Songoftheday 5/16/12 - Give me your body, don't talk...

Queen - "Body Language"

from the album Hot Space (1982)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #11 (two weeks)

weeks in the top-40: 8

Today's Song of the Day is by the British rock group Queen, "Body Language". Led by the legendary voice of Freddie Mercury, the band formed in the early 70s from college kids, and had their first success in the UK in 1974 with "Seven Seas Of Rhye", a top-10 track off their sophomore album. That same year, their third record ws released, and they hit the US for the initial time with "Killer Queen". And the next year provided the boys with their first British #1 and US top-10, and most iconic song, "Bohemian Rhapsody".

The band's operatic delivery,  tight harmonies, and early embrace of the music video format helped make them one of the biggest acts on both sides of the Atlantic. Starting with Night At The Opera, they had five straight top-10 albums in the US, and were a staple on rock radio. In 1980, the fifth of those The Game, provided Queen with their biggest US success, with two #1 pop records in "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" and "Another One Bites The Dust", both more sparsely arranged singles that signaled a change in the band's dynamic.

After scoring the soundtrack to the movie Flash Gordon, Queen embarked on a hugely successful world tour, before releasing a collaboration with David Bowie, "Under Pressure", which became their second English charttopper in 1981 (as well as the basis for Vanilla Ice's career). Its corresponding album, Hot Space, didn't arrive until a year later, and pushed their music more into the post-disco funk direction. The song's video was extemely racy for that time, and was the first major clip to be banned from MTV for its sexual and homoerotic content.

Hot Space wasn't as well received as their 70's work, missing the top-20 album chart in the US (though making #4 in Britain). "Body Language", though, ended up being a bigger hit in the States, just missing the top-10 in the summer of '82. After this record, however, the band's fortunes were far greater in the UK and Europe than America (where they would hit the top-40 only once more with a new song). In England, they would top the pop chart there again in 1991 with "Innuendo", and in 1985 they were the undeniable showstopper at the London version of the Live Aid concerts.

The late 80's and early 90's saw Mercury sadly succumbing to AIDS, and he passed at the end of 1991 a day after finally going public with his ailment. Early the next year, the re-release of "Bohemian Rhapsody" courtesy of its use in the movie Wayne's World catapulted the band back onto radio, giving them another British #1 and American #2 record, and sparked new fervor for Queen, with release of wildly successful compilations Classic Queen and Greatest Hits, the latter selling over 8 million in America. That same year the remaining members staged a tribue concert featuring such luminaries as George Michael, Lisa Stansfield, Elton John, and David Bowie amongst others. In 1995, the group released a posthumous collection of songs, Made In Heaven, that remains one of the best of those types of releases still to this day (and gave the band three more top-10 UK hits).

Last year the Foo Fighters used "Body Language" as part of a hilarious promo video for their tour..(NSFW for major bum-showing)

Up next tomorrow: A Jersey band whose leader went to reap the riches of Dirty Dancing.