Featuring vocals by Freddie Mercury and David Bowie, the 1981 No.1 UK hit had been recorded during a marathon wine-fuelled 24-hour session at Montreux’s Mountain Studios.
“You already had four precocious boys, and David, who was precocious enough for all of us,” recalled Brian May in Mojo. “Passions ran very high. I found it very hard because I got so little of my own way. But David had a real vision and he took over the song lyrically.”
On the stage, however, Queen claimed "Under Pressure" as their own, right down to the head-turning stagewear that gave the song an added dimension.
The first performance in the compilation sees Freddie take command of the Milton Keynes Bowl on June 5, 1982 of the band’s Hot Space tour (a show later released as “Queen On Fire: Live At The Bowl”); fast forward to a May 1985 appearance in Japan and 1986 stop in Budapest, Hungary before the footage wraps up at London’s Wembley Stadium in July 1986, where Freddie rose to the occasion in his iconic Diana Moseley-designed military-style yellow cropped jacket – for what would prove to be his last-ever performances in the capital.
Pick up your copy of Queen’s “The Platinum Collection (Greatest Hits I II & III)” here.
See also:
Queen rock vintage Sheer Heart Attack performances on The Greatest Live
Queen: Freddie Mercury personal collection headed to auction
Queen rock 1975 Ogre Battle performance on The Greatest Live series
Queen revisit stage wear on The Greatest Live series
Search Queen at hennemusic
