06-15-1974 – Music Star
Submitted by: Sarvitri Esa
The Four Kings Of Queen
This week we speak to the quiet member of Queen, the one who tends to stay in the background, bass player John Deacon. But while it’s Freddie and Brian who tend to be in the spotlight most of the time, John is just as interesting a person…
Compared to all the other members of Queen, John Deacon is fairly quiet and subdued. That doesn’t mean he’s timid or anything –he’s just quieter than the rest!
“When we’re arguing I probably yell much less than the others,” he told us. “I suppose that makes me a quiet person in comparison!”
John was born on August 19, 1951 in Leicester. He has one seventeen-year-old sister. His father is dead now and his mother works during the daytime.
“My first school was Oadby Infant School and from there I went to Gartree High School and Beauchamp Grammer School.
“Got my O and A-levels then came down to London to Chelsea College, part of London University, where I studied electronics. It was something I’d always wanted to do. Maths and physics had been my favorite subjects at school and I felt I could handle it. I graduated one-and-a-half years ago with an honours degree.”
John played in several semi-professional groups while he was at school and college and it was through these that he met up with the other members of Queen.
“I met Roger and Brian at a disco three years ago. I’d heard they were looking for a bass player and asked if they’d consider me. I had a little audition and they took me on. Quite easy really!”
John is now living in a flat in Fulham, which he shares with a few other guys.
“It’s a great flat and we get on very well together. Outside I keep my mini, my most trusted friend. I call it Silver Bullet. It hasn’t been the same since I painted it silver! In my spare time I enjoy reading and dabbling in electronics and scientific things. I also like mucking about with the car. If anything goes wrong with it I’m usually able to fix it myself, unless it’s something drastic. As for my taste in clothes, I think it’s pretty ordinary : a shirt, a leather jacket, velvet trousers and boots; I wear this kind of thing most of the time but if you pinned me down to my favourite fabric I suppose I’d say velvet.”
He is five foot eleven inches tall and weighs nine stone and nine pounds. His hair is dark brown and his eyes grey-green.
When he’s got the time, John enjoys going to the cinema.
“My current favourite is ‘The Exorcist’. I found it rather funny. I’d read so many horrific reivews I was convinced it was going to be terrifying but it wasn’t at all! Everyone in the cinema was laughing at some of the scary bits! But I suppose it would be a bit terrifying to some people. I used to watch quite a lot of television but I can’t find the time nowadays. That’s a shame because there’ve been showing some great documentaries lately.”
John told us that he would like to visit most countries in the world, but there’s one snag…
“I don’t like flying! Maybe I’ll get used to it but at the moment I have a terrible time when we’re flying off somewhere! But unless you’ve got the time to go by sea, there’s no other alternative.”
He reckons he wouldn’t find it difficult to get a job if Queen ever packed up.
“There’s quite a lot of work going for studio electronics engineers, and I think I’d like that sort of work. But I’m sticking with Queen for as long as we last.”
John was planning a brief holiday when we met him.
“We’ve got a couple of days off next week so I’ll probably get out to the country. I love the peace and tranquility of it. I’d live there if I could but it’s rather daft living in the country if you work in London most of the time. Maybe in a few years…”