Bruce Gowers, the in-demand director best known for his 1975 music video for Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and clips for Rod Stewart’s “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy,” Prince’s “1999,” and Journey’s “Lights,” among hundreds of others, died Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023, at age 82. Gowers was also the director of TV’s American Idol in its early years in the U.S., winning the Emmy Award for Best Musical Variety Director in 2009. The news of his passing from an acute respiratory infection, in Santa Monica, Calif., was announced by his wife, Carol Rosenstein.
After directing the Queen video, considered a breakthrough clip at the time, Gowers said, “My phone never stopped ringing.”
Throughout the ’70s and ’80s, the English-born Gowers helmed some 350 music videos for such classic rock stars as Santana (“Winning”), Supertramp (“The Logical Song,” “Goodbye Stranger”), Journey (“Lovin’, Touchin’ Squeezin'”), Kansas (“Dust in the Wind”), John Mellencamp (“Jack and Diane”) and Huey Lewis & the News (“The Heart of Rock and Roll”).
It took Queen some three weeks to record their complicated single. Yet it took only three-and-a-half hours and a mere £3500 to film its video, which has been hailed as “groundbreaking” and credited with its effect on making the song a huge hit, and in time one of the most beloved numbers in classic rock.
Queen decided to do a promo film – as video clips were known at the time – because “Bohemian Rhapsody” was simply too complex for the band to perform it live on music TV shows, especially those on which they would mime the number, and simply look foolish.
Queen’s Roger Taylor adds, “We made a video for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ simply because we were on tour, and we weren’t able to go on Top of the Pops. We realized, you don’t even have to be here to promote your new record now. You just go and make one of these video films.”
It was directed by Gowers, who brought a small crew to Ellstree Studios on Nov. 10, 1975, where the band were rehearsing for a tour. Its elements are quite simple in a way: Shots of members of the band performing the song, and a primary view of the group singing their choral parts together that took its cue from the cover shot of the four band members’ faces on the Queen II album taken by music photographer Mick Rock. It was all done within four hours. The rush to get it on Top of the Pops resulted in a five-hour editing session. It was the first music video that the influential program ever aired.
What made the clip work so effectively was the simple yet artful way it was shot and edited. This remains obvious today. Because it so helped promote the song, the “Bohemian Rhapsody” clip led to videos becoming a required element in the campaign for singles, leading up to the launch of MTV.
Watch the band explain the making-of the video
Gowers was born Dec. 21, 1940, in West Kilbride, Scotland, and grew up in North London. He attended the BBC Training College began his career working as a cable puller, a cameraman and a production manager before sliding into the director’s chair. He continued to collaborate with Queen, directing videos for such songs as “Somebody To Love” and “Tie Your Mother Down,” among others.
Gowers relocated to the U.S. and met his wife, Carol, on the music video shoot for Rod Stewart’s “Tonight’s the Night.”
Of his work on American Idol, Gowers often singled out a spectacular performance from Season One of “Respect” by Kelly Clarkson.
Throughout his career, Gowers was one of a handful of go-to directors for awards programs including the Primetime Emmy Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards, and ESPN’s Espy Awards, and dozens of music-oriented TV specials for Michael Jackson, Barry Manilow, Paul McCartney, Britney Spears, and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. Gowers also directed TV specials for such comedy superstars Robin Williams, Rodney Dangerfield, Billy Crystal, and Eddie Murphy.
Related: Our Album Rewind of Queen’s A Night at the Opera
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