© Simon Fowler
These days, young British pop stars are so eager to break America, they’d never dare jeopardise their chances by showboating their Britishness in their songs or videos. But Queen never seemed to tailor, or water down their act for the Yanks. So it was with the video for I Want To Break Free, a pop promo that must have been unfathomable to most American eyes in 1984.
Directed by David Mallet, who also co-helmed Bowie’s iconic Ashes To Ashes clip, it had the quartet gussied up in women’s clothing for a toweringly camp Coronation Street-styled video. For those of us in the UK, more accustomed to the grand tradition of cross-dressing from the Carry On films to Christmas pantos, the sight of Freddie Mercury in a PVC mini skirt, high heels and suspenders and stockings barely raised an eyebrow, and helped drive the single to No.3 in the chart. In the US, however, the song stalled at a lowly No.45.