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roses into the audience. The roses had to be de-thorned by an assistant; a laborious task, and Fred complained that there were never enough blooms. Inevitably, some small prickles would remain on the stems and Fred’s delicate hands would be punctured. To improve Fred’s flower distribution, keep to budget and avoid any further spillage of blood, the choice of flower was later changed to carnations, which I kept secreted in buckets of water under the piano.
    On cue, I would rush on with an armful for Fred, and, while he tossed stems to the sea of outstretched grasping hands, I’d take his microphone to the side of the stage and prepare the next bunch. When the carnations were allfinished, he would sprint urgently towards the piano and I would rush to meet him halfway on stage with his mike. Nice bit of choreography… If he was in a particularly frisky mood, Fred would take the plastic buckets as well as the flowers, and throw them and the water over the audience, himself – or me!
    Early Queen tour encores included the Shirley Bassey camp cabaret song ‘Big Spender’ (‘The minute you rolled up the joint…’). Fred would slink on stage in an embroidered Japanese kimono, which he would peel off like a stripper, revealing red and white candy-stripe shorts with matching braces. He would yank dramatically at the belt of the kimono, at which point it was supposed to fall free. Not always. In front of a packed house at Hammersmith Odeon as I frantically tried to free him, I inadvertently pulled his shorts halfway down, before nervously cutting him free with a razor-sharp Stanley knife. After that, a more manageable and safer pair of scissors was always to hand; Fred’s voice was high enough without any impromptu surgery from his roadie.
    Freddie Mercury kept everybody on a Queen tour on their toes – everybody, including himself. He would be spontaneous when you least expected it and change the pattern of his moves, rapport and even the lyrics. Whenever ‘Jailhouse Rock’ was used as an encore, we awaited new words to be added to the English language. Fred would half-talk and half-sing as he muttered phrases in time with the band, who played an ad-lib boogie. The ones I took to heart were ‘Shaboonga’, ‘Shehbbahhh’ and ‘Mmmmmuma muma muma muma muma muma muma muma muma muma muma – Yaatch!’ Mmmm? Ancient Persian? Local Zanzibar dialect?
    When we questioned Fred as to the meaning and origin of these words, he would reply defensively: ‘I don’t really sing that – do I? ’ He did, and it was confirmed by the sound engineer, who played him a recorded tape of the show. It was also pointed out to Brian that when he started his guitar solo it sounded like the theme tune to the TV western show Bonanza , and finally it was pointed out to Roger and John that they were the rhythm section. The ones responsible for keeping time.
    The fixed Queen encore soon settled into place: Brian’s ‘We Will Rock You’, followed by Fred’s ‘We Are The Champions’. When Fred strode into Shepperton Film Studios for recording rehearsals prior to the News Of The World album in summer 1977 and announced he had this football fan song, it was received with caution and an element of disbelief – what was he doing now? From rock to opera, to the terraces and hooligans? It worked. Fred may have been a private and often quiet and reserved man, but not when it came to stating Queen’s achievements: ‘We are the champions – of the world!’
    I’m sure he had already seen the potential of his sporting anthemic idea and knew it could carry successfully into live shows. However, I seriously doubt if Fred had ever played football or stood on the terraces (Zanzibar Rovers?), but what he did have was an understanding of the unity involved in football matches, the passion and the fervour. Despite his somewhat privileged