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- Bicycle Racing (2)
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Bicycle Race
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Bicycle Race" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Queen | ||
| A-side(s) | Fat Bottomed Girls | |
| Released | October 13, 1978 | |
| Format | 7" | |
| Recorded | 1978 | |
| Genre | Neo-progressive rock | |
| Length | 3:01 | |
| Label | EMI, Elektra | |
| Writer(s) | Freddie Mercury | |
| Producer(s) | Queen and Roy Thomas Baker | |
| Chart positions | ||
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||
| 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 watching riders competing in the famed race go by his hotel room window 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".
Contents |
- This song was released as a double-A side with "Fat Bottomed Girls" and contains the line "Fat Bottomed Girls, they'll be riding today/ so look out for those beauties, oh yeah". For its part, "Fat Bottomed Girls" contains the line "Get on your bikes and ride!"
- The video featured a collection of naked models riding around a race track on bikes hired from British cycle shop chain Halfords. When returned, Queen were ordered to pay for all the seats as Halfords 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]
- The song makes numerous references to pop culture from the 1970s, including Jaws, Star Wars, Watergate, and Superman, among others.
- 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.
 Bicycle Race/Fat Bottomed Girls |
 Back cover |
 A bicycle race with nude women was held to promote the single. |
- ^ Bicycle Race at YouTube
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This 1970s single-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |