Rufus Publications Announce ‘Unseen Queen – The Dutch Shows and More, 1974 – 1986’

Rufus Publications is pleased to announce the publication of Unseen Queen – The Dutch Shows and More, 1974 – 1986, featuring the photographs of Aad Spanjaard with words by TJ Lammers.

Formed in London in 1970 Queen has been a huge presence in popular culture for well over half a century, selling around 300 million records and being, simply, one of the most iconic stadium rock bands in the world.

Unseen Queen, an unofficial new book from Rufus, draws on nearly 500 black & white prints and colour transparencies, only recently re-discovered in a filing cabinet in the attic of a storage facility near Amsterdam. A treasure trove of live shots, portraits and candid pictures taken at press meetings, a television show and a party. These images were taken by Dutch photographer Aad Spanjaard whenever Queen visited Holland. The Netherlands was always good to Queen, and Queen was always good to the Netherlands, so the band would travel to the country fairly often.

The relationship started in 1974, when “Killer Queen” was released over there. The band appeared in Toppop, the Dutch equivalent to England’s Top of the Pops, and “Killer Queen” shot to #3 in the singles charts. Consequently, Queen did its first Dutch live show at the end of that year, performing at the Congresgebouw in the Hague.

Only a few of these shots have featured in magazines and books and only in the Netherlands, so here they are, scanned, retouched, and presented in pristine quality in this new high-end limited edition book starting at the show in The Hague in December 1974 right the way through to Leiden in 1986.

The 300-page hardback book, measuring 245mm x 346mm, is available to order in a limited edition of 500 numbered copies, with a quarter-bound gold corvon spine, gold foil, laminated cover, and a wibalin buckram slipcase plus four limited edition A4 art prints.

The book can be pre-ordered now and will ship at the end of February 2025. The book costs £175 plus worldwide shipping and is discounted to £150 if ordered by the end of December 2024.

Rufus Publications ‘Unseen Queen – The Dutch Shows and More, 1974 – 1986’