| John S Stuart 25.08.2007 10:21 |
The point of this exercise is two-fold. First: (Like most fans) I am constantly annoyed and frustrated by Queen Productions. The official view seems to be ‘if it is not in the archives – it does not exist’. Yet we all know that this is not the case. Here for example, presented for the first time ever, is something, which does NOT exist inside the Queen vaults. Second: I am frequently ‘told’ that I either ‘...have nothing worthwhile in my collection’, or (the polite version) I am ‘...living in a fantasy land’, or that to be taken seriously, I need to ‘...share, just to prove’, all of which, I guess, any right-minded person will see is nothing but a load of nonsense. Although I do own a small number of rarities – I am not some sort of anti-Queen because these tracks have not been released. I too would like to see some kind of Anthology released, in whatever format, but that is up to the powers that be, and not individual fans like myself. So for those interested in a little bit of Queen history – please read on. For the ungrateful greedy b*stards who leech and abuse the system – just skip to the download. Who Wants To Live Forever Album Version A Kind Of Magic: EMI CDP 7 46267 2 1985 CD Bonus Track (Forever) A Kind Of Magic: EMI CDP 7 46267 2 Greatest Hits II (4:57 Edited Outro) Greatest Hits II: Parlophone CDP 79 7971 2 US Promo CD Single 7" (4:00) Remix/Video EMI Queen 9 Karaoke Instrumental Japan Toshiba EMI TOLW - 3249.50 Hardcore Remix 1998 eYe 3:19 Edit Electronic Arts DDE05501 101S Original Skip Demo 1 (0:38) Unreleased: Home Mini-Disc Original Skip Demo 2 (5:05) Unreleased: Home Mini-Disc Original Skip Demo 3 (0:22) Unreleased: Home Mini-Disc Original Skip Demo 4 (4:23) Unreleased: Home Mini-Disc Rachel's Surprise OST Highlander Original Scores: Edel 0028892EDL Highlander OST Highlander: Warner Home Video PES 38050 Promotional Video Greatest Flix I & II: Pioneer PLMPD 01171 Promotional Video (Complete Version) Queen: Video Single PMI MVW990059 2 In late 1988, I was fortunate enough to purchase a cassette copy of ‘Miracle’ demo versions. This early promo version, though legit – but heavily bootlegged since - was an earlier and different version from the more common ‘Miracle Promo Teaser Tape’ which was ‘released’ sometime later in early 1989. From the same source, (amongst other items) I also purchased a home demo cassette from 1985/6 - ‘Who Wants To Live Forever – original Skip Demos’ Basically, although not directly involved with building his solo career, Brian May was busy collaborating with other artists such as Billy Squeir, and Chris Thompson, and writing tracks like ‘Who Wants To Live Forever’ in his own home studio. Later, this home recording (very much like the ‘Too Much Love Will Kill You – Bell Boy Tape’) was taken into the recording studio and used as the template for the Queen studio version. After the studio track was laid-down, the cassette of home demos was binned – and retrieved from a skip – hence the ‘Skip Demos’ title. These demos existed before the ‘Forever’ instrumental, and long before the Louisa May remake demo – which was later released by Ian and Belinda. Notice, these are NOT midi versions – but directly sourced from keyboard – which I think was a Roland – though I have no idea of the make and model. (I have also been assured that the annoying clicks throughout are the use of electronic foot pedals – but I cannot confirm if this is the case). Here for the first time, are MP3 versions of ‘Original Skip Demo 1 (0:38)’ and ‘Original Skip Demo 2 (5:05)’. I have not released ‘Original Skip Demo 3 (0:22)’, ‘Original Skip Demo 4 (4:23)’, or these versions in FLAC for obvious reasons. Skip Demo 1: link Skip Demo 2: link |
| Lester Burnham 25.08.2007 10:35 |
Thank you John, this is wonderful! |
| pittrek 25.08.2007 10:38 |
Thank you very much, John. And don't get angry, most of us know who you are and what you have in your collection :) |
| eleyemebox 25.08.2007 11:03 |
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| eleyemebox 25.08.2007 11:05 |
Pleace, upload this for rapidshare o badongo, i'm not a member megaupload. And sorry for my bad inglish, i'm argentino |
| Maz 25.08.2007 11:07 |
Thanks, John |
| FriedChicken 25.08.2007 11:12 |
Thanks John! |
| Pim Derks 25.08.2007 11:15 |
Thanks for sharing John! |
| LEONARDO LANDIN 25.08.2007 11:16 |
Hola , megaupload funciona para argentian despues de 20hs te deja hacer solo una descarga |
| FriedChicken 25.08.2007 11:28 |
holy fuck this sounds awesome ! |
| Vali 25.08.2007 11:29 |
this is really appreciated, John. Thanks so much |
| FriedChicken 25.08.2007 11:33 |
Btw.. what is a skip? |
| Kai Kurgan 25.08.2007 11:44 |
Thank you, John! Exciting stuff! |
| dogwithabone 25.08.2007 11:45 |
Thank you so much Mr Stuart!! |
| John S Stuart 25.08.2007 11:47 |
FriedChicken<br><font size=1>The Almighty</font> wrote: Btw.. what is a skip?link The big yellow bin in the middle of the road! |
| Roger's Beard 25.08.2007 11:57 |
Thanks John. I'm sure all of us vastly appreciate you delving into your own archives and releasing stuff for us to own. |
| onevsion 25.08.2007 12:03 |
Fantastic share John. Thanks a million! Good to see you back on Queenzone...! Take care, Dennis |
| Mr Mercury 25.08.2007 12:08 |
Thanks for this stuff - though there is no need to prove what you have or havent got in your personal collection. There is people on here who know and trust what you say you have is true. By the way.... this is the real Skip!!! link |
| rocktheflash 25.08.2007 12:30 |
Thank You!! |
| rmp 25.08.2007 12:33 |
Thank you! But are you sure this is an original demo? Everyone can do this on his Casio..... |
| Dan C. 25.08.2007 12:34 |
Thank you VERY much, John! You and Mr. Chicken have made my day! |
| John S Stuart 25.08.2007 12:41 |
rmp wrote: Thank you! But are you sure this is an original demo? Everyone can do this on his Casio.....Well I am sure - but I can see you are not. First: I can't do this - so I think that negates '...Everyone', and I don't think Casio keyboards were this sophisticated c20 years ago. (If you read the blurb you will have seen that I have owned the cassette for over 20 years - and that I have also written about it previously). Second: Brian May is also on line. In fact, he has his own web-site. Why not ask him - as there is nothing more I can do to convince you - is there... |
| cakebox. 25.08.2007 13:04 |
Thanks very much, JSS! Finally truly interesting Queen related things are coming back to Queenzone! Also thanks for the information, I didn't know of the existence of these! They are very interesting! Thanks again! |
| David Jones 25.08.2007 13:14 |
Super stuff, thanks John! |
| CD 25.08.2007 13:32 |
Thank you very much. You can not underestimate my gratitude and best wishes to you. |
| dobo 25.08.2007 13:46 |
Thanks very much !!! |
| Pierre 25.08.2007 14:01 |
You Are a HERO on QZ Thank You ! |
| MAYniac91 25.08.2007 14:37 |
I would die for the rest of the demos. You really rock...thank you very much! Hope to see the rest on a demo collection box set...some day!!! |
| bitesthedust 25.08.2007 14:42 |
Thanks for this. |
| Haystacks Calhoun II 25.08.2007 14:47 |
Thank you, John. |
| Rien 25.08.2007 14:49 |
As always, thank you very much John for your info and your tracks. Very much appreciated! |
| Rami 25.08.2007 14:53 |
This is great! Thanks alot!! |
| Arnaldo "Ogre-" Silveira 25.08.2007 15:16 |
Thank you very much, John, these are treasures! :D For those that cannot access Megaupload, like me :), I uploaded the bigger file to link : link How could I download it, if I don't have access to Megaupload? Well, I dedicated 1 hour to try dozens of proxies and different combinated tricks and finally got it. I can detail it later, if anybody is interested. Cheers, Ogre- |
| ok.computer 25.08.2007 15:35 |
Sir! Firstly, thank you for the opportunity to hear these. Secondly, and perhaps less importantly, please just ignore the naysayers. Those of us who watch the boards know what's what. Cheers again |
| sekywa 25.08.2007 16:39 |
thank you! |
| GiantSpider 25.08.2007 20:13 |
John, WE LOVE YOU Cheers man |
| Hippolyte 25.08.2007 21:07 |
These are amazing, John. Thank you so much for sharing your treasures with the rest of us. :) |
| PieterMC 25.08.2007 22:25 |
Great stuff John. Thanks!! Pieter & Erin |
| Tim Goossen 25.08.2007 23:31 |
Thank you very much! Tim |
| DavidRFuller 26.08.2007 00:15 |
Thanks |
| YourValentine 26.08.2007 03:26 |
Thank you very much, John:) |
| Bohardy 26.08.2007 06:22 |
Brilliant John. Thanks a bunch! |
| wilk 26.08.2007 06:43 |
These demos don't sound like Brian playing to me. The recordings go out of time and are very stuttering. You can hear also when wrong keys have been hit. If you compare the quality of the keyboard player to Brian playing Butterfly or Save Me live then it just doesn't sound like the same person. If I heard these without any introduction, I would assume that they were a queen fan with a synth and some sheet music. |
| cakebox. 26.08.2007 06:52 |
wilk wrote: These demos don't sound like Brian playing to me. The recordings go out of time and are very stuttering. You can hear also when wrong keys have been hit. If you compare the quality of the keyboard player to Brian playing Butterfly or Save Me live then it just doesn't sound like the same person. If I heard these without any introduction, I would assume that they were a queen fan with a synth and some sheet music.These things happen, even with the best piano players. They are demos, after all. I can see you point though, but I think JSS is a reliable source ;) |
| John S Stuart 26.08.2007 09:18 |
wilk wrote: These demos don't sound like Brian playing to me. The recordings go out of time and are very stuttering. You can hear also when wrong keys have been hit. If you compare the quality of the keyboard player to Brian playing Butterfly or Save Me live then it just doesn't sound like the same person. If I heard these without any introduction, I would assume that they were a queen fan with a synth and some sheet music.While I appreciate your candor and right to your opinions - a 'Thank-you' would still have been nice regardless. Strangely enough, the same argument could be made for Brian's 'Sleepy Blues' - he doesn't sound too professional there either. I guess that's why they are called 'home recordings'. |
| zaiga 26.08.2007 09:30 |
Thank you John :) |
| goodco 26.08.2007 09:54 |
John, as always, thank you for sharing. Welcome back! |
| Dagmara 26.08.2007 10:21 |
Thanks :) , but can somebody one upload in rapidshare or sendspace? |
| Forever88 26.08.2007 10:26 |
Thank you so much John, and I think regardless of what you've actually got, what you know about these things exceeds most people. |
| QueenSite 26.08.2007 11:23 |
First of all, thanks a lot for sharing. I believe your story 100%, but there's one thing that leaves me a bit perplexed: this 5'05" demo has exactly the same structure as the finished album version. It seems strange to me that it has been left unaltered when they started the recording in studio. Nonetheless, this could be the "final" demo just before taking the song to the studio. It would be nice to ask Brian about it. Don't take this as negativity, I'm a collector since 1982 and I've come across dozens (or hundreds?) of "demos", so I'm always a bit sceptical :) Anyway, I do hope it is genuine, so that everyone has added a gem to his/her collection. Thanks again for sharing |
| Arnaldo "Ogre-" Silveira 26.08.2007 11:59 |
Dagmara wrote: Thanks :) , but can somebody one upload in rapidshare or sendspace?I already did, please find my previous post in this thread. The massmirror link contains a rapidshare download link and others, like badongo. Cheers, Ogre- |
| Ramffiss 26.08.2007 12:38 |
who may upload the skip demos en rapishare o another server ???? |
| brENsKi 26.08.2007 14:13 |
good stuff mate, cheers |
| Mr Mercury 26.08.2007 14:48 |
Dagmara wrote: Thanks :) , but can somebody one upload in rapidshare or sendspace?Heres track 1 link And heres track 2 link Remember to say thanks to John now!! |
| hoops 26.08.2007 15:34 |
many thanks John, much appreciated. the saying mighty trees from little acorns comes to mind. thanks again, gary |
| Ramffiss 26.08.2007 15:47 |
I heard the demos the quality is excellent, Mr John thank you for your demos, and mr mercury thank you for help me Ya escuche las demos la calidad es excelente,Sr John gracias por tus demos , y Sr Mercury gracias por ayudarme |
| Chaka 26.08.2007 16:16 |
thanks for the history lesson and of course the mp3s John! |
| John S Stuart 26.08.2007 16:39 |
QueenSite wrote: ...this 5'05" demo has exactly the same structure as the finished album version. It seems strange to me that it has been left unaltered when they started the recording in studio...While I appreciate your concerns, once again, the same argument could be used about the structure and timings of the 'Too Much Love Will Kill You' recordings on the 'Bellboy tape' - as that track was also left 'unaltered' in the later studio versions. What you also need to remember is that both these HOME recordings ('Bell-boy tapes' and 'Who Wants To Live Forever' demos) were used as MODELS for their studio version cousins. Personally, I find no problem with this, as a quick listen to the 'Beatles Esher Demos' will also show that this is indeed the case. |
| newcastle 86! 16483 26.08.2007 18:49 |
its candour not candor |
| Bobby_brown 26.08.2007 19:10 |
Thanks for this amazing share! I´ve allways thought that Michael Kamen was responsable for the ending of the song, but it seems that Brian already had the full song on tape. It´s Brian style all over the place! The way he uses his left hand is similar to all his other songs. Great stuff! Take care P.S- How lucky can someone be to find Queen demos in a fucking skip? ; ) This is like someone buying a bag full with items and then later descovering a treasure of unreleased stuff (wich actually happens too!). |
| LozlanTheMage 26.08.2007 19:13 |
newcastle 86! wrote: its candour not candor*Ahem.* Actually, both spellings are completely accurate. One is popularized (or is it popularised?) in America, another is distinctly English. Either way, being petty isn't attractive on either side of the Big Pond. Thanks for the uploads, by the by. |
| theravenstroke 26.08.2007 19:56 |
thanks, John. One question, those demos are home demos o from studio, because they sound very "clean" without any noise or voice saiying something like "oh shit", or something else (like some demos of freddie). |
| FriedChicken 26.08.2007 21:15 |
Thats because it was recorded with the keyboards plugged straight into the recording device. |
| tassilo 27.08.2007 11:03 |
Thanks a lot for the demos! |
| gnomo 27.08.2007 13:00 |
John, thank you so very much for sharing, once more, the knowledge and the music. You're a star, and you've got nothing to prove. BTW - to Mr Mercury, about Skippy the bush kangaroo: I really loved it when I was a child (yes, they made a very good Italian-dubbed edition so many years ago) |
| Mr Mercury 27.08.2007 15:57 |
Gnomo, I liked it too, but only because it was 100 percent cheesy!! :) |
| RaffoMiles 28.08.2007 08:37 |
Thanks John for sharing with us these rarities! |
| PBB 28.08.2007 09:11 |
Thank you. It's always interesting to hear this kind of stuff. Most musicians probably have something similar? Every piece of music most start somewhere. |
| newcastle 86! 16483 28.08.2007 17:43 |
surely its by the way?. your right im just being pedantic. |
| Saint Jiub 28.08.2007 22:53 |
Thanks, JSS |
| Daan 29.08.2007 06:21 |
Hey, I would also like to see some more obscure material to be released. Like with the current releases of the Montreal-dvd. I would personally and as a company have putten more effort on releasing a dvd of the Earls Court show (for example). As we as fans (who basically buy most of the stuff out there, although not being forced to do so) would be much more happy with that. The Montreal concert has aready got a release (even though, you can argue about the heavy editing & sound quality of that release). But Eagle Rock and Queen Productions will release a product which is less appealing as both consuments and fans will buy a recording of a show from the eighties again (Wembley and Live at the Bowl). It would be much better to see a older release like mentioned above, as this would show us a younger/less experienced (more eager?) group. Anyway, not totally related to the subject, this opertunity gaves me the chance to adress my little frustration about Queen Productions. And John, thank you so much for you effort to keep us informed and charing this really cool item. It defintely sounds like Brian. It just shows how detailed and smart he can write songs. For the people how are not sure about the authenticity of this file listen carefully to skip one as it cleary shows you the searching being done to find the right notes. Compare it with the playing and singing, which he does at the beginning of the One Vision documentary. Cheers, Daniel ps: link perhaps you'll find some of my movies interesting |
| cmsdrums 02.09.2007 11:31 |
Thanks John - I haven't downloaaded yet but will do soon. The valuable sumary of the origins of the tracks is great too. As you say, just because things are not in the official archives does not mean that they do not exist. There is really no reason for these to be in the archives if they were just Brian's demo versions which the band later recorded 'properly'. Back in 85/86 before widespread use of digital recording gear, it is probable that, to save tape, once the rough mixes demos were put down to tape the band would have recorded over the master tape with their new version(s). I wonder however whether Roger, John, or Freddie's estate also have mini disc or cassette copies of the earliest versions (plus many other early versions of other songs) that they passed around each other to listen to before going into the studio and wiping over the master reel to reel tapes??? I certainly remember a specific example with No One But You that Brian said "I sent a demo of the track to Roger and it sat in a bottom drawer of his for ages, and one day he came across it, called me up and said that we must go into the studio to record it". Therefore in such an instance, even if Brian's original demo had somehow not been kept by him, Roger has potentiall got a copy anyway (this example is however in the digital age so is probably on hard disc back up somewhere, but you get the idea!!!) |
| Johan 02.09.2007 12:48 |
Many thanks for this brilliant share!! Very cool. |
| john bodega 02.09.2007 13:37 |
I'd like to point out that Pete Townshends demo of "Won't Get Fooled Again" was a half-tempo country/rock number, but still played over an identical synth backing - and also with the same acoustic guitar track that features very faintly in the finished song. So yes - it's not too strange to hear a demo that's so close to a finished song. Bravo on the upload JSS. I'd like to say at this juncture - 'leecher' would be accurate in describing most of us, but the idea of quid pro quo does not escape me and I'd gladly pay for rare things ; given the opportunity, of course!! (looks at GB). |
| cakebox.. 11497 02.09.2007 13:48 |
Zebonka12 wrote: I'd like to point out that Pete Townshends demo of "Won't Get Fooled Again" was a half-tempo country/rock number, but still played over an identical synth backing - and also with the same acoustic guitar track that features very faintly in the finished song. So yes - it's not too strange to hear a demo that's so close to a finished song.Well, with Townshends songs thats mostly the case (that they sound very close to the finished versions). The only thing that always really differ are the very simple drums he puts on and the equally simple bass. But apart from that, maybe the tempo changes for the final version, but songs like Pure and Easy, Baba O Riley, Slip Kid you name em, have at most points the same arrangements like the finished versions. But if you listen to the The Wall demo album from Roger Waters, it differs very much from the finished versions as they are just home demos containing vocals and acoustic guitar. With Queen, we really can not tell as there are so little demos known and available from them, if you think about it.. (also looks at GB) |
| Ale Solan 02.09.2007 21:27 |
Amazing share as usual John! Thanks a lot again mate, QP has A LOT to learn from expert collectors like you ;-) |
| BETA215 10.07.2017 14:33 |
Can anybody reupload the Original Skip Demos? Pleaaase! |
| pmatsynot 11.07.2017 10:45 |
Second the above post....please |
| dave76 31.05.2018 16:23 |
Can anyone reupload them please? |
| Chinwonder2 31.05.2018 17:21 |
Here you go! Unfortunately, they're still MP3 sourced, but better than nothing of course! :) link -Chin |
| dave76 31.05.2018 20:58 |
Thanks! |
| dysan 01.06.2018 06:35 |
I wonder if Rami on this thread is you know who... |
