3.24.14 Adam doesn't know Glam's dead! 5 new QAL concerts!

TALON'S TAKE:

GOIN' BACK




- Used again at the end in a clip during Mother Love from the Made In Heaven album. Very innocent track from a still innocent Freddie...

- To contradict Q3 just a bit. This was actually only Freddie. The A-Side - I Can Hear Music was Freddie, Brian, and Roger but this was just Freddie.

The Great Pretender


Written by: Buck Ram

Musicians:

Freddie Mercury - lead and backing vocals
Mike Moran - piano, keyboards, drum programming (demo only)
Harold Fisher - drums
Alan Jones - bass guitar




- Issued as a single in the UK and hit #4. It is backed with a track called Exercises In Free Love but in all honesty that discussion belongs in the Barcelona album discussion of 1988 so patience on that one. It was also released in Australia, The Netherlands (where it hit #9) and Japan.

- The video is a hilarious one pitting Freddie against some of his previous Queen videos. Also included are some funny takes of Freddie, his friend Peter Straker, and Roger Taylor dressed in drag to be Freddie's girl backing vocalists. The extended version video (below) is even better as it has some backstage footage interspersed.

- Freddie loved working with Mike Moran during the Time recordings so they decided to continue to collaborate. Initially they thought of doing a covers album, with another rumored song being Smoke Gets In Your Eyes but that has never been confirmed. Freddie also went into some ideas for a more conventional followup to Mr. Bad Guy. Both ideas were discarded with the onset of Barcelona

- Never tried live.

QUOTES:
- “Most of the stuff I do is like pretending, it’s like acting; I go on stage and pretend to be a macho man. I think ‘The Great Pretender’ is a great title for what I do…I’ve always had this [idea] in the back of my head – a cover version, and this song is the one I’ve always wanted to do. I went into the studio and tried a few trials, and I liked it. It suited my voice and it’s a great song to sing.” – Freddie Mercury

- “The mix saw our roles being somewhat reversed. David Richards, Queen’s producer, came into London to mix the track at Townhouse. I was rather nervous and concerned about what was, after all, my co-production. The mix went on and on, and so did my neurotic attention to every tiny teeny detail. On and on and on until Freddie could stand it no longer: ‘For God’s sake leave it alone!’ he demanded, ‘Let’s go home, dear. You’re doing a me!’ Freddie was in something of a quandary as to how to end the song. I had a few ideas, but as I tested each one, he merely pronounced limply, ‘Very good, dear’. I knew it wasn’t up to scratch. The ending just got longer and longer and seemed never to reach an end. Freddie urged me to ‘do a few flashy bits’. He loved anything technically virtuouso. It was then that he came up with Paganini, and that was the key to the problem. From that as a starting point, I went into a violin arrangement that eventually ended the record.” – Mike Moran

ALTERNATE RELEASED VERSIONS

EXTENDED VERSION

- ESSENTIAL for the video
- As mentioned above it features some interspersed backstage footage of the making of the video.

BRIAN MALOUF MIX

- ESSENTIAL
- Maoluf just knows how to make a good remix that doesn't stray too far from the original but yet is different enough to matter. This version is a bit poppier with a bit of jangly guitar added. It is less orchestral but it still works well.
- This version was also released as a single and it hit #29 in 1993.

INSTRUMENTAL

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- As the title suggests.

ORIGINAL DEMO

- NOT ESSENTIAL
- The song is practically done and is just a bit rougher in places.
- Uses piano instead of synthesizer which of course makes me like it a bit more....

PERSONAL NOTES:
If one song was made for Freddie to cover, it was this one. It is a brilliant cover! It is campy, theatrical, and just plain perfect.