Flash Gordon
In October 1978 the U.S. and Canadian tours began again. And on November 10 a new album was issued ,called “JAZZ”. Attached was a booklet with a poster, which depicted naked girls, but the Americans had it removed – instead, posters could be claimed with the help of a form, enclosed with the album.
On the occasion of the new album there was a party in New Orleans which went down in history. It was organized by Queen, who intended to invite there their record company “EMI” from Europe and “Elektra” – their U.S. representatives. The leaders of these companies first met at a party, with each side trying to prove their numerical superiority. The party was held with cheers – wrestling in the mud, topless waitresses and so on.
By the end of December the tour of North America was completed, and the group flew to Britain for Christmas. But they had very little time for rest, as early as January 1979 the band went on tour in Europe, which began in Hamburg. In March, the group retreated to the “Mountain Studio”, in Montreaux, to work on a live album. Queen liked to work in this place, so they did not hesitate long before they decided to buy the studio.
In April 1979 Queen again travelled to Japan on a tour. In June, they asked the English Tennis Club to provide the Center Court at Wimbledon for the concert. They were refused. In the same month “LIVE
KILLERS” – the first live album by Queen was released.
On one occasion the group was asked to write music for the film “Flash Gordon” (science fiction). The film producer Dino De Laurentis in the first discussion of this idea, asked: “And who are Queen?”. The musicians decided to agree, and in June started to work on the music in Munich. At the end of 1979, the group went on “The Crazy Tour”. With it, they performed in such famous places as “Tiffany’s in Purley”, “The Lewisham Odeon”, “Alexandra Palace” and “Hammersmith Odeon”. In the “Hammersmith Odeon” group participated in a charity concert to help the starving Kampuchean people. On this tour, Jerry Stikkelsa, Queen’s tour manager, who had been travelling with them since 1976,was taken seriously ill. He was rushed to hospital.
In the beginning of the 80s, the musicians were working intensively on the new album “The Game”, which was the first one to utilize the electronic magic of synthesizers. In June, they went on a North American tour again.
“THE GAME” was released in June 1980, which became a platinum album five times in Canada alone. A composition “Another One Bites The Dust” became the best selling single of Queen in the world. In the U.S., the song becomes a huge hit and was at the top in all three charts – rock, disco and soul.
Finally, on December 8th , 1980, the soundtrack to “FLASH GORDON” was released. Sales of Queen’s albums in the world by the end of that year climbed to more than 45 mln. In February of next year after another Japanese tour they travelled to Rio de Janeiro, where they began their first South American tour. Queen became the first rock band, which ventured to perform to full stadiums on this continent, thus paving the way for other musicians in the future.
