I want to break free - Queen

The song 'I want to break free' is more famous for its music video than for its music. Directed by David Mallet, the video was a parody of the northern British soap opera 'Coronation Street'. In it, the band members of Queen dressed in drag, as mildly similar characters found in the soap at the time. The video also featured a ballet piece with the Royal Ballet.

The single reached number 1 in Austria, Belgium, New Zealand, Finland and the Netherlands and peaked at number 3 in the UK singles chart. In the USA, the single only reached number 45. Again, this is explained by the music video, as many people in the USA failed to see the soap-opera connection and interpreted the video as an open declaration of transvestitism and Mercury’s homosexuality. The narrowmindedness of these people prevented all of Queen's singles to reach the top 40 in the USA until 'The show must go on' reached number 2 in 1991.

My collection: 7" single no. 4737
Found: Record fair, Rijswijk, April 5, 2010
Cost: 1 euro
Tracks: 'I want to break free' / 'Machines (or 'Back to humans')'