fill the newspaper with. Drastic changes lead nowhere and do not make sense. You can't become something else overnight ...
It is normal that we will change. Whoever has followed our work so far is clear in which direction. That is obvious from our latest albums. There aren't as many luxuries as at "Opera" or "Races" ... I think that our next albums will develop in that direction.
The group "Queen" is considered to be a very stable formation. No sharper disagreements were heard, and only the drummer had solo outings. Should we expect new solo projects and do they pose a danger to the group?
Although Roger has a lot of experience with solo attempts, I don't see any danger in that for the group "Queen". I think what we can best provide, we provide together. Solo attempts are just a small change of climate and refreshment. There is no particular need to try our luck outside the lineup. When we see that we have nowhere else to go, the group disbands - there are no illusions that it will not come and we do not even think about it.
Do you have any ideas about your audience in Yugoslavia, and does the sale of records in our small market mean anything to you financially?
Well, I've heard from people in our company that we sell a lot of records. Do you see these gold and silver plates we got here? Also, we care that our music is heard all over the world, that everyone listens to it, that's why we perform so much. One should not be blasé ... It is not only important for us to be popular in England, America and Japan ... People are the same everywhere and we like to play for them ... This is just rock’n’roll after all ...
Interviewed by: Branko Vukojević, filmed by: Dražen Kalenić (Jukebox, 1979)
