A previously unreleased track that was recorded by Freddie Mercury only five years before his untimely death has just been uncovered. “Time Waits For No One” was recorded in 1985 when the legendary Queen frontman teamed up with ’60s star Dave Clark for the Time concept album which was based on Clark’s London musical of the same name. Stripped of backing vocals, the new bare-bones version captures the full power of Mercury’s soaring vocal. Watch below:
The original track was released in May 1986 as “Time” and featured Mercury’s vocals accompanied by theatrical production and renowned pianist Mike Moran. Dave Clark has now revisited the original essence of the track, after retrieving it from his tape archive in 2018.
The stripped-back arrangement shines a spotlight on Mercury’s incredible vocal acrobatics as the track builds with emotional intensity, pivoting on nothing but his soaring voice.
Clark said of the original sessions: “We got on great…if I didn’t like something I’d say, and vice versa…we were both aiming for the same thing: to make something special.”
Watch this exclusive interview from 1986 where Freddie Mercury and Dave Clark share their experience of working together to create the track "Time":
They also filmed a video for the song at the time on the stage where the musical was produced but were given only three hours to shoot and little time to set up and break down before the doors opened. They transferred the footage from 35-millimetre film to video to produce a clip for Top of the Pops. For this new release, Clark revisited the original films reels, finding two angles that had never been developed before and used the footage to cut a new video.
An official statement explains: “‘Time Waits For No One’ is a tribute to the musical force of Freddie Mercury; the performance, the drama, the vocal range, and after four decades waiting in the wings, is finally out for new and old fans alike.”
Freddie Mercury's ability to convey power, emotion and vulnerability simultaneously was unsurpassable. Time Waits For No One is a gift from the past from an all-time master. Listen on Spotify:
Listen to Time Waits For No One on Apple Music:
