Before “Ice Ice Baby” became the most ubiquitous earworm of 1989, its sampled groove drove a song recorded 8 years earlier, Queen and David Bowie’s brilliant collaboration “Under Pressure.” Stylus magazine declared Queen bassist John Deacon’s three-note riff the number one bassline of all time..

The place where this story happened was in Montreux, Vevey district, Vaud canton, Switzerland. At the foot of the Swiss Alps, it perches with its toes dangling in Lake Geneva. It is wine country; viticulture was introduced in the 12th century and today vineyards stretching from Lavaux to Montreux...