Love Shack

Last updated

I had to go with our A&R person, bless her heart, and beg radio stations to play it — they thought it was too weird. We felt 'Love Shack' was probably the most accessible commercial thing we'd ever done, and finally they started playing it, and it made it all the way to No. 3 on the Billboard charts.

—Fred Schneider; Entertainment Weekly magazine, 2018 [14]

Commercial

"Love Shack" became the band's biggest hit song as well as their first million-copy seller. [15] It was the band's first song to reach the top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number three in November 1989, and spending a total of 27 weeks on the chart. [16] It also reached number five in Canada, [17] number two in the United Kingdom, [18] and number one in Australia (eight weeks), [1] Ireland (one week) [19] and New Zealand (four weeks), [20] as well as on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart (four weeks). [21]

Critical

Caren Myers from Melody Maker said, "This wins hands down on packaging of the week, as it comes in a fold-out, pop-up love shack that you can brighten your mantelpiece with. The shack is the sort of place that shimmies when people start grooving there. The B-52's are still pretty much making the same frivolous music they always have, but I'd take their joyful silliness over a whole warehouse full of self-conscious iconoplasts any day. Next Thursday would be fine." [22] David Giles from Music Week wrote, "The B-52's deserve a hit after their fine return to form last summer with the Cosmic Thing LP, but I'd be surprised if this is the track to do it." He added, "Like 'Party Out of Bounds', it tries to conjure up a wild, chaotic celebration, but unlike that particular track it is neither inventive nor melodic enough." [23] Pan-European magazine Music & Media named it "the best track from the disappointing Cosmic Thing. Good clean fun from some of the US' most productive eccentrics." [24] Ian McCann from NME felt it was a rip-off of the Miracles' "Going to a Go-Go". [25] People magazine noted the "wild abandon" of the song. [26]

In retrospective reviews, Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described it as "an irresistible dance number with delightfully silly lyrics and hooks as big as a whale that unbelievably gave the group a long-awaited Top Ten hit." [27] Matthew Hocter from Albumism cited "Love Shack" as an example of the band's "own unique brand of upbeat, lyrically positive and infectious dance grooves". [28] The Daily Vault's Denise Henderson commented, "The celebration of life in dance and music is demonstrated by the repetitive chorus 'Everybody's movin/everybody's groovin baby!' Well, when in doubt, dancing and drinking and having a little fun always worked for me!" [29]

Legacy

"Love Shack" was named one of the Recording Industry Association of America's 365 Songs of the Century in 2001. [30] In 2005, Rolling Stone named it the best single of 1989, [15] and in 2010 ranked it 246th on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. [31]

Music video

The accompanying music video for "Love Shack" was directed by American film, music video and television director Adam Bernstein and shot at the home and studio of ceramic artists Phillip Maberry and Scott Walker in Highland, New York. [32] [33] Bernstein initially wanted to shoot the video in a New York studio but was convinced to relocate once he saw the house. [11]

The video features a cameo from a pre-fame RuPaul in his first mainstream appearance. [34] Pierson later recalled, "we invited all our friends and had a party. ... We started out really early in the morning and it turned into this rave. RuPaul got the dance line going, and it almost felt like we weren't being videotaped." [11] Guitarist Keith Strickland stated that the dance line scene was an homage to the television show Soul Train, and that RuPaul stepped in to direct the scene when Bernstein "didn't get the process". [11] Video artist Tom Rubnitz also appears in the video as the bartender. [35] The video won the award for Best Group Video at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards. [36]

Track listings

The single release contained different tracks in different countries of release. Some countries, including the United States, had singles backed with "Channel Z", while other releases included live versions of "Planet Claire" and "Rock Lobster" as the B-side recorded at the Cleveland Music Hall (Cleveland, Ohio) on December 2, 1989. In January 1999, [37] the single was released again with a number of remixes, including one by DJ Tonka. Although the re-release did not chart in the United States, it did enter the UK Singles Chart. [38]

"Love Shack"

"Love Shack"
Loveshack.jpg
Cover art for US editions
Single by the B-52's
from the album Cosmic Thing
B-side "Channel Z"
ReleasedJune 20, 1989 (1989-06-20) [1]
Studio Dreamland (West Hurley, New York)
Genre
Length
  • 5:21 (album version)
  • 4:15 (single edit)
Label Reprise
Songwriter(s) The B-52's
Producer(s) Don Was
The B-52's singles chronology
"Channel Z"
(1989)
"Love Shack"
(1989)
"Roam"
(1989)
Audio sample

"Love Shack 99"

  1. "Love Shack 99" (radio mix) – 4:39
  2. "Love Shack" (DJ Tonka remix) – 6:28
  3. "Love Shack" (album version) – 5:21
  1. "Love Shack 99" (radio mix) – 4:39
  2. "Love Shack" (album version) – 5:21

Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the Cosmic Thing album booklet. The Uptown Horns consist of Chris Cioe, Paul Litteral, Arno Hecht, Bob Funk, and Carl Beatty. [53]

Studios

Personnel

Charts

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA) [71] 2× Platinum140,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) [76] Platinum600,000
United States (RIAA) [77] 3× Platinum3,000,000

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

Release history

RegionDateFormat(s)Label(s)Ref.
EuropeJune 20, 19897-inch vinyl Reprise [1]
United StatesAugust 18, 1989
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
[77]
JapanJanuary 25, 1990Mini-CD [78]
United KingdomFebruary 19, 1990
  • 7-inch vinyl
  • CD
[79]
March 5, 19907-inch Love Shack Pack [80]

See also

References

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