Football Fight

Written by Freddie Mercury

Recording information by Philipp (PraxisNothaft@t-online.de)

Recorded at various studios February - October 1980.
Released in December 1980 on the album Flash Gordon (also B-side of Flash single).

General:
Probably the most catchy and memorable instrumental tune on the Flash Gordon soundtrack. Like the title says, it is the background music of the campy Football fight in the Flash Gordon movie.

Drum:
Roger just recorded one drum-kit-track.
Elements: Bass-drum, snare-drum, hi-hat, two crash cymbals.
Every element is placed very slightly left or right...no synths!

Bass-stuff:
There´s a bass-line, played with synth, which begins right from the start and is fading out later. Somewhere in the middle it is fading in again for a short time.
The sound would be described best with Midi no. 40 (synth. bass 2)
The most bass-work, however, is done by John with a rumbling Fender Bass, recorded via D.I. and with some EQ.

Keyboard:
The catchy melody is played by Freddie, maybe with an Oberheim OBX. The sound is similar to no. 82 (saw wave lead synth). Freddie used a pitch wheel to make these siren effects.

Guitars:
Brian just recorded two guitar-tracks, a right and a left one. Both guitars are played with the Red Special and picked up with mics (placed before the good ol' VoxAc30). A treble-booster was used to make the tone brighter.

Of course, there are also dialogues and sounds from the matching film scene mixed in.

By the way:
Used on the Magic Years Vol.3 video together with footage of the Wembley audience going to the concert. There's a piano-based demo from early 1980, recorded at Musicland Studios in Munich.