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"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. The soundtrack released to coincide with the film contained only the music composed and performed by Queen.

There are two versions of the song. The album version ("Flash's Theme") is in fact the start to the movie, with all the dialogue from the first scene. The single version features dialogue cut from various parts of the movie, most memorably, Brian Blessed's character exclaiming "Gordon's alive?!" This version was also included on the Greatest Hits compilation from 1981.[1]

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 OBX synth (which he plays in the video) and his homemade Red Special guitar.

Contrary to connections made in popular culture, and despite the song's title, it bears no relation to the DC Comics character of the same name.

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Music Video[edit][]

The video for the song was filmed at Anvil Studios, London in November 1980 and directed by Don Norman and features the band performing the song to a screen showing clips from the film. An alternate version which was broadcast during the Concert For Kampuchea during 1981 featuring alternate film clips was included on the Flash Gordon 2011 iTunes edition.

Personnel[edit][]

Sales and Certifications[edit][]

Region Certification Sales/shipments
United Kingdom (BPI)[2] Silver 250,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Remixes and covers[edit][]

Uses in popular culture[edit][]

  • A segment of the song is often played at Miami Heat home games when Dwyane Wade, who is nicknamed "Flash," makes a spectacular play.
  • The song was played at Philadelphia Phillies home games when Phillies reliever Tom Gordon, whose nickname is "Flash Gordon", entered the game.
  • The song is played in the film Blades of Glory when Will Ferrell and Jon Heder do their final competition together, with the song as the background and basis for their routine at the end of the movie.[7]
  • Some Sci Fi Channel teaser-advertisements for the 2007 Flash Gordon series play the signature beats from the song over a simple logo. The song is not used in the actual show.
  • Mark Dudbridge, an English darts player, uses it as his entrance music on stage. A take on his nickname Flash.
  • "Flash" has been used as the opening theme song for Fuji TV's Formula One coverage in Japan since the 2007 season.
  • This song has been played on Toy Story 2 advertisement on ABC1 and Disney Channel using "Buzz" instead of "Flash".
  • NBA star Shaquille O'Neal sang the song during a press-conference, but replaced flash with "Shaq, Ah! Ah! Greatest of the universe!".[8]
  • The song was featured in the Family Guy episode "Not All Dogs Go To Heaven", when Brian wonders why nobody has even seen God and what does he do up there.[9]
  • The song was used in a 2011 commercial for the Blackberry Playbook, with "Flash" referring to the tablet computer's inclusion of Adobe Flash Player.
  • The song has recently been used in the UK Innocent smoothie advertising campaign replacing "Flash" with "Fruit"
  • The song was used on a promo for the CBS reality show The Amazing Race, replacing "Flash" with "Phil", referring to the show's host Phil Keoghan.
  • "Flash", along with other songs from the soundtrack, was used in the 2012 comedy film Ted.

Live recording[edit][]

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