Hot Space

Lore & Background

The album's direction was heavily influenced by John Deacon, who Roger Taylor affirmed in a 1984 interview "turned the band towards a more disco sound." Taylor elaborated: "John's always been R&B orientated, our bass player who wrote 'Another One Bites The Dust', ... which turned out to be the biggest selling record of the year. And I think that was the song that catapulted us into taking that road. I think we went too far and did too much." Disliking the new sound, Brian May and Taylor were critical of the influence of Paul Prenter, Freddie Mercury's personal manager between 1977 and 1984. Taylor stated that "[Prenter] wanted our music to sound like you'd just walked in a gay club...and I didn't." May noted the making of the album in Munich took much longer than usual and that all of the band got into "deep emotional trouble" in the city, blaming a mixture of drink, drugs and partying. According to producer Reinhold Mack, Prenter loathed rock music and refused all requests from US radio stations to speak to Mercury. May states, "this guy, in the course of one tour, told every record station to fuck off. But not just 'fuck off', but 'Freddie says, "fuck off"'." Queen roadie Peter Hince wrote "None of the band cared for him [Prenter], apart from Freddie."

Reader's Guide

The album is divided into two sides. Side one opens with "Staying Power", which features a horn arrangement by Arif Mardin recorded at Record Plant Studios in New York. "Back Chat", written by John Deacon, is the track most influenced by black music. "Body Language", composed by Mercury on synth bass, features very little guitar and its video, featuring scantily clad models, was banned in a few territories. "Action This Day", one of two Taylor songs, is driven by a pounding electronic drum machine in 2/4 time and features a saxophone solo by Italian session musician Dino Solera. Side two includes "Put Out the Fire", an anti-firearms song and the album's most traditional Queen song, which later appeared on the Queen Rocks compilation in 1997. "Life Is Real" was written by Mercury as a tribute to John Lennon. "Calling All Girls" was the first Queen song written by Taylor to be released as a single (in selected countries including the US and Australia, but not the UK). "Las Palabras de Amor" was a top 20 hit in the UK. "Cool Cat" features Mercury singing the entire song in falsetto, with all instruments except the electric piano played by Deacon.

Did You Know?

• Queen had never used synthesisers on their albums before 1979, but on Hot Space they introduced the drum machine for the first time.
• 'Cool Cat' originally featured David Bowie on backing vocals and spoken word, but Bowie requested his vocals be removed days before the album's release.
• 'Action This Day' takes its title from a Winston Churchill catchphrase that the statesman would attach to urgent documents.