Time for the next part in this little series about the B-sides of Queen singles – like last time two songs, but from the same release:

On 17 March 1986, the single “A Kind of Magic” from the album of the same name, the unofficial soundtrack album for the movie Highlander, was released. Europe got “A Dozen Red Roses For My Darling” as B-side, an instrumental version of “Don’t Lose Your Head”:

This disco experimental track was a joke to not lose your head in battle, in co ordinance with the Highlander movie.

In the USA, however, “Gimme The Prize” (Kurgan’s Theme) was included, one of Queen’s heaviest works, of course written by Brian May; neither director Russell Mulcahy nor Freddie Mercury and John Deacon are said to have liked this song much.

» “A Kind of Magic” – official video, album/single version
» “A Kind of Magic” – Highlander version (during the credits)1
» “A Dozen Red Roses For My Darling” – fan video
» “Don’t Lose Your Head” – fan video
» “Gimme The Prize” – fan video

And thanks a lot to David R. Fuller for all these fan videos and rarities!

1. which I actually prefer, it isn’t that “pop-ishly styled” throughout yet [↩]

Time for the next instalment of my little series about the B-sides of Queen singles – two at the same day this time:

On 4 March 1977 they released “Tie Your Mother Down” (live video) from the album A Day At The Races with the B-side “You And I” – a song written by John Deacon that they never played live:

» “You And I” still-image video
» Lyrics

Fourteen years later, on 4 March 1991, from the last “proper” album Innuendo came as second single “I’m Going Slightly Mad” (video – on which Freddie had to wear lots of makeup because he looked pretty ill at that time) with the B-side “The Hitman” which is a harder song again:

» “The Hitman” fan video (by David R Fuller again)
» Lyrics

That’s it, I hope there was something for everyone.

And again I’d like to present to you another B-side of a Queen single – today: “See What a Fool I’ve Been”, B-side of “Seven Seas of Rhye” from 23 Feb 1974, a bluesy song that’s not on the album (except on the American CD release).

» the “burlesque” studio version
» the more straightforward BBC version
» live version from 1975
» lyrics

The song originates already from Smile times (the band before Queen) and was inspired by “That’s How I Feel” by Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee which Brian May had seen on TV – getting to know the artists only much later. He wrote “See What A Fool I’ve Been” around the riff and parts of the lyrics he had remembered. (See Wikipedia.)

Photo: clix/sxc

Time for another look at the Queen archives, this time to a single released on 14 Feb 1974 in USA and New Zealand, the B-side of which was “Doing All Right” (sometimes also written “Doin’ Alright”) – originally a song by Smile, a Queen precursory band, if you will, consisting of Brian May (Queen guitarist), Roger Taylor (Queen drummer) and Tim Staffell (vocals and bass):

» Queen: Doing All Right (BBC recordings from 1973)
» Smile: Doin’ Alright
» Lyrics

But let’s not ignore the A side – well, we’ll ignore the shortened single version, but here’s the album version with the Greatest Hits video:

» Queen: Liar (album version)
» Lyrics

This alternative 1971 demo version from the De Lane Lea Studios is not just over one minute longer, but also offers different guitar parts and somewhat more playful vocals by Freddie (and unfortunately a lower audio quality) – I actually like it better than the album version:

» Queen: Liar (De Lane Lea Studios demo)
(slightly different lyrics, see video page on the right)

It’s up to you which song you’re prefering for your Valentine’s Day…

As an extension of the new series B-side of the day there’s now also “treasures” on Queen albums that are only available on the album and not on singles/maxis. For the 18th anniversary of the release of the Innuendo album, it’s “Don’t Try So Hard” today, a beautiful ballad mainly written by Freddie – apparently one of Brian May’s personal favorites among all Queen songs.

» Still-image video; lyrics

Needless to say that the album reached number 1 on many charts and achieved several platinum statuses – the last Queen album in Freddie’s lifetime who died in late 1991, and curiously it ends with the song “The Show Must Go On”…

Photo: clix/sxc