40 Year Itch : Queen's huge thank you

"I think that Hyde Park was one of the most significant gigs in our career. There was a great affection because we'd kind of made it in a lot of countries by that time, but England was still, you know, we weren't really sure if we were really acceptable here. So it was a wonderful feeling to come back and see that crowd and get that response."
-Brian May

(click to read review)

On September 18, 1976, a crowd of 150,000 attended Queen's free concert in Hyde Park. For the band, this was a thank you to fans who helped 1975's A Night at the Opera debut at #1 on the UK charts, on its way to selling more than six million copies. Freddie Mercury wore white so the people way in the back could see him. 

 Although the concert was shot by a professional television crew only "White Queen" aired ( on the Old Grey Whistle Test). So all we have is the poorly mastered, poor sounding video below...with one exception."You Take My Breath Away", from the forthcoming A Day at the Races, was remastered for a 2011 Universal Records reissue. There are constant promises that a DVD will be made available someday.

Virgin's Richard Branson organized the concert and made sure his label's Steve Hillage got some stage time to promote L, an album the former Gong guitarist recorded with Todd Rundgren producing. More on that later this month.