From Queenpedia.com
Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen's first true promotional video, and certainly the first to receive any real airplay was also the one which is credited by many to have kickstarted the music video industry and revolutionised the way popular music was marketed for ever.
It all began when, thanks to the intervention of friend of the band and disc-jockey/comedian Kenny Everrett, EMI released, initially against their will and supposed better judgement, Queen's six minute epic Bohemian Rhapsody as a single. The song was taken from what was at the time, the most expensive album ever made, which meant EMI were cautious at making such a big risk on the single release - if it bombed, would the album follow? However, upon it's release on 31st October 1975, it rapidly climbed the charts to claim the number one spot for nine, uninterrupted weeks.
At the time, Queen were about to embark of a long UK tour, but wanted the song to be played on television shows, in particular Top Of The Pops. As The Beatles and Procol Harum among others had done in the 1960s with short films of their singles, Queen chose to film a performance of the song, which due to the complexity of the track was a wise idea indeed.
On 10th November 1975, the band and director Bruce Gowers spent four hours and £4,500 (though according to Gower it was actually three hours and £3,500) filming a six minute clip entirely on video at Elstree Studios, London. Said Gower in 1999: 'I got there about 7:30, we started to shoot, we finished it around 10:30 and were in the pub having a beer at 10:45!'
The band wanted to recreate the front cover of their earlier Queen II album, and the results spoke for themselves. The dark, near-gothic image originally envisioned by the band with Mick Rock was brought to life spectacularly, and has become one of the most iconic images in rock music.
One of the most notable aspects of the video, which is primarily a basic performance except for the opening and closing scenes, and of course the operatic section in the middle, were the bold 'echo' effects layered onto the four figures of the band during these parts. These were produced by a camera focusing on a monitor producing the effects as the band mimed along, whilst the kaleidoscope effects were simply made using a prism lens.
Yet despite the shoestring budget, it worked. The video was broadcast on Top Of The Pops and combined with the uniqueness of the song itself caused a national buzz around the band, and the song was soon at the top of the charts, fast becoming one of the most iconic moments in pop culture of all time.
Alternate Versions
- After a number of weeks, Top Of The Pops began to broadcast an alternate version of the video after the first few weeks for variety, which has since become known as the 'Flames' version. This version was similar to the original, but contained several noticeably different shots. The most obvious difference was the addition of a series of flame effects super-imposed upon the opening and closing moments of the video. This version has been made available on the Greatest Video Hits 1 DVD as an easter egg.
- All tracks on Greatest Flix, Queen's first VHS release in 1981, were either faded in to one another, or edited together to create a constant flow of music. The video began with a snatch of the Bohemian Rhapsody introduction, played over an image of the video's title in the style of the 20th Century Fox logo, which faded into the actual video. After the first four lines of the song, the video switched to a collage of pictures over the track Killer Queen. As the song faded out, Bohemian Rhapsody started again. When the video was included on the DVD-A release of A Night At The Opera, the visual master used was a copy of Greatest Flix, and the extract begins with the final frames of the Killer Queen video.
- After a successful reissue in the UK in December 1991, Hollywood Records followed suit, and reissued the song as a double a-side with The Show Must Go On early in 1992. Although clearly a tribute to Freddie, this coincided with the release of the feature film Wayne's World, and its legendary use of the song gave Hollywood Records the license to insert clips from the movie around some of the original footage, as well as live footage from the Christmas Eve 1975 gig at the Hammersmith Odeon, London.
Credits
| Version | Name | Artist | Recorded | Format | Length | Director | Filming Location |
| Standard Edit | Bohemian Rhapsody | Queen | November 10th, 1975 | Video | 5.54 | Bruce Gowers | Elstree Studios, London |
| Flames Version | Bohemian Rhapsody | Queen | November 10th, 1975 | Video | 5.54 | Bruce Gowers | Elstree Studios, London |
| Wayne's World Version | Bohemian Rhapsody | Queen | November 10th, 1975 | Video | 6.12 | Bruce Gowers, Penelope Spheeris | Elstree Studios, London / Hammersmith Odeon, London |
Availability
- Standard Version - Greatest Flix VHS; Queen Collection - 15 Of The Best VHS; Gold Rushes VHS; Box Of Flix VHS; Classic Queen VHS; Greatest Hits VHS; A Night At The Opera DVD-Audio; Greatest Video Hits 1 DVD; A Night At The Opera 30th Anniversary Edition CD & DVD; The Making Of A Night At The Opera DVD
- Flames Version - Greatest Video Hits 1 DVD
- Wayne's World Version - Wayne's World VHS
The Videos
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