Bohemian Rhapsody questions

I'm writing a piece about cover versions of "Bohemian Rhapsody," prompted by Kanye West's train wreck of a version at Glastonbury. I am wondering if anyone can answer these questions. Thanks in advance.

1. Does anyone have an idea the exact date of the night Kenny Everett played "Bohemian Rhapsody" on Capital Radio over and over again?

2. To the best of everyone's knowledge, is this 1975 Top of The Pops version of "Bo Rhap" the very first cover version?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V30tOTn_mTo


According to the discography of these "not by the original artists" compilations, the volume in which this cover appears was released in December 1975. The original was released in October 1975.
http://topofthepopslps.weebly.com/discography.html

As far as I know, yes, that was the first cover officially released.

Regarding Kenny Everett, he played it twice on his Saturday programme and twice on his Sunday one (adding up to four times he played it, not fourteen as the legend states). The most educated guess would be the 18th and 19th of October, although it could theoretically also have been 11th/12th or 25th/26th.

[QUOTE] [b]Daniel Nester wrote:[/b]


1. Does anyone have an idea the exact date of the night Kenny Everett played "Bohemian Rhapsody" on Capital Radio over and over again?

http://topofthepopslps.weebly.com/discography.html

[/QUOTE]

As far as I know, and I'm not sure about this, Kenny played Bohemian Rhapsody fourteen times (not always the whole song) on the weekend of 11th and 12th October 1975. it might also have been the weekend of the 18th and 19th.

@Costa86:

Please read what Sebastian wrote right above you before perpetuating myths. Four. Not fourteen.

[QUOTE] [b]Daniel Nester wrote:[/b]
2. To the best of everyone's knowledge, is this 1975 Top of The Pops version of "Bo Rhap" the very first cover version?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V30tOTn_mTo
[/QUOTE]


That was surprisingly good! I was quite prepared for that to be awful, I was watching a thing on youtube a while ago about 'record rip-offs' as they called them....some were just really bad....lol

[QUOTE] [b]thomasquinn 32989 wrote:[/b]

@Costa86:

Please read what Sebastian wrote right above you before perpetuating myths. Four. Not fourteen.[/QUOTE]

I might well have made a mistake in not reading Sebastian's post in it's entirety, but I'm certainly not knowingly perpetuating any myths, as your condescending post suggests. Your rather abrasive attitude is not appreciated.

I also made it clear that the fourteen times did not refer to fourteen instances of the song being played in its entirety. For all you know, it could have been played four times in full, and the rest of the time in little snippets - this is what happened - Everett was giving the radio audience little sneaks peaks (i.e. small parts of the song) to get them curious and interested.

That version was alright, a lot of thought went into it, not the car crash I was expecting, kudos to those involved. I notice Rogers high note wasn't attempted though (or maybe it was, but not put on the track)

This is in one of the youtube comments

"'It had reportedly taken Freddie and the boys almost a month to perfect the original, resulting in close to 200 vocal overdubs, but Tony and the others did thier recording in just one night. It was so good that Kenny Everett spliced thier version together with Queens rendition and defied listeners to tell the difference'"

BS?

Thanks for the date of the Everett playing. Is it in one of the many Queen bios on my shelf? Must investigate.

I just interviewed Tony Rivers about the TOTP cover. He's had a really cool career and has some more comments about the song and the cover. I think it's a pretty super 70s cover, and find it interesting it was recorded within months of the original's release.

As for the debate around how many times Everett played Bo Rhap: I would err on the side of the lower number.

Tony did say again that Everett played this TOTP cover alongside the original, in little bits, to ask if people could spot the difference. I'm sure we all could, I'm sure. But still--interesting.

Just found a Seven Seas of Rhye..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH-wCiatEpk

Not quite as good.... :-(

Oh nice find! I know TOTP did "Somebody to Love."

Don't think this is the same crew as for Bop Rhap but I could be wrong.

These covers are such interesting curios, made within months of the original's release and, at least in the case of Bo Rhap, recorded in De Lane Lea Studios, where Queen did their early recordings.

And according to 20.54 into this vid a TOTP album cover says it contains a You're My Best Friend https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tviFKY4h-50 , not been able to find it though

There have been TOTP CD reissues; I wonder if they on those?

I think these covers are charming. The people behind them are legit and have these other careers, and they did these albums for a regular gig. These compilations are a bit before my time, but nowadays the closest comparison would be the Kidz Bop compiliations these days.

[QUOTE] [b]Costa86 wrote:[/b]

[QUOTE] [b]thomasquinn 32989 wrote:[/b]

@Costa86:

Please read what Sebastian wrote right above you before perpetuating myths. Four. Not fourteen.[/QUOTE]

I might well have made a mistake in not reading Sebastian's post in it's entirety, but I'm certainly not knowingly perpetuating any myths, as your condescending post suggests. Your rather abrasive attitude is not appreciated.

I also made it clear that the fourteen times did not refer to fourteen instances of the song being played
in its entirety. For all you know, it could have been played four times in full, and the rest of the time in little snippets - this is what happened - Everett was
giving the radio audience little sneaks peaks (i.e. small parts of the song) to get them curious and interested.[/QUOTE]

My understanding, from what I've been told by a listener is that Small snippets were played through out the weekend as a tease adding up to 14 times. However the following weekend the whole song was played four times.

This was over the last two weekends in October

[QUOTE] [b]Daniel Nester wrote:[/b]

Thanks for the date of the Everett playing. Is it in one of the many Queen bios on my shelf? Must investigate.[/QUOTE]

I did check on my shelf and didn't find any exact date. Hopefully you'll be luckier.

[QUOTE] [b]Daniel Nester wrote:[/b]

As for the debate around how many times Everett played Bo Rhap: I would err on the side of the lower number. [/QUOTE]

That's what Everett himself said in early 1976 (on the band's first bios). The whole fourTEEN thing arose from a comment made a decade later by Roy Exaggeration Baker.

Just think about it: despite the tabloids' fondness for reporting even the most irrelevant events or rumours, there was no fuzz about a well-known radio DJ (in the times when radio was of utmost importance in Britain, even more so than now) arguably playing a song fourteen times on his programme. Why? Either because it wasn't that big of a deal, or because the media wouldn't necessarily report a lot of things that never happened. Fair enough, they also do report loads of things but never happened, but this one didn't even qualify for that. No single mention of the 'alleged two-digit figure before the 'Magic Years' documentary was issued, containing Roy's quote. Ever wondered why?