Caught in a landslide, no escape from reality

Continuing my trip up the list of the most streamed songs for each year.  

1975 : Bohemian Rhapsody - Queen

Do you know this one?  You might not remember it, but you'd probably recognise it - honest!  I do like it, but I'm a bit uncertain whether I'm surprised about it winning the year or not - yes, it's a popular and iconic track but even so, it doesn't strike me as the sort of thing that makes people think "Hmmm - I gotta have some of that Bo Rap right now, dude".

I think you only have to play about 30 seconds of a track for it to count as having been streamed, so I think that's part of it.  If it only counted if you had to listen to all 5:55 (surprisingly, not the longest track on the list so far), I suspect it wouldn't have won.  Wikipedia has a massive amount on the track - 555 milliPeppers on just one song!  It actually explains why it won the year - it's all down to the film apparently (the song is done VERY well in the film, but it wouldn't make me want to stream the track).

Wikipedia often gives albums a track-by-track breakdown - amusingly, for this track, it gets a secfion-by-section breakdown.  Intro, ballad, guitar solo, opera, hard rock and outro - it's funny because you can hear them in your head as you read the list.  The section on the track's release as a single is funny - their UK and US record companies basically just told them that there was no way it was happening.  So they "lent" Kenny Everett a copy, having made him "promise" not to play it - well, he only played it 14 times in 2 days on his Capital Radio show.  And one guy who heard it managed a load of US radio stations and he "somehow" got hold of a copy as well and took it over there and played it as well - so audiences were going mad for a track that record companies were refusing to release.

The initial critical reception was interesting - "the UK music papers reacted with bemusement, recognising that the song was original and technically accomplished, but they mostly remained indifferent", but I think it's fair to say it's had a lasting impact.  I'd forgotten that Wayne's World also raised its profile - and I never realised the Mike Myers appeared in the Queen biopic as a record exec who says the track isn't one "teenagers can crank up the volume in their car and bang their heads to", which is, of course, what Wayne and Garth do.

So - when has it charted?  When hasn't it, more like!  In the UK, the original version hit #1 in '75/'76, #1 in '91 (and it was #2 in the year end chart) and #45 in '18/'19 and in the US it hit #9 in '75/'76, #2 in '92 and #33 in '18/'19.  I didn't think it would have been covered too many times, but it actually has its own Wikipedia page for cover versions (which is a first) - five of which have charted in the UK from Bad News, The Braids, Panic! At The Disco, Rolf Harris and The Muppets (if this isn't the best cover, I'll be surprised!).  Other cover versions listed are Fuzzbox (well, I wasn't expecting a fully a capella version, including the guitar solos) Elaine Paige (the mind boggles), The Flaming Lips, Newton Faulkner, P!nk and William Shatner (that's gonna be bad, ain't it? or is it "so bad it's good"?).  Not totally a cover version, but more a "reimagining" is Weird Al Yankovic's "Bohemian Polka" which is also, quite, errr, something.

So, Wikipedia has convinced me that it deserves its place as the year's winner, but it was actually only #22 in the year-end chart (#35 in '76) - so I bet there were some pretty classy tracks up the top of the chart, right?  Oh yeah - prepare to be impressed.  The top five were The Bay City Rollers' "Bye Bye Baby", Rod Stewart's "Sailing", The Stylistics "I Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)" (which I didn't remember at all, but it has a big black guy singing in a very high voice), Windsor Davies and Don Estelle's "Whispering Grass" (seriously!?!) and Tammy Wynette's "Stand By Your Man" - other artists to feature in the top twenty were Roger Whittaker, Telly Savalas and Jasper Carrott (yes, it was "Funky Moped").  

So, all in all, a pretty rocking year.  Let's hope the charts provide some better options - they come up with The Carpenters' "Please Mr Postman", Steve Harley's "Make Me Smile", 10CC's "I'm Not In Love", Desmond Dekker's "Israelites", Bee Gees' "Jive Talkin", ABBA's "SOS", David Bowie's "Space Oddity", "Fame" and "Golden Years", Hot Chocolate's "You Sexy Thing" and Glen Campbell's "Rhinestone Cowboy".  Not a great selection, but some decent enough tracks in there - it was a surprisingly popular year for male comedians in the charts with Mike Reid, The Goodies and Billy Connolly all featuring in the top ten as some point (as well as Jasper Carrott).  The US charts came up with nothing more with the best selling track over there that year being by Captain and Tenille - what a funny year 1975 was!

So, all in all, I think I'm perfectly happy for Queen to take this year - there are better (for me) tracks out there, but even I would struggle to say that any were quite as iconic.  Some of those cover versions have scarred me for life though - as have the band's haircuts in the picture above.

1974 - Not the best year ever
1976 - Better cover versions, but still terrible haircuts