06-19-1999 – Billboard – Dwight Yoakam

YOAKAM REPRISES QUEEN AFTER 20-YEAR GAP
IT’S COMMONPLACE IN THE U.K. for songs heard in TV commercials to reach the top 10 on the singles chart. Recent releases like “Flat Beat” by Mr. Oizo and “Ooh La La” by Wiseguys achieved hit status thanks to their inclusion in televised adverts. The trend hasn’t been duplicated in the U.S., but there is a track that debuts on The Billboard Hot 100 this issue that benefits from being heard in a commercial for the clothing retailer the Gap.

Dwight Yoakam’s take on Queen’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love”(Reprise) is new at No. 81. The song was written by Freddie Mercury 20 years ago while he was languishing in a bath at the Munich Hilton. He leapt from the tub, ran to his guitar and a piano, and set down the melody. After he played it for fellow Queen members Brian May, John Deacon, and Roger Taylor, it was quickly recorded in the studio and marked the first time that Mercury played guitar on a track as well as singing lead. The song peaked at No. 2 in the U.K. but almost wasn’t released in the U.S. Mercury said that Elektra was reluctant to issue it, but radio stations started playing the song from import copies and forced the release.

The original version of “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” entered the Hot 100 in December 1979 and spent four weeks at No. 1 in February 1980. In chart terms, the rockabilly-infused song is Queen’s biggest U.S. hit. Yoakam makes the song sound like it was written as a country hit. And the song is shaping up to be one: It rises 25-21 on Hot Country Singles & Tracks. On the pop side, if the song is to become the most successful remake of a Queen song, the record to beat is Vanilla Ice’s “Ice Ice Baby,” a reworking of “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie. “Ice” spent one week at No. 1 in November 1990.