JIM LADD:  95.5 KLOS.  It always sounds funny when you do that.  Well, to me, apparently not to everybody else.  OK, fine, fine.

(Cynthia and Brian laugh)

CYNTHIA FOX:  He’s amusing himself now.

BRIAN MAY:  I thought it was funny.

CF:  It was very good.  I think that’s a wonderful coping skill, Mr Ladd.

JL:  Thank you very much.

(More laughing).

JL:  Speaking of which, I have to read a PSA here.

CF:  Okay, good.  (claps).

JL:  And it’s for children, so Cynthia will like it.  OK.  Most people agree that the arts are critical to a child’s development.  Do you agree with that, Cynthia?

CF:  Yes I do.

JL:  Oh, okay.  Well, here’s an affordable way that you can spark your child’s creativity, that’s fun for the whole family.  We’re a rock station.  We have to use the term ‘fun for the whole family’, for God’s sake.

CF:  We have entire families listening.

JL:  Oh okay, fine.

CF:  Come on you curmudgeon.

JL:  Now here comes…

(Brian laughs).

JL:  … here comes my favourite, my favourite title for any event I’ve ever read.  Are you ready for this, Brian?

BM:  I’m ready.

JL:  The Arts Orange County and the Orange County Department of Education presents the Imagination Celebration.

CF:  And who said imagination is more important than knowledge - students?

JL:  I don’t know.  Who said that?

CF:  Well I’ve seen (indistinct) for a bit of Einstein a few times, so.  There you go.

JL:  Imagination’s more important than…

CF:  Knowledge.

JL:  Than knowledge!  Well then certainly I’m doing alright in life.  (laughing)  Then okay.  Phew!  Good.  Anyway, it’s happening now through May18th and despite the long and convoluted title, you can call 714556516.  So.  Alright, I’ve done my job.  Cynthia now it’s up to you.

CF:  (laughs) Oh…  Well, Doctor Brian May – you have to tell the story about this brand new song that’s gonna to be out on the Queen and Paul Rodgers release, in the fall, Cosmos Rocks, which you had a chance recently to play a brand new song called C-lebrity, but it came about through kind of a fun way.

BM:  Yes, very odd.  There’s a guy called Al Murray.  Now I don’t think you’ve had him on BBS or any place in this country.  It may be a very - he probably is a very British phenomenon, but he’s a very funny and very innovative guy.  He’s managed to kind of pin down the xenophobic nature of the average British person, you know, who basically (Cynthia laughs) cannot understand anything outside his own country boundaries, you know.  So he – it’s like, it’s a little bit like Alf Garnett if you ever knew that.  You know, it’s like – he says stuff like, he’ll say you know (in gruff Al Murray voice) “Well we’re in England, aren’t we.”  He’s a Pub Landlord.  He’s created this character of a pub landlord, a kind of ignorant….

JL:  Right.

BM:  … pub landlord.

CF:  What, an Archie Bunker type?

BM:  Yes, a little bit like that.  Yes, yes, a sort of lampooning the kind of (sighs) that kind of intolerant personality.  And he’ll say things like: (in gruff voice) “Where are we?  We’re in England”, you know.  “Where would – if there was no rules, where would we be?  France. (Cynthia laughs long and loud)  If there was too many rules.  If there was too many rules, where would we be?  Germany.”  And it’s just - it’s all very – that’s the – that’s the lighter side of it.  He actually goes quite a long way and he gets away with all kinds of stuff which you would kind of think was fascististic, if it wasn’t in that kind of context, and he’s very funny, and I don’t, I actually think a lot of English people don’t realise that he’s not really that character.  He’s created that character.

JL:  Right.

BM:  Anyway, he’s collared a market.  He has a fantastic show, which is on every week and huge – he gets millions – he’s the pub landlord, Al Murray – and one of the other funny…  He does a lot of… he has a great… people like repetition, and he has these sort of ways saying.  He’s have guests on there, like very important guests, who have just made a new film, you know.  It might be Johnny Depp, or whatever, and he’ll say, (in voice) “Johnny, can you tell us what your new film’s about so we don’t have to go and watch it? (Cynthia laughs)  He’s just very nice and he makes the normal chat show people look like they’re dead.  You know, he’s just very alive and funny.

JL:  Right.

BM:  Anyway – cut a long … I’m supposed to cut to the chase aren’t I?  The other thing he does is…

JL:  The horse has left the gate  (indistinct)

(CF laughs).

BM:  Sorry, yeah, yeah, you know.  The other stuff, the thing – he gets a group on every day, I’m sorry, every week, I should say, and they come on and play their latest record – their latest hit.  And they’ll play it live, which is nice.  It’s a bit of live music, and then he’ll come on at the end of it and say: (in voice) “That was really good, lads, that was great, but it wasn’t exactly Queen, was it.  What, whay, why don’t you bu**er off to the (Cynthia laughs) to the toilets and learn a Queen song and come back [and play it].”  So they have to come back and play a Queen song at the end of it.

CF:  Lovely.

BM:  Now this is – I swear to God, we didn’t pay him.  You know, but what a great ….suddenly we realised this was going on.  I didn’t know him before, and then one day we got the phone call which I think we kind of expected, (Cynthia laughs) and he said: “I’ve been doing this whole series, how about coming on, lads?” you know “and being on our show”.  So you could hardly say “No” to this guy and, anyway, we did that a couple of weeks ago and we thought, this is a great opportunity.  We can play something NEW …

JL:  Sure.

BM:  … which we’ve never done any place before, you know – Queen and Paul Rodgers new studio track, and we took this track called “C-lebrity” on, which unfortunately I can’t play you, but if you’ll be able to go to youtube, you’ll find it.  (laughs)  And then we thought it would be kind of nice NOT to play a Queen song at the end, so we played “All Right Now”, with Paul at the end…

CF:  Awww.

BM:  … which was really…

JL:  Then did he tell you to bu**er off and go and learn a Queen song?

BM:  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  (in voice)  “Don’t you know anything ellse but Queen songs, ‘cos I’m getting bored now.”  He actually said that.  Well, obviously we arranged it together, you know.

CF:  No... Oh God! That is really funny …

BM:  I hope you get Al Murray at some point, you know… over here.

JL:  Well I … Cynthia was kind enough to turn me onto the, you know the youtube – so I saw it a little bit.

BM:  You saw that?

JL:  And I saw the song and you know, I had a question about it.  What exactly is your problem with no talent hacks only care about fame and fortune, have absolutely no artistic ability or vision of any kind…

(CF laughs).

JL:  I don’t get that.

BM:  You thought that was what it was about?

JL:  That’s what struck me, yeah.

BM:  Yeah well, it’s a topical little thing about…  It’s not, it’s not negative though.  You didn’t think it was negative, did you?  It’s just…

JL:  I thought it was accurate.

BM:  Yeah – it’s a little…

JL:  I thought it was accurate.

BM:  It’s a light comment, I suppose, but I think we, (pause) you know we’re not trying to be holier than thou or anything, it’s just a comment on what goes on at the moment.

JL:  And why don’t you apologise for actually learning your craft, Brian, …

BM:  (chuckles).

JL:  … before you went out and became famous?  Why don’t you apologise for actually practising the guitar before you became famous?  I don’t get this whole culture.

BM:  You know, you’re good with your mouth, you know.

(All laugh).

BM:  Isn’t he good?  You’re very good with words.  I like that.  That’s very good.

JL:  Thank you very much.

BM:  Oh okay.

JL:  Fox, help me out here, will ya’.

CF:  Well, no, I just appreciate the song because you’re making such a nice commentary on this, on this crazy sort of reality show, superficial chasing after fame for just its own sake and…

BM:  Yeah, it was apposite.

CF:  … without anything really to contribute, you know.  Just more about…

BM:  Hmmm.

CF:  … kind of a shallow (indistinct) pursuit.

BM:  Well it’s also fun. Yeah, yeah.

CF:  Sure.

BM:  And this is the world we live in, so we just felt we should comment on it in some way.

CF:  And it rocks, and it’s great.

BM:  It does rock.  It’s not a bad little riff in there.

JL:  Oh no.

CF:  And someone’s playing some great guitar on it.

BM:  It ain’t bad, yeah.  And Paul – I’m loving working with Paul Rodgers.  He’s just unbelievable.  That kind of calibre of voice you don’t hear and not just the voice, but the heart that’s behind the voice, and the fact that he’s just full of soul and can’t help it.  Everything he ever – everything that he sings is incredible and you don’t want to throw any of it away.  He’s amazing and he’s great creatively.  It’s a great – it’s a good little brotherhood.

CF:  He seems a positive guy too.

BM:  Oh…

CF:  That little twinkle in his eye, and you know, it’s…

BM:  He’s one of the most centred guys I’ve ever known.  He really is.  I mean, he’s been through all kinds of stuff.  He’s seen life, you know, but he’s utterly centred, he’s calm, he does a load of meditation and stuff, but not in the, not in the sort of, in any kind of boring kind of way he’s just very much in life and understands what he is, what he has to offer,, and is very generous.  He’s, he’syou know, working with him has been absolutely great, I’ve gotta say, and we have a new group, I feel.  You know, it’s called “Queen and Paul Rodgers”, ‘cause you can’t think of what else to call it, you know, but it’s, it’s a new group.  We just have some nice ingredients from the old days, which all seem to be working together.

JL:  Well, I gotta tell you, when I first heard that Paul Rodgers was gonna sing with Queen, I thought, “What!!” 

BM:   Well we…

JL:  I love Paul Rodgers and I love Queen, but I couldn’t… and then of course, then when I heard it I went “Wow!!  It works!!”  You know, I like it.

BM:  Thank you. Well, yeah.  We didn’t think of it either.  You know, it, and I was against the idea of replacing Freddie, as everybody knows, you know, had come violently against it and I didn’t want to even talk about it, but day after day after day, people would suggest singers that we might have, and the one person that was never talked about was Paul Rodgers, and I just – and I think it works because it was an organic thing.  It wasn’t something we looked for, and I just found myself playing with him one night at the Fender Anniversary Award show, or whatever it was, and playing “All Right Now”.  We came off stage and it was the most natural thing in the world for me to play that with him, and his lady was standing beside him as we came off and she said: “It works for you guys, doesn’t it.  All you need is a drummer”, (chuckle) which is rather a vision.

JL:  Wow.

BM:  She’s called Cynthia, like you, dear. 

CF:  Yes, yes yes.

BM:  And so I said, “Well, actually, I know a drummer”, and made the call to Roger, and Roger went “Wow!  We never thought of that, did we.”  (chuckles)  “What an interesting, what a wonderful idea!”  ‘Cos he’s a hero of ours.  Paul is still our hero and that’s nice, and when he walks in the studio I still get that feeling, “Jesus Christ, it’s Paul Rodgers, folks!!”  (Laughter)  I still get that.  You know, and Freddie idolised him – we all did.  He was - that Free, “Fire and Water” album was a bible to us, along with Abbey Road and every Hendrix album.  You know, yeah, and sitting there and looking across the room and there’s Paul Rodgers, and he’s singing.  Wow!!  Unbelieveable.

JL:  Well, let’s do something about that, and let me return the compliment.  You’re a rather eloquent human being yourself, there, Brian.

BM: Thank you!!

Recorded Country Voice:  Use your tongue prettier than a 20 dollar whore.