Remember When MTV Banned Queen? It Was the First Time They Outlawed an Artist

The early days of MTV weren’t as racy as in the mid-1980s. That’s when artists like Prince and Madonna started pushing the envelope of what was acceptably sexy on the small screen. And the first group to run afoul of standards and practices on the then-fledgling network were none other than British icons Queen. Their clip for “Body Language” from their 10th album, Hot Space, was the culprit. Naturally in retrospect one wonders what all the fuss was about. But by early-’80s standards, it was risqué enough that MTV banned Queen. At least for a while.

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A Different Sort of Queen

Hot Space was a different sort of album for Queen. The funky “Another One Bites the Dust” had done smashingly well (going Top 10 in many countries), so the group pushed into a more disco and R&B-flavored direction. They hired famed producer Arif Mardin, who even provided horn arrangements on “Staying Power.”

Hot Space produced the successful collaboration “Under Pressure” with David Bowie, but the release as a whole ran afoul of many hardcore Queen fans in Europe who hated disco. Americans, however, liked it more; the single went up to No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In subsequent years, however, Queen played few songs from Hot Space. The album sold a respectable half-million copies, but the previous record, The Game, had gone Platinum at the time (and sold 3 million more copies later). Their next album, 1984’s The Works, would bring back the rock.

The Offending Video

The video for “Body Language” pushed their visual language in the way that the album expanded their musical boundaries. But it was too hot for basic cable, which at the time was more tame than it is now. The clip actually made the Guinness Book of World Records as the First Music Video Banned by MTV, and their description is rather fun.

“Long before the likes of Rihanna and Miley Cyrus arrived on the scene with their X-rated music videos, MTV began the practice of banning or censoring videos that they deemed unsuitable for their viewers,” reads the Guinness entry. “In 1982, the channel banned the video for Queen’s (UK) ‘Body Language’ due to its ‘homoerotic undertones’ and the presence of human flesh, although the band members themselves were fully clothed throughout. Arguably tame by today’s standards, the video was shot in a dimly lit steam room and featured sweaty, writhing, Lycra-clad bodies, with Queen’s bespectacled frontman, Freddie Mercury, observing the scene from close quarters.”

Hot Space Indeed

The video was directed by Mike Hodges and featured a leather-clad, sunglasses-wearing Mercury walking through a steam room with men and women dressed in black underwear cavorting, writing, kissing, and licking. There were lots of sexy close-ups with heavy shadows, but there was no nudity or sex, only the implication of it. One can also debate the “homoerotic undertones,” as the clip feels perhaps more poly-sexual—or just sensual in general.

You got red lips
Snakes in your eyes
Long legs, great thighs
You’ve got the cutest ass I’ve ever seen
Knock me down for a six anytime
Look at me, I got of case of body language

Body language, body language, yeah
Sexy body, sexy, sexy body

A Minor Quibble

Queen guitarist Brian May has recalled how he debated with Mercury about what he perceived as overtly gay sexual references in some of the album’s lyrics. Yet “Body Language” feels rather universal, which makes sense given that Mercury was bisexual. What is also interesting is that Queen would run into trouble with MTV again when they all dressed in drag for the video for “I Want to Break Free” two years later. That is a tale for another feature.

“Body Language” itself has proven to be a popular song for dance routines, was used in an episode of Nip/Tuck, and was used in the Foo Fighters video for “Hot Buns,” which was humorously filled with gay innuendo as the seemingly redneck characters they played showered together in a truck stop and posed sexually and teased each other. That clip, however, came out in 2011 and was purposefully meant to push back against hateful homophobic organizations like the Westboro Baptist Church.

Hot Space also has proven to be influential. Extreme guitarist Nuno Bettencourt has stated that the album taught him more about playing guitar and how to use it in a song rather than just dominating it. Michael Jackson cited the album as an influence on his mega-selling Thriller album. As Queen proved here, it pays to take risks, even if the dividends are not immediate.

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