Donga said:Doing some tidying today - cleaned out an old bookshelf. Found a few
Phantom comics and a stack of bike mags, but then the kicker .... wait
for it ... the album insert from a Queen LP ... triple width landscape
of around a hundred nude female cyclists. I've been looking closely
and I can't quite tell what they are riding - but all bikes are white
and seem to be the same ... and yes some of the riders are well
presented too.
The caption:
"Bicycle Race" / "Fat Bottomed Girls"
Queen's new single on Elektra Records.
I'm rich, I'm rich!
Donga
From: http://tinyurl.com/dxqck
(I've got the version minus panties)
"1978: Bicycle Race
"As publicity for the forthcoming single Bicycle Race, the band hired
Wimbledon Stadium, and fifty naked girls had their own bicycle race.
The original cover of the single featured the rear view of one of
those naked girls, but due to public outcry in some countries, panties
had to be drawn on! More touring in the USA and Canada began in
October. November 10th saw the release of Jazz, the band's seventh
album. The sleeve was packed to contain a fold-out poster of the naked
bicycle race. The Americans banned it from the actual album sleeve,
and inserted an application form instead so that fans could send away
for their poster. The launch party for Jazz was held in New Orleans,
and has since gone down in history!"
From: http://bicycleuniverse.info/stuff/music.html
"Bicycle Race" by QUEEN (from Jazz, 1978)
"This is the quintessential bicycle song, opening with the several-
part harmony chanting, "BI-cycle, BI-cycle, BI-cycle!", and continuing
with, "I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike. I want to
ride my bicycle, I want to ride it where I like." The album included a
controversial fold-out poster of 55 nude women on bicycles preparing
for a race. The race was held in England's Wimbledon stadium, and was
organized for the sole purpose of providing the photograph for the
album.
"Aside from the chorus, the verses are puzzling, seeming to have
nothing to do with bicycles. (" 'Jaws' was never my scene and I don't
like 'Star Wars'," "You say Rolls, I say Royce," "I don't believe in
Peter Pan, Frankenstein, or Superman."😉 Some have suggested that
"bicycle" is really a euphemism for "bisexual," since Queen's leader
(Freddie Mercury, who died of AIDS in the early 90s) was gay and
perhaps bisexual, but there is little in the lyrics to suggest that
alternate meaning. "
