Alessandro Carugini Jazz Single from over the world

Jazz Single from over the world

Jazz Single from over the world post thumbnail image

Storia dell’album – Recording Session – The VaultPubblicazioniSingoli – Award


Bicycle Race

was released on their 1978 album Jazz and written by Freddie Mercury. It was released as a double A-side single together with the song “Fat Bottomed Girls”. The song is notable for its video featuring a bicycle race with nude women at Wimbledon Stadium, which was edited or even banned in several countries. The song was inspired by watching the 18th stage of the 1978 Tour de France passing Montreux, where the band were recording Jazz in the Mountain Studios. It starts with a chorus unaccompanied by instruments. The chorus is followed by two verses connected with a bridge, both followed by a chorus. Around the middle of the song is a solo played with numerous bicycle bells. The song has an unusual chord progression with numerous modulations, a change of metre (from 4/4 to 6/8) in the bridge, and multitracked vocal and guitar harmonies.

The lyrics are tipical for the time and contain social, political and pop-culture references, such as religion, Vietnam War, Watergate, drugs, fictional characters (Peter Pan, Frankenstein and Superman), and the films Jaws and Star Wars. The song also mentions actor John Wayne. The lyrics also mention the exclamatory interjection “Hot dog!” and the idiom “Cool it, man!” Brian May has said that the song was not an autobiographical portrait of Mercury and that Mercury did not particularly enjoy bicycling, also noting that despite the lyrics, Mercury was a Star Wars fan.

The song references the band’s song “Fat Bottomed Girls” with the lyric “fat bottomed girls, they’ll be riding today”. “Fat Bottomed Girls” reciprocates with the lyric: “Get on your bikes and ride!”

“Fat Bottomed Girls” was written by guitarist Brian May, the track featured on the album Jazz. The song is formed around an open bluesy, metallic guitar tuning, and opens with its chorus. It was one of the few Queen songs played in an alternative (drop D) guitar tuning. The song’s music video was filmed at the Dallas Convention Center in Texas in October 1978.

The single was mostly distributed in 1978, on 7-inch vinyl records on EMI record label. In Argentina, the titles were translated as “Carrera de Bicicletas” and “Chicas Gordas” respectively. The labels were changed to Pepita in Hungary and to Elektra in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The Polish issue had the label of Tonpress and either “Spread Your Wings” on the B-side. Both 7-inch and 12-inch records were issued in the US; “Bicycle Race” also appeared in 1979, on the B-side of the single “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”. In nearly all countries, the covers featured a backside photo of a naked woman on a racing bike, with a red bikini painted over the original photo. A brassiere was added to the US covers. The single reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart and number 24 in the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. It was certified 2x Platinum in the US by the RIAA , for over two million digital download equivalent units, on 20 March 2018.

Country Format Catalogue Comment
Argentina 7″ EMI 0068 Spanish titles, promo w/l
Argentina 7″ EMI 0068 Spanish titles
Australia 7″ PS Elektra E-45541 with bra
Belgium 7″ PS EMI 4C 006-61846
Belgium 7″ PS EMI 4C 006-61846 Test Press, nude sleeve, girl without pink pants (pink color missing in all the sleeve)
Belgium 7″ PS EMI 2870 promo, unique blue/white sleeve, contains UK vinyl
Brazil 7″ PS EMI 31C 006 61846
Canada 7″ Elektra E-45541 Promo w/l, no p/s
Canada 7″ Elektra E-45541
Chile 7″ EMI 1468
France 7″ PS EMI 2C 008-61846
France 7″ PS EMI 2C 008-61846 different sleeve
Germany 7″ PS EMI 1C 006-61846
Hungary 7″ PS Pepita SPSK 70379
Ireland 7″ EMI 2870
Italy 7″ PS EMI 3C 006-61846
Italy 7″ PS EMI 3C 006-61846 unique sleeve, pirate
Italy 7″ EMI 3C 000-79053 jukebox, Bicycle Race Only
Italy 7″ EMI 3C 000-79054 jukebox, Fat Bottomked Girls Only
Japan 7″ PS Elektra P-350E Promo w/l
Japan 7″ PS Elektra P-350E
Mexico 7″ PS EMI 33C 006 61846
Mexico 7″ EMI 8209 Fat Bottomed Girls Only
Netherlands 7″ PS EMI 5C 006 61846
New Zealand 7″ Elektra E-45541
Philippines 7″ EMI 73-X-175
Poland 7″ Tonpress S-197 Bicycle Race Only
Poland POSTCARD
Portugal 7″ PS EMI 8E 006 61846 F
Spain 7″ PS EMI 10C 006 061846 Spanish titles
Sweden 7″ PS EMI 7C 006 61846
United Kingdom 7″ EMI 2870 Demo
United Kingdom 7″ PS EMI 2870
United Kingdom 12″ EMI MUSIC Acetate, 1 track, long version (7’09 minutes), should be the same version that was released one year later on the 12″ colombian issue
United States 7″ ELE E45541 Promo
United States 7″ PS Elektra E-45541 with bra, there are at least three different labels
United States 7″ PS Specialty Records E45541-X-SP Test Press
United States 7″ Elektra E-45103 Spun Gold, Bicycle Race Only
United States 12″ Elektra AS-11401-X butterfly labels
Yugoslavia 7″ EMI SEMI 88991

UK: standard release. In many country there’s some difference here and there
PS. I’ll try to show you all! :) If something missing or wrong, please contact me at alessandro.carugini@libero.it

FRANCE: standard and censored sleeve
Bicycle Race / Fat Bottomed Girls FRANCE: standard and censored sleeve

ITALY: Pirate PS, sper sleeve Bicycle Race, sper sleeve Fat Bottomed Girls
ITALY: Pirate PS, sper sleeve Bicycle Race, sper sleeve Fat Bottomed Girls

BELGIUM: Promo sleeve
Bicycle Race / Fat Bottomed Girls BELGIUM: Promo sleeve

ARGENTINA: commercial release and promo, CHILE: promo, BRAZIL, MEXICO, PHILIPPINES
Bicycle Race / Fat Bottomed Girls ARGENTINA: commercial release and promo, CHILE: promo, BRAZIL, MEXICO, PHILIPPINES


Mustapha

A song written by Freddie Mercury and recorded by Queen in 1978. It is the first track of the album Jazz, categorized as “an up-tempo Arabic rocker” by Circus Magazine.

“Mustapha” was released as a single in Germany, Spain, Yugoslavia and Bolivia in April, 1979. The B side of the single was “Dead On Time” for German and Spanish releases and “In Only Seven Days” for Yugoslavian and Bolivian releases. Also, all four versions had different covers.

The composition’s lyrics are in English, Arabic and an Arabic-emulating gibberish. In live performances, Mercury would often sing the opening vocals of “Mustapha” in place of the complex introduction to “Bohemian Rhapsody”, going from “Allah we’ll pray for you” to “Mama, just killed a man…”. Sometimes the band performed an almost full version of the song from the “Crazy Tour” in late 1979 to “The Game Tour” in 1980, with Mercury at the piano. They dropped the second verse and went from the first chorus to the third. Also notable is that the song was often requested by the audience, as can be heard on “Live Killers”.

Country Format Catalogue Comment
Germany 7″ PS EMI 1C 006 62714 unique sleeve
Spain 7″ PS EMI 10C 006 062714 unique sleeve
Bolivia 7″ PS EMI BO-1253 unique sleeve
Yugoslavia 7″ PS Jugoton SEMI-89000 unique sleeve, mispressed
B side plays “Dreamer’s Ball”
Yugoslavia 7″ PS Jugoton SEMI-89000 unique sleeve
United States 7″ acetate, one-sided

GERMANY: standard release.
PS. I’ll try to show you all! :) If something missing or wrong, please contact me at alessandro.carugini@libero.itMustapha GERMANY: standard release

SPAIN, BOLIVIA, YUGOSLAVIA: commercial release.
SPAIN, BOLIVIA, YUGOSLAVIA: commercial release


Don’t Stop Me Now

A song by the British rock band Queen, featured on their 1978 album Jazz that was released as a single in 1979. Written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, it was recorded in August 1978 at Super Bear Studios in Berre-les-Alpes (Alpes-Maritimes), France, and is the twelfth track on the album.

Musically the song builds on Mercury’s piano playing, with John Deacon and Roger Taylor providing a bass guitar and drums backing track. The song also provides an example of Queen’s trademark style of multitrack harmony vocals for the chorus lines.

The song also appears in the band’s 1981 compilation album Greatest Hits, and in June 2011, as part of Queen’s 40th anniversary celebrations, an old take of the song containing more guitar parts was included on the bonus EP of the re-released and remastered Jazz album by the Universal Company.

The single reached number 9 in the UK charts but only number 86 in the US; as the album was a top-10 hit, the song got some airplay on U.S. album-oriented rock stations despite its low chart ranking as a single. Despite this the song has grown in stature with time and has been popularised not only by consistent airplay, but by its use in advertisements, television programmes and films, and through cover versions. It has subsequently become one of Queen’s most popular songs. The song was voted as the third best Queen song by readers of Rolling Stone, who noted that “time has also been very kind to it and it’s widely seen now as one of the group’s best works.” The single also has reached Platinum status in the United Kingdom.

The b-side of the single was “In Only Seven Days” except on the Japanese, USA, Canadian and Australian release, “More Of That Jazz” was the B-side.

Country Format Catalogue Comment
Argentina 7″ PS EMI 0073 Spanish titles
Argentina 7″ EMI 0073 Promo. Spanish titles
Belgium 7″ PS EMI 4C 006-62272 tour dates on front sleeve
Canada 7″ Elektra E-46008
Canada 7″ Elektra E-46008 Promo, white label
Finland 7″ EMI 5E 008 62276
France 7″ PS EMI 2C 008-62276
France 7″ EMI 2C 008-62276 various labels: jukebox style labels; black/white labels
France CD5 PS EMI 881900 2 1994, reissue
France CD5 EMI SPCD 1796 1994 reissue, promo, with insert
France 7″ 1994, reissue. Test press, maybe fake
Germany 7″ PS EMI 1C 006-62276 different back
Germany 7″ PS EMI 1C 006-62276 tour dates on back sleeve
Guatemala 7″ EMI 4469
Ireland 7″ EMI 2910
Italy 7″ PS EMI 3C 006-62272
Japan 7″ PS Elektra P-381E caterpillar labels
Japan 7″ PS Elektra P-381E white labels
Japan CD3 PS Toshiba-EMI TODP 2539 1996, reissue
Mexico 7″ PS EMI 8230 33C 006-62276 Spanish titles
Netherlands 7″ PS EMI 5C 006 62276
New Zealand 7″ Elektra E-46008
Peru 7″ EMI PERU 15667
Portugal 7″ PS EMI 8E 006 62276 F slightly different back
South Africa 7″ EMIJ 4240
United Kingdom 7″ PS EMI 2910
United Kingdom 7″ EMI 2910 Test Press
United Kingdom 7″ EMI 2910 Demo printed on label
United States 7″ Elektra E-46008
United States 7″ Elektra E-46008 mono/stereo promo
United States 7″ E46008 Test press Allied Record Company E46008

UK: standard release.
In many country there’s some difference in the back and/or the front PS. I’ll try to show you all! :) If something missing or wrong, please contact me at alessandro.carugini@libero.itDon't Stop Me Now UK: standard release

BELGIUM: front sleeve with concert date, NETHERLAND, PORTUGAL: back sleeve commercial issue.
Don't Stop Me Now BELGIUM: front sleeve with concert date, NETHERLAND, PORTUGAL: back sleeve commercial issue

ARGENTINA: PS front and back of the commercial issue. Label from the promo version.
Don't Stop Me Now ARGENTINA: PS front and back of the commercial issue. Label from the promo version

GERMANY, FRANCE, ITALY: back sleeve commercial issue.
Don't Stop Me Now GERMANY, FRANCE, ITALY: back sleeve commercial issue.

MEXICO: PS front and back of the commercial issue. JAPAN.
Don't Stop Me Now MEXICO: PS front and back of the commercial issue. JAPAN

SOUTH AFRICA, GUATEMALA, PERU’.
Don't Stop Me Now SOUTH AFRICA, GUATEMALA, PERU'

UK, USA, FRANCE: test pressing.
Don't Stop Me Now UK, USA, FRANCE: test pressing


Jealousy

Was originally released on their seventh studio album Jazz in 1978, and one year later was released as the fourth and last single from the album. It was written by Freddie Mercury.

The song has been released as a single only in six countries US, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, and USSR, but failed to chart anywhere. The single was the first and last single of the band in the USSR. In this country the B-side of the single was “Don’t Stop Me Now” but in other countries the B-side was “Fun It”. In 1980 the song had been included to the list of songs for the 1980 Summer Olympics which were celebrated in Moscow.

“Jealousy” was penned by Mercury and features May playing his Hairfred acoustic guitar. The guitar had been given a replacement hardwood bridge, chiselled flat, with a small piece of fret wire placed between it and the strings, which lay gently above. The strings produce the “buzzing” effect of a sitar. This effect had already been used on “White Queen (As It Began)”, from Queen II. All vocals were recorded by Mercury.

Country Format Catalogue Comment
Brazil 7″ EMI 31C 006 62722
Canada 7″ Elektra E-46039 Promo ‘mono/stereo’
Canada 7″ Elektra E-46039
Australia 7″ Elektra E-46039
New Zealand 7″ Elektra E-46039
United States 7″ Elektra E-46039 butterfly labels
United States 7″ PRC ES-46039 PRC test pressing, company sleeve
United States 7″ Allied Red Co ES46039 Promo
United States 7″ Elektra E-46039 Promo ‘mono/stereo’, white label
United States 7″ acetate, one-sided
USSR 7″ PS Melodia 62-07895-6 TY 43-03-48-73 Blue flexidisc, brown folded cover. B side plays two Ukraine folk group “Smerischka” songs (“Bewitch” / “Matyoly”)
USSR 7″ PS Melodia 62-07895-6 TY 43-03-48-73 Blue flexidisc, pink folded cover. B side plays two Ukraine folk group “Smerischka” songs (“Bewitch” / “Matyoly”)
USSR 7″ PS Melodia 62-07895-6 TY 43-03-48-73 Blue flexidisc, purple folded cover. B side plays two Ukraine folk group “Smerischka” songs (“Bewitch” / “Matyoly”)
USSR 7″ PS Krugosor ISSN 0130-2698 Blue flexidisc, comes attached to Krugozor magazine #191, january 1980. B side plays two Oswaldo Rodriguez songs
USSR 7″ PS Krugosor ISSN 0130-2698 Red flexidisc, comes attached to Krugozor magazine #191, january 1980. B side plays two Oswaldo Rodriguez songs

USA: standard release.
PS. I’ll try to show you all! :) If something missing or wrong, please contact me at alessandro.carugini@libero.itJealousy USA: standard release

USA: acetate and two different promo version.
Jealousy USA: acetate and two different promo version

CANADA, NEW ZEALANED, BRAZIL: commercial release.
Jealousy CANADA, NEW ZEALANED, BRAZIL: commercial release

USSR: commercial release.
Jealousy USSR: commercial release

USSR: flexidisc attached to Krugozor magazine #191, january 1980.
Jealousy USSR: flexidisc attached to Krugozor magazine #191, january 1980


Storia dell’album – Recording Session – The VaultPubblicazioniSingoli – Award