by Tony Frank
The cover art features Bowie as a striking half-man, half-dog grotesque painted by Belgian artist Guy Peellaert. It was controversial as the full painting clearly showed the hybrid’s genitalia. Very few copies of this original cover made their way into circulation at the time of the album’s release. According to the record-collector publication goldmine price guides, these albums have been among the most expensive record collectibles of all time, as high as thousands of US dollars for a single copy. The genitalia were quickly airbrushed out for the 1974 LP’s gatefold sleeve, although the original artwork (and another rejected cover featuring Bowie in a sombrero cordobés holding onto a ravenous dog, an image captured by Terry O’Neill) was included in subsequent Rykodisc/EMI re-issues.
Freddie & John with Reinhold Mack (a German record producer and sound engineer). His third son, John Frederick Mack, was named with the names of their godfathers, Freddie Mercury and John Deacon.
This shot of Queen guitarist Brian May about to jump in the swimming pool fully clothed (and with bandmate John Deacon looking on in surprise) was taken by photographer Justin Thomas. “It was at the first Rock In Rio festival in 1985”, Justin recalls. “We were at the Copa Cabana Palace Hotel and they threw this huge party with lots of sexy girls in white bikinis and G-strings, and there were guys banging drums. It might well have been Brian’s birthday, but I can’t remember! But it was after Queen’s gig where Freddie Mercury had come on stage draped in a Union Jack that had a Brazilian flag on the other side - when he turned it around, the crowd went bonkers. After Brian got out of the pool, he went out of the hotel where fans had written his name in the sand in candles - it was very sweet.”
