Earlier this past summer, British music journalist Mark Blake published his book Is This The Real Life?, an engaging biography of the band Queen. Blake’s book is crammed with amazing personal information on the band’s members – Freddie Mercury, John Deacon, Roger Taylor and Brian May – in addition to chronicling their success as a group. Blake had a good deal of assistance in gathering his researched material from a guy named Peter Hince, who was a member of Queen’s road crew for over a decade, in addition to also being the personal roadie to both Freddie Mercury and John Deacon. Continue reading Recommended Reading: Queen Unseen By Peter Hince→
These days, Peter Hince is a well-respected photographer living in London. But back in the seventies and eighties, when Rock & Roll was still a dangerous and magical thing, Peter was better known by the nickname “Ratty,” and he worked for the rock band Queen; primarily as roadie to Freddie Mercury and Queen Bassist John Deacon. Eventually, he became the head of the entire Queen road crew. Peter also did a lot of the band’s promotional photography while in their employ, some of which you can see at This Link. I’ve previously written about Peter back when I first discovered his website a couple of years ago. Last night I got a nice email from him letting me know that his book on the band, Queen Unseen, will be published this October. To get this kind of insider perspective on Queen is extremely exciting for anyone who, like me in my teens, ever considered Queen to be not just a favorite band, but almost like a religion or way of life. The formerly obsessed know who they are.
Flyer from 2010 Art Exhibit: Queen, the Unseen Archive
Peter offers that the book, “is not an easy-option tabloid exposé or simply rehashed information from the public domain. It is a unique book that is my story of the many years and special times I spent [with the band] on tour, in the recording studio, on video shoots etc. It is day-to-day life with one of the worlds’ biggest and best-ever rock bands. It is not a chronological or definitive biography of the band, [but] simply a personal account of what it was like spending your youth traveling the world and living the rock and roll lifestyle to the full. The book is an insightful, enlightening and mostly humorous account for anybody who has ever wondered what working for Queen really entailed. Queen Unseen is a collection of stories, anecdotes, observations, memories and details of first hand life as the longest serving roadie and head of their crew. The story is supplemented by rare and unseen photos and other items of interest. I hope you will join me on my journey and share all the many highs and some lows of having Access All Areas to Queen.”
Holy Shit, it sounds amazing!
Peter has promised to have his publisher send me an advance copy for review, so I will keep you updated on when it is available for pre-order and in stores. Again, congratulations, Peter! I know a lot of hardcore Queen fans will be buying your book!
Preorder Info Added June 16: To order a signed copy of Queen Unseen for £ 17.99, (UK Shipping No Charge, Overseas Shipping Add £3.00) or about $34 total with today’s exchange rate, please contact John Blake Publishing Ltd with your name, address and contact number / email at words@blake.co.uk. Note: Signed advance-ordered copies will be available on publication, October 2011 and not released before.
It is no secret that I spent a few of my teenage years being completely, over-the-top obsessed with the rock band Queen. I was lucky enough to see Queen about five times on the Night at the Opera, Day at the Races, News of the World and Jazz tours. My love of all things Queen was so all-consuming, I even knew the names of and biographical details about their roadies, one of whom was nicknamed “Ratty.” So it only took me about three seconds to flash back to the good old late ‘70s when, quite by chance, I came across the website Ratty’s Queen Memories. Here’s an excerpt from the site’s home page by Peter ‘Ratty’ Hince himself:
