Freddie Mercury: An intimate memoir by the man who knew him best Page 5

  24: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

  25: Day Off

  26: Providence, Rhode Island

  27: Portland, Maine

  All the above gigs were played from our New York base at the Waldorf Astoria Towers.

  August 28: Day Off (Travel Day)

  29: Montreal, Quebec

  30: Toronto

  31-September 9 (Probably spent in NewYork)

  Since Tony Bastin’s departure, there had been no permanent man in Freddie’s life and as Freddie had new friends to play with he decided to stay in New York. Whereas other married rock men who may have been fathers too might have wanted to return to London and their families for a while, Freddie while on tour was on tour and had little contact with London except the occasional cat-call. There was nothing at that point that tied him to going back to England.

  September 10: Milwaukee, Wisconsin

  11: Day Off (Travel)

  12: Kansas City, Kansas

  13: Omaha, Nebraska

  14: Minneapolis, Minnesota

  15: Day Off (Travel)

  16: Ames, Iowa

  17: St. Louis, Missouri

  18: Day Off (Travel)

  19: Chicago, Illinois

  20: Detroit, Michigan

  21: Cleveland, Ohio

  In Cleveland, Freddie was put in the same suite that Bette Midler had occupied fairly recently on her tour of America and where she had uttered the immortal line recorded on her famous live album of the time: “Hello Cleveland!”

  The suite itself was done out in shades between pastel and lime green and anywhere that had a flat surface had lace on it. Even the piano had been painted to match. This was tacky with a capital T.

  But this time, it was the kind of tacky which raised a smile.

  We were very amused.

  September 22: Day Off (Travel)

  23: Newhaven, Connecticut

  24: Syracuse, NewYork

  25: Day Off (Travel)

  26: Boston, Massachusetts

  27: Day Off (Travel)

  28-30: NewYork City, Madison Square Garden.

  I don’t know whether my memory deceives me or not but I think it was at this set of Madison Square Garden gigs that the backstage entertainment which was always laid on both for the band and their guests was a troupe of female mudwrestlers who performed in what is commonly known in rock’n’roll as the ligging area. Or maybe it was the following visit… One ligging area is much like another. The same faces are seen in them all.

  It was for big shows such as Madison Square that the band often flew their families out. I always had fun standing at the back of the stage with Chrissie May and Dominique Taylor, singing our hearts out during the choruses to all the songs. Freddie would laugh uproariously when Dominique told him why we all had sore throats and hoarse voices. Freddie was very, very fond of Dominique and their close friendship lasted even after Roger began living with Debbie. Freddie never involved himself in the domestic affairs of the other band members and never judged them. He knew his own personal life couldn’t bear too close scrutiny in terms of ‘family values’ and was therefore never going to throw a stone at someone else’s glass house.

  October 1: Flew Back To London

  And after all this, isn’t it amazing that Queen didn’t really make a vast amount of money from their tour? Touring, it must be remembered up until the stadium era, was always just an elaborate advertising campaign. Many bands in those days spent their lives in the dark whether it was in the recording studio or out gigging or quite often when talking to their financial advisers – as has been oft brought later into the light.

  The whole point of the exercise was to use the shows as giant promotions to sell records; usually in a show any band will perform all the old hits the crowd wants to hear with a liberal sprinkling of tracks from their latest album. Supporting (or opening) acts, of course, buy-in to a tour. They or their record companies pay for their protégés to open the show.

  It was Freddie and Queen who were one of the first acts to depart from this philosophy. For example, when Freddie recorded both Mr. Bad Guy and Barcelona, he never toured as a solo artist to promote either of these albums and following the release of The Miracle, Queen never toured either. This didn’t prevent the albums going gold and silver all around the world thus indicating, in my view, that it is the quality of the music that eventually sells an album.

  The European leg of this, The Game, tour started on Monday, November 17, rehearsing in Zurich.

  November 23: Zurich, Hallenstadion.

  Queen were supported on this part of the tour by the British band Straight Eight. Their manager was a woman who reminded me very much of Francesca von Thyssen although Francesca didn’t enter Freddie’s life until very much later. The choice of support act had been between Straight Eight and an unknown Birmingham band called Duran Duran also on EMI. Whether Straight Eight was chosen because they wouldn’t compete with Queen so much or because they were the better band, I really couldn’t comment. History seems to have made the choice.

  November 24: Day Off

  25: Paris

  26: Cologne

  27: Leiden, Groenoordhallen.

  We didn’t stay in Leiden after the show as we had flown from Cologne to Amsterdam on the 27th and we’d already checked in to a hotel there, presumably due to the better quality of the nightlife. We drove to Leiden from Amsterdam and returned after the gig.

  November 28: Day Off

  29: Essen

  30: Berlin

  To disprove another myth, Freddie certainly never forced anyone to try drugs. I’d been working for Queen for just over a year at this point when I first introduced myself to cocaine in Freddie’s corner suite on one of the upper floors of the Hotel Kempinski in Berlin. I think my reaction to it was the same as everyone’s on their first try, “What’s it supposed to do?” little realising that I was probably talking nineteen to the dozen at the time. But no stars exploded, there was no sudden unaccountable rush of euphoria, just another night on the town. I only tried it once, thinking to myself that it was a waste of someone else’s money and saw no need to continue the experiment.

  The first rule of travelling abroad is never to cross borders with drugs. As a rule of thumb, if you have to have drugs – which is entirely a personal choice – buy them in the country you’re in. Never buy too much because if you do, you have to flush the stuff away or give it away before entering the next country.

  The following year, when Queen performed in Berlin, the gig was an outdoor venue in the forest and it was infested with mosquitoes. The dressing room was in an old military bunker and even in its depths there was no protection. I remember having to buy lots of mosquito repellent not only for the band but for the crew as well. I stood at the door of the bunker as the band were on their way to the stage, spraying them all over at the same time as wishing them well.

  December 1: Bremen

  2-4: Days Off (Probably back in London)

  5-6: Birmingham, NEC.

  7: Day Off

  8-10: London, Wembley Arena.

  The 8th was the day John Lennon was killed at eleven o’clock at night. During the following day, at the soundcheck, it was decided that Queen would perform Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ as a tribute.

  December 11: Day Off

  12-13: Brussels

  During the day, Freddie went shopping because art nouveau and art deco furniture and furnishings were available in very expensive antique shops. He bought a chandelier and a cabinet both reputedly by Majorelle, the latter which he kept and the former he later gave to Jim Hutton.

  December 14: Frankfurt

  15-17: Days Off

  18: Munich

  Little did Freddie know at this point, how much the city of Munich would figure in his future. He played one show only and left the following day.

  December 19: Flew back to London for Christmas.

  On returning to England, instead of being laid off as had happened after the Crazy Tour
of England, I was asked if I wanted to remain on half salary and to come into the fan club in Queen’s premises just off Baker Street in Sussex Place. Barbara Szabo was the band’s bookkeeper. Although British, she had married a middle-European, hence the surname. Paul Prenter also worked from these rather cramped premises which, of course, included the fan club, which was being run by Amanda and Tony between the stewardship of Pat and Sue Johnson and later Theresa and Fiona Kennedy. At first I helped out packaging fan club merchandise and sending it off: T-shirts, scarves, badges and the like.

  In February, the band were due to continue The Game Tour and as I had been asked to go with them, it was deemed wise for me to stay on salary. I certainly had no wish whatsoever to return to ‘operator services’.

  First stop on the next tour was to be Japan and then on to South America where Queen were scheduled to appear in Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela. On the 8th February we flew into Japan for the tour and also for the band to be guests of honour at the Japanese Premiere of Flash Gordon. The arrival at the cinema was the usual five car motorcade, the fifth car holding the translation staff. We were met by assorted VIPs but, to Freddie’s relief, the friendly and familiar face of Misa Watanabe was amongst them. We were escorted to our seats in the circle and for once Freddie had to undergo the ordeal of sitting all the way through a film without fidgeting. It must have been torture for him.

  February 12,13,16,11,18: Budokan Hall, Tokyo

  Gary Numan was at the first three shows and after one of them, we all went out to dinner to one of Tokyo’s more exclusive restaurants where Gary proceeded to send one of his minions out to bring in some fast food from McDonald’s for him. Freddie didn’t know what to say but I, on the other hand, can quite safely say that we were most decidedly not amused!

  At the end of the tour, we were due to leave Narita Airport on February 20 for New York to then fly on to Buenos Aires. There were three of us, Freddie, Paul Prenter and I who boarded the plane for New York. I noticed that the seat configuration in first-class was different to normal but decided to say nothing about it. The three of us took our seats and Freddie finally voiced the puzzlement I could see on his face.

  “What sort of plane is this?” he asked.

  I had a rough idea but checked the safety instruction card and found that we were on a DC10.

  “DC death more like!” was his reply. It was at a time when there had been two accidents in quick succession involving DC10s.

  With that, Freddie picked up his belongings and informed the cabin personnel that he would not be flying with them that day. With us in tow, he swept off the aircraft and back into the terminal. The flight was delayed for about an hour while our suitcases were located and retrieved. These were then presented to us back in the lounge. We discovered that the next Boeing 747 was a Pan Am flight fourteen hours later. Due to this, the three of us had to have our cancelled visas voided in order that we should legally remain in the airport. To show the depth of feeling Freddie had for the DCIO, he was even prepared to travel tourist class on the later 747 as first and business class were full.

  During our sojourn we used the departure lounge as a base for a fourteen hour shopping expedition on which he bought, amongst other things, a beautiful pearl necklace for his mother.

  Indeed, we had to travel in economy along with all the crew who were booked on that flight. They couldn’t believe their eyes seeing Freddie slumming it with them! We first flew to New York where we changed planes, returning to first-class after a brief stopover and thence, flew south to Buenos Aires in Argentina. Queen’s visit was the first of a major international rock band to the countries of South America, playing in gigantic stadia. To meet the band, there was a government official and the band party were ushered through, our passports having been taken from us to ease the passage and were later returned at the hotel. I however had to hang around at the airport to supervise the collection of the luggage. Freddie enjoyed the privileges that he and the band received from government reception parties although he was not fond of meeting the officials in person.

  Freddie would sit, accompanied by John Deacon, with a cigarette in his hand, playing with it to disguise his nervousness and to give his expressive hands something to do and allow the less reticent Brian and Roger to do all the chatting, making only occasional interjections. He knew he was expected to involve himself in the talking but did so as little as possible although he always knew that it was important for him to be seen to say something.

  Buenos Aires was hot and humid being close to the river. The Sheraton Hotel was right in the middle of the city but it was all very green and reminded us of Paris, lots of grand avenues and very expensive shops. The city of Evita. Freddie had been joined at this time by Peter Morgan, his current beau, one-time Mister UK with whom Freddie had had a tempestuous relationship for some months. Known also as Morgan Winner, Peter had achieved a certain notoriety because of a homo-erotic video he had made – one of the earliest.

  The first gig was within the first couple of days of our arrival in the Velez Sarsfield Stadium on February 28. Freddie was very apprehensive because of the size of the venue. Also, the rumours abounded that the crowd would get out of control because finally their dream had been realised – a Northern Hemisphere mega-band was playing in South America.

  Hyde Park in 1976 was the largest audience to which the band had played previously and Freddie knew that he had to forge an entirely new performance to embrace the vastness of the next five outdoor dates which were scheduled over the next nine days, five dates which furnished a total audience of four hundred and seventy-nine thousand people.

  Freddie also knew that it was imperative for him to pace himself in these performances. But what sort of performance? And what pace? It was completely unknown territory for Queen. The world’s press were gathered and although Freddie hated this particular interface, he knew he also had to perform for the cameras again, albeit stills.

  The first gig went superbly. Freddie was elated with his performance and was awestruck by the reaction of the fans, the way the huge audience took over the singing of ‘Love Of My Life’ took his breath away! He wasn’t given a chance to ‘come down’ after the show before his next little adventure began, the journey from the stadium back to the hotel. Such was the apprehension of both the city’s authorities and the local police that the only way they considered the band leaving the stadium was in the back of a police van. The four members of the band, Jim Beach, Paul Prenter and some form of security presence were immediately bundled into the back of the van which was then escorted by five police cars and perhaps twenty police motorcycle outriders. The rest of the party followed in cars. The idea was to get the band party out of the immediate vicinity of the madding crowd, a route which took them out onto a nearby motorway. With sirens screaming and the procession hurtling along at eighty miles an hour, we went a circuitous route along the motorway. When the escort was satisfied that no one had followed, the convoy came to a halt and the band got into their separate cars, each having their own limousine. We then made our way back to the hotel.

  Freddie accepted that for once he had to rest because he knew he had to pull another cat out of the bag the next day. It took him a while to get over the excitement but it took the next day’s audience even longer to get over their excitement at seeing both Freddie and Queen and Argentina’s brilliant young football star, Diego Maradona on the same stage. Freddie, not being renowned for his sporting knowledge, knew he had to exchange shirts with this person as per time-honoured football ritual although Freddie did not actually realise who or what Maradona was. He was also quite surprised that footballers came in such small packages.

  Mar del Plata. Silver Sea. This is the main resort city of Argentina. I can’t remember the name of the hotel but I remember Freddie likening it to a ship; the front of the hotel was like the bridge with huge extensions on the sides. It looked as though it was burgeoning out to sea. Freddie’s suite had a very good view of the promenade w
hich for better or worse lead to the ending of his stormy relationship with Peter Morgan.

  Freddie knew that at no time in South America would he be able to go on one of his fabled shopping sprees because of the security risk so he had resigned himself to staying in the hotel. After asking Peter to stay and keep him company, Peter replied that he would be going out for a short walk for a few minutes. Having nothing else to do, Freddie was viewing the scene in front of the hotel from his balcony when he saw Peter walking along the croisette next to the beach with a young man whom Freddie didn’t know.

  From their body language, Freddie could see that Peter’s companion was not a complete stranger. When Peter eventually returned, what finally finished it for Freddie was Peter’s denying that he had been walking along the beach at all.

  We were assuredly NOT amused.

  And so… Another one bites the dust.

  Is it a coincidence that once again at a time of emotional intensity vis-à-vis his creative work, that Freddie also played through the collapse of an emotional relationship with a lover? Were Freddie’s creative achievements highlighted or enabled by emotional upset? Over the period of years I knew him, there were many intense emotional moments. It was almost as though Freddie needed these surges of passion to start his creative juices flowing. There were many times that either because of the high-pressure of work he finished relationships or conversely engineered dramatic rows when he needed the extra boost to his energies whether that was touring or writing.

  Thus, the conflict engendered seemed to enhance both his abilities and his work. Sometimes it seemed he needed to have a self-administered injection of emotional pain. A fix, almost. Seeing Peter Morgan walking along with another man caused him sufficient anger to carry him through the super-human requirements which the next few days’ schedule necessitated. I don’t think it helped that Morgan’s companion was far younger and prettier than Freddie. In London it was well-known that Morgan was seeing the dancer Philip Broom-head who was also a friend of Freddie’s. Complicated stuff. It seemed to be a curse which dogged him, that of his lovers seeming to two-time him with younger and prettier boys. It had been the same with Tony Bastin who, I had discovered after the fact, had been seeing someone I knew, younger and prettier. Although Freddie might have allowed himself to be unfaithful, others were not allowed that privilege.