THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG. You Take My Breath Away

 “Here comes Freddie plus Freddie plus Freddie plus

Freddie plus Freddie“. This was the way Kenny Everett

introduced this song when he was playing tracks from

the new ‘A Day at the Races’ album in company with

Freddie in the Capital Radio studio back in November

1976. This was because, unlike other Queen vocal

arrangements, this track contains only Freddie’s voice

multitracked, and no backing from Brian and Roger.

Despite the replication, Freddie described the song as

“pretty sparse by Queen standards”.  

This feature of the track, which is the second one on

side 1 of the album, was picked up by Harry Doherty in

his contemporary review, where he described it as a

“fairly simple Mercury song”, pointing out that it had

already been performed by Freddie with just his vocal,

accompanying himself on the piano. This was a

reference to the band’s September 1976 concerts, for

example at Edinburgh and the free concert in London’s

Hyde Park. He likened it to ‘Love of My Life’ from the

previous ‘A Night at the Opera’ album, but parallels

have also been drawn with ‘Nevermore’ from Queen

II.  

Apart from his captivating and harmonised vocals,

superbly managed as ever by sound engineer Mike

Stone, Freddie played the piano part, the scale used

being a huge nod to Japan, where the band had first

been received like superstars. Whereas the Hyde Park

version was only about three minutes long, the final

studio track extended to just over five. Roger

contributed a little percussion - there were no drums -

Brian added some courtly guitar and John’s bass inlay

completes this jewel of a track.

In an interview with Jas Obrecht in Guitar Player

magazine in 1983, Brian was asked how he achieved

the violin-like tone. He replied:  

“There's a particular pickup combination which I use for

the violin things: the fingerboard pickup and the middle

one. Those two working in phase make a very mellow

sound. And there's a point on the amplifier where it's just

about to get distorted, but not quite. Instead of using my

pick, I tap the fingerboard with the right hand, and that

just sets the thing moving. It sustains itself - you hardly

need to even tap it any. If you stand in exactly the right

place, it feeds back in any position so I can just warble

around and it's very smooth”.  

Freddie’s lyrics express a very physical passion,

together with his deep-seated need for the object of his

affection, which is understood to have been David

Minns, a music manager with whom he had a romantic

relationship early on after realising his sexuality.  

The song remained on the setlist until June 1977 and it

has been played on tape to lead into ‘Who Wants to Live

Forever’ in Queen and Adam Lambert concerts.

© Alison Sesi 2023

THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG: RADIO GA GA

The origins of this song are well documented: it arrived with us through

the toddler mutterings of Roger’s son Felix denouncing radio as "ca ca"

using French, the first language of his mother Dominique. He’d thus

declared radio to be 'poo poo'. There can’t be too many people who can

claim that a pronouncement they made at the age of three has become

immortalised in a song! Although the band sang 'ca ca' on the original

recording, it wouldn’t sit well within an English language title, so it was

changed to ‘ga ga’, which, spelled as one word means crazy in two

senses: losing one’s mental faculties, especially in old age; or being

passionate about something, which both fit the message of the song in a

way.

The story goes that Roger started working on the track individually

before Freddie, along with the other band members, took an interest in it.

It’s well known that Roger intended the song to be a eulogy to radio,

which he felt was the ideal medium for music, but was being endangered

by the introduction in the early 80s of MTV and its requirement that a

video should accompany every song from now on, otherwise it simply

couldn’t become a hit.

Ironically, Queen created a highly memorable and imaginative video for

this song, which, according to the Official International Queen Fan Club

magazine of the time, was premiered in the US on 10 February 1984 on

MTV, which had exclusive rights to it until 17 February.  For one week,

therefore, MTV was its sole broadcaster, unaware that it was airing a

protest against its own existence.

The importance of radio for a teenager growing up in the 60s and even

the 70s, when TV was in its infancy, is of paramount importance in

understanding the lyrical content: Roger declares that radio was "my only

friend through teenage nights and that "everything I had to know

I heard it on my radio…"

By his own account, it was influencers like Bill Haley and Elvis Presley

that he first heard this way. Similar stories of listening to popular music

have been recorded concerning Brian, who "lay under the covers

listening to Radio Luxembourg", a pirate station, and Freddie, whose

"fascination with western pop music" as a teenager in Zanzibar was fed

by the BBC World Service.

The song was originally composed with various synthesisers. A

vocoder was used to create the robotic effect on the vocals, and the

production also included the use of a LinnDrum drum machine with

keyboards played by Fred Mandel.

As for the video, footage from the 1927 science fiction movie,

‘Metropolis’ creates an appropriate mix of past and future as a backdrop.

Freddie and Roger had long admired the film and Freddie’s solo song

‘Love Kills’, co-written by Giorgio Moroder, was on the soundtrack of the

latter’s 1984 Metropolis remake.

The video shows the band members riding in a flying car through the

futuristic city, as well as ‘extras’ from the fan club dressed like the

demoralised workers from the movie footage, whom they impersonate

with their heads down. The words "finest hour’" in the song are a quote

from the British wartime Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and the video

also depicts a family, apparently during World War 2, entirely dependent

on their radio.

There is also a reference in the song to the 1938 ‘War of the Worlds’

sci fi radio drama in the US, which is said to have been so genuine that

some people were duped into thinking that a real Martian invasion was

taking place, another homage to the power of radio.

The song, which is almost as long as Bohemian Rhapsody, is

unquestionably Roger’s most successful contribution to Queen’s

enduring repertoire, and with footage from Metropolis accompanying its

performance at Queeh and Adam Lambert concerts, it has, despite its

original message, become irrevocably bound to the contents of its video

in the public imagination. 

© Alison Sesi 2022

.

The Story Behind the Song - In the Lap of the Gods...Revisited

 

This is the outro track on the 1974 ‘Sheer Heart Attack’ album, and appears to be related to the opening track of side 2 of the album, also by Freddie, in name only.

It features a narrator having a discussion with himself, reflected in the alternate high and low vocals at the start, as he appears undecided and unsure of his identity: ‘Where do I belong’?

Brian has stated that Freddie, who was dealing with personal struggles, was expressing himself in emotional terms here: about relationships and his sexuality. Interestingly, Brian himself performed the song at a solo gig in Reading in September 1999, footage of which can be found on You Tube.

The song has enjoyed a revival on the live scene due to its inclusion in Queen and Adam Lambert setlists for much of the life of the collaboration. I noted at the Berlin concert in 2022 that the dry ice was doing overtime during its performance. It seems that times hadn’t changed and was intrigued to find the number of references to dry ice accompanying the song when played live, just as you can see on the 1974 ‘Live at the Rainbow’, and ‘Live at the Odeon’ of the following year, where dry ice is much in evidence!

Contemporary reviews of shows at New York’s Beacon Theatre in February 1976 and at Edinburgh’s Playhouse in September of the same year both note the dry ice used during the performance of the song.  The most detailed reference is by Chris Welch in the Melody Maker concerning a concert at the Empire in Liverpool in November 1974: “Dry ice began to envelope the stage, and as red light glowed through the fog, group and audience took on an eerie aspect, like a scene from some Wagnerian forest, as arms waved like young saplings in a night breeze. Then an explosion of white light, and two red flares burn over a deserted stage. Queen have gone, signalling a desperate roar of “MORE!” " 

This indicates the typical placement of the song in a concert: and as it was played at the end of the show before the encore, and it has an anthemic style, it’s often seen as a precursor to ‘We are the Champions’, and, like its successor, featured Freddie playing piano at the start before moving front of stage to lead the audience participation. In fact, due to time constraints, it actually concluded the free gig at Hyde Park in London on 18 September 1976. According to tour manager Gerry Stickells, quoted in the ‘As it Began’ biography, the police had threatened to arrest Freddie if he returned on stage for the encore that the audience was shouting for.

The song remained on the set list until the end of the ‘A Day at the Races’ tour in mid-1977, and was reintroduced in 1986 for the Magic tour, where it was sung early in the show: Freddie can be seen on ‘Live at Budapest’ and ‘Live at Wembley’ reversing his earlier habit  – at front of stage at the start, making sure the audience is singing along, before sitting down to accompany himself on the piano at the finish, which allows him to hang on there to perform the introduction to the next number, ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’.

The song has an overriding message of leaving things in the hands of fate. It's certainly one of the more obscure ones regularly performed in the Queen and Adam Lambert concerts, and the only one essentially not released as a single that didn’t appear in the Queen and Paul Rodgers collaboration too - but unlike those: ‘I’m in Love With My Car’, ‘’39’ and ‘Love of My Life’, Adam has been on the lead vocal for this one, indicating his particular fondness for, and personal identification with, this crowd-rousing chant.

© Alison Sesi, 2023

‘WE WILL ROCK YOU’ – Final Matinee, London Coliseum, 27 August 2023: Fan Review.

There was a moment at the opening of this final show of ‘We Will Rock You’, the last in a run of a hundred at the London Coliseum, when I felt I was witnessing the start of an infinity mirror effect. Once the section of ‘Innuendo’ (performed live these days) was over, Ben Elton, scriptwriter, director and now also Rebel Leader at the centre of his own drama, mentioned the original staging of the musical at the Dominion Theatre, and how it was panned by critics. This latest realisation of the rock phenomenon is a reference to its predecessor in so many ways, but one that has moved on twenty-one years in time from the 2002 premiere, and is now framing it within the annals of prophecy carried into the dysfunctional future of the ‘iPlanet’. But still, the critics haven’t correspondingly moved on from criticising – and, as ever, miss the point: the viewing public may just like to come to the theatre for an afternoon or evening of live Queen greats interspersed with a little light-heartedness.

Certainly, the latter concept is true to the history of the Coliseum itself. With its stately interior rising high to culminate in that distinctive dome, it seems an unlikely venue for rocking insurgents to pitch their cause. However, back at the turn of the 20^th century, its architect, Frank Matcham, envisioned a “people’s palace of entertainment” to house variety performances. Furthermore, like the Dominion, where Freddie shared the stage with Cliff Richard in a charity performance of the musical ‘Time’ in 1988, the Coliseum contains a little of the Queen lead singer’s history, too: in 1979, he performed with the Royal Ballet there (also for charity) involving both the singing of and dancing to ‘‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ - with Jamie Moses, later of the Brian May Band and Queen and Paul Rodgers, playing guitar in the orchestra pit. In welcome contrast, for this ‘We Will Rock You’ appearance, the musicians weren’t placed down in the depths, but high on a platform rear of stage, where they were sometimes clearly visible, and always, thankfully, just as audible – among them being birthday boy bassist Neil Murray, a veteran of the Dominion shows.

The new location is unable to take advantage of an underground station for the underground Bohemians: unlike the Dominion, situated right on top of Tottenham Court Road tube, it doesn’t have one that nearby. In many other aspects, though, the ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ is similar to its previous counterpart, and many of the old gags about internet-generated uniformity are replicated for this production. There are, however, some additional targets: AI, virtual friends, and bots, as the twenty-first century continues to develop the assault of cybertechnology at a cracking pace. The costumes are also a variation on the previous ones, with the ensemble clad in a microchip design. Furthermore, Ben doesn’t pass up on the opportunity to introduce other themes: the environment, the trains, and Brexit, all with a satirical twist. Even the pandemic gets a look-in, as Scaramouche and Galileo don surgical face-masks for a kiss.

Talking of the romcom leads, Elena Skye and Ian McIntosh transported us quizzically through their quest, yet at the same time making the whole performance look effortless, and Brenda Edwards, a vision of blue funk as the Killer Queen, excelled particularly on ‘The Show Must Go On’, brought in at the end of the first half, whereby ‘Play the Game’ had been dropped from earlier in Act 1. Another change from the original was that her devious lackey Khashoggi, acted by Lee Mead, no longer got to interrupt her in the initial bars of ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’, but she sang it through in its entirety. Brit, played by Adrian Hansel, presented as a kilted Highlander, displaying those slick martial arts moves and a comparable vocal dexterity; and the role of his marvellous match, Meat, was taken on by Christine Allado.

Towards the end, we were reminded - by an onstage replica of the giant statue of Freddie that stood at the front of the Dominion for its twelve-year run - of his mastery of Wembley Stadium, which was particularly appropriate for me as I’d been staying the month in London next door to it! The finale climaxed into the crescendos of ‘We Will Rock You’ and ‘We are the Champions’, followed by the ever-remarkable rendition of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, today made even more remarkable by the emergence, to a terrific roar from the audience, of Brian conjured into the multitude through the trap door as he played the first solo. He then proceeded downstage to complete his part, returning, of course, to perform the rock solo too, with a more conventional onslaught from stage left this time. Such an appearance precipitates a range of emotions – some joyful, some tearful, some plain surprised. I, who’d known that he surely wouldn’t miss playing his part in this final show, just felt that I’d been granted yet another bequest: as an early fan of the band as a London teen in the seventies, I always remember having very much been there as Freddie’s six-minute masterpiece took hold of our world, but also noting the cynicism of the music press from the very beginning. In those pre-internet times, the critics were already at it – that part of life hasn’t changed, although nowadays they have to acknowledge, sometimes genuinely, sometimes grudgingly, that Queen’s music is still so amazingly and worthily popular - despite every negative word they’ve ever written.

And, as if to prove the point, on returning to my digs near Wembley Stadium after the show for one last London evening, what could I clearly hear through the window from the spectators at the ‘All Elite Wrestling’ event taking place there? Yes, of course…none other than a rousing delivery of ‘We Will Rock You’!

© Alison Sesi, 2023

 

Queen Will Rock You in 3D - Proud Galleries, London - Fan Review

One day last week I woke up to notice that my mobile phone was carrying a new fitting - its appearance altered by a metal slab on its back, looking like a primeval relic of the industrial age anachronistically attached to my bit of essential 2020s technical kit. Then I recalled how it had got there. The previous day I’d been fiddling with something called an ‘Owl Virtual Reality Kit’, which would enable me to place the back of my Samsung on to a magnetic holding plate so that I could view stereo images relayed from the device as they appear in 3D through the Owl’s lenses. I’d purchased this gadget at Proud Galleries near Charing Cross, London, where I’d been taking a look at Sir Brian May’s collection of stereo images of his band, exhibited at the ‘Queen Will Rock You in 3D’ exhibition – and mused on the fact that I would now only have to get my phone out to remind me that I’d become something of a 3D devotee: as with his other occupations and pastimes, the enthusiasm of my favourite band’s guitarist for stereoscopy is infectious.

So, what of the exhibition itself? Well, as you enter on the ground floor, you can truly immerse yourself in seventies and eighties Queen – the Freddie era, going right back to their fledgling days. Yes, everyone starts somewhere, but by the time you see them at Kempton racecourse in 1976 – as organised by their then manager John Reid for the launch of their fifth album, ‘A Day at the Races’ - you note that they’d all mastered the art of backing the same winning horse. Whether you’re interested in seeing the band at work or at play, or, as in this case, a bit of both, there are plenty of pictures to view: on display is Brian’s visual log of the band’s development. From 1975 there’s Freddie ‘off guard’ under a hairdryer; Freddie performing in Boston in a Zandra Rhodes costume, ‘swirling around on stage like a great bird’ in its ‘plated wings'; and  Freddie smiling, with drummer Roger and bassist John, from the back seat of a limo in New York...as the crooning Sinatra would sing, ‘If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere’. So the remaining collection on the ground floor bears witness to those other tours and travels through the seventies – Europe, Japan, Hawaii, South America – as well as carefree days relaxing at Ridge Farm studios during the making of ‘A Night of the Opera’, the 1975 album that had made it all possible. By 1977, Freddie’s looking ‘chuffed’ to have won a Britannia award for its seminal single – his six-minute-long creation ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. There’s also plenty to see of the ‘Radio Ga Ga’ and ‘It’s a Hard Life’ video shoots of 1983 and 1984 respectively. But there’s one picture reminding you of that time of pre-fame: Freddie and John at Trident studios during the making of the band’s eponymous debut album in 1972.

As the exhibition coincides with a short season – finishing a month before the exhibition does - of the musical ‘We Will Rock You’ at the nearby Coliseum Theatre, there are a few pictures of that show that you can view before heading for the staircase to the basement; on the way down, I spent some seconds taking in the continuity of the exhibits, before being greeted at the bottom by a plastic prototype of the 1977 ‘New of the World’ album’s robot, Frank, fulfilling its promotional function of cradling the LP for display purposes…and then there’s Brian’s smiling mum Ruth showing off the programme made for the premiere of the ‘Flash Gordon’ movie in December 1980 (for which Queen had provided the soundtrack), evidencing the original black and red artwork which was rapidly ditched in favour of the well-known bright yellow.

The basement focuses on Queen after Freddie: there’s one photo of Brian playing ‘God Save the Queen’ on the roof of Buckingham Palace in 2002; another providing brief glimpse of the subsequent concert collaboration with Paul Rodgers from 2005; and numerous shots of the extant one, now over ten years old, with Adam Lambert, many of which capture the versatility of the current Queen lead singer’s stage presence, as he’s seen striking a variety of poses. These, of course, weren’t taken by Brian himself – in addition, notably, there are plenty of superb snaps of him, and Roger too, in action. One photo shows Brian in the context of his solo collaboration with singer Kerry Ellis, taken for their 2017 album ‘Golden Days’, and another from the same year presents a line-up of the cast who played the four members of Queen in the ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ movie. Even this floor, though, is not without its flashbacks: we’re also treated to three shots of Brian as a boy, when his lifelong passion for stereo photography was first ignited.

The exhibition continues until 23rd September, with part of the proceeds from entry tickets supporting the animal welfare charity ‘Save Me’, established by Brian together with Anne Brummer. And remember – stereoscopic equipment, mostly in the form of LITE Owls, is provided for your viewing pleasure! There’s also a shop selling a range of stereo-themed books (including  'Queen in 3D' itself) and equipment: who knows – you might come away with one of those Owl VR kits, and like, me, finish up with a metal slab on the back of your phone as an ever-present memento of your visit!

© Alison Sesi, 2023. 

 

 

Innuendo Album - A Fan Review

Composed from adapted excerpts from my EBook 'Bohemia Place - My Life, Our Times and Queen', and my 'Story Behind the Song' Features.

The first track on the album, the title track, born out of an improvisation session in the Barrière Casino in Montreux, finished up lasting six and a half minutes. This song also seems like a missive for posterity: to keep on trying…that promise is made, and various perspectives are presented: the forces of nature, the shackles of society, the mantra that progression involves walking a tightrope; advice to the individual about yielding to freedom, followed by a riveting instrumental part that implies that humanity makes collective headway when this happens; and then a series of probes ending in a challenge. Towards the end, the song mirrors ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ in its acceptance of providence. This is how life will continue until eternity – as our future becomes history. The deliberative nature of the song - the primeval mood of foreboding in the intro, with its huge nod to Led Zeppelin, the marked changes in tempo, and the tenebrous lyrics, all bring a sense of apprehension about the future. Even the lighter, slower or more peaceful parts – as with Steve Howe's Spanish guitar solo – are just an interlude. ‘Innuendo’ is an epilogue, an adieu, and a crowning achievement all in one.

 It's followed, in contrast, by the humorous ‘I’m Going Slightly Mad’: the lyrics were apparently created by Freddie with some uncredited support from his friend, actor Peter Straker – and according to Jim Hutton in ‘Mercury and Me’, were the result of some late-night work that gave rise to a lot of laughter.  Next up is Brian's the light-hearted rocker ‘Headlong’, which sprints along with its rather fluky lyrics. In ‘I Can’t Live with You’: the darting rhythm depicts the insurmountable dilemma expressed by Brian: not being able to live with – but not being able to live without - someone.  

The serene 'Don't Try So Hard' is an interesting song coming from Freddie, who was always such a hard worker. It expresses a kind of acceptance that not everything comes at once and that you shouldn't struggle unnecessarily. Roger's exhilirating 'Ride the Wild Wind', with its advice to 'push the envelope', seems to be the opposite - it has overtones of 'Breakthru' from the previous album, with its vivacious railtrack rhythm. There are also throwbacks to the escapism of 'Tenement Funster', but even more to the momentum of 'I'm in Love With My Car'. However, this time, it's Freddie's voice that evidences a rich quality on the track, although it's superbly accompanied by Roger's spoken backing vocals. 

‘All God’s People’ was co-written by Freddie and Mike Moran, who also worked with him on the ‘Barcelona’ project. It’s clear that this song has religious connotations – with words concerning the ‘lessons of the Lord’, and having, of course, a gospel style that can be traced through from the seventies ‘Somebody to Love’ to the eighties ‘Let Me Live’, which finally appeared on the ‘Made in Heaven’ album. There’s a section in the middle that sounds like a testimonial in a Pentecostal church, with the guitar mimicking the congregation around, who are murmuring, and then, along with the narrator, swooning. But I feel it might also belong to that small number of Queen songs with a social message.  The way it addresses people and governments, asking them to welcome others inside their homes, makes it sound like an exhortation about migration. Could this be Freddie displaying his gratitude over being taken in to the UK all those years before? 

'These are the Days of Our Lives' was written by Roger from the perspective of a middle-aged man looking back at the carefree days of childhood in the light of the fact that he now had his own children to be the source of his life’s enjoyment. He wonders if life has been a show, touching on the Shakespearean idea that everyone is essentially an actor on the world’s stage. Notably, the video for the song, filmed on 30th May 1991, provided Freddie with his last ever stage. Freddie, Roger and John were filmed together, all of them quite static – but Freddie’s unforgettable finale is so memorable that his stunning performance throughout the video, expressing himself through face and hands to the last, may receive less attention. Behind him on one side is the longing that lurks in John’s bass line, and on the other the tenderness encapsulated in Roger’s conga-tapping. As Brian was absent in the US at the time of the shoot, footage of him playing, infusing his prodigiously plaintive guitar solo, was added later. Despite the black and white presentation, the splendour of the cat waistcoat that Freddie's costume designer Diana Mosely had made for him was apparent...the next track, 'Delilah', is Freddie's dedication to one of his cats, reflecting his sentiments as a lifelong cat lover. 

With 'Innuendo', it was necessary for the band to pull together. The result is multifarious: take the contrast between Brian's torridly ultra-aggressive 'Hitman' and the passionately all-consuming 'Bijou' - a joint contribution from him and Freddie - as an example. In the latter, it seems, tears were shed that were flowing through the strings of Brian's guitar. 

 'Innuendo' concludes with 'The Show Must Go On'. When he was a guest on BBC Radio's 'Desert Island Discs' in 2002, one of the pieces Brian chose was Gustav Holst's 'Saturn, The Bringer of Old Age' from 'The Planets'. Certainly, ‘The Show Must Go On’ may have been influenced by this classical movement's quality of being pondered yet not ponderous.  The lyrical content has some similarity to another of Brian’s 2002 ‘Desert Island Disc’ choices: Smokey Robinson’s ‘The Tracks of My Tears’ from 1965, the lyrics of which contain the words: 'Outside I'm masquerading / Inside my hope is fading / Just a clown…my smile is my make-up...’  The stalwart stance of the narrative is matched by the amazing expression in Freddie’s voice. Apparently, Brian wanted to change the title, but Freddie, of course, knew what would resonate at the very end of this album. 

 

Why ‘Stereoscopy is Good for You’ is Good for You

 Where can you see a world of photos taken during the Covid pandemic, a ‘Victorian Emporium,’ and a pictorial history of the rock band Queen all under one roof?

Answer: at the ‘Stereoscopy is Good for You: Life in 3D’ exhibition at Proud Galleries near Charing Cross, now extended to 8^th April!

What is stereoscopy, and when did it all start?  Well, it’s basically photography (two photos placed side by side) viewed in 3D, and its beginnings were almost simultaneous with its 2D counterpart. You can find out more about this at the back of the exhibition, where the ‘Victorian Emporium’ awaits you, inviting you into the world of early stereoscopy, and where you can learn about it - in 3D - from photo historian Denis Pellerin, who explains how popular it was at the time.

Here you can also see a miscellany of stereoscopic equipment – and it was one such gadget, obtained through an offer found in a Weetabix cereal box, that first got a seven-year-old Brian May - who later became Queen's lead guitarist - interested in the subject, leading to a lifelong passion. Eventually, in 2008, it spurred him into reviving the long defunct London Stereoscopic Company, which had closed down eighty-six years before. It had, in fact, been founded back in 1854, sixteen years after the initial invention of stereoscopic technology by a certain Charles Wheatstone.

Before you arrive in the ‘Victorian Emporium’, with its quaint little table lamp lighting up one corner, you pass through an exhibition of a selection of work from contributors to the book published late last year, ‘Stereoscopy is Good for You: Life in 3D’, for which members of the public were invited to submit entries. Here, displayed in poster size, an international array of recent subjects is presented, ranging from animals and the natural world to landscapes, each of which is also available in small-size duplicate format, together with an individual stereoscope for the 3D effect. What’s more, you can use a stereoscopic viewer to look at a wide variety of other pictorial studies.

Venturing downstairs, there's a similar viewer displaying a selection of photos from the history of Queen, taken by Dr. May, providing a fascinating insight into the band members at work and at play, and many of those appearing on the wall are accompanied by his personal commentary. You can also watch him present a highly informative 3D video dealing with the history of 3D movies, which have staged a comeback in more recent times, having been popular in the 1950s, but which were then usurped in the public's affection by the advent of widescreen: depth losing out to breadth. In fact, when I told my 94-year-old dad about the exhibition, I discovered that his knowledge of 3D technology dated back to that post-war heyday, and he was still able to recite a limerick about it from the time:

A young lady, just twenty-three
Said, "Today I feel careless and free
I'll walk through the park
And just for a lark
I'll be photographed nude in 3D!"

Maybe now is the time for stereoscopy to re-enter public consciousness and popular culture once more – Sir Brian certainly hopes so. As he put it, going back to that first magical  ‘wow’ experience when he saw a double picture through the stereoscope as a child, “If you can take 3D pictures, why would you bother taking 2D pictures?”

Open: Tuesday to Sunday

Also includes a Gift Shop selling plenty of interesting books with different themes given the stereoscopic treatment, including the one with the same title as the exhibition!