Bicycle Race
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- For the sport, see Bicycle racing.
| "Bicycle Race" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Single by Queen | ||
| from the album Jazz | ||
| Released | October 13, 1978 | |
| Format | 7" | |
| Recorded | 1978 | |
| Genre | Rock | |
| Length | 3:01 | |
| Label | EMI, Elektra | |
| Writer(s) | Freddie Mercury | |
| Producer(s) | Queen and Roy Thomas Baker | |
| Chart positions | ||
|
||
| Queen singles chronology | ||
| "It's Late" (1978) |
"Bicycle Race" / "Fat Bottomed Girls" (1978) |
"Don't Stop Me Now" (1979) |
Bicycle Race is a hit single for the English rock band Queen. It was released on their 1978 album Jazz and written by Queen vocalist and pianist Freddie Mercury.
The song was inspired by the Tour de France, a long-distance bicycle race held annually in France. Mercury was in a hotel watching the Tour de France go by his hotel one day when he was inspired to write "Bicycle Race". To release this song, Queen staged a bicycle race with 65 naked girls. A clip from this race was used as the single cover. The video was originally banned, and the video had to be re-edited with colour added to censor out any offensive imagery. The song is famed for its 'bicycle bell solo', which fans would often replicate live at Queen concerts with their own such bells.
It was released as a Double-A side with the song "Fat Bottomed Girls".
[edit] Trivia
This song was released as a double-A side with "Fat Bottomed Girls" and contains the lines "Fat Bottomed Girls, they'll be riding today" and "so look out for those beauties oh yeah".
The video featured a collection of naked models riding around a race track on bikes hired from Harrods. When returned, Queen were ordered to pay for all the seats as Harrods wouldn't accept them knowing what they had been used for.
During a show at Madison Square Garden the band had numerous topless women on stage riding bicycles.[1]
[edit] Cover versions
- This song was covered by the German dance artist Blümchen (1996). Her version contains samples from Queen's original recording.
- This song was covered by Lemon Demon and was released on the bonus tracks to his Damn Skippy album in 2005.
- The song was covered again in 2005 by be your own PET on a Queen Tribute album.
- The song was covered again in 2006 by Between The Buried And Me on their album The Anatomy Of.
[edit] References
- ^ Bicycle Race at YouTube
| Queen |
| John Deacon | Brian May | Freddie Mercury | Roger Taylor History | Live performances | Songs |
| Discography |
|---|
| Studio albums: Queen | Queen II | Sheer Heart Attack | A Night at the Opera | A Day at the Races | News of the World | Jazz | The Game | Flash Gordon | Hot Space | The Works | A Kind of Magic | The Miracle | Innuendo | Made in Heaven |
| Live albums: Live Killers | Live Magic | Live at Wembley '86 | Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl | Return of the Champions |
| Compilation albums: Greatest Hits | At the Beeb | Greatest Hits II | Classic Queen | Queen Rocks | Greatest Hits III | Stone Cold Classics |
| DVDs: We Will Rock You | The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert | Greatest Video Hits 1 | Live at Wembley Stadium | Greatest Video Hits 2 | We Are the Champions: Final Live in Japan | Queen on Fire - Live at the Bowl | Return of the Champions | Super Live in Japan |
| Related Articles |
| Ibex | Larry Lurex | Smile | The Cross | Queen + Paul Rodgers |
 |
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