THE OFFICIAL INTERNATIONAL QUEEN FAN CLUB Winter 2010 » Editorial « » Queen Exhibition «

ueens’ 40th anniversary kicks off in spectacular style umphant and iconic Hyde Park show. ‘Stormtroopers in Stilettos’ with the opening of ‘Stormtroopers in Stilettos: Queen, kicks of a year long celebration of the 40th Anniversary of Queens QThe Early Years’, a major retrospective exhibition cele - formation in 1971, subsequent to the exhibition there will be a have to say that as I write this, Surrey, and much of the UK, is of new members joining just in case the band decide to do any brating the formation and first five albums of one of the most ex- major BBC TV Documentary featu ring a rare interview with covered in a blanket of snow - beautiful of course, but we can’t live work to celebrate their anniversary! citing, glamorous and influential bands in global musical history. Roger Taylor and Brian May and many other surprises and re- Ideal with such things here, the UK grinds to a halt in snow! Your ideas and thoughts are always welcome, so do ‘Stormtroopers in Stilettos’ is the first ever major Queen exhibi- leases to come through the rest of the year. 2011 will see filming But I hope that you are warm and safe wherever you are - and get in touch! tion and takes place in a huge warehouse space in the heart of begin of a major Hollywood movie about Queen, starring Sacha I’m not at all jealous of any of you sitting outside in the sunshine The convention always seems to sustain itself - and bookings are London’s East End at Old Truman Bre - Baron Cohen as Freddie Mercury. in the the southern hemisphere... that’s a lie, I am VERY jealous! coming in fast for that, so do book as soon as possible to avoid wery on Brick Lane, opening on Feb- Acclaimed script writer Peter Mor- I have to say thank you to the majority of you for you huge support disappointment, we did have to turn people away last year! We ruary 25th, closing on March 12th. gan (“The Queen”, ”Frost/Nixon” ) is of the fan club in these difficult times. Things are no better as I have fabulous bands booked and some great guests lined up... The exhibition takes a comprehen- working on the project, which is being write, in fact it’s looking grim, as many of the usual renewals you all should have a booking form, if not you can download it sive look at the early part of Queen’s produced by GK Films, Robert de career, from before the band’s for- Niro’s Tribeca Productions and mation in 1971 when various band Queen Films. members were dreaming of success Entry to ‘Stormtroopers in Stilettos’ while studying astrophysics or run- at Old Truman Brewery on Brick ning stalls next to Biba in Kensington Major Queen Exhibition in London’s Lane, London, E1, is free of charge Market, right up to their spectacular East End to start 40th Anniversary and open from 11.00AM until free gig for over 250,000 fans in Hyde celebrations opening February 25th 8.00PM daily Park in 1976. After four decades, the collective work ‘Stormtroopers in Stilettos’ promises to be one of the key events of Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon con- in London’s cultural calendar for 2011 and offer a rare insight tinues to resonate around the globe, inspiring a host of diverse into what it means to be in a successful rock band, taking visitors artists from Lady Gaga (who took her name from Queen’s “Radio to the heart of Queen by combining unique interactive audio Ga Ga”), Axl Rose and Katy Perry through to Dave Grohl. and visual environments with historic and never-before- Twenty years after the death of their phenomenal seen memorabilia; themed rooms and music all created and flamboyant singer, Freddie Mercury re- from the bands personal archive will come together to mains an icon beyond measure. create an exciting, fun, entertaining and engaging With over 170 million global album sales, 18 from the last issue have just not come through. Not sure if that’s from the website (www.queenworld.com). Sadly Twixmas hasn’t insight into the foundation and rise of the global Number One Albums, 10 Number One confusion, or the fact that you just don’t want to stick with us. fared so well, we had so few bookings that we had to cancel the super group Queen became. DVD’s, 700 concerts performed in every But if you did get a renewal form with your last issue, PLEASE live band, and we wont be attempting this party again, which is The themed rooms in the exhibition include one for each of corner of the world including their his- send it back now, and don’t wait til June next year! If you are so sad, we all had a great time last year, and we will have an the bands first five albums – “Queen”, “Queen II”, “Sheer Heart toric appearance at Live Aid, Seven due to renew now (autumn/winter issue) then your forms will equally great time this year! But it just wont happen again as at- Attack”, “A Night At The Opera” and “A Day At The Races”. Ivor Novello Awards, inductions into come by post after christmas. tendance is so poor! There will be a special studio area dedicated to the bands the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and There have been some great ideas from you guys on ways to save That’s it from me for now, I hope you all have a wonderful, safe early John Peel sessions; a space looking at the bands fash- Songwriters Hall of Fame and a the FC - many of them though are simply short term, such as fund and peaceful Christmas, and may Santa bring you and yours all ion including original costumes by Zandra Rhodes; a Guinness Book of Records award for the most success- raising, concerts etc.. which is great, as anything is better than you wish for! Have a great New Year, and here’s looking forward replica of a 1970’s cinema that will show a range of filmed ful UK album chart artist ever, nothing! But what we need is long term ways of sustaining the to a brilliant Queen filled 2011!! pieces on the band; an art and design room looking at the Queen story is one of the club - and the only way is to get MORE people to join and keep Love and luck the bands incredible artwork on releases from around most remarkable in modern the ones we have! Next year is the band’s 40th anniversary, so the world as well as several other areas looking at the British culture. hopefully we will keep hold of you a bit longer, there are loads bands studio work, live work, and pre-Queen ele- of good plans for 2011, and I am also hoping we will get loads ments. The exhi bition ends with the bands tri- www.queenonline.com

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As our 39th year draws to a close and Santa is A very Happy Christmas polishing his reindeers nose’s i’d like to wish all our fabulous followers in the fan club a truly to all Queen fans !! Merry Christmas. Also to prepare themselves for an onslaught of Queen activity in 2011 when we will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of We still love you! Queen the group from London, England. May 2011 bring you great things. Who’d have thought it would last this long, how marvellous! Have fun and a happy new year to you all.

Dr. Bri Roger (Stormtrooper in Stilettos)

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Island Records prepares albums. The first five will be made available in March: “Queen,” The Greatest Hits re-issues 25th running through to March 12th, and will cover the band 40th anniversary remasters of “Queen II,” “Sheer Heart Attack,” “A Night At The Opera” and pre-Queen, their formation and their first five albums from the the quartet’s extraordinary “A Day At The Races.” January 1st 2011 sees Island Records re-issue Queen’s Greatest first half of the 1970’s. catalogue After four decades, the collective work of Freddie Mercury, Brian Hits and Greatest Hits 2 collections. Greatest Hits remains the Newly signed to legendary label Island Records, and to coincide May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon continues to resonate best selling UK album of all time and combined with Greatest with the exhibition, the first five albums that Queen released – LONDON, November 8, 2010 – Queen and Universal Music around the globe, inspiring a host of diverse artists from Lady Hits 2 presents the definitive Queen collection. Together they “Queen”, “Queen II”, “Sheer Heart Attack”, “A Night At The Opera” Group have signed an exclusive, long-term agreement on the eve Gaga (who took her name from Queen’s “Radio Ga Ga”), Axl Rose form among one the seminal collections in rock history jointly and “A Day At The Races – will be re-mastered and re-packaged of the 40th anniversary of the groundbreaking group’s forma- and Katy Perry through to Dave Grohl. Two decades after the selling an incredible 40 million copies worldwide. into special deluxe tion, in 1971. death of their phenomenal and flamboyant singer, Freddie Mer- album formats released With worldwide album sales of more than 170 million, No. 1 albums, cury remains an icon beyond measure. singles and DVDs the world over, inductions into the Rock & Roll The 40th anniversary celebrations begin with a major Queen ex- in March 2011 Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame, a star on the Holly- hibition in London, “Stormtroopers in Stilettos,” opening in late Subsequent to the exhibi- wood Walk of Fame, over 700 concerts performed in every corner February. This will be followed by a BBC-TV documentary and tion there will be a major of the world including their historic appearance at Live Aid, and the production of a major Hollywood film about the band, star- BBC TV Documentary fea- a Guinness Book of World Records award for the most success- ring Sacha Baron Cohen as Freddie Mercury. Acclaimed script turing a rare interview ful UK album chart act in history, Queen represent one of the writer Peter Morgan (“The Queen,” “Frost/Nixon”) is working with Roger Taylor and most remarkable, compelling stories in popular culture. on the project, which is being produced by GK Films, Robert de Brian May and many other Their music milestones include “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Crazy Niro’s Tribeca Productions and Queen Films. surprises and releases to Little Thing Called Love,” “We Are The Champions,” “We Will Rock About Universal Music Group come through the rest of the year. 2011 will You,” “Radio Ga Ga,” and “Another One Bites The Dust.” Universal Music Group is the world’s leading music company see filming begin of a major Hollywood The new agreement with Universal Music covers the world out- with wholly owned record operations or licensees in 77 countries. movie about Queen, starring Sacha Baron side North America, and the music of Queen will appear through Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, Cohen as Freddie Mercury. Acclaimed script Island Records from January 1, 2011. Thus, the band joins some the industry’s leading global music publishing operation. writer Peter Morgan (“The Queen”,” Frost/ of the greatest names in popular music under the palm tree of Universal Music Group’s record labels include A&M/Octone, the legendary label’s iconic logo. Decca, Deutsche Grammophon, Disa, Emarcy, Nixon” ) is working on the project, which is Brian May of Queen said, “We are very excited, Fonovisa, Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Is- being produced by GK Films, Robert de Niro’s after all this time, to be embarking on a new land Def Jam Music Group, Lost Highway Tribeca Productions and Queen Films. phase of our career – with a new record com- Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mer- pany – with new ideas, and new dreams.” cury Nashville, Mercury Records, Polydor Tracklistings: Universal Music Group (UMG) co-CEO Lucian Records, Show Dog – Universal Music, Univer- Grainge said: “Queen rewrote the rock & roll sal Motown Republic Group, Universal Music Greatest Hits rule book 40 years ago, and you can count at Latino and Verve Music Group as well as a mul- Bohemian Rhapsody, Another One Bites The least three generations of artists who are titude of record labels owned or distributed by Dust, Killer Queen, Fat Bottomed Girls, Bicy- under their influence. So now we’re under its record company subsidiaries around the Both albums have been digitally re-mastered for 2011 by Bob cle Race, You’re My Best Friend, Don’t Stop Me Now, Save Me, their influence at Universal Music, and looking forward to world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive cat- Ludwig, the legendary mastering engineer who has worked with Breakthru, Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Somebody To Love, writing chapters together for the new rule book.” alogue of music in the industry, which includes the last 100 years U2, Coldplay and Radiohead, and come complete with refreshed Now I’m Here, Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy, Play The Game, UMG International COO Max Hole commented, “A band of of the world’s most popular artists and their recordings. UMG’s sleeve notes. Flash, Seven Seas of Rhye, We Will Rock You, We Are The Cham- Queen’s stature, and a catalogue with such appeal, present catalogue is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal The Greatest Hits re-issues start what is going to be a huge year pions an immense opportunity for a new creative approach. We Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Market- aim to apply fresh thinking and innovation to the marketing ing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes for Queen, as 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of their forma- Greatest Hits 2 and promotion of this great body of work. Ted Cockle, Darcus eLabs, its new media and technologies division; Bravado, its mer- tion in 1971. A Kind of Magic, Under Pressure feat David Bowie, Radio Ga Ga, Beese and their team at Island Records are the perfect match, chandising company; and Twenty-First Artists, its full service The Anniversary year kicks off with a major exhibition, ‘Storm - I Want It All, I Want To Break Free, Innuendo, It’s a Hard Life, and everyone can’t wait to get started.” management division. troopers in Stilettos’ - a comprehensive look at the early part of Who Wants To Live Forever, Headlong, The Miracle, I’m Going During the course of the anniversary year, Island will remaster Universal Music Group is a unit of Vivendi, a global media and Queen’s career. Taking place in The Old Truman Brewery in the Slightly Mad, The Invisible Man, Friends Will Be Friends, Ham- and repackage, with additional content, each of Queen’s 15 studio communications company. heart of London’s East End the exhibition opens on February mer To Fall, The Show Must Go On, One Vision

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was born in late 70’s in Czechoslovakia and thus never had reprints (if there are any) while mistakes on websites can be a chance to see Queen live. I became a fan too late anyway corrected within a few seconds and I’m really thankful to all the I- I remember watching the FM Tribute concert in April 1992 fans who help me make this site as accurate as possible. Thanks and since Queen got a lot of radio play here back then (mostly to Queen fans I was able to come with new sections which are WWRY, WATC, BoRhap), I quickly became a fan of the best band covering areas I’m not an expert on. One of the examples is the that has ever been. During my university studies I started col- "Instruments on tour" section - all I know about drumkits is that lecting bootlegs and soon had a large collection of tapes and Roger sits behind one of them! :-) CD’s (that was back in 1997 - long Now when you’re reading this article, before the MP3/FLAC era). Webdesign Queen Concerts has had over 3 mil- was my hobby so I decided to create lion visitors and 13 million page a brand new Queen site dedicated to views. Information still is a highly Queen/solo concert recordings. It be- sought-after gem and I’m more than came very popular but after three happy to contribute to the Queen From now on: years I had to shut it down due to world in this way. Info from my site complaints from EMI UK. and scans of my memorabilia have I didn’t want to give up so I decided to start from scratch and been used in many books (Queen Live, Killer Queen, Complete Berlin Rocks! created Queen Concerts in June 2002. Such a website was Works, Is This The Real Life? and others), UK magazines or TV needed because the only source for information on concerts, documents and I’ve had very positive feedback from many peo- setlists or venues was Greg Brooks’ book ‘Queen Live’ which ple who worked very closely with the band. And contrary to what was very inaccurate. So I studied his book, a couple of other some people think, I’ve never had any profit from the website - books and mainly several internet sources and compiled a com- never got any backstage pass, free DVD’s or anything else. plete list of all Queen concerts including solo gigs and guest ap- Plans for the future? New design, new technologies, even less pearances of Queen members at other artists’ concerts. I stored mistakes... and perhaps one day the band will recognize the all this info in a structured mySQL database (that allowed me to power of the Internet and appreciate how important all the un- add, modify or search for info very quickly) and started search- official websites are for the Queen community. ing for other relevant stuff - info on support bands, newspaper reviews, scans of ticket stubs, flyers or tour programs, concert photos etc. Of course I also started collecting tour items - nowa- days I have over 500 Queen/solo ticket stubs, over 80 tour programs, lots of signed items, Roger’s drum- sticks, flyers, contracts and other interesting tour memorabilia. Hundreds of fans from all around the world Not to forget: have contributed to my site and I also spent The We will Rock You Berlin Cast will be on stage endless hours, days and months searching for at the big New Year’s Eve party in Berlin: images on ebay or googling for info on Brian’s ”Strasse des 17. Juni” at the ”Brandenburger Tor” and Roger’s occasional guest appearances. In- Germany’s biggest party event. Go there and rock! Pictures: Christian Rischer Christian Pictures: accuracies in books can be corrected only in

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Wishing you all a very merry Christmas (it will be a white one in Holland this year!) and a wonderful 2011 - Queens’ 40th jubileeyear! Fijne kerstdagen en een geweldig 2011 toegewenst namens ons beiden!

Marie-Pierre Isenbrandt and the Queen star on Hollywood Boulevard.

Paloma Pomares and friend in Montreux.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from We Will Rock You fanzine - Italy

Taylor May Cartlidge, aged 2.

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