Flash (Queen song)

Last updated

"Flash"
Flashusa.jpg
UK single picture sleeve
Single by Queen
from the album Flash Gordon
B-side "Football Fight"
Released
  • 24 November 1980 (UK)
  • 27 January 1981 (US)
RecordedOctober 1980
Genre Hard rock [1]
Length
  • 3:29 (album version)
  • 2:48 (single version)
Label
Songwriter(s) Brian May
Producer(s)
Queen singles chronology
"Need Your Loving Tonight"
(1980)
"Flash"
(1980)
"Under Pressure"
(1981)
Music video
"Flash" on YouTube

"Flash" is a song by British rock band Queen. Written by guitarist Brian May, "Flash" is the theme song of the 1980 film Flash Gordon .

Contents

There are two versions of the song. The album version ("Flash's Theme") is in fact the start to the film, with all the dialogue from the first scene. The single version contains dialogue cut from various parts of the film, most memorably, Brian Blessed's character exclaiming "Gordon's alive?!" This version was also included on the Greatest Hits compilation from 1981. [2]

Flash is sung as a duet between Freddie Mercury and Brian May, with Roger Taylor adding the high harmonies. May plays all of the instruments except for the rhythm section. He used an Imperial Bösendorfer Grand Piano (with 97 keys instead of 88, having an extra octave on the low range), Oberheim OB-X synth (which he plays in the video) and his homemade Red Special electric guitar.

The song reached number 10 on the UK Singles Chart and number three in Germany. On the U.S. charts, "Flash's Theme aka Flash" reached number 42 on the Billboard Hot 100. It peaked at number 39 on the Cash Box Top 100. [3]

Record World described the single version as a "supersonic cut with a chorus hook guaranteed to rescue tired holiday ears." [4]

Music video

The video for the song was filmed at Advision Studios, London, in November 1980 and directed by Don Norman and shows the band performing the song to a screen showing clips from the film. [5] An alternative version broadcast during the Concert for Kampuchea in 1981 with different clips included on the Flash Gordon 2011 iTunes edition.

Personnel

Charts

Chart (1980–1981)Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report) [6] 16
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [7] 1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [8] 19
Canada RPM Top Singles [9] 24
Germany (Official German Charts) [10] 3
Ireland (IRMA) [11] 10
Italy ( Musica e dischi ) [12] 14
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [13] 18
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [14] 13
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ) [15] 32
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan) [16] 17
UK Singles (OCC) [17] 10
US Billboard Hot 100 [18] 42
US Cash Box Top 100 [19] 39

Sales and certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [20] Silver250,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Vanguard remix

"Flash"
Single by Queen + Vanguard
B-side "Jam" (Vanguard) [21]
Released10 February 2003 (2003-02-10)
Length3:04 (radio mix)
Label
Songwriter(s) Brian May
Producer(s) Vanguard
Queen singles chronology
"We Will Rock You"
(2000)
"Flash"
(2003)
"Another One Bites the Dust (The Miami Project Remixes)"
(2006)
Audio
"Flash" on YouTube

German producers Vanguard released a cover of "Flash", credited to "Queen + Vanguard", on 10 February 2003. [22] The single peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart, number two on the UK Dance Chart, and number 17 in Germany.

Charts

Chart (2003)Peak
position
Australia (ARIA) [23] 95
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [24] 44
Belgium (Ultratip Bubbling Under Flanders) [25] 2
Belgium Dance (Ultratop Flanders) [26] 12
Europe (Eurochart Hot 100) [27] 44
Germany (Official German Charts) [22] 17
Scotland (OCC) [28] 15
UK Singles (OCC) [29] 15
UK Dance (OCC) [30] 2
UK Indie (OCC) [31] 1

Live recording

In other media

The song is played during an ice dancing routine in the 2007 film Blades of Glory . [32]

The song is played in The Flash episode "Into the Void" where Cisco Ramon plays it when Barry Allen / The Flash enters a black hole to save Chester P. Runk, mentioning that he has been saving the song "for the right moment". [33]

In 2016, a re-recording of the song was used to advertise Flash Multi Surface Concentrated Cleaner in the UK. [34] It has since been used to promote other Flash products. In 2022, the song appeared in a Toyota Corolla Cross commercial in Australia but it used "Cross" instead of "Flash".[ citation needed ]

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