Presentation of the "News Of The World" album to the Italian press, 1977
Aug 23, 2021 15:18:54 GMT
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Post by fabiogminero on Aug 23, 2021 15:18:54 GMT
Hi everybody.
Recently (probably many of you have known this for years) I discovered that Roger Taylor was the first Queen member to come to Italy. The occasion of the visit was the launch of the album "News Of The World": Roger arrived in Rome in October 1977 with his partner Dominique Beyrand and gave an interview to the Italian press, presenting a preview of the new Queen album. The interview was organized by EMI Italiana (the section of the EMI concerning the Italian market) and was sent to multiple Italian magazines of the time.
Here's the translation, from Italian to English.
QUEEN
News Of The World
The new LP presented for you by Roger Taylor
Roger Taylor's presentation of Queen's new album
1 - 'We Will Rock You' is playing
Roger: "Hi! I'm Roger Taylor from Queen and this was 'We Will Rock You'. I want to thank you for the support you gave to our last single 'Somebody To Love' and to have made it a hit even here in Italy. I'm happy to have this opportunity to speak with you. I would like to tell you something about the new album which is titled 'News Of The World' and I will do it piece by piece. The second track on the album after 'We Will Rock You', which is the first track, is the new single titled 'We Are The Champions', written by Freddie Mercury".
2 - 'We Are The Champions' is playing
Roger: "Well this was 'We Are The Champions', the new single, I hope you liked it and I hope it goes well in Italy. The next performance, which is the third, is entitled 'Sheer Heart Attack'. You may recognize this title because it's the same as our third album; in fact it had to be included in the album and I wrote the song myself, but I didn't finish it in time, but now it's ready. It's a very energetic thing in its style, uptempo and...there it is, 'Sheer Heart Attack'".
3 - 'Sheer Heart Attack' is playing
Roger: "We heard 'Sheer Heart Attack', I hope no one has had cardiac arrest. The next performance is quieter, very typical of Brian May's style (the guitarist); this delicate style is mostly melodic, personally I think there is a slight McCartney influence. It's called 'All Dead, All Dead'".
4 - 'All Dead, All Dead' is playing.
Roger: "Well, this was 'All Dead, All Dead', written by Brian May and sung by him. It's not a very sad song because in this case 'All Dead, All Dead' means talking about memories and things that can't be bought ... anyway, let's listen to the next song, which is a little more commercial. It's written by John Deacon, who is really good as a composer...John is the bass player. It's something we arranged together, a group arrangement, the piece is called 'Spread Your Wings'".
5 - 'Spread Your Wings' is playing
Roger: "And after John Deacon's 'Spread Your Wings' the last song on the first side of the album, 'Fight From The Inside', which is a composition started in the studio because it was just an idea never tried before. I played the drum part without any of the other players being there, which is a bit unusual and weird to do; I only imagined the rest of the instruments. And the track was in fact partially recorded, the backing tracks and guitars that Brian and I played together added later, after which we put the vocals, really done as a 'jig saw puzzle', where you generally record seven instruments in one time and again put the vocals and other little things. However I didn't really realize how it was coming out, a simple thing, simply written, with few vocal crossings, essentially like a heavy metal song, but with a relaxing feeling. This is 'Fight From The Inside'".
6 - 'Fight From The Inside' is playing
Roger: "Well, and this was the first side of 'News Of The World'. We recorded the album in London in the summer of this year, 1977, pretty fast, less than the time it usually takes. Normally we need four or five months to record an album, but for this one we decided to do it more spontaneously, so we really expressed ourselves and only needed two months, which by Queen's standard is very little. Arrangements are generally less complex, plus we use many recording studios; for the last we used five, for the best we used seven, but for this album here we mainly used two, in all three, including the mixing at the end. Anyway let's hear now the second side".
End of the first side. Starts of the second.
Roger: "There's an airy, atmospheric song written by Freddie Mercury and it's called 'Get Down Make Love'".
7- 'Get Down Make Love' is playing
Roger: "Ok, this was 'Get Down Make Love'. There is a sound in the song that looks like a synthesizer, but it's actually a new machine that I think we used to be the first 'live' on stage. It is called a harmonizer. In fact it creates electronic harmony and we used this strange sound in the song by setting it to an automatic reverb and it created a kind of infinite harmony, the reverb continues by itself going higher and higher. It sounds like a synthesizer but is actually a guitar and vocals sound. Come on and hear 'Sleeping On The Sidewalk'; Brian wrote this song and it's recorded in a single take, so it sounds like an old blues song, simple and straightforward. And here's 'Sleeping On The Sidewalk'".
8 - 'Sleeping On The Sidewalk' is playing
Roger: "Ok, it was 'Sleeping On The Sidewalk'; Brian performed it with a kind of soft voice. Now you will notice a total contrast in the second John Deacon song on the album...this is completely the other side of Queen, it's a very relaxing song with a kind of calypso melody. We want to make people feel like they are sitting on a beach in Tahiti or wherever, that's John's idea as to say, harmless. 'Who Needs You'".
9 - 'Who Needs You' is playing
Roger: It was 'Who Needs You'. The next song, very typical of Queen, is a bit long, it's built to be long, like slow rock. It is essentially a '70s rock and roll song and the lyrics are typical of the new album. We just wanted it to be spontaneous and to try to express some of the many things we had done before. I think this track reflects a lot of things, several rock and roll pieces that have been made lately, and in fact it was the first song recorded for the album and it's called 'It's Late'".
10 - 'It's Late' is playing
Roger: "Well, this was the last energetic piece of the album and brings us to the final track of the LP, composed by Freddie Mercury trying to recreate a 'mood' piece, trying to recreate this time of the last few years ... if you can, try to imagine a kind of smoky deserted club with the singer playing a bluesy piece on the piano. For this song I had to get used to playing drums with brushes again. This is Freddie singing 'My Melancholy Blues'".
11 - 'My Melancholy Blues' is playing
Roger: "Well this was the new Queen album called 'News Of The World'. We enjoyed doing it and we hope you enjoy listening to it. We think it's a bit different from the last albums made before, it's more spontaneous anyway. Now is the time for us to go to America for a very important tour and we are waiting to leave; it's kind of a fun 'on the road' life and we hope to come back to Europe next year, to come to Italy to play live for you. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy listening to this album, and cheers from Queen. Ciao!".
The interview was realized by Italian EMI Product Manager Fabio d'Emilio and was also broadcast on television (dubbed in Italian by a translator) and on radio stations around the country. Unfortunately, Queen never visit Italy for live concert during the 1978 European tour...the Italian crowd saw them live for the first time seven years later, in September 1984 in Milan.
Recently (probably many of you have known this for years) I discovered that Roger Taylor was the first Queen member to come to Italy. The occasion of the visit was the launch of the album "News Of The World": Roger arrived in Rome in October 1977 with his partner Dominique Beyrand and gave an interview to the Italian press, presenting a preview of the new Queen album. The interview was organized by EMI Italiana (the section of the EMI concerning the Italian market) and was sent to multiple Italian magazines of the time.
Here's the translation, from Italian to English.
QUEEN
News Of The World
The new LP presented for you by Roger Taylor
Roger Taylor's presentation of Queen's new album
1 - 'We Will Rock You' is playing
Roger: "Hi! I'm Roger Taylor from Queen and this was 'We Will Rock You'. I want to thank you for the support you gave to our last single 'Somebody To Love' and to have made it a hit even here in Italy. I'm happy to have this opportunity to speak with you. I would like to tell you something about the new album which is titled 'News Of The World' and I will do it piece by piece. The second track on the album after 'We Will Rock You', which is the first track, is the new single titled 'We Are The Champions', written by Freddie Mercury".
2 - 'We Are The Champions' is playing
Roger: "Well this was 'We Are The Champions', the new single, I hope you liked it and I hope it goes well in Italy. The next performance, which is the third, is entitled 'Sheer Heart Attack'. You may recognize this title because it's the same as our third album; in fact it had to be included in the album and I wrote the song myself, but I didn't finish it in time, but now it's ready. It's a very energetic thing in its style, uptempo and...there it is, 'Sheer Heart Attack'".
3 - 'Sheer Heart Attack' is playing
Roger: "We heard 'Sheer Heart Attack', I hope no one has had cardiac arrest. The next performance is quieter, very typical of Brian May's style (the guitarist); this delicate style is mostly melodic, personally I think there is a slight McCartney influence. It's called 'All Dead, All Dead'".
4 - 'All Dead, All Dead' is playing.
Roger: "Well, this was 'All Dead, All Dead', written by Brian May and sung by him. It's not a very sad song because in this case 'All Dead, All Dead' means talking about memories and things that can't be bought ... anyway, let's listen to the next song, which is a little more commercial. It's written by John Deacon, who is really good as a composer...John is the bass player. It's something we arranged together, a group arrangement, the piece is called 'Spread Your Wings'".
5 - 'Spread Your Wings' is playing
Roger: "And after John Deacon's 'Spread Your Wings' the last song on the first side of the album, 'Fight From The Inside', which is a composition started in the studio because it was just an idea never tried before. I played the drum part without any of the other players being there, which is a bit unusual and weird to do; I only imagined the rest of the instruments. And the track was in fact partially recorded, the backing tracks and guitars that Brian and I played together added later, after which we put the vocals, really done as a 'jig saw puzzle', where you generally record seven instruments in one time and again put the vocals and other little things. However I didn't really realize how it was coming out, a simple thing, simply written, with few vocal crossings, essentially like a heavy metal song, but with a relaxing feeling. This is 'Fight From The Inside'".
6 - 'Fight From The Inside' is playing
Roger: "Well, and this was the first side of 'News Of The World'. We recorded the album in London in the summer of this year, 1977, pretty fast, less than the time it usually takes. Normally we need four or five months to record an album, but for this one we decided to do it more spontaneously, so we really expressed ourselves and only needed two months, which by Queen's standard is very little. Arrangements are generally less complex, plus we use many recording studios; for the last we used five, for the best we used seven, but for this album here we mainly used two, in all three, including the mixing at the end. Anyway let's hear now the second side".
End of the first side. Starts of the second.
Roger: "There's an airy, atmospheric song written by Freddie Mercury and it's called 'Get Down Make Love'".
7- 'Get Down Make Love' is playing
Roger: "Ok, this was 'Get Down Make Love'. There is a sound in the song that looks like a synthesizer, but it's actually a new machine that I think we used to be the first 'live' on stage. It is called a harmonizer. In fact it creates electronic harmony and we used this strange sound in the song by setting it to an automatic reverb and it created a kind of infinite harmony, the reverb continues by itself going higher and higher. It sounds like a synthesizer but is actually a guitar and vocals sound. Come on and hear 'Sleeping On The Sidewalk'; Brian wrote this song and it's recorded in a single take, so it sounds like an old blues song, simple and straightforward. And here's 'Sleeping On The Sidewalk'".
8 - 'Sleeping On The Sidewalk' is playing
Roger: "Ok, it was 'Sleeping On The Sidewalk'; Brian performed it with a kind of soft voice. Now you will notice a total contrast in the second John Deacon song on the album...this is completely the other side of Queen, it's a very relaxing song with a kind of calypso melody. We want to make people feel like they are sitting on a beach in Tahiti or wherever, that's John's idea as to say, harmless. 'Who Needs You'".
9 - 'Who Needs You' is playing
Roger: It was 'Who Needs You'. The next song, very typical of Queen, is a bit long, it's built to be long, like slow rock. It is essentially a '70s rock and roll song and the lyrics are typical of the new album. We just wanted it to be spontaneous and to try to express some of the many things we had done before. I think this track reflects a lot of things, several rock and roll pieces that have been made lately, and in fact it was the first song recorded for the album and it's called 'It's Late'".
10 - 'It's Late' is playing
Roger: "Well, this was the last energetic piece of the album and brings us to the final track of the LP, composed by Freddie Mercury trying to recreate a 'mood' piece, trying to recreate this time of the last few years ... if you can, try to imagine a kind of smoky deserted club with the singer playing a bluesy piece on the piano. For this song I had to get used to playing drums with brushes again. This is Freddie singing 'My Melancholy Blues'".
11 - 'My Melancholy Blues' is playing
Roger: "Well this was the new Queen album called 'News Of The World'. We enjoyed doing it and we hope you enjoy listening to it. We think it's a bit different from the last albums made before, it's more spontaneous anyway. Now is the time for us to go to America for a very important tour and we are waiting to leave; it's kind of a fun 'on the road' life and we hope to come back to Europe next year, to come to Italy to play live for you. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy listening to this album, and cheers from Queen. Ciao!".
The interview was realized by Italian EMI Product Manager Fabio d'Emilio and was also broadcast on television (dubbed in Italian by a translator) and on radio stations around the country. Unfortunately, Queen never visit Italy for live concert during the 1978 European tour...the Italian crowd saw them live for the first time seven years later, in September 1984 in Milan.