Body Language (song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Body Language" | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Single by Queen | ||
| from the album Hot Space | ||
| Released | 19 April 1982 | |
| Format | vinyl record (7") | |
| Recorded | 1982 | |
| Genre | Disco | |
| Length | 4:29 | |
| Label | EMI, Elektra | |
| Writer(s) | Freddie Mercury | |
| Producer(s) | Queen and Mack | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Queen singles chronology | ||
| "Under Pressure" (1981) |
"Body Language" (1982) |
"Las Palabras de Amor" (1982) |
Body Language is a 1982 disco/rock hit from the English rock band Queen. It was written by lead singer Freddie Mercury and was a fairly big hit in North America, where it received extensive radio-play. However, the single only received a luke-warm response in the United Kingdom. The track was the second single released from their 1982 album Hot Space.
[edit] History
The massive success of "Another One Bites the Dust" inspired Queen to temporarily abandon their glam and heavy metal rock roots in the early 1980s, and experiment with disco, funk and soul music. "Body Language" and, more importantly, its parent album Hot Space were the results of this change. At the time of its release, the song confused just about everyone, even those who had learned to adjust to Queen's erratic musical directions. It contained no guitar during the body of the song, only a short two-note riff during the fade out, and few hints that it was performed by the same band who had chalked up hits like "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "We Are the Champions". The song's key feature was its minimal and sparse production, with main focus on a "suggestive" synth bass line and writer Freddie Mercury's moans and groans.
[edit] Reaction
Most critics and Queen fans sees this as one of the band worst songs, as its overly sexual theme, massive use of synth and the lack of guitar makes it very atypical to what the fans and critics ecxpected. Music critic Georgiy Starostin stated: "But it wasn't 'Back Chat' that served as the album's main single - nope, that had to be the utterly ridiculous 'Body Language', which could easily be taken as an open parody on the exaggerated sexuality of modern R'n'B if only it were easier to tell in general which aspects of Mercury are parodic and which ones are not. The man has never been completely serious, nor has he been totally tongue-in-cheek, so 'Body Language' is just another goofball offering of his, and far from successful. In case you haven't heard the song (lucky boy), it essentially wastes a fine bassline on a random bunch of Freddie screaming 'I gotta case o' body language!' and 'SEXY BODY! SEXY BODY!'. It ain't sexy. It's just stupid."
The drastic change causing the single to stall at #25 on the UK charts. However, it did far better in the U.S., where it peaked at #11, the Americans appearing to be a lot more supportive of Queen's forays into dance music. The B-side "Life Is Real (Song for John Lennon)" may also have had some role in the single's success, as this single was released just a little over a year after Lennon's assassination. What many Americans didn't fully appreciate was the accompanying music video, which caused a considerable amount of controversy. Featuring lots of skin, lots of sweat (but apparently not enough clothing save for the members of Queen themselves), it was deemed unsuitable for a television audience in 1982 and was not accepted by MTV, eventually becoming the first ever music video to be banned from that television station.
