This year we celebrate the 40th anniversary of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” complete with original artwork reissue of the single for Record Store Day’s Black Friday edition and “Bohemian Lager,” a Queen-endorsed brew made in--where else?--the Bohemia region of the Czech Republic.
Over the years, the Freddie Mercury-penned song has evolved from FM radio staple to competition showcase for melismatics everywhere to something akin to public domain. There’s countless parodies: “Bohemian Carsody,” a car-themed parody by the all-female comedian troupe SketchShe, racked up 25 million hits. There’s also “Bohemian Gravity,” “Bro-hemian Rhapsody,” “Bohemian Momsody,” the Minecraft-themed “Bohemian Craftsody,” and “Nintendohian Rhapsody.” And that's just scratching the surface.
Interpretations of “Bohemian Rhapsody” also abound. Ukulele master Jake Shimabukuro’s TED Talk cover has 5 million views and counting. Adam Lambert’s American Idol singing “Bo Rhap” led his getting a job sitting in for Mercury in real life, not just fantasy. Kanye West, the supremely self-confident rap artist and provocateur, opened his headlining set at last July’s Glastonbury Music Festival with the “Mama” heard 'round the world in a performance could be described charitably as pitch-imperfect. Remember Robert Wilkison? Arrested for intoxication in Alberta, Canada, he proclaimed his innocence with a full-throated “Bohemian Rhapsody” from the back of a squad car. He racked up 11 million hits. They did not let him go.
But who made the very first “Bohemian Rhapsody” cover?
Perhaps 1982’s Royal Philharmonic recording?
Or maybe the 1987 cover by Bad News, the comedy metal band?
Good guesses, but both are wrong.
The very first “Bohemian Rhapsody” was recorded for a Top of The Pops compilation and released in December 1975, three months after the song was released to the airways. Not to be confused with the television show by the same name, Top of The Pops were budget-priced compilations that featured studio musicians and singers recreating soundalikes of chart-toppers. We’re talking everyone from the Supremes to the Sex Pistols. Found on Top of The Pops #49, the “Bohemian Rhapsody” cover was recorded at De Lane Lea Studios, next to Wembley Stadium--where, it might be noted, Queen recorded early demos for tracks like “Keep Yourself Alive.”
Recently I tracked down Tony Rivers, one of the four Top of The Pops singers who sang the first “Bohemian Rhapsody” cover. He was also the vocal arranger on the sessions, a thankless task for which he was well-prepared: Rivers’ long and varied career includes tracks from early 60s vocal groups Harmony Grass and the Castaways, recordings with Pink Floyd and INXS, and backup singing for Cliff Richard and Elton John, all of which he’s written about in a new book, I’m Nearly Famous: The Tales of a Likely Lad.
Rivers was kind enough to let me pick his brain over email about the very "Bohemian Rhapsody" cover.
DN: Everyone covers or parodies “Bohemian Rhapsody” these days—from the Muppets, Phish, Flaming Lips, William Shatner, Zac Brown Band, Kanye West—everyone climbs Bo Rhap Mountain, it seems.
TR: Well, not, Not many could manage to put this together, least of all Kanye West!
DN: But you were the first.
TR: I have always assumed that, mainly because harmony wasn’t many singers’ strong point at that time, and it was the most complicated arrangement to learn in a few days and record.
DN: A few days? The original famously took three, four weeks.
TR: There were very few around who could have done it that quickly. It was a bit easier for us four, all coming up with vocal group backgrounds. All four of us sang on “Bohemian Rhapsody.” We usually took a day to lay down lead and backing vocal tracks, and would be on our way home by 11pm. Not this time!
DN: So it wasn’t easy to do, then.
No. With due modesty it was difficult for us because of the time restriction—maybe two or three days to live with it (once the committee had chosen it).
DN: By “committee” you mean the people at Top of The Pops?
TR: A small group of Hallmark employees, along with producer Bruce Baxter, would sit down prior to the planned sessions and choose the potential hits. That, of course, was the secret to the label’s success. I have no idea what their thoughts were in choosing “Bohemian Rhapsody” other than “what an amazing record!”
DN: The cover is pretty note-for-note perfect. How did you pull that off?
TR: As usual, I had the job of sorting out the vocal arrangement. I had to listen and memorize the parts. John Perry and Ken Gold were also listening and were both assigned lead lines that suited their voices, which they did brilliantly I think. Oh, and let’s not forget the late Stu Calver, who was the very high voice on the Roger Taylor parts—the “Gallileo”’s and so on.
Normally this wouldn’t be too big a deal, but with this song, I had to sit for hours at home listening and making notes, and writing notes and memorizing vocal lines—apart from the other tracks we had to do that day!
The time-consuming job of layering track after track of vocals ‘til we got the sound and the voicing right seemed to take forever. But in the end, it had been a great opportunity to find out how that song was put together.
DN: I’m still trying to wrap my head around you doing all of this in a few days, to be honest.
TR: The harmony parts were obviously part of the problem, but they are not difficult harmonies. The problem was lack of familiarity with the whole thing. We could copy sections piece by piece. The other problem was the time needed to achieve a similar “sound.” That kind of mass tracking which takes time, and that wasn’t usually available in big lumps. This was something with many lumps!
We were helped greatly the fact that all three of us had good range in our voices with JP and Stu blessed with fantastic falsetto range.
I believe we spent the early part and the rest of the day, singing whatever vocals or harmonies needed on the other songs that had been selected.
DN: You worked on other songs at the same time?
Memory tells me at around 7pm we started on Bo Rhap, bit by bit, until each section sounded good, and added voices until it did. We finished and hit the A406 around 7 the next morning, in a daze, rush hour traffic, “Gallileos” running round our heads.
I have nothing but admiration for the man who created it. Freddie Mercury. What a record.
A bit different from something like [The Sweet’s] “Little Willie”!
DN: The original version made a splash, of course, but the TOTP version of “Bohemian Rhapsody” made headlines as well. Kenny Everett, who famously played the test pressing of the original track, also played your cover.
TR: Kenny Everett was a big name at that time , and decided to see if the listeners could tell which version had taken months and fortunes to record and which was done in a few hours on a budget album! He played our version and Queen’s, cutting between the two, and asking “can you tell which one’s the ten-bob version, and which one cost 6 million quid to make?”
DN: Did you ever hear from the Queen camp regarding your camp’s cover version? I know you worked with Cliff Richard for quite some time, and Freddie Mercury and he were friends.
TR: Ken Gold was introduced to Freddie whilst on an Elton John tour of the USA. Ken decided to ask Freddie just what he thought about “that cover.” He looked pensive, then added “Hmm. An interesting version!”
I did meet Brian May once. He said to me “Hi, Tony! Roger and I used to go to see you live at Loughborough Uni/College, and you were a very big influence on our harmonies!” Not bad, eh?
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