Now this is what rock n roll oughta feel/sound like. a meteor truly ahead of it's time.

http://www.youtube.com/wa...PArDp5YBCs

diamondpearl1 said:

You need to check out the original demo version with Michael and Freddy Mercury. I like that one better.

shorttrini said:

I can't stand the Mick Jagger version for some reason.

I love the extended version.not so much the album version.

Also like the demo for Freddie with MJ on backing vox. Or maybe Freddie went crazy and just owned it, i've no clue!

Timmy84 said:

I like the 12 inch version of the track, where Michael is scatting towards the end...It's crazy!! But you're right, the Mick Jagger version does nothing for me.

It was a great lead single to the album but a lot of the rest of the album was disappointing.

Marrk said:

[Edited 2/18/09 14:50pm]

Marrk said:

Mike held back when Freddie did the song. I love it just for that actually. The song always sounded like a solo song. I don't think the other Jacksons were involved with this track.

Timmy84 said:

I noticed you misseed some of my response out. Freddie fancied Mike back then, i've read that all over the place.

Two things on this:

I heard that Michael caught Freddie doing cocaine during a session and freaked out and thus the track then went to Mick Jagger. (I too prefer the demo with Freddie)

and secondly....

da da da diddly do

you know what i'm talking about!

Swa

Swa said:

You know something? I seriously doubt that. I mean I know Freddie was a party animal but something about Freddie and cocaine in the studio w/MJ doesn't match up. Not saying he didn't do cocaine, but still... I mean, they were recording in Hayvenhurst, weren't they not?

Marrk said:

I just noticed that. Yeah I heard that too. It's possible he was attracted to Mike tho.

I like the song. The end cracks me up with the Jagger version, he's like whispering "looka me" "looka me"

Marrk said:

I never read that, I do know they were friends


Here's the story of how State Of Shock, There Must Be More To Life Than This, and Victory came to be:

from "Freddie Mercury" by Peter Freestone (Freddie's Personal assistant)

Michael invited Freddie over to his house in Encino on Hayvenhurst Avenua. Freddie just couldn't believe what he saw. It was a brand new Tudor mansion! Security was tight. There was a towaer at the entrance in which a burly guard or two sat menacingly. We had arrived in a hired limo. Just the two of us. Each window casement of the house was framed with a string of fairylights. This house was the predecessor of Nerverland and housed Michael's mini-zoo. He soon took us on a guided tour after he'd met us outside the house.

Michael was accompanied be the man who engineered at the recording studio attached to the house. Michael was very proud of the place and it was really quite fun having him as the tour guide. Although this was at the time when Michael's father was persona non grata, we were introduced to Michael's mother and his two sisters, Janet and Latoya. Michael's brothers of course all lived away from home with their own families.

We then had a tour of the house and en route visited the bedroom, where there was an enormous fish tank which contained a large snake. Freddie, who did not like snakes in the slightest, noticed with relief that the lid was secured tightly and was also weighed down by numberous bricks. While Michael adored his snake, he obviously preferred to be safe than sorry.

Freddie couldn't help noticing that Michael's bed was only a mattress and was on the floor.

"Why do you sleep on the floor!?" Freddie exclaimed. "You can afford a bed, can't you?"

"I prefer to be closer to earth." Michael replied in his soft, sing-song voice.

"But you're on the first floor!" Freddie retorted in amazement.

One thing that impressed Freddie was the way in which Michael had his triple platinum disc award for thriller just leaning up against the wall in the bedroom. Freddie thought it showed great style. As Freddie himself was never one to show off, he used his own gold and platinum awards rather as wall coverings as opposed to the trophies which some people's awards become.

Included in the tour was the video library which from what I could see contained just about everything which had ever been released on video including recent music work. THere was a room which had a large TV monitor specifically for screening these tapes. There was also a vast room that contained numerous arcade video games. You have to remember that these were the days when "Moonbuggy" was the latest craze. Michael and I played against each other on one of these machines, a primitive version of tennis. There was a black paddle and a white paddle and these were manoeuvered to hit a white spot, the ball, back and forth. Unintentionally, Michael assumed the white paddle and I took the black paddle and he remarked profoundly that we'd done a race reversal. I thought that was very touching.

Passing through the kitchen, Freddie finally plucked up the courage and asked Michael, "Would you mind if I have a cigarette?"

I was surprised that it had taken Freddie so lon to ask. At the time, he was smoking something in the region of forty vigarettes a day. I could tell from this that Michael was obviously someone of whom Freddie was in awe because I'd never known him to be so reticent before. This only happened once more to my knowledge but all that is to come...

"Yeah, sure," Michael said but looked a little perplexed, the reason being that he did not own an ashtray. Help was at hand in the shape of Michael's mother who produced the lid of an empty preserve jar which Freddie could carry around with him.

One are of the house which Michael was very proud of was the cinema which doubled as a chapel for church on Sunday morningd. Rather than Michael go to church, church came to Michael. I thought it was commendable that Michael had retained his faith to such an extent. It certainly was a very luxurious church with very comfortable seats set out in auditorium style.

The tour then took us outside into the grounds. Freddie was not prepared for what was to come. It was summer in LA and so Freddie was wearing a pair of clean white jeans. But they weren't to remain clean for long. We were taken trough an extremely muddy enclosure where the llamas were kept. Freddie knew to be way of them spitting at him but while avoiding their heads, he couldn't help but walk through the mud. So, the clean white jeans and sparkling boots soon became very brown indeed as he picked his way as daintily as he could on tiptoe, shrieking at the horror of the mudbath. Michael, in plain jeans and T-shirt, was obviously used to it. In another part of this beautifully landscaped garden, swans were swimming in a large pond.

Eventually we got roung to the purpose of our visit and ended up in Michael's studio. State-of-the-art everything. Except....Given that Freddie and Michael were the only people in the studio, there was alimited amount of musical instruments which could be used. Freddie of course was on the piano and for want of another musician, I ended up playing the toilet door!

This came about when Michael wanted to do some work on a track that he had in mind that ultimately became "Victory". As there was no drummer around-or drums come to that-and Michael was not happy with the sounds that the drum machine gave, he decided that the noice produced by the toilet door slamming was much more suited to his requirements. I therefore spent five minutes slamming this door in the necessary rhythm. I also know for a fact that somewhere in the world, there is a tape of Freddie Mercury peeing in Michael Jackson's toilet. Live! When I wasn't banging studio doors, I went and watched videos with Janet and Latoya. Food was sent out for from a local deli at about two in the afternoon even with all the facilities of that huge kitchen. Cold cuts for Freddie and I while Michael had melon. About ten different varieties of melon which, in America, is always a delicious selection.

They worked on three tracks that afternoon. One, as I said, became "Victory". I'm unsure as to the second which I think was called "State of Shock" but the third was a track of Freddie's song "There Must Be More to Life Than This" which Freddie later included on "Mr. Bad Guy". Freddie only played the piano on the track while Michael sang, composing his own lyrics as he went along. In essence, they were both trying eachother out, dare I say, for size. They worked for about five or six hours that day and we left about six in the evening. Freddie was already committed to a heavy schedule and it was left as a "Let's get in touch soon" job.

In the car on the way home, the post mortem began. Can you blame us if we dished a little?

Freddie was impressed with the studio session and Michael's attitude to work but thought his taste in houses left a little to be desired!

"All that money and no taste, dear. What a waste."

So that was our day at Encino.

Freddie and Michael were friends for years until Freddie's death in '91. He referred to MJ as "Little Brother"

NMuzakNSoul said:

To be honest that was the BEST part of that version of the song besides Mike's scats.

Swa said:

I heard the same thing
I think MJ just didn't want Freddie to outshine him
So he called quits

I prefer this version then Mick Jaggers

Thanks for posting Bboy, interesting read!

Timmy84 said:

Exactly Tim!

I forgot where but it was probably Live Aid, Tina Turner did the song live with Jagger.

NMuzakNSoul said:

Yeah they did it in Philly in '85.

bboy87 said:[quote]

Marrk said:

Good read. Thanks.

shorttrini said:

So do I. The Michael/Freddie version is funky!

I have both, the "State Of Shock" demo and both versions of "There must be more to life than this", Freddie version and the demo version, featuring Michael. "Victory", has yet to surface.

this song is truly awful but i listen to it alot

I love this song a lot. I think its underrated

diamondpearl1 said:

Always hated this song. I was so happy when it failed to hit #1 on the Hot 100.

shorttrini said:

vainandy said:

Yeah,it was a disappointing album.One thing that might have improved the album: the inclusion of the song "Tell Me I'm Not Dreamin",which is better than anything else on 'Victory'.