On 31 October 1975 Queen released “Bohemian Rhapsody”

On 31 October 1975 Queen released “Bohemian Rhapsody”, the lead single from their fourth studio album A Night at the Opera. The song lasts 5 minutes 55 seconds and does without a conventional chorus: it is assembled from five parts, including an intro, a ballad, an operatic middle, hard rock and a reflective coda. The combination of the seemingly incompatible became the band’s signature.

Recording and release

The song’s author, Freddie Mercury, called it a “mock opera”: according to him, he combined three of his own songs. The composition was recorded with co-producer Roy Thomas Baker in five studios between August and September 1975. The technology of the time worked with 24-track analog tape, so the tracks had to be re-recorded and mixed repeatedly through eight generations. In the end, almost 200 tracks were needed for the overdubs, and in some passages 180 overdubs are heard.

Releasing a nearly six-minute single seemed risky: executives suggested shortening it, and radio stations at first did not want to play the song in full. Mercury insisted on the full version. Baker and the band deliberately gave the tape to DJ Kenny Everett on the condition that it not be aired. He first teased listeners with fragments, then played the song in full 14 times over two days; the plan worked, and demand rose sharply. In the end the single became the Christmas number one in Britain in 1975 and stayed at number one for nine weeks.

Charts and video

Outside Britain the song also topped the charts: in Canada it held first place for two weeks, and in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland and the Netherlands it also reached the top. In the US in 1976 the single rose only to ninth place, but after the release of the film Wayne’s World in 1992 it reached second. Total sales exceeded six million copies.

The promo clip was shot on 10 November 1975 at Elstree Studios: director Bruce Gowers, four hours of filming and a budget of £4,500. The clip is considered an important step in the development of the music video: after Queen’s success, videos became a regular part of single promotion. In November 1975 it was first shown on Top of the Pops.

Legacy

After Mercury’s death in 1991, the single returned to number one in Britain for another five weeks. It was the first song to twice reach the top of the UK Singles Chart in the same version, and the only single to twice become Christmas number one with the same version. In 2004 “Bohemian Rhapsody” was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and in 2022 the US Library of Congress selected the recording for preservation in the National Recording Registry. After the release of the 2018 biopic, it became the most streamed song of the 20th century. The single remains the third best-selling in UK history.

Image: Koh Hasebe; Distributed by Elektra Records Public domain

Translation editor: Ловушкин А.