Queen - On Air (2016) LP

Virgin/EMI (Hollywood Records in the US) will issue Queen On Air in November, an archival release that brings together six Queen radio sessions recorded for the BBC between February 1973 and October 1977.

These sessions produced some interesting material, including alternate versions of the debut single and unique takes of classic album tracks.

The audio has been restored by Queen engineer Kris Fredriksson and mastered by Adam Ayan and the sessions will be available as a two-CD set, a 3LP vinyl edition and a deluxe 6CD box that adds a CD of live broadcasts to the sessions and three CDs of radio interviews.

The ‘Live On Air’ CD features 24-tracks recorded at Golders Green Hippodrome, London, 1973, Estádio Do Morumbi, São Paulo, Brazil, in 1981 and Maimmarktgelände, Mannheim, Germany, in 1986.

The interviews last for three and a half hours and were recorded for the BBC and Capital Radio in London between 1976-1992. Interviewers include Kenny Everett, Simon Bates, Richard Skinner and Tommy Vance. Included is the very last interview (with Mike Read) that Brian, John, Freddie and Roger would give together. This was in 1989 to promote The Miracle. Also, in an August 1992 BBC Radio 2 interview Brian recalls the loss of Freddie Mercury nine months earlier and coming to terms with his death.