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Post by deathtoming on Jul 7, 2020 21:12:16 GMT
This is a tour diary from Queen’s Jazz / Live Killers tour in Japan in 1979
Most of the text is a direct translation from Japanese by me from the 2019 book Queen Live Tour in Japan 1975-1985, which has notes originally published by Music Life magazine in 1979. Some other information comes from recent interviews in another Japanese publication, Queen in Japan, as well as other Japanese sources online. For this tour, I also have a 2019 reprint of the 1979 commemorative issue of Music Life that detailed everything about the tour. I try to find relevant photos to match the tour diary, but it’s not meant to be exhaustive. Wednesday, April 11, 1979At 3:16 pm on Pan American flight 801, Freddie and Paul Prenter arrive in Narita International Airport from New York. Having arrived earlier than scheduled, the number of fans that await are in the dozens. They head to the hotel without any incident. According to Freddie’s personal bodyguard, Itami-san, compared to the time they arrived in 1976, he perceived a vibe that made him difficult to approach. [Freddie arriving at the airport] Roger and Brian arrive on JAL flight 442 at 4:54 pm from London. Although there is a rush of fans and members of the press at the gates, there isn’t as much of a commotion as the previous two tours, and they get to the hotel without incident. The stage crew was also on this flight, so they head to the hotel by bus. Thursday, April 12, 1979At 4:10 pm, John Deacon arrives at Narita International Airport. Freddie and Roger go shopping in Ginza, Harajuku, and other locations. Brian goes to Asakusa. The four have Japanese for dinner, and then go to the disco in Akasaka, minus Freddie. The stage crew heads to the Nippon Budokan in the evening to prepare. On this tour, the giant lighting rig known as the “pizza oven” was brought over, but it takes longer than expected to adjust the height of the horizontal pole from which the lights would hang. In the end, they have to take apart everything and put it all back together again. While the crew was originally planning on being done by 10 pm, they end up working until dawn. Friday, April 13, 1979 - Nippon Budokan (Tokyo) This is the first day of Queen’s third tour in Japan, and 3 years since the last one. The band arrives at 3 pm and starts rehearsing. Being the first day, they carefully touch on every song on the setlist during the soundcheck. They end up postponing the start of the concert by 30 minutes because their rehearsal took so long. While We Will Rock You plays on the PA system, each member takes their place, and Freddie launches into a fast version of We Will Rock You while clad in a black patent leather suit. In the three years that have passed since their last appearance in Japan, Freddie’s Japanese has improved. The Japanese are surprised to hear Freddie greet the audience fluently in Japanese with, “We are very happy to be able to come to Japan again!” and the packed house is thrilled, right up to the rafters. [Actually, his greeting is short on this first night. He starts using the longer greeting on the second night, as heard here:] After the concert, the band goes to a ryotei (traditional high-end Japanese cuisine), arranged by Misa and Shin Watanabe of Watanabe Productions (the entertainment company responsible for bringing Queen to Japan). The members are very happy to be entertained by real geisha. [Misa Watanabe became quite close with Freddie, and there are several pics of Freddie and Misa from the ‘80s, even when Freddie visited privately. Apparently, he visited the Watanabes’ home often, and Freddie let Misa Watanabe stay at his New York apartment when he wasn’t there. This pic is not confirmed to be from this date in April, but it should be from this tour.] Saturday, April 14, 1979 - Nippon Budokan [Before this show, national broadcaster NHK conducts an interview with the group backstage. The YouTube uploader incorrectly labels it 1978.] [According to a Japanese blogger who was at this show near the front, fans would throw streamers on stage because if it went well, Freddie would tug on one end while the fan would tug on the other, for some playful fun. At the end of the show, she recalls seeing one streamer that had “I love Queen” hand-written in tiny letters, end-to-end. During the show, Freddie threw a rubber ball back into the audience. Other things thrown on stage included an eggplant and a banana. Freddie would throw flowers into the audience, while Brian and John would throw their picks. Itami-san, Freddie’s bodyguard, was responsible for keeping people from jumping up on stage, but also clearing away all the streamers during the show.] In the second encore, Freddie appears on the shoulders of a man dressed as Superman. The crowd goes wild as Freddie starts singing We Will Rock You while still on Superman’s shoulders. Superman is actually “Big Paul” from Freddie’s security team. Usually, he is waiting by the stage, in case of emergency. After the show, the band members have French cuisine in Aoyama. [...continued in next post…]
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Post by deathtoming on Jul 7, 2020 21:17:22 GMT
[...continued from previous post…] Sunday, April 15, 1979 On this day off, Freddie goes shopping at the Oriental Bazaar in Harajuku. Freddie is recognized by fans, and at first he signs about 80 autographs, but he is surrounded and the numbers grow. In the end, he has to abandon his shopping trip. [Freddie out with his personal bodyguard, Itami-san; date unknown] Brian goes to the Tokyo Tower. Monday, April 16, 1979 Press day. This time, instead of interviewing the whole group, interviews are held individually with each media entity. On this day, the media includes the magazines Seventeen, Ongaku Senka, and Music Life. [Ongaku Senka magazine does a one-on-one with John Deacon for the first time, although they had done individual interviews with the other three during the last two tours. Here are some excerpts of what I thought were the most interesting parts (English->Japanese->English translations)] Ongaku Senka: Personally speaking, I feel like the abundant youthful energy from your early years is disappearing more and more. John: You’re right. The biggest reason is Freddie has become more interested in the piano, and has been composing more songs on it. So, inevitably, we end up with songs that hold back energy. His older songs like Liar and Killer Queen were written on the guitar, so naturally, they’re intense, hard rockers. But now -- surrounded by Japanese furniture [at home, that Freddie would buy on his trips to Japan], haha -- he writes songs on the piano. In the end, it’s how he’s feeling at the moment. However, Roger writes songs on the drums, hahaha! [Interview goes on for a while, and includes John talking about how he found the Jazz recording sessions to be very fresh and extremely enjoyable, because each member would go back to their homes at the end of each day, unlike sessions for earlier albums that involved the four of them stuck together all day long. Ongaku Senka asks if it’s time to do a solo album, which John replies to by saying it’s too bad he can’t sing.] Ongaku Senka: You’re also the only one without a solo on stage. John: It doesn’t suit my nature. Ongaku Senka: You don’t like standing out? John: No, I do. It’s just that I want to make myself stand out in a different way. Ongaku Senka: What do you mean, more specifically? John: Right now, what the group does on the stage is more or less different from I prefer. I love electronic engineering. So, rather than doing a bass solo, I like being able to incorporate new machinery, and things like that. The stage is fine, but I like making music in the studio. To be honest, I’m intent on making sounds in the studio that are completely different from the other three guys. Ongaku Senka: I wonder if you’re trying to achieve some independence. John: What do you mean? Ongaku Senka: In other words, do you have any ambitions to split from Queen and make your own group? John: Not one bit. Although, I would like to have some sessions with other musicians. [Another quote from this interview, from John: “The group is made up of strong, noisy personalities. I think it’s fine to have at least one guy who is calm and quiet. If I wasn’t here, this group wouldn’t be in order. I’m always the one acting as the mediator.” [John also does an interview with Music Life. Apparently, the Music Life staff had completely forgotten about interviewing John, and were putting away their equipment after interviewing the other three, when John entered the room, smiling as always. The staff hadn’t even thought up questions to ask him, but went ahead with the interview anyway.] [Back to the Tour Diary…] The individuals responsible for directing the press are Paul Prenter, who appeared in the Bohemian Rhapsody movie, and Pete Brown. The management of the interview times, which can be difficult to do in the best of times, was handled expertly. Incidentally, the two of them disliked being called managers, even though their duties were clearly those of a manager. During this time, Queen handled the role of manager on their own, after gaining independence from the notorious Trident. Therefore, Paul Prenter and Pete Brown referred to themselves as “personal assistants.” [Music Life editor-in-chief Kaoruko Togo recently referred to Paul Prenter as a “top of the world” detestable guy, and the two often clashed.] Tuesday, April 17, 1979Brian and Freddie head to Osaka on separate bullet trains. Brian goes sightseeing in Nara, while Freddie goes shopping in Kyoto. Roger had his girlfriend Dominique with him, and the two enjoyed Tokyo’s sights and shopping. John also stays in Tokyo. At night, they go clubbing. Wednesday, April 18, 1979 Roger, John, and the tour crew head to Osaka in the evening. In the bullet train, a member of the train’s staff gets the tour crew members to sign autographs on a paper napkin. Roger and John burst out laughing at this sight. At 10:00 pm, the four members go out to play Space Invaders after dinner. All of them got hooked while they were in Japan. Thursday, April 19, 1979 - Osaka Festival Hall Brian goes shopping. This is the first day of the Osaka shows. In the afternoon, a cooking school uses the venue for their opening ceremony, and doesn’t finish by 12:30 pm as scheduled, causing the crew to feel irritated. Eventually the ceremony finishes and the crew rush in at 1:30 pm to start setting up. During soundcheck, the band rehearses Teo Torriatte for the first time this tour. Even though Freddie had greeted the audience with impeccable Japanese, singing in Japanese was another matter, and he has trouble memorizing the lyrics. Ultimately, they decide to place the lyrics next to the piano. After the show, they all go for steak at Minami. [Photographer Koh Hasebe, on how he got the Live Killers cover shot, which was taken in Japan this tour: “We decided that the band would go to the front of the stage at the end of the concert to wave, bow, and so forth, but they'd forget to do that. They would just forget and quickly go back stage. What a pain that was. I was below them at the front of the stage, so I did my best to get their attention, but they were so caught up in the moment that they wouldn't notice me. Afterwards, I would go to them backstage and say, ‘Hey, you didn't do what we had discussed,’ and they'd just say, ‘Oh, we forgot.’ By the third attempt I got something close to what I wanted. Personally, I wasn't too thrilled with it.” The actual photo that was used is from an unknown date, and so is this unused photo. The shot that was used for the cover has Brian pasted in from a different photo, as seen in his Queen in 3D book. Hasebe is credited as "Koh Has abe" on the original vinyl release of Live Killers, as well as in the 2019 SHM-CD reissue.] [By the way, remember the blogger who recalled seeing a banana and eggplant thrown on stage on the April 14th show? Look at the closeup of the bottom left of that shot. Is… is that a banana? And is that an eggplant next to it, on its side with the stem pointing towards us?] [...continued in next post…]
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Post by deathtoming on Jul 7, 2020 21:22:17 GMT
[...continued from previous post…] Friday, April 20, 1979 - Osaka Festival Hall Roger does an interview with Music Life at the hotel. [Excerpt, though I’m not sure it’s from this particular interview… Music Life: Do the four of you get into arguments when your opinions differ? Roger: Ah hahahha! No, we don’t fight. Brian and I have some similar views, but John and I have different tastes. But on the other hand, because we have different tastes, we’re able to complement each other. I think that helps us keep the group going for a long time, because we can always be creative. But boy do we argue about song titles and song arrangements.] Teo Torriatte is performed live for the first time on this day. Brian plays the piano, and Freddie sings by his side -- the shot of the two performing close together brings great joy to the fans, but this was actually a desperate measure to allow Freddie to read the song lyrics by the piano. [Freddie: The idea to perform Teo Torriatte came from all four of us. We didn’t play it early on because it was too difficult, but I’m glad people enjoyed it. Anyway it’s in Japanese so no one outside of Japan will understand it, haha. I think that song is Brian’s best.] This tour stage show was the same as that of the US and European tours, so the same equipment was used. Eight trucks, two vehicle-mounted generators, and two buses for the crew made for a large scale operation. After the Osaka shows, the crew would immediately begin taking down the stage set, and the tour trucks with the nude cyclist painted on would hit the road late at night, onward to the next venue. Saturday, April 21, 1979 - Jissen Rinri Kinenkan (Kanazawa) At 9:45 am, the band takes the Limited Express Thunderbird train from Osaka to Kanazawa. In the train,Freddie has some orange juice with extra pulp, and lots of pulp ends up on his lips and teeth. Freddie doesn’t realize this but is busily engaging in conversation with everyone, and the staff find it difficult to stifle their laughter. Meanwhile, in another area of the train, representatives of Queen and the Japanese record company are in discussions to release a live version of Love of My Life as a single in Japan. Apparently, it wasn’t unusual to hold these kinds of meetings while travelling between cities on this tour. [The single is released a month before Live Killers, and the music video features footage from the Budokan mostly, although the audio is from Frankfurt.] [Freddie took lots of photos with his Polaroid in Osaka while they waited for the train to Kanazawa, but they were all out of focus] [Brian walked away from the group, saying he wanted to get some sun.] Kanazawa was still cold despite it being late April, and there was a cold rain as well. Staff bring in heaters into the dressing room. Freddie catches a cold, and is forced to sing one octave lower due to the condition of his throat. The Kanazawa show was added to the tour after a passionate petition campaign by locals, which impressed the band. Sunday, April 22, 1979
In the morning, the group does some sightseeing in Kenrokuen. In the afternoon, they go to Komatsu Airport and fly to Tokyo. Monday, April 23, 1979 - Nippon Budokan (Tokyo) Among the five shows at the Budokan, this night is seen as the best. Freddie’s throat had mostly healed due to the day off. After the show, they attend a party hosted by Warner Pioneer. [...continued in next post…]
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Post by deathtoming on Jul 7, 2020 21:26:17 GMT
[...continued from previous post…]
Tuesday, April 24, 1979 - Nippon Budokan (Tokyo)
In the morning, a young Queen fan shows up at the venue saying he has a home-made guitar he wants to give to Brian. It’s a guitar using materials similar to the ones used on Brian’s guitar. The staff hand the guitar to Brian in the evening, and he’s thrilled.
[Music Life has an interview scheduled with John on the 41st floor of the Tokyo Prince Hotel, at 3 pm. Paul Prenter tells Music Life, “John said he was going out to buy a shirt, so he should be back soon. But he’s walking, so maybe he got lost.” John shows up a bit late to the interview with a bottle of beer in hand, slightly drunk. The next day, during the concert, Brian introduces John by saying, “On bass guitar and Japanese shirt, Mr. John Deacon!”]
[This shirt that John bought was his favourite purchase on this tour. Apparently, he couldn’t get enough of the silky texture of this Japan-made Hawaiian-style shirt. Freddie was envious of it.]
After the show, the band heads to a video game arcade on the way back to the hotel.
Wednesday, April 25, 1979 - Nippon Budokan (Tokyo)
This is the last day of the Tokyo shows, but unfortunately strikes shut down the train system. At one point, the concert was at risk, but the strikes end by 5 pm, and the concert can start as usual. Freddie’s cold has gotten worse, and his throat doesn’t cooperate, making him irritated right from the beginning of the show and causing a rougher than usual performance.
During the encore, while singing Sheer Heart Attack, he stumbles on something and falls over. He’s already battling his bad voice, and now this accident happens. Frustrated, Freddie knocks over an amp, and starts bending his mic stand. Ultimately, he pulls out Roger’s mic and finishes the song.
Nihon TV records a video of this show, and edits it to 60 minutes under the direction of programme director Fukutome Norio, and broadcasts it in two parts [isn’t it about 30 minutes divided into two parts?]. The footage includes a rare scene of John approaching the mic for backup vocals. [1983, Ongaku Senka magazine, to John: “You sing during concerts, don’t you.” John: “I wouldn’t call it singing. Just a bit of backing vocals.”]
[Pre-show footage from this date, incorrectly dated as April 24. The first 21 seconds were not widely available until recently (I think), and you get a good idea of what the Budokan looks like inside.]
[The “full” 32-minute video playlist, minus the first 21 seconds from above]
For Teo Torriatte, compared to the song’s debut in Osaka on April 20th, Freddie doesn’t rely on the cue cards, and sings confidently at the front of the stage.
[During a Japanese fan event for the 40th anniversary celebration of the Jazz tour, they actually pointed out how Freddie still had trouble with the lyrics at this Budokan show, and proceeded to play the video. The fans in attendance at this event burst out laughing when they saw Freddie looking at the lyrics:]
After the show, Roger and John go clubbing with their bodyguards.
Thursday, April 26, 1979
This day is a day for travel. The group heads to Kobe by bullet train.
[...continued in next post…]
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Post by deathtoming on Jul 7, 2020 21:32:16 GMT
[...continued from previous post…] Friday, April 27, 1979 - Kobe Chuo Taiikukan On this tour, the concert venues, with the exception of Osaka and Nagoya, were all gymnasiums [Taiikukan = gymnasium]. Since these gymnasiums are not concert halls, there are no proper dressing rooms, and waiting rooms are used instead. Depending on the venue, these waiting rooms can be next to washrooms, in which case odours would be problematic. The concert venue at Kobe is a 15-year-old well-used gymnasium. The toilets are scrubbed clean, carpet is laid out on the floor, table cloths are brought in for tables, and a couch is supplied, to prepare the room for the band. The staff’s efforts are notable, and show their desire to help Queen have a good performance. After this day’s show, the crew doesn’t stay in Kobe, and instead heads to Nagoya by bus ahead of the band. The band goes out for some kobe beef. Saturday, April 28, 1979 - Nagoya Kokusai Tenjijo The group leaves Shin Kobe station in the morning by bullet train and arrives in Nagoya. Being a Saturday, several hundred fans are waiting at the station, making it difficult to leave. [Collage of fan pics. Itami-san is visible again, in the middle. The guy that looks like Beck next to Brian is Pete Brown.] The concert venue takes 40 minutes to reach by car from Nagoya station, in a spacious area near the airport. The venue can hold up to 20,000, making it the largest on this tour, and even the members are surprised. Freddie’s throat is mostly healed, and they have a wonderful performance. Sunday, April 29, 1979 In the morning, the lobby is packed with girls and women. Queen’s staff is taken aback, but then they are relieved to learn that some of the people are here to attend a wedding ceremony, while others were fans of singer-songwriter Shinji Harada, who was also staying at this hotel. The group flies out of Nagoya Airport and goes to Fukuoka. At the hotel in Fukuoka, Freddie has an interview with Music Life. Mary Austin is also present. Although Freddie is known to hate the press overseas, Music Life is special, and on this day the interview starts at 8 pm and goes for almost 2 hours. [Itami-san, Paul Prenter, and Mary Austin, date unknown] [The interview is conducted by Kaoruko Togo/Tohgoh, who is editor-in-chief of Music Life at this point. I mentioned her in my last 1976 Tour Diary, as she was the one who was critical of the tour right to Brian’s face during an interview. Any time Queen toured Japan, she was right there, making sure Music Life had extensive coverage. Today, as an independent journalist, she is seen as the leading authority on Queen in Japan, and has been especially active in speaking engagements, print media, and the TV since the Bohemian Rhapsody movie craze. Togo and photographer Koh Hasebe played a huge role in how Queen was portrayed in the media in the 70s and 80s. The photo of Freddie sitting on the stairs is taken during this interview session.] [Togo is second from the left, and photographer Koh Hasebe is on the far right, during a 1-hour Japanese TV special on Queen in 2019. The guy in the hat? Morgan “in that wonderful pink” Fisher, who spoke in Japanese during this show.] Monday, April 30, 1979 - Kyuden Kinen Taiikukan Brian often improvises during Brighton Rock, and starting from around the Kobe show, he starts playing the traditional folk song Sakura. He played it during the last tour as well, but this time he uses distortion and echo machines to produce the effects of an instrumental duet of yamatogoto (a native Japanese instrument similar to the koto), among other things, creating a variety of Sakura interpretations. [ Sakura from May 1] After the show, the band takes their interpreter and bodyguards out for high-end, traditional Japanese cuisine. Tuesday, May 1, 1979 - Kyuden Kinen Taiikukan (Fukuoka) The band is hungover. Brian purchases three tatami mats while in Fukuoka. Due to their size, he is told he cannot bring them back with him to England, putting him in a bad mood. However, he is able to ship them out the next day. [Brian and Roger sitting on tatami mats, in case you don't know what they are, but not in 1979. Brian said in 2019 that he still has them.] After the show, the crew does not stay in Fukuoka and instead heads to Yamaguchi by bus in the middle of the night. [...continued in next post…]
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Post by deathtoming on Jul 7, 2020 21:36:28 GMT
[...continued from previous post…] Wednesday, May 2nd, 1979 - Yamaguchi-kenritsu Taiikukan The venue for the Yamaguchi show holds approximately 1,000 people, making it the smallest this tour. The band could not secure a venue for a third Fukuoka show, which is how Yamaguchi ended up getting a date [Yamaguchi City’s population was about 100,000 at the time]. Yamaguchi hadn’t had a concert by a foreign act since The Carpenters in 1976, so when locals learned about the Queen show, some thought that it was a concert film that was going to be shown. With the Iwakuni military base nearby (Marine Corps Air Station), many members of the US military were present, making for an enthusiastic, exciting atmosphere reminiscent of a concert overseas. [The Yamaguchi poster stood out for not using any Jazz / Bicycle Race imagery, which was prominent in other posters and promotional material from this tour.] [Freddie interacts with these American fans at one point. It sounds like they were requesting songs (pretty sure I can hear one guy yelling “Stone Cold Crazy!”) and they also identify themselves as belonging to the Marines when Freddie cleverly asks, “Are you ‘In the Navy’?” making a reference to the base and the Village People song that was a hit at the time.] [Here’s an excerpt from a Japanese blogger who wrote about what she remembers when she attended this show: “Compared to the Budokan stage I saw pictures of in magazines, the Yamaguchi stage was much closer, and it was so low!. We were excited, and saying things like, ‘Freddie’s spit and sweat are going to fly right at us!’ But there was a group of people right in front of us that was even more riled up than us. They were clearly members of the US military from the Iwakuni military base, drinking cans of beer that they weren’t allowed to bring in, and they were in a partying mood. I had a bad feeling about this, and I was right. When the concert started, Brian, who was right in front of me on the stage, glared at the rambunctious military guys, and then shuffled over to the other side of the stage near John Deacon, and would stay there pretty much for the duration of the show. Aahh.. (cries).” Another fan wrote that she kept throwing paper streamers in Freddie’s direction, and he responded by throwing maracas at her, which she kept and still treasures to this day. This pic possibly shows one of her paper streamers being thrown at Freddie.] After the show, the band has Chinese food for dinner.Thursday, May 3, 1979 Some turmoil at breakfast. The hotel the band stays at in Yamaguchi does not have room service, and while they have coffee, there is no bread! Queen’s staff manage to get a loaf of sandwich bread meant for the hotel employees, and toast the eight slices, giving two to each of the band members. The group takes a bus to Fukuoka, and then a plane from Fukuoka to Tokyo. In the plane’s in-flight entertainment system, Bicycle Race, Don’t Stop Me Now and others are available for listening, and when Brian realizes this he says, “Yes!” and pumps his fist. He calls the other members over to listen. Roger goes to Asakusa for some shopping. At 7 pm, Roger, Dominique, and John to clubbing in Shinjuku. At midnight, they check out a recording studio in Roppongi. Roger and Dominique head back to the hotel at 1:00 am, and John goes to the disco BYBLOS, returning at 3:00 am. Friday, May 4, 1979 In the morning, the members do one last round of shopping, and in the afternoon, fly to Sapporo. During the tour, cans of Budweiser beer were the norm. This day’s dinner was at a beer garden, so they enjoy mugs of Sapporo draft beer. [Another source said Heineken was the band’s beer of choice, but that they like Sapporo a lot more.] After the party, John goes to a video game arcade at 12:30 am to play Space Invaders. Everyone else is back at the hotel and in their rooms by 1:00 am, but John returns at 3:00 am. Freddie doesn’t like the hotel that was booked, so he stays at a different one. Saturday, May 5, 1979 - Makomanai Ice Arena (Sapporo) [Freddie and Mary Austin in Nakanoshima Park, May 5] At first, Sapporo was not on the tour itinerary, but it was added upon Freddie’s insistence. For the first two songs of the concert, the emergency lights were turned off to make the venue pitch black, which led to complaints from the fire department and police, and a big dispute. The tour manager angrily yelled, “NO SHOW!” and the show was about to be suspended. The previous year in January, at a Rainbow concert in Sapporo (but at a different venue), fans rushed the stage, killing one fan in the process. Ever since, foreign acts were treated nervously. However, there was no trouble at this Queen show, and with one day left in this tour, the members were also in a good mood. During the encore, Freddie even jumps into the audience. After the concert, they have a dinner party at a Mongolian grill restaurant, but with John not attending. Knowing the next day was the end of the tour, Queen and the crew are in a livelier mood than usual and making a lot of noise. By the time Freddie and Roger are done, everyone is quite drunk. However, the usually quiet Brian is in high spirits and isn’t ready to head back, and instead wanders around with a beer in hand. Reluctantly, he gets on the crew’s bus and heads back to the hotel, but instead of going back to his room, he disappeared into the Sapporo night. Sunday, May 6, 1979 - Makomanai Ice Arena (Sapporo) This is the last day of the tour in Japan. During Don’t Stop Me Now, the stage crew dance around on stage dressed up in the Queen members’ clothes. It’s a festival-like atmosphere. Perhaps because the band members are excited as well, during the first encore they perform Jailhouse Rock before Sheer Heart Attack. It’s a standard number for Queen’s encores, but it’s the first time it was performed in Japan this tour. At the end, the paper streamers are hung from the lighting rig, making for a showy celebration for the closing ceremony. Back stage, the band members and the entire crew do a traditional Japanese 3-3-7 rhythmic clapping to celebrate the end of the concert that ended without incident. There is a barbecue party for everyone afterwards. Monday, May 7, 1979 The band takes a domestic flight to Tokyo. From Narita International Airport, Freddie goes to Hong Kong, Roger and Brian to Hawaii, and John back to London, marking the end of the 27-day tour. Roger pulled out a radio-controlled car at the airport and played around with it before his flight. [...continued in next post…]
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Post by deathtoming on Jul 7, 2020 21:41:13 GMT
[...continued from previous post…] Miscellaneous stuff: - Queen felt that their April 14th Tokyo show and May 5th Sapporo show were their best on this tour. - On this tour, there is a mysterious gap between the Tokyo show on the 14th and the Osaka show on the 19th. Originally, Queen had a date lined up for Koriyama, in Fukushima. However, the Fukushima Board of Education was against rock concerts, and so the show had to be cancelled. The planned Kyoto show also didn’t happen for unknown reasons, which was surely disappointing for the members, who loved Kyoto. - Roger’s girlfriend Dominique, Brian’s wife Chrissie, and their son Jimmy joined the group part way through the tour. In Sapporo, Brian and Chrissie have a dispute, and Chrissie storms out of the hotel. - Freddie’s shopping heats up. In Osaka, he needed a separate room just to store his purchases. - On the first day off, April 15, Freddie bought woodblock prints, pottery, and other works of art, spending over 3 million yen (today, that’s about $28,000 USD / $25,000 Euro). In the end, he spent about 10 million yen. Expensive items like pots would not be accepted as luggage by the airlines, so Queen staff members had to carry them in their arms as carry-ons. - Roger loved to read, and would try to squeeze in time to read while travelling between cities. The book he recommended to the Japanese staff was The Black Moon by Winston Graham. - Backstage, Freddie likes to leave the zipper of his pants unzipped all the way. In the hotel room, he never wears his shoes. - There is a fan placed under the piano to deal with the heat from the “pizza oven” lights. - John and Roger would often listen to music on cassettes in their respective hotel rooms, very loudly late at night. The whole band was into Cheap Trick and Van Halen at the time, and would listen to their cassettes during free time. - Roger bought walkie-talkies in Sapporo, and used them with Dominique. - At the time, Japanese singer Hideki Saijo’s cover of YMCA was very popular, and the band would have a hoot with the dance moves that the Japanese staff taught them. Hideki Saijo also had a cover of Don’t Stop Me Now, which the crew watched on TV. - Brian carried a tape recorder with him and practised Japanese. John also tried learning some, and was able to say, “I am 27 years old” in Japanese. [Here’s Brian addressing the audience in Japanese at the Yamaguchi show. “Can you hear us well? Can you see us well? Good.” [Here’s a message that Freddie wrote for Music Life magazine in 1979, including his name hand-written in Japanese] - Freddie was often late for things, and would always be the last out of the four to show up to meetings and soundchecks. Brian was punctual for meetings, but would lose sense of time when he went out, so “I’ll be 10 minutes” would turn into an hour. - The band would often go out individually when there was free time, but they would even do soundcheck individually. - After one of the shows, Brian brought a stereo to the hotel to listen to the concert that had just finished. He started off in a happy mood but then he turned pale, and looked like he was about to cry. After that, he looked like his usual nervous self. - Roger and John often went out for yakitori (grilled chicken on skewers) - Freddie’s interests weren’t limited to antiques and handicrafts; he also bought toy dogs and enjoyed showing them off and playing with them. He developed a keen eye for Japanese antiques with each visit, however, and surprised the staff of a famous woodblock print store with his knowledge. [Freddie with the toy dogs from the April 29 Music Life interview in Fukuoka] - The four of them preferred English tea, and Freddie would enjoy tea with honey in it before a show. - During a dinner party at a ryotei (high-end traditional Japanese cuisine), the group was presented with odorigui - fish so fresh that it was still twitching and moving on the plate even though it was dead. Roger tries some and yells out, “There are fish swimming in my stomach!” [Ticket request form] [Jazz tour goods] This marks the end of the Tour Diaries from the 70s! The next three will be posted in the 80s thread when I get to them. They’re shorter tours, so we’ll see how much extra stuff I can find. [the end]
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NathanH
Ploughman
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Post by NathanH on Jul 7, 2020 22:47:23 GMT
Amazing work thank you!
I always learn something new in them.
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Post by Ryan Newton on Jul 7, 2020 23:20:45 GMT
[By the way, remember the blogger who recalled seeing a banana and eggplant thrown on stage on the April 14th show? Look at the closeup of the bottom left of that shot. Is… is that a banana? And is that an eggplant next to it, on its side with the stem pointing towards us?] Freddie threw bananas into the crowd on the April 24th show. While it's unknown if he did this on other nights, this is perhaps the most substantial piece of evidence to dating the Live Killers shots.
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Post by wijnand on Jul 8, 2020 9:48:26 GMT
Thanks again!
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moonie
Satyr
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Post by moonie on Jul 8, 2020 16:20:06 GMT
Thank you for these. I have a Music Life Queen Special from 1977 which reprints the 75 & 76 Tour Diaries and I'd always wondered what was in them. So I really appreciate you taking time to do this. I owe you a drink.
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Post by deathtoming on Jul 8, 2020 20:04:21 GMT
Freddie threw bananas into the crowd on the April 24th show. While it's unknown if he did this on other nights, this is perhaps the most substantial piece of evidence to dating the Live Killers shots. Right, I had forgotten about Freddie throwing the bananas. Strange how it wasn't mentioned in any of the Music Life materials. You're right that he could have thrown bananas on other nights, and again, we have that fan who saw the banana and eggplant on April 14. If the alternative shot with the banana can help us pinpoint the Live Killers cover date, we need to check that they're both from the same show. I'll compare the two alternate shots and the cover itself: First, a comparison of the bottom part of the two alternate shots (one showing Roger with one first up, and another with Roger's arms down, and a banana in the corner). It's particularly clear once you crop the photo with the banana that the two alternative shots are from the same night when you see the bouquet on the bottom left, the roll of streamer in the middle, and the black debris in the bottom right. Now, a comparison of the "fist up" alternate photo with the actual Live Killers cover, with the orange glow. The angle is slightly different, which is most obvious when you see John's position relative to the monitor in front of him, and where the guitar tuning pegs are relative to Freddie's arm. But should John's legs be that much more visible with only a slight change in the angle? Was this photo manipulated there so that nothing is blocking John? Freddie was edited to bring him closer to the drum risers on the Milton Keynes DVD cover, for what it's worth. If you look at Freddie and Roger, the similarities are remarkable, although Roger's legs are different. I think there are enough similarities here to conclude that these are from the same night. But if we look at the stage, it's quite different. I feel like even with the change in angle, the bouquet should be visible. That roll of streamer in the middle of the alternate shot is not visible on the cover at all, although it makes sense to edit that out, because it's distracting by Freddie's feet. However, there's a length of dark-coloured streamer going across the stage on the cover that's not visible on the alternate shot, although it could have been cropped out. The monitor close to Brian on the cover photo doesn't make sense to me, as that much of it shouldn't appear with the change in angle. The orange glow on it also doesn't look very natural. I would say that monitor was pasted in, just like Brian was, to give the photo a sense of visual balance with the monitor in front of John on the other side. So anyway... the alternate shot with the banana looks to be the same night as the cover photo, but the stage part of the photo might be from a different night, or at least edited to remove the bouquet, roll of streamer, and possibly with an amp pasted in. I think I'm rambling at this point, but maybe this will lead to some input by others to help narrow down the date of the photo. For now, I'm happy knowing that a banana was edited out of the Live Killers cover and edited in for the Innuendo album cover!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2020 22:37:18 GMT
Absolutely incredible! Thank you so much for translating these!
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Ri
Ploughman
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Post by Ri on Jul 9, 2020 22:37:17 GMT
Amazing read as always! Thank you so very much!
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Post by dragonkiller on Jul 10, 2020 8:08:16 GMT
Thank you so much for your diaries, they contain lots of info,some rare snippets
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Post by The Real Wizard on Jul 10, 2020 20:15:44 GMT
Wednesday, April 11, 1979At 3:16 pm on Pan American flight 801, Freddie and Paul Prenter arrive in Narita International Airport from New York. Having arrived earlier than scheduled, the number of fans that await are in the dozens. They head to the hotel without any incident. According to Freddie’s personal bodyguard, Itami-san, compared to the time they arrived in 1976, he perceived a vibe that made him difficult to approach. Yep - Mercury was a much different person in '79 than he was three years earlier. A valuable first hand observation.
Incredible work, as ever. Thoroughly enjoying reading all of this.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2020 1:01:41 GMT
Wednesday, April 11, 1979At 3:16 pm on Pan American flight 801, Freddie and Paul Prenter arrive in Narita International Airport from New York. Having arrived earlier than scheduled, the number of fans that await are in the dozens. They head to the hotel without any incident. According to Freddie’s personal bodyguard, Itami-san, compared to the time they arrived in 1976, he perceived a vibe that made him difficult to approach. Yep - Mercury was a much different person in '79 than he was three years earlier. A valuable first hand observation.
Incredible work, as ever. Thoroughly enjoying reading all of this.
I’m sure getting mauled every public outing can get exhausting, no?
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Post by The Real Wizard on Jul 11, 2020 4:22:54 GMT
Yep - Mercury was a much different person in '79 than he was three years earlier. A valuable first hand observation.
Incredible work, as ever. Thoroughly enjoying reading all of this.
I’m sure getting mauled every public outing can get exhausting, no? Sure, but that's not what I'm referring to. In fact, this entry states there weren't too many fans at the airport because Mercury arrived early.
Mercury was immersing himself in the New York and Munich gay scenes, and it had all kinds of repercussions on his life. And someone who had been pretty close to him but hadn't seen him for three years is in a good position to notice, as such changes are gradual.
But judging by this piece as a whole, it seems like the best of his character still came out in Japan. He really loved that place.
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Post by Chopin1995 on Jul 14, 2020 13:23:40 GMT
Once again, this is incredible! Soooo much new information.
Thank you very, very much.
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georg
Global Moderator
wrote several books
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Post by georg on Jul 14, 2020 18:19:43 GMT
What an amazing job you've done. I was riveted the whole time, and I had been looking forward to the '79 tour the moment I read these. Thank you for your invaluable research and work!
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Mustapha Ibrahim
Politician
(Mustapha! Mustapha! Mustapha!) I've never heard of the bloody song!
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Post by Mustapha Ibrahim on Jul 16, 2020 0:37:59 GMT
Freddie was edited to bring him closer to the drum risers on the Milton Keynes DVD cover, for what it's worth. Really? I didn't know that. Now I want to see what the original picture was, before the editing.
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Post by deathtoming on Jul 16, 2020 18:42:32 GMT
Freddie was edited to bring him closer to the drum risers on the Milton Keynes DVD cover, for what it's worth. Really? I didn't know that. Now I want to see what the original picture was, before the editing. Here you can see Freddie's position relative to the drums in the original picture, and the cover. It also shows that both Brian and John were pasted in from different pics. Since John is wearing red in the group shot, it's not from Milton Keynes. And for that shot where John is wearing blue, Freddie is wearing something he didn't wear at Milton Keynes, so John-in-blue pasted in is not from Milton Keynes, either. Anyway, point is, if there's this much editing for this cover, it wouldn't surprise me too much if Brian pasted into Live Killers is not the only manipulation on the Live Killers cover, even if it's just something like pasting in a monitor on the the stage.
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Post by Chief Mouse on Jul 16, 2020 21:07:55 GMT
That was brilliant! Thank you!
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Mustapha Ibrahim
Politician
(Mustapha! Mustapha! Mustapha!) I've never heard of the bloody song!
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Post by Mustapha Ibrahim on Jul 16, 2020 21:20:20 GMT
They also removed Freddie's microphone cord for the Milton Keynes 1982 DVD.
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pg
Queen Mab
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Post by pg on Jul 17, 2020 22:32:47 GMT
They also removed Freddie's microphone cord for the Milton Keynes 1982 DVD. Which is actually appropriate, given the number of times he went to the wireless spare...
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Post by The Real Wizard on Jul 18, 2020 19:41:33 GMT
They also removed Freddie's microphone cord for the Milton Keynes 1982 DVD. Which is actually appropriate, given the number of times he went to the wireless spare... ha !
Although to be fair, the one time he did that was at the Tokyo show on disc two.
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Post by The Real Wizard on Jul 21, 2020 0:48:46 GMT
deathtoming Is there anything in these books about why Queen didn't tour Japan for A Day At The Races and News Of The World ?
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Mustapha Ibrahim
Politician
(Mustapha! Mustapha! Mustapha!) I've never heard of the bloody song!
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Post by Mustapha Ibrahim on Jul 21, 2020 1:18:55 GMT
deathtoming Is there anything in these books about why Queen didn't tour Japan for A Day At The Races and News Of The World ? Maybe because they wanted to travel somewhere else?
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Post by The Real Wizard on Jul 21, 2020 2:05:21 GMT
deathtoming Is there anything in these books about why Queen didn't tour Japan for A Day At The Races and News Of The World ? Maybe because they wanted to travel somewhere else? Considering their success in Japan in 1975 and 76 (far greater than most of the US and Europe at that point), surely it was logistical reasons that had them waiting three years to go back.
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Post by deathtoming on Jul 21, 2020 4:23:41 GMT
deathtoming Is there anything in these books about why Queen didn't tour Japan for A Day At The Races and News Of The World ? No, I didn't catch anything, although there was an interview with John in Ongaku Senka magazine from the '79 tour that touched on that question: Ongaku Senka: The fans have been waiting a long time for you. John: Ummmm... Ongaku Senka: Were you busy? John: Yes, it's because we were busy, haha. Actually, we were trying to establish ourselves in place like Europe and the US, and we were recording between tours for that purpose... we pretty much didn't have a rest. Also, our second visit to Japan was only a year after our first, so we decided to have a bit of a gap before our next visit. Ongaku Senka: We Japanese fans would brag about having 'discovered' Queen before anyone else, but now we see you getting farther away from us as you get big, and that makes us both happy and sad. It's like, 'they probably forgot about us.' John: That's not true! We absolutely have not forgotten about you. We'll come back anytime!! It's just that it's a big world, and it takes 3 years if we go around visiting every place.
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