Crazy Little Thing Called Love
| "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Queen | ||||
| from the album The Game | ||||
| B-side | Spread Your Wings | |||
| Released | 5 October 1979 | |||
| Format | Vinyl record (7" / 12") | |||
| Recorded | June - July 1979 | |||
| Genre | Rockabilly[1] | |||
| Length | 2:42 | |||
| Label | EMI, Elektra (US) | |||
| Writer(s) | Freddie Mercury | |||
| Producer | Queen and Mack | |||
| Queen singles chronology | ||||
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"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" is a song by the rock band Queen. Written by Freddie Mercury in 1979, the track featured on their 1980 album The Game, and also appears on the band's compilation album, Greatest Hits. The song peaked at number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1979, and hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US on 23 February 1980, remaining there for four consecutive weeks.[2][3] It topped the Australian ARIA Charts for seven weeks.[4]
Having composed "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" on guitar, Mercury played rhythm guitar while performing the song live, which was the first time he played guitar in concert.[5] Queen played the song live between 1979 and 1986, and a live performance of the song is recorded in the albums Queen Rock Montreal and Queen at Wembley.[6][7] Since its release, the song has been covered by a number of artists. The song was played live on 20 April 1992 during The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, performed by Robert Plant with Queen.[8]
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[edit] Composition
As reported by Freddie Mercury in Melody Maker, 2 May 1981, he composed "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" on the guitar in just five to ten minutes.
| “ | 'Crazy Little Thing Called Love' took me five or ten minutes. I did that on the guitar, which I can't play for nuts, and in one way it was quite a good thing because I was restricted, knowing only a few chords. It's a good discipline because I simply had to write within a small framework. I couldn't work through too many chords and because of that restriction I wrote a good song, I think. | ” |
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—Freddie Mercury[9] |
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Written by Mercury as a tribute to Elvis Presley,[10] Queen drummer Roger Taylor added in an interview that Mercury wrote it in 10 minutes while lounging in a bath in the Bayerischer Hof Hotel in Munich during one of their extensive Munich recording sessions.[11] Mercury took it to the studio shortly after writing it and presented it to Roger Taylor and John Deacon.[5][12] The three of them, with their new producer Mack, recorded it at Musicland Studios in Munich. The entire song was reportedly recorded in less than half an hour (although Mack says it was six hours).[13] Having written "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" on guitar and played rhythm on the record, for the first time ever Mercury played guitar in concerts, for example at Live Aid at Wembley Stadium, London in 1985.[5][14]
[edit] Personnel
- Freddie Mercury: lead vocal, rhythm guitar, backing vocals, handclaps
- Brian May: lead guitar, handclaps
- John Deacon: bass guitar, handclaps
- Roger Taylor: drums, backing vocals, handclaps
Although Mercury would play an electrified twelve-string on stage (and later a six-string electric), in the studio he recorded it with a six-string acoustic with external mics. Freddie Mercury also played the original guitar solo on a version which has been lost.[15]
[edit] Single release
The "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" single hit number two in the UK Singles Chart in 1979, and became the first U.S. number-one hit for the band, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks.[2][3] The song also topped the Australian ARIA charts for seven consecutive weeks from 1 March to 12 April 1980.[4] Some copies contain an alternate b-side; Spread Your Wings (live)
[edit] Charts
| Country | Peak position | Certification |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | 1 | platinum |
| Canada | 1 | |
| Mexico | 1 | |
| Netherlands | 1 | gold |
| New Zealand | 2 | |
| U.S. | 1 | gold[16] |
| Ireland | 2 | |
| UK | 2 | gold[17] |
| Switzerland | 5 | |
| Norway | 8 | |
| Austria | 9 | |
| Germany | 13 |
[edit] Dwight Yoakam version
| "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Dwight Yoakam | ||||
| from the album Last Chance for a Thousand Years: Dwight Yoakam's Greatest Hits from the 90's | ||||
| B-side | "Let's Work Tegether"/"Doin' What I Did" | |||
| Released | 19 May 1999 | |||
| Format | CD single | |||
| Genre | Country | |||
| Length | 2:22 | |||
| Label | Reprise | |||
| Writer(s) | Freddie Mercury | |||
| Producer | Pete Anderson | |||
| Dwight Yoakam singles chronology | ||||
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American country music singer Dwight Yoakam included a cover of the song on his 1999 album Last Chance for a Thousand Years: Dwight Yoakam's Greatest Hits from the 90's.[18] Yoakam's version was released as a single, peaking at #12 on the U.S. country singles charts in 1999. It was also used in a television commercial for clothing retailer Gap at the time of the album's release. The music video was directed by Yoakam.
[edit] Charts
"Crazy Little Thing Called Love" debuted at #65 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks for the week of 1 May 1999.
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks | 12 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot 100 | 64 |
| Canadian RPM Country Tracks | 1 |
| Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks | 19 |
| UK Singles Chart | 43 |
[edit] Other cover versions
- In 1980 by The Chipmunks on their comeback album, Chipmunk Punk.[19]
- Canadian Pop/big band singer Michael Bublé covered the song for his self-titled 2003 debut album.[20]
- American singer Josh Kelley recorded a cover for the 2005 album Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen.[21]
- British pop rock/pop punk band McFly covered the song for their Room on the Third Floor album.[22]
- Diana Ross covered the song on her 2007 album I Love You. Brian May plays guitar on this version.[23]
- Performed on season 5 of American Idol by Fantasia Barrino, David Radford, Taylor Hicks, and Tim Urban.
- American pop-rock band Maroon 5 covered the song and it came out as a bonus track in some versions of the album Hands All Over.[24]
[edit] References
- ^ Coryat, Karl (1999). The Bass Player Book. San Francisco: Backbeat Books. p. 59.
- ^ a b Whitburn, Joel (2006). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard Books
- ^ a b Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. London: Guinness World Records Limited
- ^ a b Kent, David (1993) (doc). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book, St Ives, N.S.W
- ^ a b c Lights! Action! Sound! It's That Crazy Little Thing Called Queen Circus Magazine. Retrieved 29 June 2011
- ^ Queen Rock Montreal Allmusic. Retrieved 4 September 2011
- ^ Live At Wembley 1986 Ultimate Queen. Retrieved 4 September 2011
- ^ The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert: Crazy Little Thing Called Love Retrieved 4 September 2011
- ^ Melody Maker 2 May 1981
- ^ Queen interview: Brian May on Crazy Little Thing Called Love Absolute Radio. Retrieved 18 December 2011
- ^ ROGER SPEAKS: COLOGNE AUDIO PRESS KIT BrianMay.com. Retrieved 29 June 2011
- ^ Billboard 18 Jul 1980 p.33. Billboard. Retrieved 29 June 2011
- ^ Interview with Reinhold Mack, Esq.. iZotope. http://www.izotope.com/artists/reinhold_mack.asp
- ^ Crazy Little Thing Called Love UltimateQueen. Retrieved 29 June 2011
- ^ May confirms Mercury played solo. Guitar & Bass. http://www.queencuttings.com/images/solo/Guitar&Bass_jan2008_p05.jpg
- ^ RIAA. Gold & Platinum.
- ^ BPI Certified Awards.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Last Chance for a Thousand Years review". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/album/r420881. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
- ^ Chipmunk Punk Allmusic. Retrieved 10 July 2011
- ^ Michael Bublé Allmusic. Retrieved 10 July 2011
- ^ Killer Queen: A Tribute to Queen Allmusic. Retrieved 10 July 2011
- ^ Room on the 3rd Floor, Pt. 1 Allmusic. Retrieved 10 July 2011
- ^ "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" With Diana Ross BrianMay.com. Retrieved 10 July 2011
- ^ Maroon 5 Allmusic. Retrieved 10 July 2011
[edit] External links
| Preceded by "Please Don't Go" by KC and the Sunshine Band |
Canadian "RPM" Singles Chart number-one single 23 February 1980 – 1 March 1980 |
Succeeded by "Coward of the County" by Kenny Rogers |
| Preceded by "Do That to Me One More Time" by Captain & Tennille |
Billboard Hot 100 number-one single 23 February 1980 – 15 March 1980 |
Succeeded by "Another Brick in the Wall (Part II)" by Pink Floyd |
| Preceded by "Please Don't Go" by KC and the Sunshine Band |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one single 1 March 1980 – 12 April 1980 |
Succeeded by "I Got You" by Split Enz |
| Preceded by "You've Got a Way" by Shania Twain |
RPM Country Tracks number-one single (Dwight Yoakam version) 16 August 1999 |
Succeeded by "God Must Have Spent a Little More Time on You" by Alabama featuring 'N Sync |
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