05-03-1994 – BBC Radio 1

RT: Roger Taylor
1: Richard Evans – News Presenter
2: Nicky Campbell – DJ of following programme

[‘Nazis 1994’ playing in background]

1: Some hot news for Queen fans coming up exclusive to NewsBeat from drummer Roger Taylor, whose own solo single ‘Nazis 1994’ is out today. [3/5/94] It’s his first project since the death of Freddie Mercury. A hard hitting song against the rise of the far right.

RT: I just saw a programme on television actually, in which they had 4 you neo-nazis from different countries. They were actually sort of stating that the holocaust didn’t happen and that it was all some kind of propaganda exercise, and just thought that’s the most outrageous, stupid and dangerous belief.

And I thought, you know, at my stage of life I might as well write about something that I believed, and, er, that I thought meant something, you know, you can’t write pop songs all of your life.

[Clip of ‘Nazis 1994’]

1: Now you’ve been working on the album?

RT: I started about a year ago, yea, and I actually built a studio to record it in. And that’s really what i’ve been doing. I sort of, I didn’t do much for about a year after Freddie, er, died. You know, life was very different and, and, quite difficult without, without somebody that you’ve worked with and lived with and been very close to for 22 years, you know, so that was, er, it was very strange at first.

1: Do you still see the other boys from Queen…

RT: Yes…

1: Are you still in touch?

RT: I’ve seen quite a lot of John and a little but of Brian. And we have started work on finishing some stuff that we started with Freddie. In, sort of, due course of time I think that will appear as a, as a complete album. And, and it sounds very good, Although it’s still in it’s reasonably early stages, you know.

1: So, what, you’ve got vocals that…

RT: Yea, Yea

1: from Freddie that, that, were never recorded over?

RT: We had started things… and he’d done his parts on. He was working right up to the end, er, with the full intention of, you know, those works coming to fruition. So it’s almost asthough it’s sort of a duty to finish them, you know. And, and they’re very good, it’s some wonderful stuff, you know.

1: So a posthumous Freddie Mercury and Queen album soon?

RT: Not soon, but it will be coming.