Freddie Mercury’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Came After 10cc’s Hit, Graham Gouldman Shares

When you step into the music scene, seeing other artists on the same wavelength as you are pretty common. Yet, for one reason or another, some receive more attention and praise. For instance, 10cc’s Graham Gouldman explained in an interview with Classic Album Review that their track ‘One Night in Paris’ came out before Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ but their song didn’t have the same reaction as Queen’s hit. Let’s see what Gouldman said about the connection between the two bands.

“Let me put it this way,” Gouldman began reflecting on the period their track, ‘One Night in Paris,’ had been released. “‘One Night in Paris’ from our original soundtrack album came out before ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’ We begged our record company to put it out, but they said, ‘No, it’s too long, and it’ll never work.’ We could have edited it as well.”

The singer added, “I worked with Brian May recently, and we haven’t actually discussed that, but I think there are a lot of similarities between Queen and 10cc. I think our values are very much the same in, you know, regarding production, songwriting, the sort of things that we wrote about.”

Graham also shared the biggest difference between the two bands that put Queen in the forefront, saying, “The massive difference was, of course, that Brian’s guitar is so identifiable, Freddie’s voice was so identifiable, whereas 10cc, see if you listen to our three number one records ‘Rubber Bullets,’ ‘I’m Not in Love,’ and ‘Dreadlock Holiday,’ three different singers. It could be three different bands, so there was a massive difference between us, but we did have shared values, and I would say, you know, maybe we owe a bit to each other.”

The two songs, ‘One Night in Paris’ and ‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ seem to share a similar pattern. So, it is fair to say that Queen might have been influenced by 10cc. However, Gouldman also admitted that Queen had Freddie Mercury and Brian May, two of the industry’s most recognizable musicians, which hugely enriched the band’s brand and sound. Yet, the musician believes that they were influenced by each other. What do you think?