- Buddy Holly (song)
Single infobox
Name = Buddy Holly
Artist =Weezer
from Album = Weezer
Released =September 7 ,1994
Format = CD|, Cassette, Vinyl
Recorded = August-September,1993 atElectric Lady Studios ,New York City
Genre =Pop punk
Length = 2:39
Label = DGC
Producer =Ric Ocasek
Reviews =
Last single = "Undone - The Sweater Song "
(1994)
This single = "Buddy Holly"
(1995)
Next single = "Say It Ain't So "
(1995)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album =Weezer (1994 album)
Type = studio
Tracks =
# "My Name Is Jonas "
# "No One Else "
# "The World has Turned and Left Me Here "
# "Buddy Holly"
# "Undone - The Sweater Song "
# "Surf Wax America "
# "Say It Ain't So "
# "In the Garage "
# "Holiday"
# "Only in Dreams ""Buddy Holly" is a song by the rock group
Weezer , written byRivers Cuomo . It was released as the second single from the band's debut album Weezer (1994) in 1994. The single was released on what would have beenBuddy Holly 's 58th birthday, had he not been killed in a plane crash along with fellow rock pioneersRitchie Valens andThe Big Bopper onFebruary 3 ,1959 . The lyrics reference the song's 1950s namesake andactress Mary Tyler Moore . It reached #2 and #34 on the USModern Rock Tracks chart and the USMainstream Rock Tracks chart, respectively. It also reached #12 in the UK. "Rolling Stone " ranked "Buddy Holly" #497 in its 2004 list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".cite web | url=http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6596342/buddy_holly|title=The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time|accessdate=2007-11-24 |publisher="Rolling Stone "]ong development
Rivers Cuomo has stated in one of hisMySpace blogs from 2006Fact|date=February 2008 that he remembers questioning whether or not to include this song on "The Blue Album". He almost kept it off the final track list, but encouragement from producerRic Ocasek soon changed his mind. In the book 'River's Edge', Ocasek is quoted as saying, "I remember at one point he was hesitant to do 'Buddy Holly' and I was like, 'Rivers, we can talk about it. Do it anyway, and if you don't like it when it's done, we won't use it. But I think you should try. You did write it and it is a great song.'" Cuomo said that he felt the song was "too cheesy" and didn't know if the song represented the sound he was going for with the band's music. He has since concluded that he is glad that he didn't change his mind about the song because it is one of his favorite songs to play and sing live. Furthermore, it has proved to be one of Weezer's most successful singles and a song that is very much enjoyed live.An early demo of "Buddy Holly" recorded by Cuomo in 1993 has a different feel, as the song is played at a much slower tempo than the version that appears on the album. This version appeared on "". The liner notes for "Alone" explain that the chorus, in its most primitive form, originally was sung as: "Oo-wee-oo you look just like
Ginger Rogers /Oh, oh, I move just likeFred Astaire ," the rest of the chorus the way it appears even in the "Blue Album" version.Music video
The
music video for "Buddy Holly" was directed bySpike Jonze .The video portrayed Weezer performing at the original Arnold's Drive-In diner from the popular '70s
television show , "Happy Days ". The video combined contemporary footage of the band with clips from the show. "Happy Days" cast memberAl Molinaro made a cameo appearance in the video. Al plugs his hometown, Kenosha,Wisconsin , in the introduction. In the memorable climax, clever editing (and a stunt double) allowedFonzie to dance to the band's performance. The video also features brief cameos by some members of the bandThat Dog as dancers at Arnold's. The video was met with great popularity and heavy rotation onMTV . [ Luerssen D., John. "Rivers' Edge: The Weezer Story". ECW Press, 2004, ISBN 1-55022-619-3 p. 132] The innovative video scored four awards at the 1995 "MTV Video Music Awards ", including prizes for Breakthrough Video and Best Alternative Video. [cite web | url=http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1995/mtvvmas.htm|title=1995 MTV Video Music Awards |accessdate=2007-09-11 |publisher="Rock on the Net"]The "Buddy Holly" music video became so popular that it was included on the
Microsoft Windows 95 CD-ROM when the operating system was first released.Tracklist
Promo Only Radio Single
# Buddy Holly - 2:40UK Retail CD
# Buddy Holly - 2:40
# My Name Is Jonas (Live) - 3:40
# Surf Wax America (Live) - 4:09
# Jamie - 4:18UK Retail Cassette/UK Retail 7" Single (Black Vinyl)
# Buddy Holly - 2:40
# Jamie - 4:18Australian Retail CD
# Buddy Holly - 2:40
# HolidayDutch Retail CD
# Buddy Holly - 2:40
# Surf Wax America (Live) - 4:09Live tracks recorded at Horizontal Boogie Bar, Rochester, NY on November 27, 1994.
Chart Positions
Accolades
[http://acclaimedmusic.net/061024/S110.htm Information from AcclaimedMusic.com]
* #497 in theList of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time .
* #364 Blender's "Top 500 Songs of the 80s-00s"
* #52Kerrang! 's "100 Greatest Singles of All-Time"
* #101The Movement 's "The 100 (+300) Greatest Songs of All Time"
* #50The Movement 's "The 77 Best Singles of the 90s"Trivia
* The two people on the cover are Rivers Cuomo and a childhood friend he wished to contact, to no avail, after using this photograph for the single.
* The song describes aplatonic relationship that Rivers had in high school with a young-looking Asian girl (thus, "your tongue is twisted/your eyes are slit"). The duo were frequently made fun of, yet the song describes how he "doesn't care what they say about us anyway". It is inferred that the song might be a jab at the hard times that youngsters described asnerd s go through. In the liner notes for "Alone - The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo ", the "homies" are, in fact, the other band members ofWeezer .
* British Indie artist Dev 'Lightspeed Champion ' Hynes covered the song during his 2008 tour.
*Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine covered this as aLounge style on his2002 album "Tuxicity ".
* Scottish bandBiffy Clyro covered this song for a "Kerrang! " magazine cover CD, "", given away with Issue #1110.
* The video was distributed in AVI format on Windows 95 CDs as bonus content, to demonstrate the ability of the new Windows Media Player. The Windows 95 OSR/2 CD included an MPEG version of the video in addition to the AVI version.
* This single appears on the British "Now 31".
*Mary Tyler Moore is perhaps referenced becauseSonny Curtis (ofBuddy Holly 's bandThe Crickets ) wrote and performed the theme song for "The Mary Tyler Moore Show ."
* In October 2007,Much More Music placed "Buddy Holly" as number 3 of the Top 40 Most Memorable Music Videos on "Listed".
*The song has appeared as downloadable content for themusic video game "Rock Band" and for the PS3 karaoke game ""SingStar ".
*The song appeared in theMuch Music "Big Shiny Tunes 90's Volume 2".Personnel
*
Rivers Cuomo –lead guitar ,lead vocals
*Brian Bell –rhythm guitar ,backing vocals
*Matt Sharp –bass guitar ,backing vocals
*Patrick Wilson – percussion*
Ric Ocasek – producerNotes
External links
* [http://www.weezernet.com/index.php?page=lyrics&lid=9 Buddy Holly Lyrics]
* [http://www.sitcomsonline.com/weezer.html Buddy Holly video]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.