Calling All Girls - Promotional Video

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Elektra Records, Queen's record label in America were unconvinced by 'Back Chat', and chose instead to release 'Calling All Girls' as the fourth single from 'Hot Space' instead. Whilst far from a success, reaching only number sixty in the Billboard charts, the song (the first Roger-penned track to be released as a Queen a-side) did come with a highly memorable video - the most high concept promo Queen had concieved of at to date, and a precursor to what would follow with 'Radio Ga Ga' two years later.

The video, like many since, was inspired by the science fiction movie THX 1138, directed by a pre-Star Wars George Lucas (and where the THX optimisation process used on some films takes its name), and also by the George Orwell novel 1984 - the name of one of Brian May's pre-Queen bands.

The band are first seen in a high tech control room, with robot policemen and surveilance equpiment keeping everyone in order. Freddie is then caught with a beautiful woman, violating the rules of the society they live in. Arrested by the robot police, Freddie is studied by the rest of the band and it is decided that the 'felon' is to be 'conditioned'. He is then abused by the robots and fights back, only to be imprisoned in a circular cage before Brian, Roger and John break him out. Freddie then destroys the control room, thereby disabling the robot police long enough for the band to escape.

Directed once again by Brian Grant, this ambitious video remains one of the more enjoyable of the period, yet due to the song's lack of chart success it was rarely seen until it's inclusion on 'Greatest Video Hits 2' dvd in 2003.