Queen: The John Deacon Collection
18 videos • 101,246 views • by art/research "Misfire" (1974) was John Deacon's first individual composition for the band, and featured him playing most guitars. "You're My Best Friend" (1975) was Queen's first single written by John Deacon. He composed while he was learning to play piano. He played the Wurlitzer Electric Piano (which Mercury called a "horrible" instrument in an interview) on the recording and overdubbed the bass later on. The song was written for his wife, Veronica Tetzlaff. The song was a top 10 hit. "Spread Your Wings" (1977) was written by bassist John Deacon. The piano is played by Mercury, although Deacon mimes it in the music video. The video was filmed at the backyard of Taylor's then house, when the weather was freezing, and the band performed in the snow. Mercury can be seen wearing star-shaped sunglasses in the video. May is seen playing a copy of his Red Special, owing to the cold weather conditions. Also, Taylor can be seen singing in the video despite the fact that there are no backing vocals in the song. It was the first Queen single without backing vocals. "Who Needs You" (1977) was a song written by Deacon, who, along with May, plays Spanish guitar. Mercury's lead vocal is entirely panned on the right audio channel while the lead guitar is on the left channel. May also plays maracas and Mercury plays a cowbell. "If You Can't Beat Them" (1978) is another hard rock composition by John Deacon and a live favourite for the band in the late 1970s. It is one of the few songs by Deacon where May plays all the guitars and contains a guitar solo of over two minutes, making it one of the longest guitar solos in a Queen song. "Another One Bites the Dust" (1980) was written by John Deacon. The song is known as a funk song and was released as a single at the suggestion of American singer Michael Jackson, who was a huge fan of the group and would often see them in concert whenever they came to Los Angeles. "Another One Bites The Dust" was a worldwide success reaching No. 1 in America and many other countries and in the UK it reached No. 7. After the success of the song, Queen recorded Hot Space, which was a more disco album. It is credited as Queen's best selling single, having sold 7 million copies worldwide. The song was played live since 1980 until the last tour with Mercury in 1986. Part of this song was performed during Queen medley songs by Extreme on The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992. "Need Your Loving Tonight" (1980) was written by Deacon. The song was released as a single in November 1980 and reached #44 in the United States. The song was also played scarcely during The Game Tour in the early 1980s. "Cool Cat" (1982), written by Mercury and Deacon, originally featured David Bowie on backing vocals and a few lines of spoken word to a rhythm during the middle eight. According to Mercury in a 1982 television interview, Bowie was unhappy with the results and requested them to be removed days before its parent album was slated to be released. With the exception of the electric piano (which was played by Mercury), all the instruments are played by Deacon, including drums, guitars, and synths. On the album version, Mercury sings the entire song in falsetto. The alternate take with Bowie's vocals still intact is widely available on various bootleg recordings and surfaces from an early 1982 vinyl Hot Space test pressing from the US. Deacon can be heard using the popping technique throughout the track. "I Want to Break Free" (1984) was written by John Deacon. This pop song is best known because of its video, featuring all four Queen members dressed up as women, in a parody of the British soap opera Coronation Street. The idea for the clip was Taylor's. Mercury commented that 'Everybody ran into their frocks'. Deacon, the song's author, insisted he didn't want a guitar solo on the track so a synth solo was played by Mandel – live, however, May played the solo on guitar. The version used for the single and the promotional video includes an opening and instrumental bridge (after the synth solo) not part of the original mix. "Pain Is So Close to Pleasure" (1986) began as a riff idea by Brian May. Deacon and Mercury subsequently turned that into a Motown style song, with Deacon playing rhythm guitar. A slightly remixed and reworked version was released as a single in 1986, reaching No. 26 on the Dutch charts. The title also appears as a line in "One Year of Love". This would be one of the last times Mercury would sing a Queen song completely in falsetto. "Friends Will Be Friends" was written by Mercury and Deacon, with lyrics written by Mercury (which was confirmed by May on his website). It is one of the last of Mercury's piano ballads, and in some ways is a musical similitude with older Queen material, such as "Play the Game" and "We Are the Champions". It is another song not featured in Highlander. It was noted as being a modern update of the 1970s Queen rock anthems "We Are the Champions" and "We Will Rock You"