Werewolves of London

Infobox Single
Name = Werewolves of London


Artist = Warren Zevon
from Album = Excitable Boy
B-side = "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner"
Released = 1978
Format = 7" single
Recorded = 1977| Genre = Rock
Length = 3:27
Label = Asylum Records
Writer = LeRoy Marinell, Robert "Waddy" Wachtel, Warren Zevon
Producer = Jackson Browne, Waddy Wachtel
Certification =
Chart position = * #21
Last single = "Hasten Down the Wind"
(1977)
This single = "Werewolves of London"
(1978)
Next single = "Lawyers, Guns and Money"
(1978)
Misc =

"Werewolves of London" is a song composed by LeRoy Marinell, Waddy Wachtel, and Warren Zevon and performed by Zevon. Included on Zevon's album "Excitable Boy", it featured accompaniment by bassist John McVie and drummer Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac. The title reference is to the first Hollywood motion picture about lycanthropy, entitled "Werewolf of London". The song is memorable for its humorous and macabre lyrics — eg. "I saw a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic's" — and the refrain featuring a joyfully howled "a-hooo!!"

Covers

*T-Bone Burnett and members of Bob Dylan's Rolling Thunder Revue played the then-unreleased song on several dates, including Dec. 4, 1975 at the Montreal Forum, available for listening through WolfgangsVault.com. That version includes the Jack Nicholson reference, as well as Patty Hearst, Frank Sinatra, Rick Danko, Linda Lovelace, Marilyn Chambers, Sammy Davis Jr. and Jimmy Hoffa among others.
* In 1985 the Dexy's Midnight Runners track "One of those Things" from the Album "Don't Stand Me Down" uses the riff taken from "Werewolves of London". Zevon and his co-writers LeRoy Marinell and Waddy Wachtel thus get writing credits on the song.
*In 1988, David Lindley and El-Rayo X did a ska-flavored cover on their album "Very Greasy".
*In 1990, The Black Velvet Band covered the song for the compilation album "Rubáiyát".
*In 2002, British alternative band Doves reinterpreted the song as a b-side titled "Hit The Ground Running". They previously performed this song in concerts, usually as part of their encore.
*Since 2005, the rock band The Golden Ticket have made the song a highlight of their live show.
*In 2006, indie rock band Magnolia Electric Co. covered the song.
*In 2006, Jimmy Buffett covered this song on the soundtrack for the movie ""Hoot"". Although only a small portion of the song appeared in the movie, the entire song is on the soundtrack album. He has also performed it in concert 18 times.
*On 17 September 2006, Australian Idol finalist Bobby Flynn covered the song during the 2nd Finals Week (Rock) segment of the competition.
*Toledo rock band TERRY's KID covered the song many times live from 1999 to 2001.
*Adam Sandler performed the song on "The David Letterman Show", singing and playing guitar. He also recorded the song for the tribute album "".
*The Grateful Dead covered this song a number of times, often on Halloween, including a performance in London's Wembly Stadium on Halloween 1990. The band also performed the song once as a rare encore on July 8, 1978 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
*Kid Rock samples the song on his 2007 CD "Rock N Roll Jesus". The song is called "All Summer Long" and also samples Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" (which has a similar chord progression).
*This song also samples from sweet home alabama, as well as DOTA by BassHunter
*In November 2007, Widespread Panic covered the song for the 45th time since the band started in 1985 (www.everydaycompanion.com)
*Akira The Don reinterpreted the song on his "Thieving" mixtape as "Werewolves!", which concerned London grifters and slum landlords.In mid 2008 Ron Fleeger & The Stranger made Werewolves of London a permanent fixture in their set list.

In popular culture

*Jesse Ventura played the song at his inauguration party as governor of Minnesota."Werewolves of London", Johnny Black, Blender, April, 2008]
*Author Kelley Armstrong created a character in her book "Bitten" that she attributes directly to this last line.
*It is the at-bat song for Seattle Mariners left fielder Raúl Ibáñez.
*In an episode of "The Larry Sanders Show", Zevon appears as himself and expresses his disdain for having to always play "Werewolves of London" on television appearances.
*In "The Color of Money", Tom Cruise shoots pool while the song is playing in the background.
*A short-lived Frontier League baseball team based in London, Ontario was named for the song - the team was called the London Werewolves.
*It is played as the "goal song" by the Phoenix Coyotes of the National Hockey League.
* In "The Halloween That Almost Wasn't", a Budapest werewolf named Warren (derived from Zevon's first name) arrives at Count Dracula's castle. Igor led him inside there.
* In the novel "Blood and Chocolate" by Annette Curtis Klause the Five sing this song to Vivian Gandillon in an attempt to comfort her.
* The Australian soccer club Wollongong Wolves used an arrangement of "Werewolves of London" as their theme song, with the lyrics "a-ooo, We're the wolves of Wollongong" put to the distinctive melody.
* In Episode #809 of "Mystery Science Theater 3000", featuring the film "I Was a Teenage Werewolf", Mike Nelson and his robot pals use several phrases from the song to riff the film; for example, when a search party is seeking the titular werewolf, Tom Servo, speaking on behalf of a character, says "Sir, I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand!"
* In "Detective Comics" #534, Green Arrow encounters a motorcycle gang called the Werewolves of London.
* Bob Dylan played the song on an episode of his Theme Time Radio Hour show, an episode called "Around The World Part One".

References

* [http://www.guntheranderson.com/v/data/werewolv.htm Lyrics and chords]
* [http://www3.clearlight.com/~acsa/introjs.htm?/~acsa/songfile/WEREWOLF.HTM Grateful Dead cover information]
* [http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B00000843J Werewolves of London, the band]