Great article, Wendy! Make sure you share it in our FB group! You’ve inspired me to write some J17-based stories now! We must get going on that script too!
What a great piece. Just Seventeen and Smash Hits were my bibles for so long when I was a teenager. I never met any of my favourite bands and I am quite glad in retrospect. Poor Freddie x
Thanks, Katy. Good to know you were a reader. Such good memories of working on Just Seventeen. And we were in the same building as Smash Hits. Lots of overlaps! Interesting times to look back on.
Oh what a story Wendy. Thanks for sharing. There is much you see in hindsight. The reporting of AIDS at the time was horrific so you can only imagine what he was going through.
Thank you, Margaret. Yes, researching this piece cast a new light on everything. And yes, I wonder what Estelle and Helen think, looking back on it now. Maybe they'll see this piece! It was a brilliant prize – a whole fun weekend laid on for them – so I hope they're over the disappointment of not meeting Freddie.
What a great read. I aim to read as many of your articles as I can, as I haven't gotten any deeper the titles on your Stack so far..very compelling. And, "Fire". Yeah girl...I was so thrilled and surprised to see that you included Arthur Brown's classic in this piece. We may be sisters from another mother, as I linked to the same song in one of my stories. Who does that? Reading your story this morning has brightened my day.
Thank you, Ellen. Sisters from another mother! I love that we have the Arthur Brown track in common. I watched that Top of the Pops video several times while writing this piece. Kudos to my grandparents that they didn’t turn the telly off in 1968!
Happy reading! I’ve just found your own piece where you mention Arthur Brown!
It's so interesting reading your stories from those days, Wendy. Magazines like Smash Hits and Dolly (Australia) were a vital part of my teen years in the 80s. I was lucky enough to go to many live concerts. Elton John, Phil Collins, Howard Jones and Michael Jackson were standouts. I never got to meet any of them, but my sister and I thought we were following Phil Collins' limo (we weren't). Exciting times.
Thanks, Ofifoto. Of those, I met Howard Jones at his Sheffield concert! And Jermaine Jackson, but not his more famous brother (though that was all he talked about!).
Oh, that’s a shame it wasn’t the real Phil Collins. Darn.
I love how you’ve written this with diary, write up, and reflection. It makes for a powerful and intimate story. So many were lost in those years. There were conversations I wish I could have had with friends no longer here. Thank you for sharing this.
I think it's often better not to meet your heroes anyway. I was a massive Hole fan (I still love them but not in the same way I did as a teenager) and about 15 years ago I ended up in Courtney Love's hotel suite in London with her and a bunch of other people. Because it was a large suite I managed to totally avoid interacting with her, I didn't want to be rude but I also didn't want a real life interaction to ruin listening to some of my favourite albums of all time.
I was not a massive Freddie fan at the time, but really felt for the competition winners, who were. I am more of a fan in retrospect. I appreciate how awesome they were. And how amazing Freddie was. That concert clip of him singing Who Wants To Live Forever brings me to tears.
You took us along with you, Wendy, on the contest journey, the concert journey, and your writing journey….but most of all, you took us on your journey from annoyance at Freddy’s behavior to understanding. It is not easy to write compassion.
Thank you, Audrey. It was literally between writing the first and second drafts of this piece, when I was reading around the subject, that it dawned. I hadn't known much about the timeline before.
Queen was my very favorite band and I met them twice in Detroit. Once just briefly at a record shop very early on. The second time was when they stayed at the Hyatt hotel where I worked the front desk. I had already scored front row seats from a scalper for me and my friends when I walked into the hotel and saw the VIP check-in and knew it was them (all fake names, the only one I remember was Judge Dean for John Deacon). Jim Beach arrived around nine and he said the boys would arrive near 3 am so I waited. They arrived in four separate limos and were all very nice. Autographed my albums and concert program. Freddie signed my 45 of his Larry Lurex single and asked how I found it. I later donated it to the Mercury Trust. Brian said I was up either very late or very early! Jim gave me four backstage passes so we attended their Detroit show then hung out backstage for a bit. They didn’t stay too long, but were social then, too. This was 1982, before band friction and Freddie’s illness. John Deacon was least social but still friendly.
I just published a book, I Can’t Remember if I Cried-Rock Widows on Life, Love and Legacy. It’ll be released in the UK in the fall. Mary Austin is the pinnacle for me but said the timing wasn’t good for her (it was just before the auction that I found someone who could contact her, so I understand now why she wouldn’t). I’m hoping for a second volume and may try again. I did interview Jenny Way. Do you know her? Married to Pete Way from UFO. She was good friends with Freddie and had many stories about the record biz where she worked for years. It was a fascinating interview.
Thanks, Lori, and thanks for sharing your own memories of meeting the band in 1982. That sounds a brilliant experience! Great that they gave you concert tickets.
I'll look out for your book in the autumn. What a fascinating subject.
I don't remember Jenny Way, no, but look forward to reading about her in your book.
Fab article, Wendy. Freddie Mercury was such an incredible person. Who knows what was going through his mind that day? What scary, sad times they were in many ways.
Poor Freddie. He must either have been feeling awful, exhausted or worried about the transmission. Those were sad times. One of my husband’s best childhood friends died of Aids , from dirty needles. You’re lucky to have seen those concerts. I still remember Live Aid, I was in California, up a ladder painting the walls of my friend’s house!
Oh Wendy I loved this so much! Such a brilliant story and so interesting with the benefit of hindsight. But it did fill me with a few painful pangs of nostalgia - teen magazines back then do not get the credit for the difficult job they were doing; balancing the fun stuff (that letters page full of disgruntled A-Ha fans is gold) with info about AIDS. I remember that time vividly. Desperate to fall in love and/or find out what all the fuss about shagging was but just as desperate not to die from a disease which at the time seemed almost always terminal and sold as a ‘punishment’ for having fun.
But going back to those letters - they’re so funny and pithy and well written. Because feedback would take ages back then wouldn’t it? So we would all do our best to write the funniest letters to magazines and such.
Thanks so much, Nerina. Really good points about getting the balance right. We took it really seriously. I remember one of the niggles I had about the World Vision competition to meet Queen was because we had a "no diets" policy at the magazine, right from the outset, so it seemed really out of kilter.
Yes, I loved looking at the incidental bits in the magazine – including the lively Letter's page, which was at that time edited by my good friend, author (and Substacker), @fionagibson !
Brilliant! The first one that comes to mind was the time I hung out and shot pool with Bobby Blotzer and Warren DeMartini of RATT once. Bobby Blotzer in particular was so friendly and funny.
Great article, Wendy! Make sure you share it in our FB group! You’ve inspired me to write some J17-based stories now! We must get going on that script too!
Thanks, Jacqui! I've just shared it on the Just Seventeen facebook page.
What a great piece. Just Seventeen and Smash Hits were my bibles for so long when I was a teenager. I never met any of my favourite bands and I am quite glad in retrospect. Poor Freddie x
Thanks, Katy. Good to know you were a reader. Such good memories of working on Just Seventeen. And we were in the same building as Smash Hits. Lots of overlaps! Interesting times to look back on.
I thought Debbie was going to be Freddie in disguise!
Haha, that would have been a twist!
Oh what a story Wendy. Thanks for sharing. There is much you see in hindsight. The reporting of AIDS at the time was horrific so you can only imagine what he was going through.
I wonder what the girls think now?
Thank you, Margaret. Yes, researching this piece cast a new light on everything. And yes, I wonder what Estelle and Helen think, looking back on it now. Maybe they'll see this piece! It was a brilliant prize – a whole fun weekend laid on for them – so I hope they're over the disappointment of not meeting Freddie.
I bet they have incredible memories of it.
What a great read. I aim to read as many of your articles as I can, as I haven't gotten any deeper the titles on your Stack so far..very compelling. And, "Fire". Yeah girl...I was so thrilled and surprised to see that you included Arthur Brown's classic in this piece. We may be sisters from another mother, as I linked to the same song in one of my stories. Who does that? Reading your story this morning has brightened my day.
Thank you, Ellen. Sisters from another mother! I love that we have the Arthur Brown track in common. I watched that Top of the Pops video several times while writing this piece. Kudos to my grandparents that they didn’t turn the telly off in 1968!
Happy reading! I’ve just found your own piece where you mention Arthur Brown!
Shedding new light on a story with some other insights from the teachings of time!
That's so enlightening!
I love this piece and Freddie Mercury too ^^
Thank you, Lise! I love your phrase "insights from the teachings of time". That puts it really well.
It's so interesting reading your stories from those days, Wendy. Magazines like Smash Hits and Dolly (Australia) were a vital part of my teen years in the 80s. I was lucky enough to go to many live concerts. Elton John, Phil Collins, Howard Jones and Michael Jackson were standouts. I never got to meet any of them, but my sister and I thought we were following Phil Collins' limo (we weren't). Exciting times.
Thanks, Ofifoto. Of those, I met Howard Jones at his Sheffield concert! And Jermaine Jackson, but not his more famous brother (though that was all he talked about!).
Oh, that’s a shame it wasn’t the real Phil Collins. Darn.
Oh, I would love to have met him, and Nik Kershaw. *fangirl heart swell
I love how you’ve written this with diary, write up, and reflection. It makes for a powerful and intimate story. So many were lost in those years. There were conversations I wish I could have had with friends no longer here. Thank you for sharing this.
Thank you, Mike. Sorry you lost people. It’s strange and sad to look back and realise how much was being hidden, how much shame was still around.
Excellent piece Wendy.
I think it's often better not to meet your heroes anyway. I was a massive Hole fan (I still love them but not in the same way I did as a teenager) and about 15 years ago I ended up in Courtney Love's hotel suite in London with her and a bunch of other people. Because it was a large suite I managed to totally avoid interacting with her, I didn't want to be rude but I also didn't want a real life interaction to ruin listening to some of my favourite albums of all time.
I saw them headline IW Festival in 2016, with Adam Lambert. Still great musicians, but you couldn’t compare him to Freddie.
Thanks, Sarah. Wise advice, I think!
I was not a massive Freddie fan at the time, but really felt for the competition winners, who were. I am more of a fan in retrospect. I appreciate how awesome they were. And how amazing Freddie was. That concert clip of him singing Who Wants To Live Forever brings me to tears.
You took us along with you, Wendy, on the contest journey, the concert journey, and your writing journey….but most of all, you took us on your journey from annoyance at Freddy’s behavior to understanding. It is not easy to write compassion.
Thank you, Audrey. It was literally between writing the first and second drafts of this piece, when I was reading around the subject, that it dawned. I hadn't known much about the timeline before.
Queen was my very favorite band and I met them twice in Detroit. Once just briefly at a record shop very early on. The second time was when they stayed at the Hyatt hotel where I worked the front desk. I had already scored front row seats from a scalper for me and my friends when I walked into the hotel and saw the VIP check-in and knew it was them (all fake names, the only one I remember was Judge Dean for John Deacon). Jim Beach arrived around nine and he said the boys would arrive near 3 am so I waited. They arrived in four separate limos and were all very nice. Autographed my albums and concert program. Freddie signed my 45 of his Larry Lurex single and asked how I found it. I later donated it to the Mercury Trust. Brian said I was up either very late or very early! Jim gave me four backstage passes so we attended their Detroit show then hung out backstage for a bit. They didn’t stay too long, but were social then, too. This was 1982, before band friction and Freddie’s illness. John Deacon was least social but still friendly.
I just published a book, I Can’t Remember if I Cried-Rock Widows on Life, Love and Legacy. It’ll be released in the UK in the fall. Mary Austin is the pinnacle for me but said the timing wasn’t good for her (it was just before the auction that I found someone who could contact her, so I understand now why she wouldn’t). I’m hoping for a second volume and may try again. I did interview Jenny Way. Do you know her? Married to Pete Way from UFO. She was good friends with Freddie and had many stories about the record biz where she worked for years. It was a fascinating interview.
Thanks for this story. What an experience!
Thanks, Lori, and thanks for sharing your own memories of meeting the band in 1982. That sounds a brilliant experience! Great that they gave you concert tickets.
I'll look out for your book in the autumn. What a fascinating subject.
I don't remember Jenny Way, no, but look forward to reading about her in your book.
Fab article, Wendy. Freddie Mercury was such an incredible person. Who knows what was going through his mind that day? What scary, sad times they were in many ways.
Thanks, Georgina, yes indeed. Was glad I did background research while writing this, so I grasped the timeline. Bit of an epiphany there.
Poor Freddie. He must either have been feeling awful, exhausted or worried about the transmission. Those were sad times. One of my husband’s best childhood friends died of Aids , from dirty needles. You’re lucky to have seen those concerts. I still remember Live Aid, I was in California, up a ladder painting the walls of my friend’s house!
Thanks, Francesca. Yes, I can't imagine what it must have been like in his shoes. Sad times indeed. Sorry to hear about your husband's best friend.
I'm glad there's footage of the concert, especially as I couldn't focus on it properly at the time! I've enjoyed finding the clips on YouTube.
Oh Wendy I loved this so much! Such a brilliant story and so interesting with the benefit of hindsight. But it did fill me with a few painful pangs of nostalgia - teen magazines back then do not get the credit for the difficult job they were doing; balancing the fun stuff (that letters page full of disgruntled A-Ha fans is gold) with info about AIDS. I remember that time vividly. Desperate to fall in love and/or find out what all the fuss about shagging was but just as desperate not to die from a disease which at the time seemed almost always terminal and sold as a ‘punishment’ for having fun.
But going back to those letters - they’re so funny and pithy and well written. Because feedback would take ages back then wouldn’t it? So we would all do our best to write the funniest letters to magazines and such.
Thanks so much, Nerina. Really good points about getting the balance right. We took it really seriously. I remember one of the niggles I had about the World Vision competition to meet Queen was because we had a "no diets" policy at the magazine, right from the outset, so it seemed really out of kilter.
Yes, I loved looking at the incidental bits in the magazine – including the lively Letter's page, which was at that time edited by my good friend, author (and Substacker), @fionagibson !
Brilliant! The first one that comes to mind was the time I hung out and shot pool with Bobby Blotzer and Warren DeMartini of RATT once. Bobby Blotzer in particular was so friendly and funny.
Thanks, Leanne! Just refreshed my RATT music knowledge by searching for them on YouTube. They look like they would be a laugh!
What a story ! Xx
Thanks, Lib. Glad you enjoyed.