Buddy Holly (song)

Last updated
Buddy Holly cropped.JPG
Mary Tyler Moore 2000 (1) (cropped).jpg
The song was released on what would have been its namesake's (left) 58th birthday. The song also references American actress Mary Tyler Moore (right).

Steve Baltin from Cash Box commented, "You’ve gotta love a song that makes reference to Mary Tyler Moore. Slightly poppier in its guitar sound than their first single, [...], this Ric Ocasek-produced song could help expand their already-growing fan base. Besides that, it mentions Mary, the woman who could turn the world on with her smile. Therefore, it has to be a hit." [11] John Robb from Melody Maker opined, "Weezer sound like The Proclaimers jamming with The Knack. This is pop-punk-by-numbers." [12] Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Made loud to play loud and sing along, it's the ideal power pop to cruise round this summer. That silly twin synth/guitar, betrays producer Ocasek, the one-time driver of New York's Cars." [13]

A reviewer from Music Week gave the song four out of five, adding, "A short and sweet taster from the album which may not have the same quirky appeal of "Undone (The Sweater Song)", but has an attractive hook and a video to arouse interest." [14] Johnny Cigarettes from NME commented, "A touching paean to nerdish social rejection from people who frankly deserve it. [...] But I am totally suckered by the pop majesty of a song that employs the long forgotten phrase Oo-ee-oo and drills an indelible mark on your taste buds such that you can never forget it's supernaturally banal chorus." [15] Paul Evans from Rolling Stone noted "the self-deprecating humor" of lines like "I look like Buddy Holly/You're Mary Tyler Moore". [16]

The song was widely talked about through the amount of memes revolving around the song, many on Youtube as remixes of the song in a shitpost fashion, with remixes such as remixes as simple as "Buddy Holly But It's in Swing Time" [17] to more complex covers, such as "Buddy Holly but it gets faster every time they use a pronoun" [18] , varying in quality across the board.

Music video

The music video takes place at Arnold's Drive-in on Happy Days (pictured in a 1975 episode). Happy days at arnolds 1975.JPG
The music video takes place at Arnold's Drive-in on Happy Days (pictured in a 1975 episode).

According to Matt Sharp, Spike Jonze came up with three ideas for the accompanying music video for "Buddy Holly". Sharp stated that two of the ideas "weren't great". When Jonze pitched the idea that came to be the song's video, Sharp told Jonze "I don't think you'll be able to pull it off", but the band agreed to do it. [19] The video was filmed at Charlie Chaplin Studios in Hollywood over a single day and portrays Weezer performing at Arnold's Drive-In from the 1970s television show Happy Days, combining footage of the band with clips from the show. Happy Days cast member Al Molinaro made a cameo; he introduces the band by describing them as, "Kenosha, Wisconsin's own Weezer", and before the band plays, Al asks the patrons to try the fish; in fact it's Molinaro himself who was from Kenosha, while Weezer is from Los Angeles. [20]

Happy Days cast member Al Molinaro reprises his role as Al Delvecchio in the video. Other cast members make cameos throughout the video. Al Molinaro Murray the cop Odd Couple 1974.JPG
Happy Days cast member Al Molinaro reprises his role as Al Delvecchio in the video. Other cast members make cameos throughout the video.

In the climax, the video's stylist Casey Storm body doubled, and this allowed Fonzie to dance to the band's performance. The video also features brief cameos by some members of the band as dancers at Arnold's. Anson Williams, who played Potsie on Happy Days, objected to footage of him appearing in the video, but relented after receiving a letter from David Geffen, founder of Geffen Records. [10] According to drummer Pat Wilson, the video was achieved without computer graphics, only "clever" camerawork and editing. The video ended with Al congratulating the band, and asking if anyone tried the fish, but they claimed it wasn't so good, and Al grudgingly agreed and closed the restaurant down for the night. [21] Sharp stated that the video was "pretty fucking wacky". [19]

The video was met with great popularity, and heavy rotation on MTV. [22] At the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards, it won Best Alternative Video, Breakthrough Video, Best Direction and Best Editing, and was nominated for Video of the Year. [23]

The "Buddy Holly" video was included on the Windows 95 installation CD-ROM, resulting in a skyrocket in popularity and earning Weezer a place in the history of MTV Music Video Awards. [24] [25] Geffen did not tell Weezer they had negotiated with Microsoft to include the video; the band members, none of whom owned computers, were oblivious to the implications. [21] According to Wilson, "I was furious because at the time I was like, 'How are they allowed to do this without permission?' Turns out it was one of the greatest things that could have happened to us. Can you imagine that happening today? It's like, there's one video on YouTube, and it's your video." [21] [26]

The video also appears in the music exhibit in the Museum of Modern Art. The music video was featured in Season 5, Episode 30 of MTV's Beavis and Butthead entitled "Here Comes the Bride's Butt" on June 9, 1995.

Track listings

"Buddy Holly"
BuddyHolly(USA).jpg
Single by Weezer
from the album Weezer (The Blue Album)
B-side "Jamie"
ReleasedSeptember 7, 1994
Studio Electric Lady (New York City)
Genre
Length2:39
Label DGC
Songwriter(s) Rivers Cuomo
Producer(s) Ric Ocasek
Weezer singles chronology
"Undone – The Sweater Song"
(1994)		"Buddy Holly"
(1994)		"Say It Ain't So"
(1995)
Music video
"Buddy Holly" on YouTube

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [54] Platinum600,000‡
United States (RIAA) [55] Gold500,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

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