AIUMelodyNelson

Hi Tim! Huuuuge lifelong fan of everything Queen and related - I even have a Gettin' Smile vinyl! A few questions from me...

1) Up to the point that Freddie Bulsara replaced you in Smile, you knew him considerably more than either Brian or Roger did; so how did you feel when your pal Freddie took the place you had vacated? Did you feel betrayed, were you encouraging, or were you too focused on Humpy Bong at the time to really care?

2) You have said before that one of the primary reasons for leaving Smile was that you weren't comfortable with the direction they were heading. Do you feel that Brian and Roger were already developing the "Queen sound" in Smile, before Freddie and John Deacon were on the scene, and was that the style you were uncomfortable with?

3) One of your Smile co-compositions - "Doing All Right" - featured on Queen's debut album, making you one of only five non-Queen members to share this honour. How did this come about? Were you made aware of this? Were the royalties ever an issue?

4) I can never decide if Freddie has been almost completely covered as a subject, or if we have barely scratched the surface. Either way, you were once close to one of the last century's greatest enigmas, and a bona fide icon of popular culture. How did the real, uncensored, human Freddie Mercury compare to the myth?

Some plaques, for example the recent one placed at the family home of Freddie Mercury, remain as homes for people with nothing to do with the commemorated person. Does this pose issues, considering it potentially encourages people to loiter, photograph or even approach the private property and citizens who live there? How much of an influence do the occupiers have over such decisions?

You performed on Top Of The Pops (I believe, miming to a song you didn't actually perform on?) with Humpy Bong; the story goes it was a matter of weeks after leaving Smile. How was that as an experience? Were you as disappointed as Roger Taylor would later be?