Beverly Hills (song)

Single infobox
Name = Beverly Hills


Artist = Weezer
from Album = Make Believe
Released = March 29 2005
Format = CD
Recorded = 2004
Genre = Alternative rock
Length = 3:20
Label = Geffen
Producer = Rick Rubin
Last single = "Keep Fishin'"
(2002)
This single = "Beverly Hills" (2005)
Next single = "We Are All on Drugs"
(2005)
Misc = Extra tracklisting
Album = Make Believe
Type = Studio
Tracks =
# "Beverly Hills"
# "Perfect Situation"
# "This Is Such a Pity"
# "Hold Me"
# "Peace"
# "We Are All on Drugs"
# "The Damage In Your Heart"
# "Pardon Me"
# "My Best Friend"
# "The Other Way"
# "Freak Me Out"
# "Haunt You Every Day"

"Beverly Hills" is the first single from Weezer's fifth album, "Make Believe". It was released on March 29 2005. The music video for this song, directed by Marcos Siega, was filmed at The Playboy Mansion (which is actually not located in Beverly Hills, but the neighboring community of Holmby Hills), with Hugh Hefner making a cameo appearance at the beginning. The song features Stephanie Eitel of Agent Sparks on the chorus on backup vocals.

Inspiration

Cuomo's story behind "Beverly Hills": "I was at the opening of the new Hollywood Bowl and I flipped through the program and I saw a picture of Wilson Phillips. And for some reason I just thought how nice it would be to marry, like, an “established” celebrity and live in Beverly Hills and be part of that world. And it was a totally sincere desire. And then I wrote that song, Beverly Hills. For some reason, by the time it came out—and the video came out—it got twisted around into something that seemed sarcastic. But originally it wasn’t meant to be sarcastic at all." [cite web | url=http://www.weezer.com/discography/makebelieve.asp|title=Make Believe: Track By Track|accessdate=2007-10-02 |publisher="Weezer.com"]

uccess

The song was the band's most commercially successful single until Pork and Beans was released, best remembered for its I-IV-V harmony, use of hand claps, simple lyrics that spoke of alienation and a distinctive talk box solo that Cuomo plays an extended version of when the band plays the song live. The song topped the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart for a week, spending months near the top of the Billboard Hot 100 (peaking at #10) and being certified gold on June 6, 2005. As of January 2006 the digital single has been purchased over 962,000 times on iTunes. It also did very well on other Billboard charts, such as Adult Top 40 (#8 peak), Hot Digital Songs (#1 peak) and Mainstream Rock Tracks (#26).

The song also made the Top 10 on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at #9 and remaining on the chart for five more weeks.

The song was nominated for "Best Rock Song" at the 48th Annual Grammy Awards, the first ever nomination for the band. The video for the song was nominated at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Rock Video. The song won College Song Of The Year at the 54th Annual BMI Pop Awards [ [http://www.wjbq.com/rftp/nmc/news/10323.html http://www.wjbq.com/rftp/nmc/news/10323.html] "Wjbq.com"]

"Beverly Hills" stayed at #1 on the Modern Rock charts for 1 week. It was the first #1 for Weezer, but this record was later met with "Perfect Situation," the Make Believe's third single, which held the pole position for 4 weeks.

The song was the top-selling digital download of 2005 according to Nielsen SoundScan. [ [http://www.mp3.com/news/stories/2819.html http://www.mp3.com/news/stories/2819.html] "Mp3.com" ]

Rivers Cuomo stated that "Beverly Hills" along with the solo, third verse, and last chorus of "Falling for You," are his proudest musical achievements: "Its incredibly fun: a great beat, guitar riffs, catchy vocal style. Besides that, I think the lyrics are incredible in a very understated way. I might as well enjoy my life and watch the stars play. I love it! With this one song we were able to transcend our little niche and connect with all kinds of people, young and old, from all kinds of backgrounds." [cite web | url=http://www.weezer.com/discography/RCINT2006/2006RCFI.html|title=Rivers Cuomo Fan Interview 2006|accessdate=2007-10-02 |publisher="Weezer.com"]

Cell phone leak

A notable moment among Weezer fans took place after the song's video shoot, in which the band's fans were prominently featured after a request was put up on Weezer's website weezer.com. The song and the upcoming album were still very tightly under wraps and nobody had heard any material from the album. Despite all recording devices being checked at the entrance point of the shoot, a fan managed to get his cell phone in and record a clip from the song that he posted on the internet. The cell phone clip was quickly downloaded over and over by eager fans, as it represented the first new material heard from the band in two years.

Inclusions and variations

* A remix of the song called "Beverly Hills (Urbanix Mix)" appears on the "We Are All on Drugs" single.
* The song is also featured on "Now That's What I Call Music! 20" and "Kidz Bop, Vol. 9".
* The song also has been used on "Malcolm in the Middle".
* The song's chorus is featured in the track "Polkarama!" from "Weird Al" Yankovic's album "Straight Outta Lynwood".
* The song was also used in episode of "Cold Case" called "Knuckle Up"
* The band Bob Ricci made a parody of this song, based on the show "Beverly Hills, 90210"
* The song is featured in the second "Bring It On" sequel, "".

Track listing

UK Retail 7" (Picture Disc)
#"Beverly Hills"
#"Butterfly" (Live)

UK Retail CD
#"Beverly Hills"
#"Island in the Sun" (Live)
#"Butterfly" (Live)
#"Beverly Hills" (CD-ROM Track)

Personnel

*Rivers Cuomo – lead guitar, lead vocals
*Patrick Wilson – percussion
*Brian Bell – rhythm guitar
*Scott Shriner – bass guitar
*Rick Rubin – producer
*Rich Costey – mixer

References

External links

* [http://www.weezernet.com/index.php?page=lyrics&lid=233 Lyrics for "Beverly Hills"]
* [http://www.worldisround.com/articles/140620/index.html Video Shoot]