Song of the Day 2/25: Queen, “I’m in Love With My Car”

As expected, Rami Malek won the Oscar last night for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury in “Bohemian Rhapsody.” More surprisingly, the show opened with the current incarnation of the band — Brian May on guitar and Roger Taylor on drums with Adam Lambert on vocals — performing “We Will Rock You” and “We Are the Champions.” But amid all this Queenophilia, I wanted to put in a word for a song that’s used as a running joke in the movie, Roger Taylor’s “I’m in Love With My Car.” It wound up as the B-side to “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but I always thought it was one of the better tracks on “A Night at the Opera,” a straight-ahead rocker that counter-balanced Freddie Mercury’s more baroque compositions.

My first encounter with the band was their second album, Queen II, which closed with the song that became their first single to chart, “Seven Seas of Rhye.” At that stage Queen was more of a glam rock band that bragged about never using synthesizers. It was the later success of “Killer Queen” from “Sheer Heart Attack” that steered them toward operatic campiness and fame.