|
|
Post by fabiogminero on Sept 9, 2022 18:56:50 GMT
Hi everybody.
Some time ago, during my work of cataloging the records of my collection, I came across an episode about the band that I was not aware of.
In October 1978, when Queen released the double A-side Bicycle Race / Fat Bottomed Girls, one of the UK singles releases had a particular mistake. Due to a problem in one of the UK record factories, copies of the single were released with Crystal Gayle's song Talking In Your Sleep instead of Bicycle Race; the sleeve and the labels of the 45 rpm did not naturally present any errors.
Here the single indicted: www.discogs.com/it/release/17504599-Queen-Bicycle-Race-Fat-Bottomed-Girls
The lot was then withdrawn from the market, but some copies were obviously sold in various British record shops. Below I also attach a funny article (taken from an English magazine of the time) that talks about this fact. Gayle's song was referred to as Three O'Clock In The Morning, the first sentence of the lyrics.
Do any of you own it?
|
|
|
|
Post by imthewalrus79 on Sept 11, 2022 10:17:30 GMT
A few years ago, I purchased a nearly complete set of Queen UK 7" singles from EIL (It didn't include "Keep Yourself Alive"). The copy of Bicycle Race/Fat Bottomed Girls included was this mispressing. I was going to return it to exchange it for a correct copy. But I decided to keep it, not knowing how "rare" it is. I'm interested to hear how many other people have come across one of these mispressings over the years.
|
|
|
|
Post by zanzibar1 on Dec 20, 2022 12:33:26 GMT
Hi, just to mix things up even more..i own a copy with the " theme from The Sweeney" movie out at the time instead of Bicycle Race. How rare is that?...not documented anywhere.
|
|
|
|
Post by fabiogminero on Aug 19, 2023 20:39:22 GMT
Hi, just to mix things up even more..i own a copy with the " theme from The Sweeney" movie out at the time instead of Bicycle Race. How rare is that?...not documented anywhere. Never heard about it! |
|
|
|
Post by alexlizzy on Aug 20, 2023 16:58:03 GMT
A bit offtopic but I never understood why "Bicycle Race" single is always referred to as a "double A side", when all the copies I've seen, including UK ones have just regularly labeled A and B sides. Same for "Killer Queen" and "We Are The Champions".
Do there exist genuine physical records with double A side labelling or was it just a marketing kind of expression?
|
|
|
|
Post by fabiogminero on Aug 20, 2023 19:15:48 GMT
A bit offtopic but I never understood why "Bicycle Race" single is always referred to as a "double A side", when all the copies I've seen, including UK ones have just regularly labeled A and B sides. Same for "Killer Queen" and "We Are The Champions". Do there exist genuine physical records with double A side labelling or was it just a marketing kind of expression? I think it was a marketing expression. However, many double A sides back in the 1960s and 1970s were labeled in the right way; for example, 'Mull Of Kintyre / Girl's School' by Wings (released in 1977 a few weeks after 'We Are The Champions / We Will Rock You' by Queen) had the 'double A side' indication on labels: www.discogs.com/it/release/4490041-Wings-Mull-Of-Kintyre-Girls-School |
|
|
|
Post by alexlizzy on Aug 21, 2023 11:24:56 GMT
A bit offtopic but I never understood why "Bicycle Race" single is always referred to as a "double A side", when all the copies I've seen, including UK ones have just regularly labeled A and B sides. Same for "Killer Queen" and "We Are The Champions". Do there exist genuine physical records with double A side labelling or was it just a marketing kind of expression? I think it was a marketing expression. However, many double A sides back in the 1960s and 1970s were labeled in the right way; for example, 'Mull Of Kintyre / Girl's School' by Wings (released in 1977 a few weeks after 'We Are The Champions / We Will Rock You' by Queen) had the 'double A side' indication on labels: www.discogs.com/it/release/4490041-Wings-Mull-Of-Kintyre-Girls-School yeah, i know. Also BoRhap/TATDOOL double A side in 1991 was truly double A side. But not those 70's singles which everybody always call double A side... |
|
feller
Tatterdemalion
Posts: 21
Likes: 12
|
Post by feller on Aug 21, 2023 13:11:55 GMT
It looks to me like the designation of AAs or ABs is on the cover rather than the label, as all the labels I've had a look through show the serial number with an A or B at the end.
Normal singles show the B side as either B/W or C/W on the cover (including WATC / WWRY which was never designated as a double A side), whereas FBG / BR doesn't include the B/W or C/W, suggesting a double A side. The tricky one is Killer Queen / Flick Of The Wrist as, in the UK at least, there was no picture cover to refer to.
It looks like the B/W C/W mark was phased out in the early 80s and by the time of The Miracle they tended to be marked as sides 1 and 2.
Bo Rhap / TATDOOL has copyright info detailed as A / AA.
My guess is that the definitive answer to where these are officially designated single or double As would be in industry catalogues from the time.
|
|
billy
Dragonfly Trumpeter
Posts: 141
Likes: 165
|
Post by billy on Aug 21, 2023 22:25:32 GMT
|
|
|
|
Post by alexlizzy on Aug 23, 2023 12:15:46 GMT
Interesting. I actually own a copy of that promo 12", so I was aware about X/Y labeling on it, but I didnt know the commercial 7" had the same labeling. Thought it was just a gimmick for promo release. |
|
billy
Dragonfly Trumpeter
Posts: 141
Likes: 165
|
Post by billy on Aug 23, 2023 22:08:44 GMT
I never did hear those songs on the radio played back-to-back in either order. Elektra probably thought it was a no-brainer after what happened with WWRY/WATC - It’s very rare I haven’t heard them together on the radio. But I think that happened more organically at rock radio stations - plus the fact they were one-two on News of the World.
|
|
pg
Queen Mab
Posts: 2,077
Likes: 1,344
|
Post by pg on Aug 24, 2023 5:45:22 GMT
..and short enough not to disrupt the amount of advertising
|
|
