From what it is available in rags to rhapsody, the lead vocal sounds like an entirely different take from the BBC or album version i.e no a4 on "tear lives on in my eye". The backing vocals were clearly mined but sound different in places. Could someone clarify what went down?
It was common practice at the time for bands to re-record their hit before miming to it for TOTP. Presumably the BBC wanted it to sound like a performance but didn't want the hassle of managing live sound. Or maybe it was a licencing thing.
Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy is another example, and I suspect Seven Seas Of Rhye might have been too. Why Killer Queen wasn't re-recorded is probably more of a mystery.
Good catch !
And it's not the BBC version. It's actually not the same backing track - it's a completely different take of the song.
Seven Seas Of Rhye is just the studio version.
Shame that Brian and Roger talk over it in the doc.
Also, have you seen my lastest email Bob? :)
Here's a .ac3 copy of that version if anyone would like: link
-Chin
It was the musicians union who had an arse-on about bands miming. As a good midway agreement reached regarding the logistics of all bands performing 'live', the hit songs were usually rerecorded by the band prior to appearing in order for them to perform on the programme and please the MU. A rep from the MU would go and witness the rerecording. Great stories about bands managers getting the rep drunk so they either didn't give a shit or were able to go to the recording studio and not tell the difference between the studio cut and the fake (IE exactly the same) rerecording. Usually, bands just sung live over the remixed album cut (see Starman to TOTP). A notable Queen exception was SSOR which wasn't due to them being last minute subs for Bowie. Not clear on the dates this particular practise happened as there seems to be no standard rule even during the same episode. By the late 70s bands just mimed which continued through until the early 90s when they made a point of bands singing over their studio version. Again, there are many exceptions over the years. Either way, it meant we got some AMAZING TOTP performances, and some hilariously underpowered ones.
I still get bothered by how they don't realise that some of their tapes were transferred faster than it should, and their inability to correct the speed and the pitch :|
I mean, it isn't so hard and it sounds more professional (and right).
dysan wrote:
It was the musicians union who had an arse-on about bands miming. As a good midway agreement reached regarding the logistics of all bands performing 'live', the hit songs were usually rerecorded by the band prior to appearing in order for them to perform on the programme and please the MU. A rep from the MU would go and witness the rerecording. Great stories about bands managers getting the rep drunk so they either didn't give a shit or were able to go to the recording studio and not tell the difference between the studio cut and the fake (IE exactly the same) rerecording. Usually, bands just sung live over the remixed album cut (see Starman to TOTP). A notable Queen exception was SSOR which wasn't due to them being last minute subs for Bowie. Not clear on the dates this particular practise happened as there seems to be no standard rule even during the same episode. By the late 70s bands just mimed which continued through until the early 90s when they made a point of bands singing over their studio version. Again, there are many exceptions over the years. Either way, it meant we got some AMAZING TOTP performances, and some hilariously underpowered ones.
Killer Queen was mimed too.
Interesting and funny stuff - where'd you read all this? All news to me.
Regarding Killer Queen, there was once a story where some guy from the BBC turned up at a recording studio where Queen were putting the finishing touches to the re-recorded version for totp's. When he arrived the band had just finished the final mix and handed it over to the guy from the beeb.
In truth, it was all staged. The band had only showed up 30mins beforehand and simply handed across the original studio recording!
Bad Seed wrote:
Regarding Killer Queen, there was once a story where some guy from the BBC turned up at a recording studio where Queen were putting the finishing touches to the re-recorded version for totp's. When he arrived the band had just finished the final mix and handed it over to the guy from the beeb.
In truth, it was all staged. The band had only showed up 30mins beforehand and simply handed across the original studio recording!
dysan wrote:
BTW it is the album backing track as you can here the same catch on the guitar strings on the intro. New vox obvz and missing some gimmicks.
Now I'm Here, you mean ?
No way - it's definitely a different backing track. Different guitar and drums for sure, and the reverb and EQ are all different too (it's a bit drier).