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Freddie Mercury’s lamp that was used in the 1975 video for the Queen song ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. The lamp had been part of the Queen stage set up. It can be seen at the left-hand side of the piano played by Freddie in the video. The lamp can by clearly identified by the cooling vents on the top which match identically to the one in the video.
To record the video the band used a company Trillion, a subsidiary of Trident Studios, their former management company and recording studio. They hired one of their trucks and got it to Elstree Studios, where the band was rehearsing for their upcoming ‘A Night At The Opera’ tour. The video was directed by Bruce Gowers, who had directed a video of the band's 1974 performance at the Rainbow Theatre in London, and was recorded by cameraman Barry Dodd and assistant director/floor manager Jim McCutcheon. The video was recorded in just four hours on 10th November 1975 at a cost of £4,500. Gowers reported that the band was involved in the discussion of the video and the result, and "was a co-operative to that extent, but there was only one leader”. The video was edited within five hours because it was due to be broadcast the same week in which it was taped. The film was sent to the BBC as soon as it was completed and aired for the first time on Top of the Pops in November 1975.
The lamp was given to the Queen roadie Brian ‘Nudger’ Spencer after the group had no further use for it, it was subsequently given by Brian to another member of the Queen Road crew named Kenny Wheeler. The lamp comes with a letter from Terry Wheeler, Kenny’s brother, that reads ‘My brother Kenny Wheeler worked for Queen in the 1970s as part of the group’s road crew. His responsibilities were working with and transporting equipment etc. His friend Brian Spencer (aka ‘Nudger’) was also part of the Queen Road crew, his role was to deal with the stage monitors. Kenny and Brian are pictured in the enclosed photograph. Brian (Nudger) attended the recording of the Bohemian Rhapsody video in 1975. The lamp can be seen on the left-hand side of Freddie Mercury’s piano, as he is playing the song. When the lamp was no longer needed it was given to Nudger, who subsequently gave it to my brother Kenny, who in turn gave it to my mother. The lamp stayed in my mother’s possession [sic] until her passing in 2003. When the lamp was initially given to my mother, there was a circular black and gold Queen sticker and also a metallic strip which was embossed with the name Freddie. Unfortunately, these two stickers were lost over time, however the glue residue left by them still remains. I thereby confirm the authenticity of the lamp pictured herein’. YouTube link for the item is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ9rUzIMcZQ. Comes with a Letter of Provenance and a Gotta Have Rock & Roll Certificate of Authenticity.