Back Street Luv

"Back Street Luv"
Single by Curved Air
from the album Second Album
B-side	"Everdance"
Released	18 June 1971 [1]
Genre	Art rock
Length	3:36
Label	Warner Bros.
Songwriters	Darryl Way, Sonja Kristina, Ian Eyre
Producers	Colin Caldwell, Curved Air
Curved Air singles chronology
"It Happened Today" (1971) "Back Street Luv" (1971) "Sarah's Concern" (1972)
Performance video
"Back Street Luv" on BeatClub (1971) on YouTube

"Back Street Luv" is a song by British rock band Curved Air, written by band members Darryl Way, Sonja Kristina, and Ian Eyre. It was included on the Second Album and released as a single in June 1971 by Warner Bros. ^[2] It reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart on 18 September. ^[3] Warners also released it as a single in the Netherlands, Germany, France and Portugal. In 1975 a live version appeared on Curved Air – Live and was released as a single in the UK by Deram, but it failed to make any commercial impact. ^{[2] [4]}

Rock music critic Dave Thompson called the song "one of the band's own finest moments" and "also one of the crucial singles of the early 1970s". ^[5]

In 1997, Salad covered the song on the Childline charity album. ^[6]

Track list

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Back Street Luv"	3:36
2.	"Everdance"	3:06

Personnel

Original studio version

• Sonja Kristina — vocals
• Francis Monkman — EMS VCS 3, Hohner Pianet, guitar, Hammond organ
• Ian Eyre – bass
• Florian Pilkington-Miksa — drums

(Darryl Way, though the chief writer of the song's music, does not play on the original recording.)

Beat-Club performance, 1971

• Sonja Kristina — vocals, percussion
• Darryl Way – electric piano
• Francis Monkman — Hammond organ, guitar, keyboards
• Ian Eyre – bass
• Barry de Souza — drums ^[7]

Live version from Curved Air – Live, 1975

• Sonja Kristina – vocal
• Darryl Way – VCS3, electric piano
• Francis Monkman – guitar, organ
• Phil Kohn – bass
• Florian Pilkington-Miksa – drums

Live version from Alive, 1990

• Sonja Kristina – lead vocal
• Darryl Way – synthesizers, backing vocal
• Francis Monkman – guitar, bass
• Florian Pilkington-Miksa – drums

Album appearances

• 1971 — Second Album (3:36, WEA International) ^[8]
• 1971 — Second Album (5:56, Collectors' Choice Music)
• 1975 — Live (3:47, Repertoire)
• 1976 — Best of Curved Air (Warner Bros.)
• 1994 — Progression (Alex Records)
• 1995 — Journey to the Edge: Progressive Rock Classics (3:35, Music Collection)
• 1995 — The No. 1 70s Rock Album (3:40 Alex)
• 1995 — Progressive Pop: Inside the 70s (3:50, See For Miles Records)
• 1999 — Rock Festival (Insight)
• 2000 — Alive, 1990 (4:26, Mystic Records)
• 2006 — Absolute 70s (Crimson Productions)
• 2006 — Classic Rock Presents Prog Rock (3:37, Gut-Active)
• 2006 — Good Morning Vietnam 2 (3:50, Disky)
• 2006 — My Sounds Rock (Disky)
• 2007 — Head Full of Rock (3:36, EMI)
• 2007 — The Prog Rock Album (3:38, Crimson Productions)
• 2007 — The Sound of the 70s (3:35, Warner Strategic Marketing)
• 2008 — The Best of Curved Air (Repertoire)
• 2008 — Legendary Rock (3:48, MP Records)
• 2010 — The Old Grey Whistle Test (3:33, Rhino)

References

1. Melody Maker ad- 19 June edition
2. "Back Street Luv". www.discogs.com. 1971. Retrieved 13 August 2010.
3. "Back Street Luv UK Charts". Official Charts Company . Retrieved 13 August 2010.
4. Joynson, Vernon (1995). The Tapestry of Delights Archived 25 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine . London: Borderline Books.
5. Dave Thompson. "Second Album". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved 13 August 2010. …It's also one of the crucial singles of the early 1970s.
6. "Childline". www.allmusic.com. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
7. "Francis Monkman". Archived from the original on 10 August 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
8. Back Street Luv. – www.allmusic.com.