13 October, 1978.

Waking up to the sound of bicycle bells is pretty much like waking up to an annoying alarm clock in your head…then you realise it’s Queen and, well, you just don’t argue with it.

The song was written by Mercury after watching the 1978 Tour de France go through Montreux, where the band were recording their album Jazz. It was released as a double A-Side with Fat Bottomed Girls and became a top ten hit in six countries. In the UK it spent twelve weeks on the charts but just missed out on the top ten, peaking at number eleven.

The video was notable for featuring 65 naked women taking part in a nude bicycle race and was consequently banned or heavily edited in several countries. Having rented several dozen bikes, not surprisingly the band were forced to purchase each individual bike saddle when the company found out what the bikes were being used for.