Under pressure - Queen and David Bowie

David Bowie originally came to the studio with Queen to sing backing vocals on a track called 'Cool cat'. He wasn't satisfied with the backing vocals he did, but did want to collaborate with the band on a different song. Queen had been working on a song under the title 'Feel like', but were not yet satisfied with the result. The band had a jam session together with Bowie, from which 'Under pressure' evolved.

When the single was released, it was a number 1 hit in the Netherlands and the UK. In the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, the single reached number 29.

My collection: 7" single no. 3225
Found: London, October 19, 2000
Cost: 1 pound
Tracks: 'Under pressure' / 'Soul brother'

Under pressure (Rah mix) - Queen and David Bowie

Freddie Mercury was dead and had been dead for eight years, when EMI Records decided they wanted to milk the Queen legacy a little more than they already had. And so the third Greatest Hits compilation came to be in 1999, collecting all the singles from Queen's last three albums, plus a few filler tracks.

One of those filler tracks was a remix of the Eighties hit 'Under pressure', which Queen had recorded with David Bowie. This track was also released as a single, released in time for the Christmas season, which reached number 14 in the UK singles chart and number 19 in the Dutch Top 40. This picture disc 7" is beautiful enough, but it still reeks a bit of opportunism.

My collection: 7" single no. 3180
Found: Record fair, Utrecht, April 16, 2000
Cost: 15 guilders
Tracks: 'Under pressure (Rah mix)' / 'Bohemian rhapsody'

Too much love will kill you - Queen

Brian May wrote 'Too much love will kill you' with Frank Musker and Elizabeth Lamers. The song was recorded in the Eighties and intended to be included on Queen's 1989 album 'The miracle'. In 1992, Brian May performed the song during the Freddy Mercury tribute concert, after Mercury's death the year before. It was released as a single by May, which reached number 5 in the UK and number 1 in the Netherlands.

The Queen version finally saw the light on the 1995 album 'Made in heaven'. It was released as a single, with the 7" vinyl pressed on pink vinyl. This single reached number 15 in the UK singles chart - but it didn't reach the Dutch Top 40.

My collection: 7" single no. 2633
Found: HMV mailorder, received April 13, 1996
Cost: 2 pounds
Tracks: 'Too much love will kill you' / 'We will rock you (digital remaster)', 'We are the champions (digital remaster)'

Let me live - Queen

Queen's record company had a taste for the bizarre when they released 'Let me live' as a single, given the fact that lead singer Freddie Mercury was already dead for almost five years. Freddie Mercury, Roger Taylor and Brian May shared lead vocal duties on this song. Rebecca Leigh-White, Gary Martin, Catherine Porter and Miriam Stockley provided the backing vocals on this track.

The fourth single from the album 'Made in heaven' reached number 9 in the UK singles chart, but only number 36 in the Netherlnads. But then, this limited edition 7" picture disc was only released in the UK of course. Cd-singles are just not that appealing, whatever anyone says.

My collection: 7" single no. 2650
Found: HMV, London, June 28, 1996
Cost: 2,3 pounds
Tracks: 'Let me live' / 'Fat bottomed girls (digital remaster)', 'Bicycle race (digital remaster)'

Flash - Queen

Written by Queen guitarist Brian May, 'Flash' is the theme song of the 1980 movie Flash Gordon.
The soundtrack released to coincide with the film contained only the music composed and performed by Queen. The single features dialogue cut from various parts of the movie.

Flash is sung as a duet between Freddie Mercury and May, with Roger Taylor adding the high harmonies. May plays all of the instruments except for the rhythm section. He used a Bösendorfer Imperial Grand Piano (with 97 keys instead of 88, thus enabling an extra octave on the low range), Oberheim OBX synth (which he plays in the video) and his homemade Red Special guitar.

My collection: 7" single no. 4015
Found: Vinylfabriek, Haaksbergen, September 14, 2009
Cost: 2 euro
Tracks: 'Flash' / 'Football fight'

We are the champions - Queen

When the band Queen was good, they were good. And when they were awful, they were truly awful. But I could never quite make up my mind with this single: which was it?

'We are the champions' and 'We will rock you' can be considered a double A-side single, since both tracks have gained a prominence in pop culture that is quite unrivalled. 'We are the champions' is (mis)used for sports events, while 'We will rock you' is no stranger to pop concerts. The single reached number 2 in the UK and the Netherlands.

My collection: 7" single no. 379
Found: Den Haag, 1985
Cost: 1 guilder
Tracks: 'We are the champions' / 'We will rock you'

Bicycle race - Queen

Okay, I'll admit it: I only started collecting Queen singles after Freddie Mercury's death. I saw a lot of documentaries about Queen when he died, and thought that those songs were really quite good.

To promote the release of this single, Queen staged a bicycle race with 65 naked women. A clip from this race was used on the single cover and the video. The video was originally banned, and the video had to be re-edited with colour added to censor out any offensive imagery. The song is famed for its 'bicycle bell solo'.

My collection: 7" single no. 1898

Found: Record fair, May 2, 1993

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Bicycle race' / 'Fat bottomed girls'

Love of my life - Queen

The studio version of 'Love of my life' appeared on Queen's 1975 album 'A night at the Opera'. Freddie Mercury wrote it on the piano and guitarist Brian May rearranged the song for acoustic 12-string guitar to facilitate live performances. The song was written for Mary Austin, Mercury's girlfriend at the time.

This live version, taken from the double album 'Live killers' was released as a single in 1979. It was a number one hit in Brazil and Argentina, but stalled at number 63 in the UK.

My collection: 7" single no. 1574

Found: January 25, 1992

Cost: 7,5 guilders

Tracks: 'Love of my life (live)' / 'Now I'm here (live)'

Radio gaga - Queen

Queen released 'Radio gaga' as the first single from their new album 'The works' in February 1984. After having been absent from the music scene for almost two years, it was perceived as a 'comeback' single. It performed better than any single they'd released in the Eighties up until that point and went number 1 in Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden. In the UK the single peaked at number 2.

The song was a commentary of the invention of television overtaking radio's popularity, and how one would listen to radio for their favorite comedy, drama, sci-fi programs and so on as well as the advent of the music video and MTV. The 12" single featured an extended version of the track, as well as an instrumental version. (The instrumental version actually contains some vocals.) Both were longer than the original album version.

My collection: 12" single no. 497

Found: Parkpop, Den Haag, 2003

Cost: 1 euro

Tracks: 'Radio gaga (extended version)' / 'Radio gaga (instrumental)', 'I go crazy'

Bohemian rhapsody - Queen

What can you write about a monumental piece of music like 'Bohemian rhapsody' that hasn't already been written dozens of times - and with more eloquence - by others? Suffice to say that a lengthy article in Wikipedia contains all you need to know.

This sleeve of the Dutch pressing of 'Bohemian rhapsody' is quite amusing for it lists the B-side as 'With my car I'm in love'. The track is of course named 'I'm in love with my car'.

My collection: 7" single no. 305

Found: Parkpop, Den Haag, 1985

Cost: 2 guilders

Tracks: 'Bohemian rhapsody' / 'I'm in love with my car'

Don't stop me now - Queen

Queen released 'Don't stop me now' in 1978 as a single from their album 'Jazz'. The song was written and composed by Freddie Mercury. On the studio version, Brian May's only guitar playing is in his guitar solo, but on live versions performed on the band's 1978 and 1979 tours, May would also play rhythm guitar throughout the rest of the song to add a rockier feeling to it. Despite all this, it is said that May did not like this song at all.

The single reached number 9 in the UK singles chart and number 14 in the Dutch Top 40. I bought the single over a year after Freddie Mercury died. After his death, I liked Queen a lot more than before. I still don't know why that is.

My collection: 7" single no. 1887
Found: Record fair, Den Haag, April 24, 1993

Cost: 1 guilder

Tracks: 'Don't stop me now' / 'In only seven days'