When a pre-stardom Queen met a young Danny Baker. Or, “Your Acetates Ain’t Nothin’ But Trash“…
With their debut LP nearly ready for release, Queen decided to declare their genius to the world. Their chosen method was to take their album acetates to trendy West End record shop One Stop. Working behind the counter was a young Danny Baker.
In his memoir Going To Sea In A Sieve, Baker recalled one of the group announcing: “We want you to play our record in your shop. Constantly!” Manager John Gillespie put the record on the deck but after a minute of Keep Yourself Alive lifted the stylus. “Hate it,” he said, dismissing them as Deep Purple soundalikes. Baker ventured the compliment they sounded like Stray.
The group exploded in outrage at being compared to such minnows. Four-letter words flew back and forth before the group exited as dramatically as they’d arrived.
They left behind not just their acetates but a carrier bag of promotional kimonos.
The acetates were thrown in the bin when the store took receipt of the commercially released version of the album, while Baker recalls he wore the kimonos for a while before tearing them up for dusters.